After seven straight wins, a Big South Conference championship and a first-round NCAA tournament win, the "UNC Asheville Bulldogs' Dream Run Ends," reported the Asheville Citizen-Times. The Bulldogs had a tough St. Patrick's Day. On March 17, they lost to the Pittsburgh Panthers, which knocked them out of the NCAA tournament. “It's been a really … Read more
Two bills introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly recently came directly from the people — 13 elementary-school students, to be exact. And if they’re passed, the state will have its first official sport: stock-car racing. The Mooresville "pit crew" worked secretly at first so as not to tip off fans of any other sport, … Read more
Editor’s note: Roving local historian/photographer Bob Collins is on a mission to document the fast-disappearing remains of the area’s fascinating past. His book Hidden Historic Treasures: Henderson County, N.C., was produced, as he puts it, “to put the old structures that have been overgrown and forgotten for all these years together with the people who … Read more
The document referenced in “State Health Assessment Finds Most CTS Neighbors Not at Risk” [March 2 Xpress] is a slap in the face to Arden residents by Sandy Mort of N.C. Health and Human Services. People who live near the abandoned CTS site have dealt with life-threatening maladies for years from contaminants such as vinyl … Read more
There are many things I'd like to say in response to Diana Ronald-Szabo [“Call Abortion What It Is: Murder,” Feb. 9 Xpress] and those who share her myopic and oppressive views regarding a person's right to choose when or if they will bear a child. Really, though, the last thing we need is a public … Read more
I actually felt hurt when I read Mr. Hanke's review of the recently released Gnomeo & Juliet [“Cranky Hanke,” Feb. 16 Xpress]. I took my children, ages 12 and 5, to see the film. The older one, a fan of Shakespeare, was skeptical. But, being young and mainly happy (read: easily pleased by a movie … Read more
It appears our commissioners haven’t accepted the fact that they are employees of the taxpayers of Buncombe County. Their travel allowance was just reduced from $650 every two weeks to $320 every two weeks, which is still unacceptable. Chairman Gantt wants the commissioners to be paid for the average miles they travel “as long as … Read more
Thank you, Vernon Hill, for bringing up the most annoying habit to grace our highways: cars residing in the fast lane, otherwise known as Fast-Lane Hogs [“Drive, He Said,” March 16 Xpress]. Nothing enrages me more than drivers taking up occupancy in the passing lane. On a recent trip, I was graced with a middle … Read more
Let us not hesitate to build a new transportation system that implements light rail, bus and bike lanes as an addition to Asheville’s current transportation system. The long-term effects of implementing this infrastructure now far outweigh any doubt, hesitation or fear of cost. Long term, a light rail could bring residents from Marshall or Canton … Read more
Regarding the upcoming 2011-2012 state budget, the WNC Jazz Society wants legislators to make informed and responsible decisions for funding to the North Carolina Arts Council. The arts mean business in North Carolina. Most citizens would be surprised to learn that the state invested $6.6 million in arts funding in 2009, yet employees of the … Read more
