Imagine, if you will, the plaintive, lonesome wail of a train whistle in the far distance as the splendid, graceful beast of a machine cuts its way through a ruggedly lovely mountain gorge. Imagine the faint luminescence that finally becomes a full-on blaze of headlights as a night train whooshes through your placid hometown on … Read more
A farmed valley, vast under the fanning rays of a setting sun. A cottage, petite and cunning, set beside a singing brook. Cliffs and gulls; the stray grassy knoll and placid cow. At best, the words “landscape painting” can conjure images of such bucolic vistas — a sort of pastorale cum Rousseau — casting in … Read more
“The first time I saw The Fantasticks, it was [because] one of my friends called me up and said, ‘This is one of the best plays I’ve ever seen in my life. It has the whole meaning of life in it,’” recalls Bill Dreyer of his initial encounter with the world’s longest-running musical. Asheville Community … Read more
The name Old World may be ethnocentric, but it’s accurate. Across the Atlantic, modern gun emplacements keep watch over the English Channel from Dover Castle’s massive, 1,000-year-old walls. In France and Italy, people drive snazzy sports cars over cobblestones laid down by the Romans in the age of Augustus. And in 1000 B.C., when Solomon … Read more
When almost no one shows up for your party, someone’s got to pat you on the shoulder and say, “Don’t feel so bad.” That’s what residents told Asheville City Council members on March 31. Council hosted its first community meeting of 1998 that evening, at the city’s Public Works Building in central Asheville. Problem was, … Read more
The state agency charged with monitoring air quality in 96 of North Carolina’s 100 counties recently lifted its moratorium on new asphalt plants — over the objections of many Buncombe and Wautaga County residents. The policy reversal was made in an underhanded way, without public comment, complained Asheville resident Hazel Fobes, addressing the Buncombe County … Read more
Fund for Investigative Reporting Used to be, you could bite into an apple and your biggest worry might be finding a worm in it. Today, growing numbers of consumers seem more worried about not finding one. Concerns about agribusiness practices and chemicals have fueled a boom in organic food, turning it from grassroots fringe phenomenon … Read more
A few key concerns top nearly everybody’s list of gripes about the proposed rules: genetic engineering, irradiation, and sewage sludge, which critics say run counter to the whole spirit of organics. Right now, the rules neither prohibit nor allow these practices to be used on food labeled “organic.” And USDA officials stress that they’re not … Read more
Perhaps the easiest way to comment on the proposed regs is to visit the French Broad Food Co-op’s info station and pick up a free packet containing hints on how to comment, a sample letter, a summary of key sections in the regs, a comment form — and even a postage stamp! They also have … Read more
Easter goes to the dogs Watch Spot hop like a bunny and root out eggs at a Canine Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 11 at the Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic, 702 Riverside Drive in Asheville. The event starts at noon, and the best hunters will win Easter baskets filled with doggie treats. Other activities … Read more
