A growing movement toward citizen oversight has emerged in Asheville that could foreshadow a significant change in enforcement of Asheville’s development regulations. Increasingly, activist groups are tackling development along the Merrimon Avenue and Haywood Road corridors, where road traffic is being matched by burgeoning e-mail traffic within neighborhood organizations such as the Montford and Five … Read more
Green realtors Last September, the Asheville Board of Realtors announced a new program for environmentally conscious members. By completing 36 hours of classes on how to advise clients on environmental issues, realtors can earn an Environmental Consultant Certification, known as an ECO. The courses cover a range of environmental topics, such as green building, indoor … Read more
Being over 30 means you’ve had plenty of time to figure out what you want to wear down the aisle (or to the courthouse or oceanside or wherever you say your vows). It also means you’ve developed your own style, your own tastes, and your own ideas about what getting hitched means. Here, three fashion … Read more
Flavor: JapaneseAmbiance: Soothing, well-decoratedService: Good Seeking some fresh flavors, I packed my Picky Companion into the car and headed south to the Brevard area. Our destination was Sora, a new Japanese restaurant in a somewhat unlikely location – a strip mall flanking a Wal-Mart. If you can ignore the strip-mall environment, the exterior of the … Read more
CD reviews The Greasy Beans , Busted (Double Ought): Four Stars • Genre(s): Bluegrass • You’ll like it if: You incorporate “high and lonesome” and “skin it back” into your everyday vernacular. • Defining song: “Truly True”—An updated version of a picker done wrong. Bluegrass is my friend by default. Throughout my life – via … Read more
Layer it on • Who he is: Michael Boyko • What he’s wearing: A 3/4-length corduroy coat from H&M (“It’s from the ladies’ section,” he reveals), a rust-colored V-neck (a Christmas gift from his mom) over a black button down, and another layer of cord — a three-button blazer he received as a gift from … Read more
The very same day that President Bush, in his State of the Union address, told us we are addicted to oil, North Carolina’s attorney general sued the Tennessee Valley Authority in U.S. District Court in Asheville, alleging that TVA is creating a “common-law public nuisance.” But there’s more to this tale than spin and political … Read more
From mountains to Mammon As reported in this paper [Buzzworm: “Madison Developments,” Feb. 1], the Madison County Planning Board voted Jan. 24 to recommend the rezoning of several hundred acres in Laurel Valley, on three tracts owned by B & E Ventures, changing their designation from residential/agricultural to resort/residential and commercial/residential. Two hundred residents crammed … Read more
The WNC Regional Air Quality Agency board is stacked with business-friendly appointees who are preventing the agency from protecting the public interest, former staffer Melanie Pitrolo told the Buncombe County commissioners during their Feb. 7 formal session. It wasn’t the first time that the public-comment period — which isn’t broadcast on the government channel — … Read more
How soon they grow up. Over the last decade, the Mountain Area Information Network has transformed itself from a handful of media activists meeting at the local library into a technological and political entity with regional and even national reach. On Feb. 22, MAIN will celebrate 10 years of Internet activity and activism, including the … Read more
