“If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll search your soul to see if you can find there the commitment to help a young person. If not, please talk to your friends, clergy and civic groups to help us locate more volunteers.”
Author: Xpress Contributor
Showing 568-588 of 807 results
Success equation: We need leadership to support investment in quality early childhood programs
“Let’s elevate this bipartisan issue during 2016 elections. Encourage candidates to support the high-yield investment that quality early childhood programs can bring to our parents, children and communities.”
Duke Energy misled regulators at meeting over new Asheville-area gas plant
“We remain very concerned by the closed, pro-Duke and unconstitutional process in this case, including the lack of regulatory scrutiny of Duke Energy assertions.”
Confessions of a liberal college professor
“The mean-spirited abuse hurled at college students and professors alike reflects a dying political paradigm coupled with a fear of the young.”
Why not natural gas for WNC electricity?
“If Duke makes a large financial investment now in an unnecessarily large natural gas plant, that plant will have to continue to emit carbon dioxide for many decades to justify its construction.”
Faking it: Why Asheville needs new design guidelines
“When serious, authentic architecture is rejected in favor of simulacra, we exchange reality for a mythical past where everything is made to resemble what might have been.”
Not so fast: Tell Duke Energy to put the brakes on expansion plans
“In the current rapidly evolving energy environment, building a plant that’s bigger than the absolute minimum required, and doing it sooner than it’s really needed, is risky. Taking such a risk when better options are readily available is nothing short of foolhardy.”
Call for recreation areas sparks tensions in forest process
Tensions have boiled over within the Stakeholders Forum that has been seeking to build harmony on the Pisgah-Nantahala Forest plan revision after more than 40 organizations signed a memorandum of understanding supporting the creation of two National Recreation Areas in Western North Carolina.
Make ‘Carolina in my Mind’ N.C.’s official rock song
“So where is North Carolina’s official rock song? It’s staring us right in the face! This beloved tune was written and performed by a talent that was sharpened and informed by a childhood spent in North Carolina.”
NC WARN to Duke Energy: Justify gas plant in Asheville or withdraw the application
“There is far too much at stake – the climate crisis, the state economy and the very principles necessary for a democratic society to function – for this process to move forward under the shadow created by Sen. [Tom] Apodaca’s bill limiting regulatory and public review to 45 days.”
Brevard, North Carolina self-proclaims itself new epi-center of Groundhog (White Squirrel) Day festivities
Press release from Ann Sharpsteen: BREVARD, NORTH CAROLINA (January 29, 2016) – For the second year in a row, Brevard’s beloved ambassador white squirrel, Pisgah Pete, will take the helm at the City of Brevard’s Groundhog Day festivities, dubbed by local residents “White Squirrel Day,” instead. The cute furry town mascot will not only predict […]
Homeless need a hand up, not handouts
BY JOHN KLOECKNER I am currently homeless in Asheville. Although I don’t seek services from any organization apart from an occasional meal, clean clothes, a cup of coffee or a shower, I’m familiar with the services available and the various churches and other organizations that assist local people in need. I come from a middle-class […]
Duke Energy and the priority of profit
“If the world becomes a wasteland of coal plants, polluted lakes and melted ice caps, what good is money?”
Asheville Art Talk: John Almaguer
Glassblower John Almaguer’s journey to his craft — and to Asheville — has been a complicated one.
Christmas Eve, 1944: A day to remember
“We never knew for sure where the mission would be for that day. They would wake us up around 3:30 in the morning, and the sergeant from operations would tap me on the toe, saying, ‘Get up, lieutenant, and go act like a hero.’”
United we stand: Let’s get serious about addressing addiction
” The disease of addiction feeds on isolation, and as long as we criminalize and condemn addicts, we will never make any true progress in addressing the problem.”
Let’s move from ‘Pit of Despair’ to Asheville’s ‘Red Brick District’
“To those purely in favor of a park, be careful what you ask for. The idea of a park across from the basilica is wonderful. However, there are very substantial downsides that are being completely overlooked in the dialogue.”
Revised Duke Energy proposal challenges all of us
“While the utility has reduced the overall size of the proposed natural gas plant, it has also issued a warning: Unless something changes in Western North Carolina, Duke will need to build an additional gas-fueled, 190-megawatt peaking unit to meet growing demand. “
Sustainable ginseng: legendary herb’s best-kept secret
BY HEATHER WOOD BUZZARD November marks the tail end of “’sang” season, but relics of the harvest time remain: hand-scrawled signs declaring “Will Buy Ginseng – No License Needed” and reports of recent poaching on both private and public lands. Ginseng hunters and buyers have been everywhere this autumn, but where’s the ginseng? People reach […]
Duke Energy proposal pits profits vs. public interest
“What would most benefit residents and ratepayers is implementing programs that reduce consumption and eliminate the need to build more centralized power plants.”
Remembering Wally Bowen: Asheville’s media MVP
By Bill Branyon | “He never — and I do mean never ever — complained of his plight. His joie de vivre remained intense, and our talks about sports, literature and politics passionate.”