The Transportation Advisory Committee voted unanimously to keep the I-26 connector project on schedule, but also asked the N.C. Department of Transportation to accept public comments while designing the highway. More than 50 people gathered at the TAC hearing, which is held every other year to help DOT prioritize its statewide road-improvement plans. Many in […]
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Quick facts
UNCA is apparently moving forward on its pledge to create a campus that serves residents of all ages. Chancellor Jim Mullen reported at Asheville City Council’s Dec. 14 work session that, in addition to its new building for the Center for Creative Retirement, the university is looking to create opportunities for young kids, as well. […]
Letters to the editor
Give the Civic Center its due There has been much discussion in the last few months concerning the Asheville Civic Center. It has been said that it is old and worn out. It has been said that it is outdated and needs to be replaced. A recent writer blamed the current condition on its management. […]
Letters to the editor
Real help for victims of the Catholic Church I was deeply moved when I read Brad Lena’s ad in your Nov. 24 issue [Holiday Season Guide, p. 16] appealing to all victimized Catholics to join him at the St. Justin Center (across from the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in downtown Asheville) for a “Christmas Homecoming.” […]
A time to sing
John Gernandt has been collecting old songs for 23 years. Not records, but songs. Now he’s found another way to keep that oral tradition alive: with his “floating” vocal group, Chanters All. “To me, traditional means ‘does not have an author.’ We do a lot of traditional ballads and folk singing, and different voice harmonies,” […]
Hometown jam
“We’re kind of a slow, hard-working, nonglorious beast of some sort,” offers Asheville’s favorite hometown-boy-made-good, Warren Haynes, talking about the appropriateness of his band’s name, Gov’t Mule. Others beg to differ with the modest, supernaturally talented musician (he’s considered one of the world’s premier guitarists). “This is bone-crushing power rock!” exclaimed the usually staid Wall […]
Power pipes
“We got a lot of flack from people in Scotland, Ireland and the States for wearing kilts and playing traditional music,” reveals Kirk McLeod, lead singer of Seven Nations. “They’re thinking Americans can’t do it as well as the Scots or Irish,” he explains. “We started thinking, ‘Well, we’ve got our own heritage, here in […]
Strings attached
To Ed Gerhard and Bill Mize (and audiences lucky enough to hear them), the ubiquitous sounds of the holidays hold a singular charm when ringing gloriously on steel-string guitars. Collectively, Gerhard and Mize have played holiday music for more than 20 years. Gerhard has recorded two acclaimed CDs of seasonal sounds — Christmas (Virtue, 1991) […]
Now showing
The human body is one of the first subjects art students encounter in school, but it can be hard, in this day and age, for artists to find galleries that will show their nudes. Consequently, local arts entrepreneur David Hopes has opened his Asheville gallery for an exhibit titled Millennial Nudes, which features the work […]
Recollections of place
Dramatic light and idyllic atmosphere permeate the exquisite landscapes of Paula Stark. Her perfectly balanced compositions somehow enable the viewer to transcend reality and rest in their serenity, simplicity and strength — hallmarks of the artist’s deeply personal relationship with nature. Speaking via telephone from her home outside Portland, Ore., Stark revealed that her work […]
Asheville City Council
“I think it’s going to break West Asheville apart,” proclaimed Jimmy Hungerford, president of the West Asheville Estates Neighborhood Association, at Asheville City Council’s Nov. 30 community meeting. Many West Asheville residents now oppose the Interstate 26 connector project, hoping it’s not too late to stop it. “It’s going to take away affordable housing,” continued […]
Headline missing
Flowing into the future. The Mills River Water Treatment Plant started pumping water into the Asheville-area system last month — the culmination of a decade-long effort to find a new, viable water source. To honor the occasion, the Regional Water Authority of Asheville, Buncombe and Henderson staged a grand opening on Nov. 22, recognizing all […]
Notepad
VERSIONkies Several months ago, this paper reported that the Asheville Regional Airport, seeking to learn more about its customers’ flying and buying habits, asked local businesses to submit their 1998 corporate travel records for evaluation. Now, the results are in: Thirty-six local companies submitted more than 10,000 records, detailing when and how their employees traveled. […]
Taking back our streets
Could you imagine Patton Avenue and Interstate 240 combined into one boulevard on which you’d like to walk with your family? A lot of folks laughed at the idea, but Walter Kulash didn’t look like he was joking when he posed the question. Speaking to a capacity crowd gathered at the Asheville High School drama […]
Letters to the editor
Don’t knock working folks I took offense at the Molton cartoon in your Nov. 24-30 issue showing an overweight, exposed-butt-cracked, DOT road worker, captioned “Yet another reason why sprawl is not pretty.” This country was built and is being maintained, not by computers or by people dreaming in their heated cars, but by men and […]
Letters to the editor
Tell Brian Peterson about I-240 Brian Peterson, who is newly elected to Asheville City Council, doesn’t think the widening of Interstate 240 to eight lanes is an issue for most people in West Asheville. I overheard him, when he was campaigning, say that there wasn’t a significant interest in the project from those who contributed […]
Heart felt
Watching helplessly as burgeoning numbers of their friends and lovers die from AIDs, the characters in Larry Kramer’s powerful The Normal Heart look to everything for answers — from the secrets of the cosmos to African chimps, and, even, float the theory that the U.S. government has been secretly testing anti-immune-system drugs on gays — […]
Hicksville revisited
It’s hard to believe nearly 30 years have passed since the inimitable Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks played their last note. Hicks himself feels the same. “There’s a couple of missing decades in there,” he admits with a laugh. “But if I look at a picture of myself now and a picture of myself […]
Just doing it
To Shawn Mullins, once upon a time, being one of Atlanta’s best kept musical secrets was better than nothing. But becoming an overnight success is even better, thanks to the breakout of his wry, loop-driven, folk-rock torch song, “Lullaby.” For those unaware of Mullins’ seven previous independent releases, Columbia this year released The First Ten […]
Buncombe County Commission
Nov. 16 was Commissioner David Young’s 40th birthday, and county staff didn’t let the day pass unnoticed. During the agenda-review session, Debbie Hay — who works in the commissioners’ office — presented Young with a large medal on a blue ribbon, draping it around his neck. She then led the assembly in a rousing chorus […]
Notepad
A meeting of the minds Even though many Asheville-area students first attend A-B Tech, then transfer to UNCA to earn a bachelor’s degree, the two schools have tended to operate independently. Recently, however, both schools announced plans to create a “bridge program” in which selected A-B Tech transfer students can enroll in one of UNCA’s […]