Blue taffeta to the floor. Mint green, empire waist, tea length. Pink bows, pink ribbing, prairie style — though even Laura Ingalls wouldn’t wear this one. All told, there are eight expensive, unbearable bridesmaid dresses — worn once each — hanging in my closet. On the shelf are eight pairs of shoes dyed to match. … Read more
Tucked away in a pass beneath the shadow of a great serpentine mountain range, a group of Asian acrobats demonstrates an uncannily difficult folk art for an awed audience. Since the eighth century, people have come from far and wide to witness this spectacle. This month, though, you won’t find The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats … Read more
Colors of the Mountain is a remarkable book. And Da Chen is an equally remarkable man. His memoir reveals a childhood few of us can imagine. Chen grew up in Chairman Mao’s communist China, the descendant of a once-prosperous landlord — a lineage ensuring the author an immediate position as a perceived enemy of the … Read more
“I will listen for his flute in the voice of the wind.” — Ken Light, flutemaker It is said that when white settlers came upon Cherokee villages, they heard hundreds of people playing flutes. Flutemakers — who gave voice to the spirit of the trees from which they carved their flutes, and to the wind … Read more
The board giveth, and the board taketh away — or at least withholdeth some. That’s essentially what the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners did at their Jan. 16 meeting, as members considered several weighty topics. The issue that generated the most controversy was the commissioners’ decision to authorize the purchase of property on South Lexington … Read more
Council protests downtown jail It was hurry up and protest — in a polite way — at City Hall on Jan. 16. At 3:30 p.m., Mayor Leni Sitnick received Council’s unanimous endorsement of her letter asking Buncombe County commissioners to delay the purchase of downtown property for a new work-release, minimum-security facility. By 4 p.m., … Read more
If you stroll down South Lexington Avenue, you might overlook the blockish white building that’s generating a storm of controversy over Asheville’s growth. The building squats on part of a pie-shaped chunk of land bounded by South Lexington, Hilliard and Church streets, just around the corner from lively Biltmore Avenue’s downtown scene. The structure is … Read more
Buncombe County officials say their search for additional jail space is driven by a growing inmate population. And one of the biggest factors leading to an increasing jail population is the rising number of women offenders, notes County Planner Cynthia Barcklow. “That’s the biggest problem right now,” maintains Barcklow. Of the 356 beds currently available … Read more
A new study by Demographics Daily, an on-line publication of American City Business Journals, ranks the Asheville metropolitan area — composed of Buncombe and Madison counties — 26th in the U.S. in terms of small-business vitality. The Asheville metro area scored an overall small-business-vitality index of 138 (100 represents the national average). Defining small businesses … Read more
