When there's an immediate emergency, most of us are primed to call 911. When there's a looming problem with emergency potential, a growing number of WNC residents call 211, the United Way's community-services help line. The help line: Above, Keith Young works the phones at the United Way's 211 line, which fielded almost 50,000 calls … Read more
Carousing at a bar, if one is not quite careful, frequently carries with it the risk of a bleary-eyed walk back to one's car the next morning. Of course, more foolish types might even choose to do something stupid like get behind the wheel of their vehicle in an intoxicated state. Scooted to safety: Buzzed … Read more
Downtown Asheville regulars may already be familiar with Amanda Levesque. The 26-year-old makes regular rounds of the downtown business district via an electric wheelchair adorned with bumper stickers bearing snappy messages or left over from political campaigns. Savvy scooter: She Who Scoots is Amanda Levesque's new downtown errand service. Photo by Jonathan Welch Now, however, … Read more
The Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County announced Dec. 28 that 374,000 gallons of sewage had spilled into the French Broad River over the course of 21 hours on Dec. 25. Maintenance Division Director Ken Stines said the spill was caused by a power outage after high winds knocked out a transformer at 2 a.m. … Read more
Until about a month ago, the storefront space at 29 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville housed the city's Office of Economic Development, but it will soon have new tenants — including an Asheville Police Department substation. The move results from a shuffle of city offices that began last September, when all support services for developers … Read more
It's possible that visionary artist Gabriel Shaffer's paintings are enchanted: Images of birds reportedly fly off the wall and "I had a painting returned to me because one lady claimed it was haunted," the artist reveals. Then there's a piece called "Plantation Escape Plan," a 40 by 40-inch canvas featuring a a large and floating … Read more
Here in Western North Carolina, we're not waiting around for the fruits of the 2009 Copenhagen climate-change agreement to trickle down to us. Across our region, organizations big and small, colleges, businesses and activists have already jumped on the green bandwagon. In the Asheville area alone, there are sustainability initiatives under way at UNCA, Warren … Read more
For the Steep Canyon Rangers, 2009 was a remarkable year. The Brevard-based band — Woody Platt (guitar and lead vocals), Graham Sharp (banjo, harmony vocals), Mike Guggino (mandolin and harmony vocals), Charles R. Humphrey III (bass and harmony vocals) and Nicky Sanders (fiddle and harmony vocals) — released its fourth studio album, Deep in the … Read more
Those Darlins play kick-ass rock and roll. Period. With Link Wray-style guitar riffs, three-piece harmonies delivered with a Loretta Lynn "Fist City" swagger, and songs full of booze, family, sex and food, Those Darlins are plowing a row through rock 'n' roll history. Girls just wanna have fun: Those Darlins share a common last name, … Read more
For those of you who just can't shake that scene from Ghost — the one where Patrick Swayze's apparition cozies up to Demi Moore while she works at her potter's wheel — Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts (in Asheville's River Arts District) is your kind of place. The studio is offering clay "date nights" every … Read more
