City Council discussed police reforms during a work session on March 20 and ousted longtime City Manager Gary Jackson, who was about nine months away from retirement.
A tale of two women
On Wednesday, March 21, Esther Manheimer and Sheneika Smith will be the featured speakers at The Eclectic Lives of Two Asheville Women. The free community forum will take place in the Lord Auditorium at Pack Memorial Library, in celebration of Women’s History Month.
WNC faith communities, law enforcement collaborate on security
For faith leaders wondering what they can do to improve security, law enforcement agencies across Western North Carolina offer assessments and training to help places of worship ensure the safety of those who gather under their roofs.
Asheville Council hears community response to police beating video
Asheville City Council heard two hours of public comment on March 13, the vast majority of it pertaining to recent footage showing a white APD officer beating a black Asheville resident.
Asheville City Council, Buncombe Commissioners discuss racial equity, development in joint meeting
2018’s annual joint meeting of Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners highlighted issues of racial equity, police use-of-force and zoning conflicts affecting Buncombe residents.
Minor league sports teams make major plays in Asheville
Asheville has seen numerous minor league teams come and go throughout the years, but its long-established baseball team is now joined by minor league soccer and football clubs that are redefining the local sports landscape.
Asheville Too: Arts community tackles taboo topic
The activist group Asheville Survivors Coalition has focused in recent months on bringing public attention to claims of unwanted sexual attention by anonymous women against artist Jonas Gerard. While some local organizations and businesses have removed Gerard’s work from their facilities in the wake of the activists’ protests, others have not. The arts community’s response has taken a variety of forms.
Community anger spills over during APD advisory committee meeting
The week after the release of body camera footage showing a white APD officer beating an African-American Asheville resident, members of the community attended a Citizens Police Advisory Committee meeting in force to express their outrage.
Celeste Starr moves to O.Henry’s after more than 20 years performing at Scandals
After his 1994 graduation, Robb Smith left his hometown. Like a story from an independent gay movie, he jumped on a Greyhound bus bound for Asheville, where he started a new life — complete with a drag persona — with the help of an accepting uncle.
City releases new details in investigation into police use of force
After a closed session of Asheville City Council on March 5, the city released more information on the timeline and investigation into the Asheville Police Department’s use of force against resident Johnnie Jermaine Rush.
Future transit efforts, concerns mirror Asheville’s past
Asheville as we know it today was built upon the back of its electric streetcar system, one of the largest networks of its time. As the city finds itself in a growth spurt once again, could its defunct trolley system provide some clues to Asheville’s transit future?
In Photos: Tyler Garrison’s Celebration of Life at Salvage Station
About 300 family members, friends, co-workers, colleagues and acquaintances gathered at Salvage Station on Feb. 23 to remember and celebrate the life of Tyler Garrison, local entrepreneur and activist, on what would have been his 35th birthday.
Regulators approve lower-than-requested Duke Energy rate increase, impose coal ash penalty
The N.C. Utilities Commission today approved a rate increase requested by Duke Energy Progress. As approved, Duke may charge an average increase of 7.09 percent. The electricity provider also received permission to increase the basic monthly customer charge for residential customers from $11.13 to $14.
Xpress collects 12 awards at N.C. Press Association gala
Mountain Xpress collected 12 awards, including third place for general excellence among community newspapers with a circulation of over 10,000 in North Carolina, from the N.C. Press Association conference in Raleigh on Feb. 22.
Billy Graham dies at age 99
Longtime Montreat resident the Rev. Billy Graham died on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7:46 a.m.
In Photos: Speakers at Asheville rally decry gun violence
A rally against gun violence at Pack Square in Asheville on Feb. 18 drew upward of 250 participants. Speakers honored the victims of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed, and expressed their desire for legislation to prevent more mass shootings.
Urgent care growing in WNC
Urgent care centers are a hot health care trend nationwide and in Western North Carolina. With the recent arrival of new urgent care facilities and more in the works, Xpress looks at where these facilities are and what needs they serve.
Mt. Zion must wait to build new education facility
Relations between Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church and its new neighbor, Asheville Foundry Inn, have been strained since construction began on the inn two years ago. A judge has now issued a temporary injunction to block the church from commencing construction on a new education building and parking lot improvements, which the hotel says would deprive it of the use of 75 parking spaces it is leasing from the church.
Health care documentary in Flat Rock looks to heal a broken system
Dr. Marsha Fretwell addressed a crowd of 25 in blunt terms Monday in Flat Rock: “We need to get for-profit health insurance out of the marketplace.” Fretwell, a former geriatric physician and a member of Healthcare for All Western North Carolina, crystallized the thesis of the documentary Fix It: Health Care at the Tipping Point, which had […]
Filing period for local, state elections starts with early rush of blue
Fifteen candidates, most of them Democrats, have thrown their hats into the ring for offices elected in Buncombe County as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
City Council could reject DOT’s Merrimon plan
The city of Asheville is poised to formally express its displeasure with the N.C. Department of Transportation’s plan to widen Merrimon Avenue. At its Feb. 13 meeting, City Council will consider a resolution to reject the DOT’s plan to widen the street and ask staff to work with DOT to come up with alternatives.