“Suddenly, we will have two monuments to consider: the steel lynching monument and Vance’s.”
A class act: The Gospel According to Jerry
“When the members of this class were born, the nation and the entire world were in a panic — not because these particular little babies happened to arrive then, but because the Great Depression had begun.”
New Dogwood Health Trust board needs agricultural advocates
“As the Dogwood Health Trust forms its board, I urge its founding members to address the underlying determinants of our failing health by investing in a local food system with soil-building at its core.”
The case for keeping APD Chief Tammy Hooper
“Now we have seen release of body-cam footage, strictly illegal under state law absent judicial review. What was the aim? To embarrass current Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper.”
Let’s not let WNC become the next flavor of the month
“We need city and county managers who, together with our elected officials, can tackle key issues and help us navigate this new reality called the greater Asheville area.”
Solving Asheville’s affordable housing crunch: The Gospel According to Jerry
“When local workers can’t find housing they can afford and our less fortunate population — including families with children — is one rent check away from living on the street, this predicament has reached critical mass.”
Building community and capacity via the Children First/CIS Project POWER/AmeriCorps program
“The Project POWER/AmeriCorps team member is a huge part of helping us serve our mission and a huge asset to the community,” says Kim Clark, operations manager for Asheville Museum of Science.
An urgent warning: Mountain birds are feeling effects of shifting climate
“This spring, National Audubon Society scientists teamed up with the National Park Service to release a peer-reviewed study, which revealed that climate change is likely to have significant impacts on birds in over 270 national parks, including our own Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
An unvarnished look at affordable housing: The Gospel According to Jerry
“As soon as outraged neighbors show up at municipal meetings screaming and shouting about traffic, quality of life and property values, our elected officials quietly slide down in their chairs and hide their faces behind their computer screens, concealing their shame about discouraging developers, both public and private, from increasing our woefully inadequate housing inventory.”
What is Asheville style?
What is Asheville and WNC style? For Xpress’ upcoming Style issue, we’d like our readers to help us find out.
Green and diverse: The importance of integrating our public lands
“In short, a culture that believes in ‘white-people things,’ creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is plainly evident when it comes to population demographics of public lands and green spaces.”
Asheville can learn from Gatlinburg’s sustainability progress
“Most amazing is Gatlinburg’s pioneering waste processing plant, which attracts observers from around the world and turns the idea of recycling on its head.”
Billy Graham’s last stand
“It’s either a horrendous twist of fate or long-deferred justice that some of Billy Graham’s last major acts put him glaringly on the wrong side of history.”
Go fossil-free: Learn how to switch to solar and renewable energy
“I believe that if everyone does what they can to move toward clean energy and presses their elected officials to do the same, we can reach our goals and stop the cataclysmic disasters of climate change.”
The cloud forest in our backyard
“If you drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, hike in Pisgah National Forest or on the Appalachian Trail, visit Mount Mitchell or the high elevations of the Smokies, you will find yourself in this forest, and you should know how singular it is.”
The battle is joined: The Gospel According to Jerry
“There is still time for bureaucratic bungling to derail these developments. I urge the leaders of our little kingdom not to stifle this impetus and dam the amazing flow of the River District by imposing needless barriers in the name of enforcing the mantra of St. Wilma Dykeman.”
Beyond stereotypes: portrait of the rural mountain community of Spillcorn
“White, rural communities like Spillcorn are ignored at the risk of misunderstanding their agency and influence in America today.”
Little miracles: Look now for spring ephemeral wildflowers
“In April, a lush carpet of green emerges from the forest floor, and an astonishing array of flowers opens to the bright sunshine.”
Tending the teenage fire: Rites of passage can help boys enter world of adults
“For millennia, in societies around the world, elders and adults have known how to spot the signs of a teenager ready for initiation. But today in America, even though boys haven’t stopped reaching the age when their inner fire wells up, we are failing to meet them where they’re at with a rite of passage.”
The great threat: The Gospel According to Jerry
“The newcomers worshipped at the feet of the Right Rev. Wilma Dykeman, a local deity whose writings took on the prominence and influence of the Holy Grail.”
Billy Graham: An old soldier fades away
“Graham gave his blessing to every conflict under every president from Truman to the second Bush, and most of the presidents, pleased to enjoy public assurance of God’s approval, made him welcome in the White House.”