The current $4.3 million Reid Center renovation is the fruit of an ambitious alliance of local nonprofits and agencies. Once earmarked for demolition, the historic structure has played a major role in Asheville’s historically African-American Southside neighborhood since the 1920s, serving as a school for decades before becoming a community center. But bricks, mortar and […]
Asheville City School buses roll out on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The police department asks that motorists take extra precautions and review the safety rules. 
In today’s RiverLink-sponsored event, the Xpress flotilla fires the first water balloon at the judges.
Downtown Asheville was a profoundly different place back in 1987, when the Asheville Downtown Association was launched. Many of today's landmark buildings were shuttered or hidden behind aluminum façades, and there was very little nightlife. Asheville's now thriving culinary, artistic and cultural scenes were in their infancy. “When they started the ADA, it was because […]
A worker sprays soap on the front of the historic S&W building — a location of much food debate and speculation over the past year. (Photo by BIll Rhodes)
The Biltmore Coffee Co. opened on Aug.1 at 1 N. Pack Square, on the ground floor of the I.M. Pei-designed building that houses Biltmore’s corporate offices and Merrill Lynch. “What makes us unique is everyone here worked at the Biltmore Estate,” says Clorietha Fenton, the café‘s general manager. “We brought our quality and our standards and our hospitality to downtown Asheville.” (Pictured, left to right: Cloreitha Fenton and Robert Bickford, manager.) Photo by Megan Dombroski
On July 31, Asheville City Council members asked staff to draft a referendum that lets residents vote on a possible transfer of the city water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County. But according to Buncombe County Rep. Tim Moffitt, who chaired a state legislative study commission on the matter, he does not need a referendum to know the where folks in the City of Asheville stand on this issue. (photo by Max Cooper)
On May 4, 2011, freshman state Rep. Tim Moffitt of Buncombe County filed a brief bill calling for the transfer of Asheville’s water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District. Although the bill didn’t mention the city by name, its language pointed directly to Asheville and Buncombe County. The move sparked a firestorm of protest — […]
Editor’s note: This article resulted from reporter David Forbes’ five-month investigation. During that time, he tried various means to get Sitel’s side of the story, including dozens of phone calls to different divisions of the company. At press time, Sitel still had not responded in any way; lacking that input, Xpress resorted to culling whatever […]
On May 4, 2011, freshman state Rep. Tim Moffitt of Buncombe County filed a brief bill calling for the transfer of Asheville’s water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District. Although the bill didn’t mention the city by name, its language pointed directly to Asheville and Buncombe County. The move sparked a firestorm of protest — […]
The area that sits in the foreground of the Basilica of St. Lawrence and the U.S. Cellular Center (the renamed Civic Center) offers a rare opportunity (see “City Will Bring Forward Offers on Haywood St. Properties in March,” Feb. 21, 2012 Xpress). Representing a unique civic/religious convergence in downtown Asheville, this urban canvas, which includes […]
Thank you, thank you for keeping a frequent visitor of Asheville in the know. I'm not a "tourist." Even though I don't live in Asheville, I visit frequently enough that this feels like my second home. So, the first thing (OK, maybe the second thing, after I get my hands on a chicken sandwich from […]
One recent Sunday afternoon, dance music pulsed from Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. The event: Zumba in the Park, a two-hour, jump-on-in event staged by The Asheville Breast Center and aimed at raising awareness about early detection and the link between staying active and preventing the disease. Many participants wore pink — the acknowledged breast-cancer-awareness […]
Gov. Bev Perdue says she will neither sign nor veto state legislation that would allow the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County to also operate as a water authority, and changing the MSD board’s representation formula. That sets the changes on their way to becoming law.
The Downtown Asheville Resident Neighbors will repair the fountains in Pritchard Park, starting next week. This duo played cards on the rocks where the improved fountain will be installed. (Photo by Bill Rhodes)
New Belgium Brewing Co. and Asheville officials unveiled transformative plans for the company’s site on Craven Street and the surrounding area, such as a new streetscape, greenway, bike lanes, sidewalks and entertainment pavilion.
Come Aug. 26, Boca’s chef Stewart Lyon will leave the kitchen he has worked in for almost two years for a chance to expand his culinary skills in new kitchens in New York City.
James MacKenzie, a 34-year-old Spruce Pine native, has long been a big fan of author Thomas Wolfe, history and mysteries — so the unsolved 1998 arson at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville seems a natural obsession for him.
Friday, July 27 Black Mountain Ale House: Chris Williams (soul, rock, reggae), 9 p.m. Blue Mountain Pizza Cafe: Acoustic Swing, 7-9 p.m. The Dugout: Johnnie Blackwell & Six Toed Possum Babies, 9 p.m. Elaine's Dueling Piano Bar: Disclaimer Comedy (standup) w/ Chelcie Rice, 8:15-9:15 p.m. — Dueling Pianos (rock 'n' roll sing-a-long), 9:30 p.m.-1 a.m. […]
Asheville-based National Climatic Data Center climatologist Anthony Arguez is one of several winners of the 2011 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Among these colorful folks were a couple of shirtless guys wearing bandannas over their faces. One of them quickly sought me out to tell me that I couldn’t take his picture. Those were his words, exactly: “You can’t take my picture.”
