T.C. Roberson High School plans to continue its drug-testing program for a second year. So far, however, no other Buncombe County school is following suit. Roberson implemented a pilot program last year that randomly tested students involved in extracurricular activities. Constitutional issues prohibit mandatory testing of the entire student body, because they are required by … Read more
Around 10 p.m., the lights in the Asheville Civic Center arena darkened, and the somber strains of Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra”—the theme from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001—filled the air. The music was appropriately momentous, because the long-waited date of July 22, 1975, had arrived. A bona fide superstar was about to rock the then-new arena … Read more
Skeletons in the jukebox “Skeletons” provides a forum for local musicians, artists, record-store owners, etc., to erase cool points by expressing their unseemly affection for an unhip album from their past. “Come On Eileen,” by Martin Anderson, Music Director of WNCW “‘Come On Eileen,’ from Dexy’s Midnight Runners in 1982, was my first favorite song. … Read more
“Snobbishness helps no one,” announces National Public Radio commentator/concert violist Miles Hoffman during a recent phone chat with Xpress. He goes on to reveal that the two words he’s most stringently avoided in his 16 years on air are: “of course.” As in: “The Marriage of Figaro was one of Mozart’s most famous operas, of … Read more
“Place Your Illogical Hand,” by Gabriel Shaffer Gabriel Shaffer isn’t cranking out serene watercolors, cuddly critters or rosy-hued commissioned portraits. Still, do Close Encounters-style faces and gangly, disproportionate limbs a rebellious folk artist make? Not quite. Bold assertions in his artist’s statement to the contrary, “I don’t consider myself an outsider artist,” Shaffer recently confessed … Read more
Flavor: Authentic IndianAmbiance: Pleasant, fairly quietService: Very nice For me, at least, Indian food in Asheville is making something of a comeback. Frightened away by some questionable meals at a now-defunct local Indian restaurant, I had decided to reserve any of my admittedly infrequent forays into the world of Indian cuisine for visits to larger … Read more
Pizza! Pizza!: It seems that West Asheville is now in less need of what had seemed glaringly sparse — pizza. The second independent pizza company to open there in 2005, Digable Pizza offers artisan pizzas, salads with Annie’s Dressings, wings and even empanadas with freshly made salsa. Digable has a beer and wine license, too, … Read more
When I first met her, we were on no uncertain terms — comfrey was not my friend. I was a first-year student at The Evergreen State College in Washington state, and I was determined to have a garden. I biked down to the community garden and found my plot. It was buried in a sea … Read more
Opponents of the state Department of Transportation’s plan to expand the Interstate 26 connector to eight lanes through West Asheville have long argued that a less invasive six-lane road could handle the anticipated traffic — both now and in the future. And at the Asheville City Council’s July 19 work session, city Traffic Engineer Anthony … Read more
