The people have spoken. And now that the I-26 Community Design Forum has come and gone, this question remains: What will the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration do with what they’ve heard? An estimated 450 folks filed through the doors of the Renaissance Hotel ballroom during the design forum, bounceing … Read more
Quote of the month Often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to … Read more
“‘Am I growing spiritually’? … Ask your family.” –Edgar Cayce “Guru” is a Sanskrit word meaning “teacher.” And true book lovers know that, as acts of creation, books are slivers of the divine. For many spiritual seekers, listening to audio books is a way to expand their spiritual horizons conveniently and inexpensively — and, most … Read more
Mike iLL spent much of the ’90s playing a hybrid of hip-hop and hard rock. In many ways, his early stuff is as different from what he does now as Shakespeare is from Survivor. You see, iLL is a member of the changeling tribe that traces its roots to the coffeehouse stages of New York, … Read more
It’s about the music and dancing, of course: Toes tapping, fingers plucking, bows whizzing. The rustle of bouncing crinolines and the sweet stickiness of rhythmic sweat. A high note held so long and so true that the audience screams in appreciation. But it’s even more than that. During its three-night stay in Asheville, the Mountain … Read more
Imagine, if you will, an alternate dimension — one where, at a boozy recording-industry party somewhere in Beverly Hills, Iggy Pop and Johnny Cash are engaged in an ill-advised tryst in their host’s bedroom. Nine months later, one of them (it doesn’t really matter which one, at this point) births a set of triplets. True … Read more
The mysterious Ark Foundation has won round two in its quest to open a resort and spa called The Laurels in Madison County. Madison County commissioners voted unanimously last monthrezoningr Laurel community from residential to resort/residential, following a contentious public hearing that spanned two meetings. The commissioners’ action came after the county’s Planning Board had … Read more
Tone of voice matters. A July 20 letter to the Buncombe County Commissioners from the Asheville Humane Society (formerly Friends for Animals) was presented as a tactful request for improved communication. But the letter provoked renewed criticism by AHS/FFA critics who attended the Board of Commissioners’ July 25 meeting. AHS Vice President Jim Lee, who … Read more
At an astonishingly short July 25 meeting, Asheville City Council took less than hour to delay consideration of a proposed Wal-Mart superstore and hold two public hearings on conditional-use permits. At the recommendation of Senior Planner Gerald Green, Council members indefinitely postponed their public hearing on the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, to be built on the … Read more
Tetrachloroethene is a volatile, colorless and sweet-smelling chemical — what environmental engineers call a “sinker,” meaning it sinks more deeply into the soil than most contaminants and is extremely difficult to clean up. The Centers for Disease Control considers it a probable carcinogen and says breathing, drinking or touching it for long periods of time … Read more
