An overflow crowd spilled out of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners chambers at their meeting last night. The hot-button issue was the proposed siting of a Progress Energy power plant on the old county landfill in Woodfin. The proposed 50-year contract for the project granted use of the land for one dollar per year … Read more
By now, the nighttime roamings of Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower to observe drug dealers – and his staunch criticism of law enforcement’s performance in fighting drugs – are becoming familiar fodder for conversation around town. And while it may be easy to paint a picture of interdepartmental clashes and conflict between city leaders … Read more
I was a teenage trail-hound: Buncombe County Parks & Recreation Services is hosting a “Teen Club for Hiking,” open to teens ages 11 to 15, with the goals of building outdoor skills and adding a pinch of environmental education to young lives. So far, three trips are planned: A March 31 hike to Graveyard Fields, … Read more
Blow hard: A traditional air-and-water “cannon,” ready to make some flakes. photos by Melissa Cain Smith Natural snow is created from the water vapor that hovers around in the atmosphere. Cooling temperatures cause the vapor to condense and form clouds. Dirt and other drifting particles offer a nucleus that water molecules can cohere to. When … Read more
“We’re at the edge of that point where this becomes a reality.” – Council member Jan Davis on marketing city property It was a dark and stormy night … really. A sudden snowstorm Jan. 9 left downtown Asheville’s streets empty, but inside City Hall, Council pressed forward with its scheduled formal session. (Due to a … Read more
Design Science update: Bucky would be proud Last summer, more than 30 people from this area and around the globe hunkered down at UNCA for several days in search of practical ways to enrich education, conserve energy and protect the environment. The exercise, called the Design Science Lab, took problem-solving techniques developed by the famed … Read more
Scheming women never go out of style. Fifty years after playwright Tennessee Williams nabbed a Pulitzer and a Drama Critics Award for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, his tale of a family riven by jealousy, illness, deceit, greed, liquor and sex seems as au courant as last fall’s political smears and nearly as juicy … Read more
Comfortably numb: The Machine If you ask Joe Pascarell, there’s a reason Pink Floyd music is still around today. “I might sound old saying this,” he laughs into his phone from his home in New York. “But, so much of music today is fad and fashion, rather than quality. I think if you go back … Read more
