Oh, the places they’ll go

At the outset of the Asheville City Council’s June 24 meeting, Mayor Terry Bellamy and Council members formally recognized the 29 graduates of the city’s 10-week Citizens Academy. Lawrence Waller, a rising ninth-grader who completed the course with his mother as part of his home-schooling education, delivered an address that would rival any high-school valedictorian’s. […]

Nuts and bolts

“We’ll freely admit we don’t know everything. And if something new comes out, we have to be ready, because we’re going to see it in Asheville—that’s the kind of builders we have here.” So said Building Safety Director Robert Griffin on June 12, seeking to give his listeners a snapshot of the challenges his department […]

Xpress enrolls in Citizen’s Academy (and you get the cheat sheet)

“Either you love us or you hate us,” joked Lauren Bradley, “But nonetheless, you’re here because you care.” Bradley, assistant to Asheville’s city manager, was addressing a group of some 30 Asheville residents who had turned out for the first session of Citizen’s Academy, a workshop series that’s meant to give residents an up-close look […]