Day: June 24, 2009
Drop by drop
Oscar Wong sent all of it down the drain. All 6,000 gallons of it. Every drop — 193-1/2 barrels, or 375 pint glasses — of perfectly decent beer flushed away. It was 1994, and the fledgling Highland Brewing Co. was struggling to stay alive in the cramped, dank basement below Barley's Tap Room on Biltmore … Read more
Buncombe Commissioners: No relief?
Waste-management fee raised Calls for social services increase On the agenda for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners' June 16 meeting, the matter was simply labeled “Resolution Rescinding Resolution 06-08-06,” but what it meant was far more complex, as the commissioners decided to postpone the county's next property-tax revaluation until 2014. The last revaluation was … Read more
Askville: Making things look effortless
Preston Marks likes to roll. That's his word for getting down on the mats and sparring in jujitsu, an ancient Japanese martial art. But despite the 14-stitch gash on his forehead (from an accidental head butt during practice), don't imagine he's some hulk: Marks is all of 5 foot 6 and about 150 pounds. Polite, … Read more
Asheville economy down but not out
Through good times and bad, local economic forecaster Tom Tveidt has repeated a simple mantra: Asheville's unique mix of business and industry means the local economy's peaks and valleys never reach too high nor fall too low. But that hasn't held true for the current recession. "We're in the low lows this time," Tveidt told … Read more
A candidate of a different stripe
Tigers roaming the streets of Asheville? It's not an animal-rights demonstration, and the circus isn't in town: It's the top item in the political platform of local blogger/mayoral wannabe Shad Marsh. Tongue, meet cheek: Local blogger and mountainx.com forums regular Shad Marsh has announced a bid for mayor of Asheville with a highly unusual platform. … Read more
URTV removes board member
On an 8-0 vote with one abstention, the URTV board of directors removed Richard Bernier from his post June 15, asserting that he hadn't dealt with conflicts correctly and had damaged URTV's reputation with his outspoken criticism of the station's management. Maintaining that he'd tried to bring up important issues of transparency that many of … Read more
Caffiend closes; Firestorm stokes the fire
The current economic situation is taking its toll on local small businesses, and even the coffeehouse model so well rooted in Asheville is not immune. But while one local beanery is shutting down, another is taking a community-based route toward survival. Calling all caffiends: In response to the credit crunch, Firestorm Cafe and Books is … Read more
