When the city goofs: Newly planted trees fill in for a mature woods that once screened the Campus Crest development from nearby residences — woods that were cut down because, as Planning Director Scott Shuford put it, he didn’t do “a very good job of communicating that.” photo by Cecil Bothwell. In a sense, Asheville’s … Read more
What to wear to the Stonewall Pride March (as seen on Sunday, July 2) • Who they are: Pork Chop (left) and Lobco • What they’re wearing: On Lobco, a blue cotton dress made by her grandmother with a patch-pocket she added, argyle socks and black boots; on Pork Chop, an outfit Lobco created — … Read more
I have been a gambler ever since I was old enough to pitch pennies against a wall. I consider myself a reasonably sophisticated gambler, and I have enjoyed many a game of chance over the years, but believe me, I never considered giving up my day job. Why don’t Asheville and Buncombe County go to … Read more
Any fund-raiser worth their salt will tell you that it’s a whole lot easier to get somebody to donate money for a building than for an idea. And when it comes to doling out your tax dollars, a similar phenomenon seems to be at work. (Someone cleverer than I once dubbed it an “edifice complex.”) … Read more
Listen up, musicians I moved here from Memphis with my band five years ago because I saw Asheville as an inspiring place with a receptive audience and a more nurturing music scene than many cities. That has not changed. Just look at newspaper listings of music venues in towns of comparable size, like Bristol or … Read more
Taking the Civic Center debate online Taking advantage of the newest version of civic discourse, longtime Asheville Civic Center monitor David Bailey has launched a personal Web site focused on the future — in both form and function — of this heavily studied local icon. Bailey’s homegrown “Asheville’s Controversial Civic Center,” at www.civiccentercontroversy.com, entered the … Read more
When the patent-medicine magnate E.W. Grove laid out his Grove Park subdivision at the foot of Asheville’s Sunset Mountain in 1916, he carved 5-foot-wide paths — “rights of way” is the legal term — between several of the lots. Over the years those paths were treated more or less indifferently: seldom maintained, occasionally destroyed. The … Read more
Fight buyer’s remorse: On Tuesdays through August 29, Diamond Brand Outdoors is hosting paddling-craft demonstrations at Lake Julian in Skyland. Paddlers of all experience levels are welcome to try their hand at a variety of whitewater and flatwater boats. The sessions go from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. They are free, but pre-registration is required — … Read more
Crossing over: Ultra-runner Anne Riddle Lundblad does her thing at the Springmaid Splash 10K in Spruce Pine. photo by Lolita Buchanan Anne Riddle Lundblad is one of the most successful ultrarunners in the country. For the past 13 years she has lived and trained in the Asheville area. Lundblad’s specialty is the 100 kilometer, a … Read more
Plants that can tough out the hottest hot and the driest dry are the best. I admire them for their tenacity and ability to stand up to the elements, showing us that even plants of the hot-dry-tough type can be beautiful. During the early part of June, when temperatures soared and the skies were cloudless, … Read more
