Humor and religion are two things people rarely associate with each other. They sample the latter as an intermittent opiate — something to assuage the insecurities of day-to-day living — or else elevate it to a life-or-death matter. Either way, it’s not very funny. But Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade — authors of the wildly … Read more
When Lillian Hellman sat down to write her first play 65 years ago, she surely had no idea that her virgin effort would land her squarely in the bright, hot spotlight. But The Children’s Hour is as bitingly fresh today as it was in 1934. Hellman’s dramas are legendary for stripping away the various disguises … Read more
How to know God? For humankind, this fundamental question can also be one of the most perplexing — if not the most daunting — tasks of our oh-so-earthly existence. But renowned physician, author, theologian and alternative-medicine exponent par excellence Deepak Chopra offers a road map for that very quest in his new book, How to … Read more
Those who’ve not taken time to listen closely to Lyle Lovett’s music peg him “quirky” for all the wrong reasons — the superficial ones. There’s his hair: think Seinfeld’s Kramer with an edge. Then there are his acting forays — like his role as the suspiciously but harmlessly bizarre baker in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, … Read more
Just when it seemed that the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency was becoming a more active and effective force for local pollution control, the Haywood County commissioners abruptly pulled the rug out from under the APCA on Friday, Feb. 25, voting unanimously to withdraw from the agency. The unexpected action ended a 30-year partnership involving … Read more
What’s a true food cooperative — a place to buy natural foods and organically grown produce at reasonable prices? An empowering, humane place to work and find community? Or, maybe, a little bit of both? The management, staff and member/owners of Asheville’s French Broad Food Co-op are locked in a thorny philosophical debate as they … Read more
Maurice Washington’s brother-in-law was gunned down, caught in a drug dealers’ crossfire, while walking outside the Shiloh Community Center five years ago. And Washington says drug pushers are still terrorizing that traditionally black neighborhood. He wants to know what city officials are doing about it. That still-burgeoning drug problem was the chief concern aired by … Read more
Come on, ‘fess up — you’ve done this at least once during your life in Asheville: Desperate for a parking space within 10 feet of your favorite coffee shop, you casually flip on your hazard lights, pull into a 30-minute loading zone — and leave your car there for hours. Or maybe you and your … Read more
For several years, the “No Dumping! Flows To River” curb markers meant for Asheville storm drains languished in a box at the Land-of-Sky Regional Council. The oval-shaped plaques had been purchased especially for city drains back in 1997 as part of a statewide incentive to educate people about the dangers of dumping oil, paint thinner … Read more
One man’s trash… With all the enthusiastic recyclers in our area, it should come as no surprise that Asheville will soon host the Carolina Recycling Association’s 10th annual Shoot for the Stars Conference and Trade Show. The regional association, said to be the largest state-based recycling organization in the country, bills the conference as the … Read more
