Let’s face facts: Western North Carolina lies within a day’s drive of one-third of the U.S. population. Last year, more than 10 million guests visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most heavily used national park in the country. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the parking areas around the Shining Rock Wilderness spill over […]
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Notepad
Walking for all of us by Lisa Watters “I want to go for a walk to clear my head. I hope that 2,157 miles will be long enough,” said Karen Grosskreutz in a letter to Mountain Xpress a few days before she began hiking the Appalachian Trail on March 20. Grosskreutz is undertaking this trek […]
Asheville City Council
While the snow turned to slush on Asheville’s streets, City Council members got wind of a lawsuit: Henderson County has sued the city, Buncombe County and the Regional Water Authority over a tangled property exchange that all parties had agreed to back in the mid-1990s. The lawsuit, which made the front page of the March […]
Moving on
Susan Fisher‘s hair may be a tad grayer than it was when she became chair of the Asheville Board of Education in 1998. And her younger child, Alex, now headed for the ninth grade, “was in kindergarten when [my first term on the board] started in 1993,” Fisher recalled during a March 2 interview. But […]
Letters to the editor
Remove nuclear warheads now President George W. Bush said in a May 23, 2000 campaign speech, “For two nations at peace, keeping so many weapons on high alert may create unacceptable risks of accidents or unauthorized launch.” In fact, we know that in January 1995, the U.S. and Russia came within four minutes of a […]
Notepad
Canary Coalition picks up steam by Lisa Watters The Canary Coalition — formed last October to address the region’s deteriorating air quality — is quickly developing into a broad-based grassroots movement. A number of other organizations have either joined or endorsed the coalition’s efforts, including the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Jackson County Travel […]
Buncombe County Commission
The Buncombe County commissioners jumped into the billboard debate last week, unanimously issuing a 60-day moratorium on new off-premise signs in the County. Approved on March 6, the moratorium took effect immediately. It is aimed at preventing a torrent of requests for new billboard permits as the commissioners consider banning billboards altogether. Commissioners agreed to […]
The latest word
“Life is a wonderful thing to talk about, or to read about in history books — but it is terrible when one has to live it.” — Jean Anouilh, French playwright (1910-87) Review Home across the Road, by Nancy Peacock (Bantam, 1999) Nancy Peacock’s dense book untangles the heavy truth of Anouilh’s quote. Home across […]
Taking the plunge
It’s a question of autonomy: Does the Regional Water Authority of Asheville, Buncombe and Henderson truly stand on its own? Board members are inclined to think not: The Authority’s physical assets are owned by the city of Asheville; its paid staff work under the direction of Asheville’s city manager; and its every budget decision is […]
Forgotten black Confederates
Joe Farrington is one of the forgotten. A slave from Chatham County before the War Between the States, Joe is just one of many who left to serve when the call was issued to defend homes and families across the South. But, unlike many others whose accomplishments were recorded for posterity, Joe never even became […]
A game of chess
The plot thickened last week when the Buncombe County commissioners addressed the jail controversy at their Jan. 30 budget retreat, held in the county’s offices on College Street. Commissioners discussed the city’s latest move — initiating a rezoning study in the part of downtown Asheville that includes the county’s newly acquired satellite-jail site. The commissioners […]
Business Notepad
A new study by Demographics Daily, an on-line publication of American City Business Journals, ranks the Asheville metropolitan area — composed of Buncombe and Madison counties — 26th in the U.S. in terms of small-business vitality. The Asheville metro area scored an overall small-business-vitality index of 138 (100 represents the national average). Defining small businesses […]
Seen and heard
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 […]
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 […]