Buncombe Rep. Tim Moffitt has introduced legislation to add female toplessness to the state’s indecent exposure prohibitions. Except for breastfeeding, revealing “the nipple, or any portion of the areola, of the human female breast” would be illegal. Before last year’s Go Topless rally, Asheville City Council signed a letter condemning it and calling for state legislation. Photo by Max Cooper
The local fight over the legislative push to forcibly transfer the city of Asheville’s water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District has helped spur a larger statewide reaction. Last week, the League of Municipalities adopted the defense of local utilities as one of its top priorities, and 40 cities and towns across North Carolina have passed resolutions against state government taking municipal infrastructure.
Local resident Caroline Mann, a lecturer in psychology at UNCA, sent Xpress her response-in-verse to actor/director/writer/etc. James Franco’s much-ballyhooed poem, “Obama in Asheville,” which was commissioned by Yahoo! News to commemorate President Obama’s recent inauguration. (Pictured: Caroline Mann, left, and James Franco, right.)
Asheville is the health care hub for Western North Carolina, and Mission Health is a major presence, dominating a swath of town that’s thick with doctor's offices. Since 2009, however, this bastion of mainstream medicine has boasted an Integrative Healthcare Department whose staff includes nurses trained in aromatherapy, massage, guided imagery and biofeedback.
