Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford and three of his officers were arrested Dec. 13 and charged with extorting money from illegal video-poker operations, among other crimes. Jailhouse blues: Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford was arrested on multiple federal charges on Dec. 13. Photo by Jonathan Welch Arrested along with Medford were former reserve […]
Search Results for: Ron Moore
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What Would Jesus Buy?
The Story: A documentary railing against the evils of consumerism, told through the comedy/theater troupe of Rev. Billy and his Stop Shopping Crusade. The Lowdown: While it's hard to argue with the film's message, the clunky, shallow, pointless execution ultimately sinks it.
A controversial past
While it is the first time he’s faced criminal charges, Thursday’s arrest of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford and three of his deputies on federal extortion charges is not the first time Medford’s behavior has sparked controversy, or that accusations of corruption or abuse of his office have been leveled.
The Green Scene
As one might expect, life in the fast-food industry moves swiftly. That may help explain why Ed McCammon of The Winning Team, the local Arby’s franchise holder, tends to pepper his conversations with acronyms. It’s quicker, for instance, to describe the roast-beef-sandwich chain as a “QSR” than a quick-service restaurant, or to characterize its mission […]
Fighting mad
The Carolina Stompers Web page features an angry-looking, anthropomorphic elephant chomping on a cigar and flexing an extremely well-muscled arm emblazoned with the letters “USA.” An audio track of an elephant’s roar starts up, and a banner below reads, “stomping liberals and RINOs [Republicans in Name Only] for our children’s future.” Ready to rumble: The […]
Asheville “punk houses” gone, but immortalized
“I never hung out at any squat really, though Sonic Youth did play at one or two on our first European tours,” remembers Sonic Youth front man Thurston Moore in Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy (Abrams Image, 2007). Moore edited the book, which was just released. “My experience with that scene is that it was […]
The Green Scene
The brook trout, aka the speckled trout or “brookie,” is dwindling. Speaking at a recent summit devoted to protecting the endangered game fish, Bryan Moore of Trout Unlimited called the brook trout “emblematic of Southern Appalachia,” citing both its cultural and ecological significance. And since the brook trout is particularly sensitive to changes in water […]
A horrifyingly good time
Xpress film critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther present their 13 favorite horror flicks, just in time for Halloween weekend.
The Biz
Venture capital is a boon to worthy businesses that need funding to spur growth and ascend to the next rung of the business ladder. “Unfortunately,” says one Asheville-area business owner seeking institutional and individual “angel” investors for his fledgling Web-based business, “the ability to attract that type of funding here absolutely sucks.” Vroom: Guy Kawasaki […]
Buncombe County Commissioners
Imaginineering Buncombe: Commissioners David Gantt (left) and David Young pitch ideas during a brainstorming session at last week’s retreat. In the background, Planner Cynthia Barklow takes notes. photo by jonathan welch With little fanfare, the Buncombe County commissioners voted unanimously to cancel Progress Energy’s long-term, dollar-per-year lease of river frontage in Woodfin. Approved Jan. 16, […]
Signed off
The Aug. 15 arrest of Jonas Phillips on charges of obstructing a sidewalk has local activists up in arms. Phillips was taken into custody after displaying a 5-by-1-foot sign reading “IMPEACH BUSH/CHENEY” on the Haywood Road/Interstate 240 overpass. Freeway blogging: Jonas Phillips holds another sign on the Flint Street overpass, several days after his arrest. […]
Charges dropped in flag desecration case
All charges against activists Mark and Deborah Kuhn, arrested July 25 in an incident involving alleged flag desecration, are being dropped, Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan announced on Aug. 2. Free at last: The arrests of Deborah Kuhn, left, and her husband Mark touched off a storm of controversy. “We have conferred with the district […]
License to Wed
The Story: In order to get married in the church of their choice, a young couple have to submit to the pastor's peculiar pre-marital course. The Lowdown: Monumentally unfunny and even downright disturbing. Hostel: Part II had more laughs.
Sicko
The Story: Michael Moore takes on the U.S. health care system. The Lowdown: Entertaining, but more sober-minded and subdued than usual, Moore's latest continues to prove he knows how to make documentaries that work.
Could Durham and Asheville be connected?
In a prominent local crime case, a young woman [Mary Elizabeth Judd] was raped and murdered and two young men were held in jail for two years without arraignment, then released. Another young man, already in jail on a rape charge, is supposed to have confessed to the rape and murder. The deputies investigating this […]
Rocking the handmade cradle
It’s hard enough for a craftsperson to sell work to clients concerned about whether the piece goes well with their couch. Standing up against McMansions: These sprightly fellows are a detail of “Evolution,” a work by Black Mountain metal sculptor Julia Burr. It’s even harder when the craftsperson is selling the couch. To help craftspeople […]
Student interns defend pork plant workers
More than two dozen college students staged a “high-tech protest” at the Biltmore Forest Harris-Teeter store on June 9 in support of a boycott of pork produced by Smithfield Packing, whose Tar Heel, N.C., hog slaughterhouse is the largest in the U.S.
Missing guns, drugs and money at Buncombe Sheriff’s Department
A routine audit performed by the Buncombe County Finance Department last December during the transition from outgoing Sheriff Bobby Medford to his successor, Van Duncan, has come up short of cash, weapons and drugs seized during criminal investigations. The Asheville Citizen-Times, which obtained a copy of an internal evidence-room audit report released to the SBI […]
Mr. Brooks
The Story: A serial killer who has kept himself in check for two years is goaded back into action by his alter ego. The Lowdown: Overplotted to the point of insanity, Mr. Brooks starts out as a kind of thinking man's thriller before descending into entertaining nonsense.
Buncombe County Commission
Though the outcome of a second vote on proposed countywide zoning was never in doubt, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners labored over the issue for much of a 3-1/2 hour regular session on May 1. Commissioner Bill Stanley was absent due to a death in his family. At the outset, during the premeeting public […]
Talking Tall
Talking Tall will be shown for one show only on Thursday, May 3, at 9:30 p.m. at Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, 675 Merrimon Avenue.