You could call it the ultimate recycling project. Last week, the Buncombe County commissioners unanimously agreed to partner with UNCA in converting a portion of the former county landfill near Woodfin into a “craft campus” that will house a new craft-studies program. The new facility will feature studios built using “green” construction techniques and powered […]
Author: Tracy Rose
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Taking the lead
As Michell Hicks gazed out over the audience in a private dining room at Haywood Community College last week, he clearly stood out from the crowd. At age 39, he was a good 10 years younger than most of the other elected officials and bigwigs in attendance at the second meeting of the Regional Assembly […]
Buncombe County Commission
Since the late ’90s, affordable-housing advocates have been knocking on the door, asking the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to establish an affordable-housing trust fund. Last week, the board finally opened that door. At the commissioners’ March 16 meeting, board members voted unanimously to set aside $300,000 in the current budget to establish a revolving […]
Experience over dogma
What would Mrs. Jesus do? That’s probably the wrong question to ask feminist Biblical scholar Carol Newsom, who’s slated to speak in Asheville later this month. A debate over the true identity of Mary Magdalene — who may or may not have been “Mrs. Jesus” — has ramped up recently, thanks in large part to […]
Thou shalt watch
“We have to permit those that we disagree with to have freedom of speech so that we can still have our freedom of speech.” — J. Wendell Runion, International Baptist Outreach Missions Inc. Fears of pornography and depictions of alternative lifestyles appear to be key issues driving the local debate about public-access TV. Public-access advocates […]
Debating the merits of public-access TV
Debates aren’t only for presidential candidates. Next week, Executive Director Wally Bowen of the Mountain Area Information Network, a champion of public-access TV, will debate vocal public-access TV opponent Chad Nesbitt, the chairman of Citizens for Decency in Broadcasting. Two other speakers (yet to be named) will also appear, and all participants will field audience […]
Tax or fee?
Local cable-TV subscribers’ monthly bills include a so-called “PEG fee” printed there in black and white. (PEG stands for Public, Education and Government — for the three existing local noncommercial channels plus the proposed public-access channel.) But is it a tax? Yes, says J. Wendell Runion, president/director of Asheville’s International Baptist Outreach Missions Inc. “Everybody […]
Buncombe County Commission
“I’m optimistic … that the people who are going to get access to [URTV] are not all going to be crazy pornographers bent on misshaping society.” — Asheville resident Billy Roberts The simmering controversy over a proposed public-access TV channel erupted once again last week as opponents and supporters squared off at the Buncombe County […]
Buncombe County Commission
“A gal is 90 percent psychological, 10 percent biological. We call her a crock pot: You gotta warm her up.” — pastoral counselor Howard Andrus Judging by the tenor of the public comments aired at last week’s Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting, you’d think advocates of public-access TV had proposed a 24-hour porn channel. […]
Buncombe County Commission
“Affordable housing has been our community’s dirty little secret.” — Buncombe County Commissioner David Gantt Asheville holds the dubious distinction of having the most expensive housing market in the state, according to the Affordable Housing Coalition of Asheville & Buncombe County. Factor in the area’s many low- and moderate-income residents and it means that some […]
Doing it right
I’ve never been to Havana, but it’s easy to pretend I’m there — or in some equally exotic locale — while chomping on a Cuban sandwich and soaking up the sunny atmosphere of west Asheville’s Ideal Market Cafe. Yet the casual eatery, which opened last September, also manages to exude a thoroughly local vibe. That’s […]
Buncombe County Commission
“We as a task force believe it is unlikely — if not impossible — to achieve reform goals of consumer choice and privatization.” — Mental Health Advisory Task Force Chair Linda Poss The Buncombe County commissioners heard a hodgepodge of community concerns last week — from high housing costs to worries about mental-health reform. But […]
Go hear it on the mountain
With its signature four-part harmonies and fervent message of Christian salvation, Southern gospel has a long, vibrant tradition in Western North Carolina — and it’s still going strong (see “Hidden Angels,” published in the Dec. 10 issue of Xpress, at www.mountainx.com). But unless you’ve got access to a private collection, it’s not all that easy […]
Hidden angels
In a sleek office building in Arden, record-company executive Mickey Gamble is blasting the soulful vocals of up-and-coming singer Lauren Talley over his computer speakers. “I don’t have a closet religion,” she belts out. “Not what people who don’t listen a lot would think of as Southern gospel,” shouts Gamble, straining to be heard over […]
One beautiful sound
Don Coffey’s clarion tenor voice captivates listeners, both in concert and over the radio. A duet he recorded with Kirk Talley (“I Know a Man Who Can”) soared to No. 1 in March 2002 on Black Mountain Southern-gospel station WFGW (1010 AM) — and stayed there for 5-1/2 months, becoming the station’s top song of […]
Sock it to ?em!
On a chilly November evening, I’m offered two starkly different choices for a Friday night out in the small Western North Carolina town of Columbus. “Football or gospel?” asks the beefy man directing traffic outside Polk County High School, home of the Wolverines. “Gospel,” I call out. A couple hundred other people choose the same […]
Buncombe County Commission
“What we decide here today will serve as a model and inspiration to the rest of the country.”
A higher power
“Respondent believes that such things occur with more judges than her alone.” — attorney Robert Long, responding to the state attorney general’s complaint regarding Judge Brown The N.C. Supreme Court may soon get a chance to decide what, if anything, to do about the conduct of Buncombe County District Court Judge Shirley Brown. On the […]
Buncombe County Commission
If you’re walking your dog in the unincorporated parts of Buncombe County, you’d better make sure Rover’s on a leash — unless, of course, your neighbors don’t make a fuss. The new complaint-based leash law was just one of a number of new rules unanimously adopted by the Buncombe County commissioners at their Nov. 4 […]
The road to reform
The recent launch of a new public mental-health board marked yet another step toward dismantling the region’s existing public mental-health system. Board members of the new Western Highlands Area Authority were sworn in on Oct. 30 in Asheville. The 16-member board includes two representatives from each of the eight mountain counties — including Buncombe — […]
Buncombe County Commission
“If you sit on your rump and do nothing, you get nothing.” — Buncombe County resident John Payne On the evening of the Buncombe County commissioners’ final community meeting of the year, the parking lots were filled to overflowing. But almost everyone who gathered at T.C. Roberson High School on Oct. 28 was headed to […]