A winning “wedge” issue — but for whom? “We haven’t got a single Democratic candidate for governor who feels the way we do about the lottery,” complained my anti-lottery, liberal-Democrat friend after church one recent Sunday. “And it looks like all the Republican candidates are against the lottery-like us.” “So,” he asked, “what are we […]
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What would love do now?
I take off my hat to the racists who truly believe that they can do the impossible: separate themselves (consciously, permanently) from the rest of humanity, based solely on skin color. They support their beliefs only by the sad idea of a deity that hates, is violent, vindictive, petty, childlike, void of love, and — […]
Assembly required
Chuck Davis has been dancing his way around the world for more than 30 years. During his Navy days, he spent his furloughs driving long hauls to see Roland Kaye and his Latin American Ensemble perform in D.C. And before he knew it, the budding performer was smitten with all forms of the genre. Today, […]
Outside the Lines
With this semi-regular column, roving A&E columnist Allison Frank will endeavor to uncover what’s simmering under the surface of the local arts scene — worthy (and often quirky) people, places and events that haven’t yet flared up to capture widespread attention. Are you aware of such an entity? Ms. Frank welcomes suggestions and comments. She […]
Portrait of the artist as a redhead
Blake be with you As the night progresses, the audience is caught within the reverie of memories, transported from their surroundings into the Hopes netherworld, where memory prevails and poetry is spoken as truth. UNCA’s Laurel Forum is filled with a mixture of students, retirees and the artsy types who faithfully flock to this sort […]
A likely story
When asked to prove her talent to Mountain Xpress readers recently, straight-talking storyteller Susan Klein was quick to refuse. “People sometimes say, ‘Well, can you tell me a three-minute story?’ — I don’t do those,” she rebuked, in motherly fashion, reluctant to waste a good tale on a phone interview. “It’s an art form. So […]
Close ties
If spirit can live in a piece of cloth, fabric artist Peggie Hartwell has spent her life stitching miracles. A Quilter’s Spirit: An African-American Quilt Tradition, now on display at Asheville’s YMI Cultural Center, showcases the work of this remarkable master quilter — an artist who, through her rich choice of color and deft composition, […]
Song of myself
Tuesday: The Grey Eagle It’s cold in here. Several folks have told me that this place was once an old barn, and tonight, you don’t need much imagination to believe it. In this big, drafty hall, the eight or so people lounging in the shady corners seem more like two or three. But if you […]
Let the circle be unbroken
If the rosy glow of youth were not so evident in my face, this commentary might have been about the “olden days,” when music exploded in the parks and pubs of San Francisco. Or Seattle. Or Austin. Fortunately, the musical revolution is here and now, in Asheville. Welcome to the 21st century! We are having […]
Sweet and low
Scrappy Hamilton manages to play swanky, uptown music without sounding aloof from the everyday, downtown blues. Frontman Scott Kinnebrew sings “Times are rough but they ain’t never been better … ” (from “Never Been Better”) — which pretty well sums up this Asheville group’s contradictory attitude. Although the band’s ragtimey sound sports a contemporary twist […]
Asheville City Council
City planners are prepared to test-market their “smart growth” concepts on Charlotte Street, along a corridor stretching 10 blocks from Chestnut Street to Evelyn Place. Planners hope to entice what they call more urban development, by offering an incentives-based overlay-zoning district. If developers meet certain criteria favoring uses that combine residential and commercial spaces in […]
Notepad
Tolerance and compassion: The next generation Faced with so much alarming or discouraging news, it’s all too easy to succumb to cynicism. But Asheville LEAP, a group of local teenagers, is taking a different tack: pooling their energies to make a positive difference in their community. The Come-Unity Asheville Festival 2000 is these teens’ attempt […]
Perfect towns, imperfect crimes
On Friday, March 3, Richard Allen Jackson — confessed murderer of Karen Styles — quietly and judiciously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder before Judge James Downs of Franklin. In effect, that allowed him to escape either a mandatory life sentence or, perhaps, the death penalty. Given credit for the last five years he served on […]
Public radio
Almost everyone who listens to public radio is guilty. We take it for granted that NPR will always be there. Could you even imagine life without WNCW and WCQS? Pretend you’re zooming around in your car doing errands, or rushing home from work. As you reach over to activate the airwaves for your daily dose […]
While Rome burns
I make no claim to be an arbiter of fashion (or, for that matter, of so-called family values). But recently, at dinner (in the kind of restaurant that actually puts cloth napkins at tableside, uses reasonably clean silverware, and hires waitresses who know the difference between chardonnay and Chianti, I observed the following: While we […]
Still in shock
Uncertainty about the future of North Carolina’s only independent regional air-pollution control agency — jeopardized by Haywood County’s sudden withdrawal — cast a shadow over the APCA’s uncharacteristically brief March 13 board meeting. Unless the Buncombe County commissioners and Asheville City Council both agree to re-establish the agency, it will cease to exist on July […]
Asheville City Council
The prospects for auto racing in Asheville this season don’t look good, despite a last-minute appeal by racing enthusiasts. With plans for building a track near the Asheville Regional Airport apparently dead, and another in Canton not expected to be complete until 2001, fans lament the end of 40 years of racing history. And the […]
Bumpy roads ahead
Welcome to Asheville, Mary Clayton, where the roads can get bumpy. Clayton came to town recently to grease the wheels for the I-26 Connector project. She’s a planning consultant with a reputation for helping communities and departments of transportation find common ground on highway issues where none seemed possible. In her first week as facilitator […]
Take me for a ride
In the decades before the interstate tore the guts out of Asheville, the town was a sleepy mountain paradise, isolated from the massive change that was shoving the country down the fast track toward fouled air, congested traffic and unending rounds of road-building. Today, Asheville has finally caught up with the rest of the world: […]
What’s a trolley?
All trolley cars are streetcars, but not all streetcars are trolley cars. The mule car and the horse car predated the mechanical systems, which came in several forms. The cable car came along in 1877, when Andrew Halliday conquered the Clay Street Hill in San Francisco. And Thomas Edison experimented with battery-powered street cars (fueled […]
The great American streetcar scandal
A little-known but far-reaching scheme played a decisive role in killing off the trolleys. It began with a brilliant marketing ploy hatched by a pair of brothers named Fitzgerald. These Wisconsin bus operators suddenly found a magic lamp: General Motors. Teaming up with Firestone Rubber and Standard Oil of California, the corporate giant formed a […]