When activists hired Spanish-language interpreters for the May 23 meeting of Asheville City Council, some community members questioned why local government bodies aren’t already providing interpretation services at all public meetings.
Author: Rachel Ingram
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Nature Center passes torch to Appalachian Wild
As the WNC Nature Center’s wildlife rehabilitation activities wind down, Appalachian Wild swoops in with plans for a center to accept animals needing care. The new Candler-based facility will open soon to serve as a triage facility where animals will be held and evaluated before being transported to licensed rehabilitators.
WNC groups help rescue hundreds of animals after hurricane
Several animal rescue organizations were deployed to Eastern North Carolina communities in the wake of Hurricane Matthew’s landfall there. So far, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, both in Asheville and in Marion County, S.C., has recovered about 400 animals since the hurricane struck. The Durham County Sheriff’s Department and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department had rescued 51 and 16 […]
Upcoming TEDx Asheville event sells out in one day, videos available online
Eight speakers are scheduled to converge on downtown Asheville for the sixth TEDx Asheville event on Oct. 4. Tickets for the event, themed “Community and Transformation,” sold out in one day. “To some people, Asheville is a tourist destination, and to others, it’s a fun place to live,” says Ron Hoffman, event organizer, “but what […]
Air Tree n’ Tree
Two local treehouse projects, completed in association with the DIY Network show “Treehouse Guys,” demonstrate the possibilities of treehouse construction methods for vacation rentals, residences and other tree-centric purposes.
Just Economics (profile)
Through policy advocacy and grassroots leadership development, the members of Just Economics of Western North Carolina marked several items off the organization’s 2015 to-do list. Among the most notable: getting the city’s living-wage policy extended to include part-time, temporary and seasonal employees and the implementation of Sunday bus service through Asheville Redefines Transit. “Our mission is […]
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project — profile
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project has kicked off 2016 with expanded outreach, not the least of which is a renovated version of its Local Food Guide. First released in print and online in 2002, it now features a new domain name and improved search and navigation functions, along with an interface optimized for smartphones and tablets. “It has […]
Blue Ridge Food Ventures — profile
Tucked away in the corner of A-B Tech’s Enka campus, budding local businesses like Buchi Kombucha and Lusty Monk Mustard have had the opportunity to grow their roots in an 11,000-square-foot, FDA-inspected, shared-use facility called Blue Ridge Food Ventures. Success for this organization doesn’t come from keeping clients, but from watching them leave. “It’s the […]
Mountain BizWorks — profile
Each year, millions of dollars in loans flow into Western North Carolina-based businesses, and Mountain BizWorks is a big reason it happens. In 2015, the group made “nearly $2 million in loans to 80 new and existing local businesses. Those businesses directly created 175 new, good jobs in our community and supported an additional 200 […]
B Lab — profile
“Best for the World” is the goal of the companies that make up the B Corp movement. The “B” stands for benefit — and not just the monetary kind. Certified B Corps create benefits not just for their shareholders, but for the community, the environment, employees, consumers and more. “Instead of just focusing on maximizing profit, […]
Asheville-area practitioners pair chiropractic with massage
Chiropractic adjustment works better when massage is utilized as part of the overall treatment, say a number of Asheville practitioners and patients.
Waste not: Food Connection steers surplus toward hungry people’s plates
Through grassroots community collaborations, Food Connection saves many thousands of pounds of fresh, unused food from the trash each year, transporting it by taxi to be distributed to residents in need. A federal law allows businesses to donate wholesome food items to feed the hungry without legal liability.
Videos show wildlife at ease behind Henderson County home
A mere 50 yards from the back door of Tom Brass’s Henderson County home, bears, bobcats, coyotes and foxes creep across the mountain ridge, and Brass has the video evidence, posted on his YouTube channel, to prove it. Using three infrared, motion and heat-sensitive heat-activated, Browning trail cameras, Brass collects upward of 400 videos per […]
Asheville florist joins elite team of designers for Rose Bowl Parade
Asheville florist Janet Frye is headed to California later this month to help arrange thousands of flowers on four floats designed by award-winning Charles Meier for the Rose Bowl Parade. Frye was personally invited in September to join a four-person team of florists to work a week preparing the floats for the nationally-televised New Year’s […]
In photos: UNC Asheville effort whips up 500 meals for national Food Day
More than 60 volunteers donned aprons and converged on the UNC Asheville campus Friday morning in an effort to prepare hundreds of nutritious, fall-themed meals for local people in need.
Unprecedented guidebook brings Blue Ridge Parkway views to life
What began as a moment of simple curiosity for one local man morphed into a five-year project that combined some of the oldest map technologies with some of the newest — resulting in an extensive guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway and other select scenic areas in the region.
Heavy rains impact French Broad water quality
Last week’s heavy rainfall pushed E. coli levels in Asheville’s portion of the French Broad River past the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety threshold, posing a health threat to swimmers and tubers.
Watchdog for democracy: League of Women Voters turns 95
The League of Women Voters is celebrating its 95th year, but the nonpartisan group is more focused on the future than the past, members say. “Throughout its history, the league has addressed the current issues of its day, and it has changed with the times,” notes Aiden Carson, vice president of the organization’s Asheville-Buncombe County […]
Local documentary traces origins of U.S. forestry in WNC; screens this weekend
A locally produced documentary about the introduction of forestry in America is scheduled to hit the silver screen this weekend at Biltmore Estate. The one-hour film, First in Forestry, tells the story of Carl Schenck and the Biltmore Forest School, the first forestry school in the country. “It’s the story of how American forestry started, and […]
Food pantries find education, support in unprecedented programming
With its upcoming Appalachian Food Pantry School, the WNC Food Policy Council will provide much-needed training, tools and resources to Western North Carolina’s hunger-fighting organizations.
Step by step: New Belgium greenway plans finalized
The design for a key link that will help create the longest continuous stretch of greenway in Asheville has been finalized. The roughly 1-mile section will run through the New Belgium Brewing Co. site in the River Arts District and connect with existing greenway segments.