NCMatters: Sunshine and livermush

While the all-important $19.7 billion state budget labored its way through the General Assembly en route to Gov. Bev Perdue’s historic June 12 veto (the first time a North Carolina governor has ever rejected a budget), legislators also pushed a number of other bills along the Statehouse corridors toward the June 9 crossover deadline (after […]

The candidates speak: Video of the League of Women Voters Forum ***UPDATED­***

LWVF
The League of Women Voters just celebrated its 90th birthday, and here in Asheville, celebrating means doing what they always do at election time: host a candidate forum. On Tuesday, Oct. 12, that’s just what happened. This post contains video of the entire forum and Twitter dispatches from Xpress staffers Jake Frankel and Michael Muller.

Males, war and PTSD

Our VOINCAs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, another threat is growing here at home. And though it’s invisible, it has the same potential to spawn abuse, maiming and death. This threat targets the families and loved ones of untreated or poorly treated soldiers suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and other emotional conditions […]

State of emergency

Asheville wants to end homelessness, right? That’s a noble cause, and I support the good intentions behind this effort. But if Asheville is ever going to achieve this lofty goal, we need to be honest about a few things first. 1) There’s a segment of Asheville’s homeless population that chooses it as a “lifestyle.” Take […]

Fanfare for the common man

“A vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.” You may have heard that expression describing the position of North Carolina and its relationship to Virginia and South Carolina. You may even have heard some North Carolinians claiming this “valley of humility” as something we should be very proud of. And maybe we should be. […]