“Collie Payne and Steer, Berry,” 1800 x 1514, Tim Barnwell. John Dickson is consumed by two passions: his native Western North Carolina mountains and photography. As president of Asheville Savings Bank, he’s found a way to generously share his interests with the community. Before the restoration of the bank’s downtown location, a project which in … Read more
Ass-piring to greatness: For her current book launch, advancing The Sweet Potato Queens’ 1st Big-Ass Novel, Jill Conner Browne was given her own tour bus. Butt of course. “Inwardly I’m Reba McEntire,” confesses Jill Conner Browne, better known as the Sweet Potato Queen. “For me, my earliest vision was to be 5’2″ with little feet. … Read more
Portrait of the artist as a workaholic: More than a half century of touring isn’t enough for Ralph Stanley. If someone had a hankering to carve the visages of bluegrass legends onto a towering Appalachian rock face, a la Mount Rushmore, Ralph Stanley’s wizened mug would undoubtedly be a candidate for inclusion. A native of … Read more
Reader Predictions for 2007 Last week, to get people in just the right cynical mood for the coming months, we published a collection of sarcastic predictions for the new year. On something of a whim, we also posted a call on our blogs (www.mountainx.com/blogs) for 2007 predictions. Many readers responded, and given that it’s otherwise … Read more
In the summer of 2004 the Asheville Civic Center Commission found itself at a crossroads. A facility that was bringing more than 300,000 people downtown every year was being allowed to deteriorate right before our eyes. And although commission members spoke with city, county and state officials as well as local business organizations about the … Read more
Braking suggestions Thank you for this timely article [“Braking News,” Jan. 3]. The style of non-attentive (negligent/reckless) driving detailed in the Tamiko Murray column is becoming more and more prevalent. The following information may be of some use to the residents on Ms. Murray’s street, as well as to DeVonte — the injured child victimized … Read more
Marcus Robinson is scheduled to die in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 26. If the 32-year-old is killed that day, he’ll become the youngest person executed in North Carolina since 1977, when a 10-year U.S. Supreme Court-mandated moratorium ended. Robinson’s case involves most of the issues that have fueled a nationwide moratorium movement in recent … Read more
Chef Ann Cooper, the self-billed “renegade lunch lady,” makes two appearances in Asheville this week. Cooper’s manifesto, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way we Feed our Children (HarperCollins, 2006), calls for schools to serve nutritious, local foods — and for public-policy changes to support the move. Then, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, Cooper will … Read more
Skate fashion is not a crime If you’ve passed by Push Skate Shop (25 Patton Ave., 225-5509) and figured that anyone over age 18 would burst into flames if they set foot in the store, you’re missing out. Yeah, the boutique is filled with junior-high kids checking out the specially made skateboards, but there’s also … Read more
A billion dollars’ worth of protected land The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is working to put a conservation easement on Hickory Nut Gap Farm. courtesy SAHC Farmers, land conservationists, public officials and area residents crowded into A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium Jan. 4 to comment on a plan that would allocate an additional $1 billion in … Read more
