South Buncombe resident David Bradley, 61, has dealt with health problems, watched his home-based insulation business stall amid a down economy, and seen his family’s well water contaminated. He’s also shared his neighbors’ frustration over the slow pace of government action to clean up the contamination linked to the nearby former CTS of Asheville plant … Read more
After years of lobbying Asheville officials to first create and then implement the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan, local cyclists are starting to see results. Bike lanes were recently installed on Lexington, Kimberly and Coxe avenues. And by the end of the summer, they're scheduled to appear on Hilliard, Asheland and Clingman avenues as well on Martin … Read more
How many of us can start a fire using only a stick, tree fiber and our hands? How about butchering a deer and turning its hide into clothing? Or identifying the innumerable medicinal and edible plants that grow in the Blue Ridge Mountains? In modern society, it’s all too easy to disconnect from the basic … Read more
Shuler, transit and nuclear waste Rep. Heath Shuler has been keeping his communications director busy lately. The Democratic congressman's office issued several press releases that garnered attention last week. Beating the heat: The hot weather has Ashevillians hitting area rivers, lakes and pools. Here, Rachel Reeser and Steven Slack take a dip in the French … Read more
[Editor’s note: This week’s Green Scene is a sort of green commentary alerting readers to the upcoming America’s Great Outdoors listening session.] Nestled in Western North Carolina lie several natural treasures that are dear to all state residents, such as the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These forests … Read more
You can play with John Payne’s dinosaurs again. Two years after the River District pioneer and sculptural innovator’s death, his metal marionettes have found a home at a new museum in Biltmore Park. Going Big: It’s the first time the late sculptor’s kinetic dinosaur sculptures have been in one place, open to the public. Photos … Read more
"I went to Orange Peel for Cirque de Murale in 2007. I'll never forget it. It was awesome because it was a very controlled circus," says Sonia Hendrix. "I want the fashion expo to have that element. Not overbearing, but not all black and white. Very colorful." She's talking about PUSH Asheville Fashion, the part-runway, … Read more
Eef Barzelay was born an outsider. Sure, that might sound like the typical country music cliché, but for the 40-year-old frontman and founder of Clem Snide, it's true. Inspiration in the Wal-Mart parking lot: “I like to take things that are kind of ugly or mundane and try to make them beautiful,” says Clem Snide’s … Read more
The annual Swannanoa Gathering is an ideal locale for interviewing the Twilite Broadcasters. Here, on the campus of Warren Wilson College, Adam Tanner and Mark Jackson are surrounded by fellow musicians obsessed with the myriad forms of archaic Americana. A killer multi-instrumentalist and mainstay on the Western North Carolina folk scene, Tanner is scheduled to … Read more
The Suspect: Rasputina This Brooklyn cello-driven band was founded by Melora Creager in the early ‘90s, and they’ve toured with Marilyn Manson, Porno for Pyros and Bob Mould. Their music has been described as dark cabaret meets steampunk; Creager writes highly original original songs, and the band delivers unique takes on covers such as “Barracuda” … Read more
