Pho is coming The long-awaited Pho Fusion is finally opening at the Downtown Market on Saturday, Nov. 20. Owner and manager Jesse Lirette and chef Tru Phan promise the pho is really here this time. The opening of the eatery will mark the first Vietnamese restaurant in Asheville to date. "I did a little bit … Read more
The holiday season gets an early start this year, with the Asheville Holiday Parade kicking things off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20. The 2010 theme is "Mountain Magic!" and Parade Director Sandie Rhodes of the Asheville Downtown Association promises that it will be sure to "conjure up different things for different people, but … Read more
Jim Stroupe, the 86-year-old World War II, Korea and Vietnam veteran who died after being struck by a city bus, was a hero in peace as well as in war. In the spring and summer of 2008, when the battle between Asheville residents and developers over the Parkside condos was at its peak, this man … Read more
An article in the [Sept. 26] Asheville Citizen-Times, “Asheville Area Faces a Shortage of Doctors,” complained that there aren’t enough psychiatrists to go around; it takes months to see a psychiatrist for an initial visit. The author complained that psychiatric services are scarce in this [region], and that there were no … group homes, no … Read more
If there's one lesson I have learned from my runs for minor office [Buncombe Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor], it has been to greatly increase my appreciation for the secret ballot. It seems nothing less than miraculous that suddenly, in a community that, far from outgrowing middle school, merely heaps employment concerns upon its … Read more
“I guess that’s why they call it the blues” is a good beginning for what most of us experienced in Asheville while trying to get tickets to the Elton John concert. I and quite a few others were either in line at the Civic Center two hours before the ticket booth opened, or online … … Read more
The French writer Raymond Queneau, a founding member of the “Oulipo” literary salon, explored 99 variations of an apparently insignificant experience on a city bus in his 1947 book, Exercises in Style. A tall man wearing a hat boards a bus. A dispute ensues about a seat. This event is observed by the passenger/narrator who, … Read more
There’s plenty of Florida in Asheville — even if a large measure of that presence is seasonal, senior or citrus. Local big-scale artist Dustin Spagnola, himself a Florida native, wants to return the favor, or the presence at least, and bring Asheville art to Miami. Actually, he wants to put Asheville art somewhere on Miami, … Read more
There is something enchanting about Joanna Newsom. Since her debut six years ago, the 28-year-old harp virtuoso has been an unlikely indie sensation, adored widely by critics and profiled by everyone from Pitchfork to the The New York Times. Newsom’s singular vocal style (a wild, sharp soprano that sometimes borders on shrill) and complex, sprawling … Read more
