“When we start criminalizing poverty, we’ve gone too far.” — Council member Terry Bellamy It’s been said that admirers of law and lovers of sausage should watch neither being made. And the March 23 formal session of the Asheville City Council might serve as a case in point. It was well past midnight when the … Read more
The one sure thing in Pinch Cove was water. Even in dry times the rocks glistened. Springs seeped up in the middle of the rutted road that climbed from the valley, crossing and recrossing the stream until they became one track, littered with pumpkin sized rocks. This was Creed’s driveway. Creed McDowell is what outlanders … Read more
Hey, APD: Consider this my outcry I’m sitting in the Buncombe County Detention Facility for the second time in two weeks. Two weeks ago, I was tackled to the ground by an Asheville Police officer and placed inside a paddy wagon with other police-brutality victims. Now, I’m here again [on Friday, March 19], two weeks … Read more
Putting the party in politics A renewed sense of participatory democracy seems to be running loose in our land. Some trace this resurgence to the halted Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election, while others credit the global antiwar movement that coalesced before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The Internet is surely playing a role … Read more
As Michell Hicks gazed out over the audience in a private dining room at Haywood Community College last week, he clearly stood out from the crowd. At age 39, he was a good 10 years younger than most of the other elected officials and bigwigs in attendance at the second meeting of the Regional Assembly … Read more
“The camera is a deterrent to a lot of unnecessary talking that leads to nothing.” — local-government watchdog Jerry Rice Jerry Rice has an unusual collection of videotapes, which he keeps in safe storage somewhere in Western North Carolina. He won’t say where. The roughly 1,100 tapes, accumulated over the past 15 years, record every … Read more
Gearheads are a troublesome sort. I ought to know — I’m one of them. And WNC seems to attract these adventure-based, adrenaline-centered, outdoor-recreation types. Personally, I blame it on the ready availability of year-round paddling, the gazillion miles of single-track and bike-friendly roads, the lifetime’s worth of climbing opportunities. With such riches so near at … Read more
April showers bring May flowers — but only if the soil is friable and well drained and the rain is gentle enough that the soil can soak it up and make it available to growing roots. When the rain comes fast and hard and the soils are compacted or covered with impermeable surfaces, the soils … Read more
It seems only right that a list of recommendations of great short fiction be just that: short. So with a respectful nod, we’ll hop over the Sakis and O. Henrys, the Cheevers and the Weltys, and move to the quick (by which I mean practitioners of the short story) who are still quick (by which … Read more
It’s hard to imagine two more wildly divergent painters than the pair whose work will open Asheville Area Arts Council’s pristine, newly expanded Front Gallery. He’s mature; she’s very young. His resume is crammed with high-profile museum exhibits; hers lists a few student shows. And this stark opposition also extends to their respective paintings. Both … Read more
