The Asheville Police Department’s new online Police Blotter, which publicizes prostitution arrests, has come under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. The Raleigh-based group challenged the practice in a March 6 letter to Assistant City Attorney Curt Euler. “With regard to the posting of arrestees’ names and photos on the police … Read more
A few weeks ago, The New York Times published an article declaring that some runners are actually faster at 60 than at 50 (“Staying a Step Ahead of Aging,” Jan. 31, 2008). My reaction was, “Duh, that’s not surprising.” It’s certainly true in hiking—maybe not faster but certainly longer distances. Better with the years: Carroll … Read more
Looking out across my virgin field these days, I wonder how to have a successful garden in times of drought. The drought garden: The author’s first harvest was rocks. Photo By Margaret Williams Never mind that it has rained a fair amount this winter. According to Dr. Jerad Bales of the U.S. Geological Survey, our … Read more
Baddle royal: Paddlers will again flock to the Green River Narrows near Saluda next month to compete in Jerry’s Baddle, an outdoor event honoring the life of the late Green paddler Jerry Beckwith, who died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2006. The Baddle includes individual and team biathlons that consist of running the treacherous Narrows … Read more
The host with the most: These may be tough times for wildlife, but one Western North Carolina town intends to make life a little easier on our furred, feathered and scaled friends. Weaverville has registered with the National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat project (www.nwf.org/backyard), which has certified more than 85,000 sites nationally—yards, schools, parks, … Read more
This year’s Asheville Artisan Bread Festival—the fourth annual edition—will feature return visits from bread maker extraordinaire Peter Reinhart, local mavens Jen Lapidus and Pierre Lestieux, and Culinary Institute of Charleston’s star instructor Jeffrey Alexander. All four bakers will lead workshops at the daylong festival, scheduled for Saturday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. … Read more
As a community activist and artist, for the last nine months I have been learning in depth about greater-Asheville residents through the Faces of Asheville Photo Documentary Project (www.FacesofAsheville.com). I have listened to the unique stories of what has brought individuals to or kept [them] in this area, making each of us an integral part … Read more
In the cover story about taxidermy [“Practically Alive,” Feb. 13], Bill Fuchs says: “We take dead animals and bring them back to life. And, I mean, there can be nothing—that I know of—more satisfying than that.” Did it ever occur to him to let the animals live and preserve their beauty with a photograph? I … Read more
Please consider my vote for more green space in downtown Asheville—specifically on city-owned property at the intersection of Page and Haywood, right across from [the Basilica of] St. Lawrence and from the Civic Center. How lovely it would be to have a beautiful park where now we have concrete and a tattered parking garage. How … Read more
I was really saddened to read [the recent] blurb about the eviction of Gabriel and Livia Ferrari [“Property Owners Left Out in the Cold,” The Buzz, March 5]. Despite being religious wing nuts, they had a beautiful and interesting house. Now I’m not a libertarian about many things, but property rights is definitely one of … Read more
