Day: August 15, 2007
Buncombe County Commissioners
It was the kind of meeting that incites longtime Buncombe County Board of Commissioners member Bill Stanley to groan, puff out his cheeks and stare at his watch. The commissioners’ lengthy Aug. 7 agenda included a number of challenges to the county’s recently issued zoning rules. The meeting lasted nearly three hours—standard fare for the … Read more
War Incorporated
War may be hell, but for some North Carolina firms, it can also be mighty profitable. Welcome to the (sewing) machine: Workers at Asheville’s Mills Manufacturing have been serving the military since 1952. photos by Jonathan Welch Consider Buncombe County, which boasts the largest concentration of defense contractors in the western part of the state. … Read more
Fanning the flames
Sonja Korner had crawled out of bed shortly after 3 a.m. for a quick trip to the bathroom when she noticed how light it was outside her Riverview Drive home. It was Aug. 5, and the early sunrise was actually a fire that had engulfed the house across the street—one of a string of new … Read more
Local business owner declares Council candidacy
With a new filing deadline (noon, Aug. 20) for Asheville City Council elections, which reverted to nonpartisan status in the wake of a successful petition drive calling for a referendum on the issue, unaffiliated candidates are joining the race. The latest independent to throw her hat in the ring is local businesswoman Dee Williams. (For … Read more
The Green Scene
Alex Kovalchuk‘s 14th-floor office in the BB&T Building provides a striking view of downtown Asheville and the mountains beyond. But on this particularly hot and hazy August afternoon, smog obscures the scenery. Exhausting work: TransEco Energy technicians Nikolay Degtyarev, at left, and Oleg Andronov work on a van that has been converted to run on … Read more
Duncan refuses to release flag investigation results
Invoking state public-records law, Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, refused to release the results of an internal investigation into the July 25 arrest of activists Deborah and Mark Kuhn on flag-desecration charges. But Hugh Stevens, counsel for the North Carolina Press Association, has sharply disagreed with Duncan’s interpretation of the law. The Kuhns, meanwhile, are … Read more
Requiem for a motel sign
A dubious beacon for years, the Interstate Motel sign is now gone from Asheville’s skyline. But developer Tony Cecil says the sign will live on in a new form. Signing off: The Interstate Motel sign, long a fixture next to I-240, has been taken down. But parts of it will have a future yet … … Read more
Spheres of influence
Their names alone tell a tale: Spacearium, Cinerama 360, Moon Dome, Astrovision, Atmospherium. In the square center of the last century, when America’s collective aspiration was turned heavenward, the entertainment industry helped nurture it with the dome theater. The workings of the night sky may have been one of humankind’s oldest obsessions, but it took … Read more
