“Until the professed advocates of affordable housing and assistance for the homeless get off their BUTS and honestly attack these issues, nothing significant will happen.”

“Until the professed advocates of affordable housing and assistance for the homeless get off their BUTS and honestly attack these issues, nothing significant will happen.”
“She rode into town on her white steed. And immediately found this silver serpent slithering slowly through the valley, passing the city and sorely in need.”
“Hopefully, all the dedication, caring, support and love nurtured by the Arthur Edington Center will help these wonderful youngsters survive the racism, crime, drugs and poverty that they encounter almost daily and go on to become professionals, businesspeople and/or social and community workers.”
Xpress readers and writers share their own true tales of adventure — from unexpected encounters with nature to wild career rides and more.
“To be honest, it was those very acts of civil disobedience — the lunch counter sit-ins by dignified young Black people, the reasoned speeches of Martin Luther King and the angry voice of Malcolm X — that gradually opened my eyes.”
“I remember when the old passenger rail depot, now a restaurant, had a segregated waiting room.”
“When governing ourselves, listen to both sides of the argument and take your stand, but remember, efficient government is like walking in a culvert. There is plenty of room on both sides, but the water flows the smoothest in the center.”
“You cannot practice racism and bigotry and still call yourself a ‘patriot.'”
“I could give you a litany of racial injustice incidents that I’ve personally observed over the years.”
“There are some pronounced similarities between World War II and the current pandemic.”
“These efforts are not about forcing people out of their cars or sacrificing traffic efficiency, but better balancing our transportation infrastructure to make Asheville safer for all residents and visitors — including pedestrians and cyclists.”
“Thank God for Jerry Sternberg! Mr. Sternberg, you are a commonsense breath of fresh air in our murky world.”
How did Xpress readers process all the local news and changes this year? Here’s a look at the topics that generated the most commentaries, letters to the editor and online comments in Xpress in 2019.
“Climate change is one of the most ridiculous rallying cries of the left lunatics. This doomsday scenario has been pushed on us for 50 years.”
“I grew up in the depths of the Great Depression, when money seemed to be the driving factor for almost everyone around me, because nobody had any.”
“How despicable to think that a grown woman cannot make her own statement about her interpretation and experience regarding working with President Trump.”
“Creating multi-income, multiuse developments and requiring affordable units in new multifamily developments is a much better way of solving this problem and maybe actually helping some folks along the way.”
“As soon as outraged neighbors show up at municipal meetings screaming and shouting about traffic, quality of life and property values, our elected officials quietly slide down in their chairs and hide their faces behind their computer screens, concealing their shame about discouraging developers, both public and private, from increasing our woefully inadequate housing inventory.”
“The newcomers worshipped at the feet of the Right Rev. Wilma Dykeman, a local deity whose writings took on the prominence and influence of the Holy Grail.”
“Heroic young men and women who’d stepped up to defeat our dreadful enemies returned to us, many arriving at the same train station on Depot Street from which they’d departed.”