New kid in town: Western North Carolina has a new outdoor-sports magazine. Debuting last month, Western North Carolina’s Adventure Outdoors covers hunting, fishing and conservation concerns in this part of the state, with regular profiles of sportsmen and women throughout our region. Adventure Outdoors’ publisher is Joe Street. The magazine is seeking field reporters willing … Read more
It was the plight of the rose-breasted grosbeak that persuaded Laurey Masterson to switch coffee brands. Masterson was one of the many downtown Asheville restaurant owners targeted by Durham’s Counter Culture Coffee in the mid-1990s with its dual message of quality and corporate responsibility. The sales reps’ basic pitch revolved around a simple concept pioneered … Read more
The seeds for the Ashevillage Building Convergence were sown a dozen years ago when a small group of people in Portland, Ore., transformed a run-of-the-mill intersection into an attractive public gathering space. They built an earthen teahouse, planted gardens, erected a kiosk for fliers and poetry, painted a vibrant design on the pavement, threw a … Read more
Firestorm Café & Books, billed as a “worker-owned community event space,” has officially opened at 48 Commerce Ave. in downtown Asheville, adjacent to The Thirsty Monk. The collectively owned coffee shop has already hosted a number of progressive-minded events, but—as of May 24—it’s keeping regular hours: Every day, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition … Read more
Hay hay, my my: Spring rains and adequate soil-moisture levels have permitted the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to wrap up its Emergency Hay Program. The department sold 729 large hay bales and 4,251 small bales to farmers in the region via the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville. With approval from the Council … Read more
Thank you for featuring a story on the plight of chained dogs [“Off Da Chain,” May 28]. However, Dogs Deserve Better does not advocate penning as a solution and rescues penned dogs, some of which are available for adoption. Anti-chaining advocates [are] against any method of tethering, penning or caging for long periods (more than … Read more
Regarding the Parkside condos, City Council and the county commissioners should consider the following: • Selling land donated to the public is bad precedent. • The sale process and vote are both highly suspect. • The folks who put the jail behind the Courthouse still rue that decision. • The UDO process has been tweaked … Read more
I feel compelled to respond to Rusty Sivils’ very aptly titled commentary, “Get Back” [May 28]. In the interest of full disclosure: I am married to a current member of the board of the French Broad Food Co-op, and my only participation other than paying yearly fees was being a worker member for the extra … Read more
What a bunch of backward-thinking, money-grubbing, atavistic nuts we have in our state senate. They may actually pass legislation allowing mo’ bigger heavier trucks on our already crowded highways. They must be hookin’ for votes from the trucking industry—otherwise, how could they possibly think that allowing heavier trucks on our already-compromised transportation infrastructure is a … Read more
