Day: September 14, 2010
Green Scene: Building a movement
Bill McKibben thinks big. His 10/10/10 initiative, billed as a “global work party,” is intended to elicit “bold energy policies from our political leaders … on a scale that truly matters.” The goal, organizers say, is not to reduce global warming one project at a time but to send a pointed message to legislators about … Read more
Local family feels vindicated by breakthrough research
Editor’s note: Earlier this year, we reported on a Black Mountain family's experience after an unidentified source accused Lisa and Rodney Baldwin of medically neglecting Ryan, their only child (see "Home for the Holidays," Jan. 6, and "Home for Good?” Feb. 24 Xpress). Although he’d been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and declared medically disabled … Read more
Burning issues: Energy-efficiency improvements start showing results
• Oct. 8 public hearing on steep-slopes policy • Elingburg, Thomas appointed to Parks & Rec board Discuss Special Needs Registry Topping the agenda for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ Sept. 7 meeting was a report on the county's energy costs and carbon footprint. Delivered by Brad Ellington of the General Services Department, the … Read more
Instant what?
Buncombe County voters will elect 13 judges this fall from a field of 34 candidates; one late-breaking statewide race has 13 people vying for a single seat. To help deal with the logjam, the state will employ instant-runoff voting in that contest, a first for North Carolina. The method will also be used in three … Read more
We’re sorry
In a perhaps unintended act of irony, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives offered bottled water, chocolates and rubber squeeze balls in the image of the Earth to neighbors of the contaminated former CTS site during a Sept. 9 community meeting. Don Rigger, a key official from the Region IV office in Atlanta, apologized for the … Read more
The Beat
As temperatures cool down, campaign season has started heating up. In a recent online post, Xpress reported, "Buncombe GOP Fires First Video Salvo." The blog includes a video produced by the Buncombe County Republican Party in which Chair Chad Nesbitt asserts, “In order to defend ourselves against socialistic terrorism, we need to have a large … Read more
Outdoors: Goaling for it
The day before my interview with the Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association for a coach position, I got hit in the face playing ultimate Frisbee. It hurt as only a flying disk can when it careens into your cheekbone at high speed, but my concern was the interview. Looking back on it, I realize that … Read more
From goat training to bee keeping
Where can one learn how to train goats, practice organic insect control and stage a natural, do-it-yourself burial all in the same day? There will be ample opportunity to do so at the fourth annual True Nature Country Fair, presented by the Organic Growers School on Sept. 25 and 26. There, attendees can learn about … Read more
Mtnhoppin
Waynesville’s Go Grocery Outlet isn’t the kind of regional business you’ll see profiled in the glossy pages of WNC Magazine. Appalachian Chic, this place is not. Tucked in a dying strip mall off Route 276, The Go is a descendant of the mid-century supermarket, a ragged intersection of fluorescent track lighting, scuffed white linoleum and … Read more
