Of note PHS no more? Boone-based garage-rock duo The Port Huron Statement are now on an indefinite hiatus. Front man Chip Taylor is relocating to Raleigh, and the future of the project looks hazy. The group’s second album, Tory, was released this year. For more information, visit www.porthuronstatement.com. Local vocals We sit on the floor … Read more
Devised a mere generation ago, Kwanzaa is sometimes dismissed as a made-up holiday. But YMI Cultural Center officials discount that indictment. For them, Kwanzaa is less a “new” version of Christmas than an ancient community festival that’s been revamped in the here and now. Asheville will honor African-American heritage and values this week, celebrating Kwanzaa’s … Read more
Hybrid wolves need loving assistance Late one night, Nancy Brown received a very disturbing phone call. “A guy told me his neighbors had a four-month-old wolf puppy that they had beaten and almost starved to death. He wanted $100 to get the dog from that situation and to safety,” she recalls. “I call her Annie. … Read more
Work sessions are typically opportunities to discuss and weigh issues before voting on them at the next formal session. But the Asheville City Council’s Dec. 17 work session proved to be the group’s last meeting of the year (the next two Tuesdays being Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve), and some items on the table … Read more
My first solo excursion into Chinatown was in San Francisco. It was a dizzying adventure marked by sidewalk stalls hawking everything from velvet slippers and porcelain tea sets to dim sum and plucked chickens hung up by their feet. At that point, my only trips “abroad” had been to Canada, but I knew without a … Read more
No matter what kind of flag you’re flying these days, the Xpress Community Calendar offers a 12-day window of events that has opportunity written all over it. For nearly nine years, WNC residents have counted on our calendar to help them keep abreast of local happenings, volunteer opportunities, classes, workshops and much, much more. Sure, … Read more
Facing the specter of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declaring Asheville and environs a “nonattainment” area in terms of meeting federal air-quality standards, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has unanimously agreed to endorse a regional compact to avoid having the federal government impose a plan for reducing ozone pollution. At the board’s Dec. 17 … Read more
So it’s come to this: I’m walking on the sidewalk near Pritchard Park when a man in a wheelchair rolls up and starts serenading me with an a capella ballad about life on the streets. Part rap and part ditty, the song’s clever lyrics touch on a wide range of social issues, including Asheville’s new … Read more
The Cold War never ended; it merely took a 10-year break. During those years, we cultivated our xenophobia, subconsciously trading fact for fantasy. America, it seems, moves ever more rapidly in two opposite directions: isolationism and imperialism. And without that scary Soviet foil, what a menace we’ve become! Even during the mid-20th century, American foreign … Read more
