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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]