Juneteenth Gala returns with a free public event. Plus: The Moth hosts a story slam, comedy contest determines stand-up champion, Story Parlor presents mInd reader and more!
New Stories
What’s new in food: Sipping and savoring with award-winning mixologist Danny Childs
Gemelli, Chai Pani and other local businesses will host a series of events with the recent James Beard Award winner. Also this week: VISUALS rooftop bar opens on the South Slope, Eda Rhyne releases a new aperitivo, 10th Muse launches an East Asheville ice cream shop and more local food and beverage news.
From CPP: Proposal would make NC public records and meetings access a constitutional right
The single-page bill, filed concurrently as S.B. 911 and H.B. 1075, passed its first readings before being referred to the Rules committees of the House and Senate, where it’s unlikely to be picked back up this session.
Letter: City should adopt Candace Pickens Memorial Park
“Putting the city logo on the park is a small but important symbolic gesture letting people know this is a place where they are welcome and that the city supports and cares for this park.”
Letter: Take action to solve our plastics problem
“If we don’t take action to solve our plastics problem, there will be less and less environment to celebrate — and maybe even more plastic in your beer.”
Letter: What real pragmatists say about infill development
“What the pragmatists I know want to see is the removal of unnecessary barriers to infill development so as to rationally encourage more multifamily housing, especially in locations where walking, cycling and public transportation reduce car dependency.”
County poised to approve budget, tax increase
If passed, the new rate — 52.35 cents per $100 of value — would mean the owner of a home valued at $400,000 will pay $2,094 in taxes to the county, $102 more than last year.
Building Bridges marks 30 years of equity education
The all-volunteer, antiracism organization grew from a single nine-week course back in 1993.
Panel discussion addresses history of harm reduction in Asheville
“I was brought to a room at one point as a county employee, with major county and city staff, and basically told to shut up,” Amy Upham, who worked as opioid response coordinator for Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services (BCDHHS) from 2019-21, told an audience at Pack Memorial Library last week.
UNCA chancellor proposes four academic programs for elimination, one for reduction
UNC Asheville plans to phase out its Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Drama, Philosophy and Religious Studies programs.
Isa ibn Wali and Saint Disruption release new albums
Lyrically rich hip-hop and healing fusion are on tap this month.
Expect tax increases after Council approves BID, fiscal year 2025 budget
“We’re creating a budget that has recurring expenses,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “You’ve got to have a source of revenue that continues year after year.”
Brood 19 cicadas emerge in WNC
‘We haven’t really seen any widespread emergence of the periodical cicada so far, but we think it’s really going to be isolated to very small areas in southern Buncombe and around the Arden area and in Fairview,” says Owen.
County juggles aging ambulances and rising demand
As the pandemic-era backlog of emergency vehicles continues to delay new trucks from reaching Buncombe County, paramedics are left driving aging ambulances longer than they should just as they are needed more than ever before.