“My granddaughter Kennedy and I have been adventuring around Western North Carolina for as long as she can remember.”
Adventure stories: Lessons learned while tubing
“Ella at 7 loved the gentle rapids but yearned to be released from our ‘stay in the inner tube’ rule.”
Adventure stories: Readers and writers share their tales
Xpress readers and writers share their own true tales of adventure — from unexpected encounters with nature to wild career rides and more.
Adventure stories: Adventures in stupidity
“Several months into what turned out to be a yearlong stint in Latin America, I ill-advisedly took it into my head to spend the night atop a highly active Guatemalan volcano.”
Secrecy surrounding Pratt & Whitney deal raises critical issues
“Does this mean the county commissioners were dealing in the dark, even down to the $27 million tax incentive package they gave Pratt & Whitney, a $20 billion company?”
Beyond a monument: Creating change for local Black communities
“This raises the question of what funds are being used for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion and how they can be better allocated all around to create a positive cycle of change.”
I accuse: Channeling Emile Zola in today’s Asheville
“I am certain the French author would take no offense at a less talented voice borrowing his ‘J’Acuse’ model. What better way to challenge a home community that is similarly darkened by discounted vanities, harms and pretense?”
Asheville needs less shouting, more listening
“Each segment of the community is yelling at the elected officials to promote its particular point of view, but there’s no structure for helping us all listen to one another across differences, en route to achieving mutually agreeable solutions.”
A better solution for Charlotte Street
“Can we allow for growth and address our affordable housing needs while also combating climate change and maintaining the character of our neighborhoods?”
RIP Vance Monument: A modest proposal revisited
“To maintain civic cohesion, we must convince these souls that despite the failure of their cause, they can return to the fold as legitimate members of this community. Think of it as a kind of reconstruction.”
Conservation proposal protects Buncombe’s future
“The funds would be used to help farmers and others in the county place their grasslands and forests under conservation easements to preserve them for future generations.”
101 Charlotte St. deftly balances conflicting priorities
“Asheville is changing, and since affordable housing is already in short supply, every neighborhood has a responsibility to accept its share of new, denser residential projects, despite the inevitable protests by vocal citizen groups.”
Buncombe commissioners must rein in the TDA
“Other cities have used their occupancy taxes to direct millions to infrastructure and social programs while still supporting vibrant tourism industries. Why can’t we?”
Please don’t trample Heller’s blazing star (and other rare treasures)
“Help us make a difference with some of our rarest species by joining thousands of visitors in the simple act of staying on trails and heeding any ‘area closed’ signs.”
Soul medicine: The green splendor of rich cove forests
“Appalachian rich coves are among the most diverse plant communities in North America, home to three times as many rare plant species as are found in other forest types.”
From bigotry to advocacy: The Gospel According to Jerry
“To be honest, it was those very acts of civil disobedience — the lunch counter sit-ins by dignified young Black people, the reasoned speeches of Martin Luther King and the angry voice of Malcolm X — that gradually opened my eyes.”
Small farm survival is in your hands
“Caught in the middle, our small farmers struggle to balance wages with prices the market will bear, while treating workers fairly.”
Step up now to save Buncombe County’s farmland
“Faced with significant development pressures, we must do what we can to protect some of the region’s natural habitat and biodiversity, as well as our most productive farmland.”
Beat a retreat: City Council doubles down on plan to meet behind closed doors
In a change from previous City Council practice, and in opposition to advice provided by a UNC School of Government expert on open meetings, Asheville City Council plans to go ahead with a closed-door meeting devoted to “strengthening personal relationships, teamwork and communication required to do meaningful work together” on Wednesday, March 31.
P&W deal makes mockery of Peace Day proclamation
“We must ask ourselves, ‘What are we sowing in our community and in our world for generations to come?’ Will we build our economy on poison?”
What it means to date — and not date — in Asheville right now
“What’s not funny, however, is the suggestion that anyone has a right to sex, tangential to a partner who desires to have it with them, particularly during a pandemic.”