Who will fill their shoes? 45% of WNC biz owners near retirement
Volume
23
/ Issue 40
Cover Design Credit:
Scott Southwick
The imminent mass retirement of baby boomers has local groups and service providers encouraging business owners to start planning for their company’s next chapter — while devising ways to turn an impending crisis into an opportunity.
arts
Restoring the Dream finds community in creativity
Restoring the Dream project launched in January of this year. The open studio offers free art classes to members of the community. Like its founder, Joe Rob, many who attend…Smart bets: T.I.
The hip-hop artist plays the ExploreAsheville.com Arena on Tuesday, May 2.Joanne O’Sullivan’s debut YA novel arose from a lifelong love of the Gulf
O'Sullivan celebrates the launch of the book at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe on Saturday, April 26. The event will include a conversation between O'Sullivan and fellow local author Allan Wolf, and will…Smart bets: Stories on Asheville’s Front Porch spring concert
The storytellers will gather at the Folk Art Center on Sunday, April 30Sofar Sounds brings secret concerts to living rooms and shops
For artists, secret gigs represent a break from the typical concert routine, with its posters, social media plugs and mercurial crowds. But what would induce listeners to come out for…Three local artists release new albums
A trio of near-simultaneous album releases by Asheville-based artists highlight the rich diversity of the local music scene.Smart bets: Weaverville Art Safari
This spring’s safari takes place Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, with a preview party on Friday, April 28.Smart bets: Color Me Goodwill
The Orange Peel hosts the fashion show on Friday, April 28.Conscious party: Magical Moments of Asheville
The Vanishing Wheelchair and Rainbow Community School are teaming up for a two-day magic festival that takes place on the school's campus Friday-Saturday, April 28-29.food
Balanced meals
Asheville, NCCarolina Beer Guy: Bold Rock Hard Cider maintains steady growth
The Mills River cidery is offering new drinks and events for spring.From root to glass: Home winemaking in Beer City
Using Western North Carolina's spring and early summer harvests of herbs, fruits — and even vegetables — intrepid DIY enthusiasts can easily make wine at home with minimal equipment.Small bites: Ole Shakey’s, local brewers host mini golf for charity
For a limited time, Ole Shakey's offers the chance to play nine holes of miniature golf on its side patio. Also, Cucina 24 hosts a Polynesian rum dinner, Noble Cider…living
Get growing help this season from local Master Gardener volunteers
The Garden Helpline of the Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers is now open to provide information, advice and and even a little handholding for anyone with a gardening-related question.…Asheville textile entrepreneurs promote sustainable living
When Sarah Easterling was pregnant with her first child 11 years ago, she was determined to find the purest products available to clothe and care for her son. “Infants, their…movies
Screen scene: Local film news
The second season of The Girl From Carolina debuts online, YWCA of Asheville screens a documentary on women's body image and more.news
Mother Earth News Fair rolls into Asheville
The Mother Earth News Fair returns to the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher May 6-7. Somewhere around 20,000 attendees are expected to gather to learn about and share…Worker housing
Asheville, NCPassing the torch: What happens when local business owners retire?
With 45 percent of business owners in Buncombe County alone facing retirement in the next decade, local groups and service providers are encouraging them to start planning for their company’s…DEA holds up industrial hemp in North Carolina
Local farmers are still holding out hope that 2017 will be the year industrial hemp grows in WNC fields for the first time in decades. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement…opinion
Letter: I-26 widening will destroy homes, families, flora and fauna
"We do not need eight lanes on I-26 going into North Asheville past Weaverville, let alone six lanes. It just creates people speeding!"Letter: Hoping Buncombe Republicans provide new material for Molton
"Going forward, it’s my hope the 45,000 Republicans in Buncombe County will be working extra hard to give him lots of new material."Letter: Turn city lot entirely into a park
"City Council members Brian Haynes and Cecil Bothwell have the right idea — turn the vacant, city-owned parcel fronting St. Lawrence Basilica and the U.S. Cellular Center entirely into a…Letter: Smart meters hold great promise
"Smart meters are a necessary step if our electricity grid is going to accommodate distributed storage (residential batteries like the Tesla power wall). They also offer endless opportunities for apps…Letter: Legislators should allow vote on We the People Act
'Leaders in the N.C. General Assembly and specifically in the Rules Committee of both N.C. state houses need to hear from you that they should pass these bills out of…