Yes, The Vagina Monologues contains words my mother would have washed out of my mouth with soap, had I ever tried imitating my brothers by saying them. But the Monologues audience is composed of grownups — who not only know these words, but, if playwright Eve Ensler has her way, will come to view the […]
Search Results for: out of sight
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North Carolina can’t see the forests for the trees
North Carolina’s forests are in trouble. Depending on where you live or vacation, that fact may or may not be obvious. In the western piedmont and mountain regions of the state, clear-cuts have stripped entire hillsides, and in the coastal plain, wooded swamplands have been drained and replaced by row after row of planted pine […]
Meat plant
It was a slow news day until the phone rang. The caller had a story idea and wanted to know if I was interested. He said it would involve an early Saturday-morning trip to a nearby wetland to investigate the possibility of reintroducing a rare plant species. I was hesitant at first — especially about […]
Letters to the editor
Cab fare increase is a bit excessive Just wanted to comment on the cab companies’ new rates. It used to cost me around $3.65 from Ingles to my house, which was my most common cab ride. Tonight, it cost me $6.10 for the same trip. I will be taking the bus from here on out, […]
Transformation on tape
Being well-intentioned but naturally slothful — and suffering from that chronic malady called “Someday I will” — many of us find making New Year’s resolutions quite easy. It’s keeping them that’s impossible. I give you four reasons why audio books are especially helpful tools if you aim to change your ways in 2001: First, you […]
Outside the lines
Somewhere on the easternmost fringes of Buncombe County, Clyde Hollifield leads a taciturn existence far from the madding crowd. But his reputation casts a long shadow. I stumbled across his name while interviewing an eccentric local writer. “Do you know any other exceptional characters?” I asked at the end of our conversation. I was promptly […]
EPA audit blasts state water-quality agency
Are North Carolina officials doing a good job of enforcing federal water-pollution limits? Environmentalists don’t think so — and neither does the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a highly critical audit report issued by the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General. The investigation into how the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources dealt […]
Notepad
“Keeping the dream alive.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to seeking justice for his fellow human beings. To honor King’s legacy — the dream of a better world — a five-day birthday celebration is being staged in Asheville, running from Friday, Jan. 12. through Wednesday, Jan. 17. The Martin Luther King Association […]
Asheville City Council
Veteran Asheville City Council watchers know all about the cushions. Only three padded chairs are available to the public during Council meetings, and they’re quickly snatched up by those in the know. This may seem like a trivial matter, but formal Council sessions have a tendency to drag on into the night — testing both […]
Sorrow vs. honor
It was as profound as Clare had promised. On holy Sunday, Nov. 18, more than 3,000 people were walking through a cold, steady rain, advancing toward possible jail time, or worse. Thrusting up white crosses, they declared “Presente,” each time the announcers solemnly proclaimed the name of one of the thousands of people killed — […]
Letters to the editor
Bah, humbug to unappreciative sons! After having read the article “I Can’t Stand It” [Holiday Season Guide, Dec. 6], I am obliged to inform you of the fact that the author of this untrue, misleading and very libelous tale is flying under false colors. I, his father, once took great pride in his achievements — […]
The end of an era
For almost a decade, downtown Asheville’s Zone one contemporary gallery has showcased the provocative and the original in Western North Carolina’s burgeoning visual-arts scene. But now the splash and the magic are coming to an end. Closing the “Zone” as an active commercial art space will mean that gallery owner Connie Bostic, a painter, will […]
Thwarting the bear
Seeking to head off potential action by the state, members of the local mental-health board have scurried to protect its assets and programs from being devoured by legislative changes. The Blue Ridge Area Authority (the public governing board for the Blue Ridge Center) took two controversial steps at its Dec. 6 meeting to soften potential […]
Asheville City Council
In the past few years, members the Asheville Civic Center Commission have felt a bit out of the loop. First, City Council stole some of their thunder by creating the Future of the Civic Center Task Force. Then Council approved the hiring of an outside consultant to study what to do with the facility. And […]
Letters to the editor
Don’t let cars kill Pack Square I am concerned about the “improvements” planned for Pack Square, in the heart of downtown Asheville. Are we really going to let this area be even more oriented towards vehicular traffic? Did not George Pack bequeath this land to the city “on the condition that it always remain a […]
Institutional prejudice against Witches denies religious freedom
Despite Asheville’s reputation as a haven for diversity, our mountains also harbor an ongoing disgrace — pervasive, institutionalized prejudice against Pagans and Witches that denies us access to public property and community resources that are routinely made available to Christians. Not so long ago, racist administrators of schools, governments and public organizations often used Jim […]
Lying in the sun
Their lyrics cover everything from blue-collar angst to the merits of coconuts. And their Southern-rock jams have covered this country like peach butter. Widespread Panic vocalist/guitarist Michael Houser, who was born in Boone, spoke to Xpress from a hotel room in Austin recently, reflecting on his dark days B.P. (before Panic). “I was a lost […]
The accidental entrepreneur
When I first met Linsi Deyo, she was busy crafting a pile of funny round cushions she called “zafus.” I was impressed. Here was a woman who had found a trade she could follow in her rural Appalachian community, while most of the rest of us were commuting to Asheville. Little did I know that, […]
A change of venue
How many people will attend? Will the acoustics be adequate? Will there be enough parking? Those are some of the vexing questions that caused Mayor Leni Sitnick to, in her words, “lose sleep over this.” The city’s dilemma was where to hold a potentially volatile Nov. 14 public hearing on the Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for […]
WET Force’s day of reckoning nears
Many Mountain Xpress readers are familiar with the work of the Water Efficiency Task Force (a.k.a. the WET Force). As reported recently in these pages [“Water, water, everywhere …?,” Oct. 4], the Regional Water Authority is considering a recommendation from its Policy and Priorities Committee that the group be dissolved. The committee has argued that […]
Body language
Just about every human emotion has been translated into dance. This ubiquitous art form can tell every story — from the myths of creation, through the journey of life, to death. And it doesn’t necessarily stop there. Although dance’s “body language” is easily understood as entertainment in the context of a performance, it can also […]