Don’t expect “Kumbaya” around this campfire About 100 environmental activists from throughout the region are expected to flock to a “secluded location” near Asheville Aug. 8-14 to take part in the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action. Across generations and geographical boundaries, the weeklong event will bring together activists who’ve campaigned against coal and nuclear power, … Read more
Penny Briggs’ parents have been disabled since before she was born. Her mother gets around with a motorized scooter and her father relies on a wheelchair. Accordingly, the family uses a van with a lift to get around, and sometimes when they go out, they find handicapped-parking spaces taken by vehicles that aren’t displaying the … Read more
In her four years on Asheville City Council and almost two years as mayor, it has become commonplace to see Terry Bellamy remove herself from Council meetings when the discussions and votes involve affordable housing. As marketing manager for Mountain Housing Opportunities—a local nonprofit that is inextricable from any discussion of affordable housing in Asheville—her … Read more
Some might say the campaigning never stopped, but the next round of events for the 2007 municipal elections is now officially in first gear and pointed towards the Sept. 11 primary. (Provided, of course, that the primary date is not changed due to the outcome of the Asheville petition-for-referendum drive.) Seats are open in Asheville … Read more
For all the chatter about clean energy, the amount of electricity generated by renewable resources in North Carolina boils down to just about 5 percent, and most of that is hydro. Senate Bill 3, proposed energy legislation that won overwhelming support in the state Senate last week and was under review by the House at … Read more
On the Internet last week, an ominous voice taunted Asheville’s bottom-up campaign to bring about a referendum on the matter of partisan elections. Sabotage?: Blogger “Green Wizard” claimed to have forged numerous signatures on the Let Asheville Vote petition in an effort to derail the referendum drive. “I read with glee the failure of the … Read more
The oldest-time mountain man I’ve known in my decades hereabouts was Joe Gilliam, down in Broad River Township. One time I was telling him about my hike to a jumbled rocky promontory known as The Pinnacles, down where Buncombe and Henderson and Rutherford counties all tangle in sort of a no-man’s—or, more to the point—no-tax-assessor’s … Read more
What does it mean to be the “World’s Greatest Party Band” (even if self-proclaimed) in an age when the term “party” is increasingly linked to terms like “green,” “people’s” and “for the planet”? “Love Shack” at Biltmore Estate: Surreal enough, even for Fred Schneider. For the B-52’s, holder of said title, it means that more … Read more
There’s an unattributed quote written in mosaic at the end of my sidewalk that reads: “To be an artist is never to avert your eyes.” Detail from “Power Down,” mixed media, by Thomas Mann. It’s been a long time now since we watched while the citizens of one of the world’s most uniquely beautiful cities … Read more
The weight of the world fell on Melora Creager all at once. Weight of the world: Rasputina’s Melora Creager troubles herself about the heavy stuff on her new album. “Like all in one day,” says the leader and principal cellist of Brooklyn chamber-rock band Rasputina. She found out “that September 11th was kind of screwy; … Read more
