When Park Ridge Hospital nurse Teresa Onofrio introduced herself to a small class of Spanish-speaking expecting mothers on Feb. 24, her American accent blended with a dash of Puerto Rico, where she lived for many years: “Soy enfermera en el hospital de Park Ridge.” Continuing on in Spanish, she told the women — who were … Read more
A couple of years ago, BB&T — the bank whose black monolith starkly dominates Asheville's skyline — dangled a generous donation in front of Western Carolina University in exchange for teaching Ayn Rand's fundamentalist capitalism. Yet Rand was also a high-profile, militant atheist who called Christianity “the kindergarten of communism." If that fact became better … Read more
Buncombe County Commissioners March 1, 2011 meeting Public still up in arms about commissioners’ stipends New register of deeds takes voluntary pay cut The Buncombe County commissioners unanimously approved a measure March 1 that could have far-reaching implications for Medicaid patients receiving behavioral-health services in eight Western North Carolina counties. Four of them — Polk, … Read more
Three state representatives from Western North Carolina held a March 4 press conference in Asheville slamming charter-school legislation approved by the N.C. Senate this week. The three legislators, all Democrats, praised Buncombe County's existing charter schools as a model for the state. Reps. Susan Fisher, Patsy Keever (both Buncombe County) and Ray Rapp (Madison County) … Read more
Rising energy costs, atmospheric carbon levels and global temperatures are spurring interest in harnessing solar power, but the upfront cost of installing such systems is often a substantial deterrent. Public institutions face the same hurdle as individuals: how to justify buying an expensive solar-energy system that could take 20 years to pay for itself. Sometimes … Read more
“Let a joy keep you.” — Carl Sandburg After spending hours one day last spring drawing diagrams, creating options and hashing out ideas, my head spun. I couldn’t think anymore, so I decided to take a walk. I drove to my favorite spot, Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, and parked near redbud trees dressed … Read more
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to grow oyster and shiitake mushrooms in a log (and perhaps make money doing it), then the final workshop in a month-long series is just right: “Does Your Forest Talk Money and More?” will be held on Saturday, March 12, at the A-B Tech Enka campus. This hands-on … Read more
In the coming weeks, Xpress will explore the world of offal, sample insects and strange fish parts and go on a wild-foods walk with local expert Alan Muskat. Are the foods we'll try really all that bizarre? Perhaps to cultures that can afford to be picky. But in many areas of the world, people don't … Read more
Modesto gets a bakery Asheville has a new source for French pastries, breakfast breads, cupcakes and some of the only wood-fired bread in town. Hector Diaz has opened a bakery window on one side of his Grove Arcade Italian eatery, Modesto. Inside the tiny kitchen, Johnson-and-Wales-trained bakerJennifer Aker and Fulton Forde turn out classic desserts … Read more
