Day: March 26, 2008
Askville: Madam president
While Hillary Clinton campaigns to become America’s first female president, Suzanne DeFerie has already made history—becoming the first woman president and CEO of an Asheville-based bank. Suzanne Deferie. Photo by Jonathan Welch Before assuming her new responsibilities at Asheville Savings Bank on Jan. 1, DeFerie, 51, had paid her dues, serving 16 years as executive … Read more
Buncombe County Commissioners
The third time proved to be the charm for proponents of a new Haw Creek park, as the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 at their March 18 meeting to provide $240,000—one-third of the needed funding—to buy the 9-acre site. The park will connect the east Asheville neighborhood to the Blue Ridge Parkway and … Read more
Stand by your man
Judi Bell wasn’t happy about being rousted out of bed at 7:30 a.m. Like most people, she and her boyfriend, Bobby Medford, had a morning routine, and they stuck to it. Three back surgeries and severe back pain meant Bobby was slow to get up and around inside his one-bedroom, upstairs apartment in Weaverville. “Bobby … Read more
CAN/Asheville bring on a new community organizer
Barb Verni-Lau, recently named as the new low-income-community organizer for Asheville Parks and Recreation in tandem with the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods, says her goal is to assist residents in making positive changes in their neighborhoods of their own volition. Making connections: Community Organizer Barb Verni-Lau, at left, with West Asheville resident Pearlie May Dixon. … Read more
The Green Scene
Asheville’s air quality “borderline” under new standard Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to take a hard look at its air-quality standards to verify that they’re strict enough to protect public health. During the latest assessment, announced March 12, the federal agency concluded that its restriction on ground-level ozone—the pollutant that causes … Read more
Here’s what’s cooking
On multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien’s Web-based tour journal, he tells the story of how an equipment malfunction worked to his advantage. The roots musician was playing Glasgow, Scotland’s Celtic Connections Festival with roots-fusion group the Duhks. During an encore that ended with Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” “the batteries on my mandolin preamp died, resulting in one … Read more
Turn the tables
While the DJ has long been accepted as a cultural icon, with turntablism now recognized as an art form unto itself, the actual techniques behind what a DJ does remain widely misunderstood by the public. As Columbus-via-Philadelphia’s RJD2 ascends from the underground hip-hop scene and vies for broader forms of creative expression, he provides a … Read more
The future’s so bright
“It’s a wacky business we’re in, and nobody’s playing straight-up rock ‘n’ roll,” claims Shonna Tucker, bassist and occasional vocalist for the Drive-By Truckers. “It’s like, ‘Get out of your office, go have a drink and go rock out: You’ll feel better.’” Try a little tenderness: The Drive-By Truckers show a softer side on their … Read more
