The pending approval of a U.S. Forest Service plan for the roughly 1 million acres that the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests cover in Western North Carolina is likely to influence whether a large swath of the Craggy Mountains should be open for timber harvesting or managed for recreation.
New Stories
Q&A with Marta Alcalá-Williams, winner of social justice award
Having lived in Asheville for over 30 years, Marta Alcalá-Williams says it was a unique experience to hear others community leaders highlight her body of work. “Sometimes when you’re in it, you don’t have time to see it,” she says. “That was a very humbling experience.”
Asheville Fringe Arts Festival celebrates 20 years
Entering its 20th year, the 2022 Asheville Fringe Arts Festival returns to multiple venues throughout Asheville.
Youth-focused nonprofits prioritize equity in new efforts
Read to Succeed, OpenDoors of Asheville and Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC have all begun to focus more intentionally on closing race-based opportunity gaps in recent years.
Irish artists bloom in the Asheville area
Danny Ellis, Gareth Higgins and Paula O’Brien discuss being Irish Americans and how that status has influenced their art.
From Asheville Watchdog: Attorney General’s office had ‘great concerns’ Mission-HCA deal was rigged ‘from the beginning’
A 2018 memo, obtained via a public records request from the N.C. Attorney General’s office, says the “deck had been stacked” in favor of selling Mission Health to HCA by then-CEO Dr. Ronald A. Paulus.
Around Town: Blog series details jobs of Asheville Black women in 1890
A blog series from the Buncombe County Public Libraries details the occupations of Black women in 1890. Plus, the Swannanoa Valley Museum presents a look at historic Black Mountain College photos, a local artist honors women with free art and more.
Wellness roundup: Dogwood releases 2021 annual report
In total, Dogwood approved 287 funding requests of the 354 grant applications in 2021. The nonprofit also reports that it added 21 new staff members to the organization.
Letter: What jobs, jobs, jobs really mean
“It seems our elected leaders (from the president to county commissioners) are incapable of implementing solutions to problems that are peaceful and environmentally healthy.”
Beer Scout: Green Man celebrates 25th anniversary
Asheville’s second oldest brewery — and first on the South Slope — turns 25 while Pabst Blue Ribbon honors local artist Hannah Bunzey’s can design.
What’s new in food: Southside Community Farm continues to grow
On the first Sunday of March, volunteers helped ready Southside Community Farm’s quarter-acre plot for the planting of spring crops, including potatoes, sugar peas and radishes, among others. But preparation for the site’s eighth year growing fresh produce for the Southside Community Kitchen and nearby low-income and food-insecure residents kicked off in mid-February with a GoFundMe […]
Letter: Thumbs-up for government efficiency
“Allowing elected board members to hear about staff work in advance of presentations at public meetings can help staff in many ways.”
Letter: Public business should be conducted openly
“We the people need to be informed, but it is hard when they are having meetings by Zoom all the time.”
Local hospitals encourage more blood donation
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of behavioral changes and not all of them are good — for example, blood donation. Western North Carolina’s blood supply is maintained through the nonprofit The Blood Connection, which serves North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Its five mobile units travel throughout WNC taking donations in communities, and […]