Asheville has seen numerous minor league teams come and go throughout the years, but its long-established baseball team is now joined by minor league soccer and football clubs that are redefining the local sports landscape.
Asheville Too: Arts community tackles taboo topic
The activist group Asheville Survivors Coalition has focused in recent months on bringing public attention to claims of unwanted sexual attention by anonymous women against artist Jonas Gerard. While some local organizations and businesses have removed Gerard’s work from their facilities in the wake of the activists’ protests, others have not. The arts community’s response has taken a variety of forms.
Community anger spills over during APD advisory committee meeting
The week after the release of body camera footage showing a white APD officer beating an African-American Asheville resident, members of the community attended a Citizens Police Advisory Committee meeting in force to express their outrage.
Celeste Starr moves to O.Henry’s after more than 20 years performing at Scandals
After his 1994 graduation, Robb Smith left his hometown. Like a story from an independent gay movie, he jumped on a Greyhound bus bound for Asheville, where he started a new life — complete with a drag persona — with the help of an accepting uncle.
City releases new details in investigation into police use of force
After a closed session of Asheville City Council on March 5, the city released more information on the timeline and investigation into the Asheville Police Department’s use of force against resident Johnnie Jermaine Rush.
Future transit efforts, concerns mirror Asheville’s past
Asheville as we know it today was built upon the back of its electric streetcar system, one of the largest networks of its time. As the city finds itself in a growth spurt once again, could its defunct trolley system provide some clues to Asheville’s transit future?
In Photos: Tyler Garrison’s Celebration of Life at Salvage Station
About 300 family members, friends, co-workers, colleagues and acquaintances gathered at Salvage Station on Feb. 23 to remember and celebrate the life of Tyler Garrison, local entrepreneur and activist, on what would have been his 35th birthday.
Regulators approve lower-than-requested Duke Energy rate increase, impose coal ash penalty
The N.C. Utilities Commission today approved a rate increase requested by Duke Energy Progress. As approved, Duke may charge an average increase of 7.09 percent. The electricity provider also received permission to increase the basic monthly customer charge for residential customers from $11.13 to $14.
Xpress collects 12 awards at N.C. Press Association gala
Mountain Xpress collected 12 awards, including third place for general excellence among community newspapers with a circulation of over 10,000 in North Carolina, from the N.C. Press Association conference in Raleigh on Feb. 22.
Billy Graham dies at age 99
Longtime Montreat resident the Rev. Billy Graham died on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7:46 a.m.
In Photos: Speakers at Asheville rally decry gun violence
A rally against gun violence at Pack Square in Asheville on Feb. 18 drew upward of 250 participants. Speakers honored the victims of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed, and expressed their desire for legislation to prevent more mass shootings.
Urgent care growing in WNC
Urgent care centers are a hot health care trend nationwide and in Western North Carolina. With the recent arrival of new urgent care facilities and more in the works, Xpress looks at where these facilities are and what needs they serve.
Mt. Zion must wait to build new education facility
Relations between Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church and its new neighbor, Asheville Foundry Inn, have been strained since construction began on the inn two years ago. A judge has now issued a temporary injunction to block the church from commencing construction on a new education building and parking lot improvements, which the hotel says would deprive it of the use of 75 parking spaces it is leasing from the church.
Health care documentary in Flat Rock looks to heal a broken system
Dr. Marsha Fretwell addressed a crowd of 25 in blunt terms Monday in Flat Rock: “We need to get for-profit health insurance out of the marketplace.” Fretwell, a former geriatric physician and a member of Healthcare for All Western North Carolina, crystallized the thesis of the documentary Fix It: Health Care at the Tipping Point, which had […]
Filing period for local, state elections starts with early rush of blue
Fifteen candidates, most of them Democrats, have thrown their hats into the ring for offices elected in Buncombe County as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
City Council could reject DOT’s Merrimon plan
The city of Asheville is poised to formally express its displeasure with the N.C. Department of Transportation’s plan to widen Merrimon Avenue. At its Feb. 13 meeting, City Council will consider a resolution to reject the DOT’s plan to widen the street and ask staff to work with DOT to come up with alternatives.
Navigating WNC’s long-term care options
Few words have the ability to inspire more fear, frustration and trepidation among older Americans across the country than “nursing home.” But for those confronting the prospect of needing long-term care, a variety of care options and support services across Western North Carolina provides information to help residents find the best care available.
Conscious Party: Beat the Winter Blues Ball
The Rotary Club of Asheville-Metro’s fundraiser for Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust and ABCCM’s Veterans Restoration Quarters takes place Feb. 3 at the YMI Cultural Center.
UPDATED Residents to DOT: Let us participate in Merrimon planning
Is it possible that some engineers from the NCDOT’s Division 13 office noticed their ears were burning on the evening of Jan. 23? While neighbors met in North Asheville to plan a push opposing what they see as rushed and inappropriate plans for widening a portion of Merrimon Avenue, City Council members decried the NCDOT’s lack of engagement and directed staff to develop a statement outlining the city’s concerns.
In Photos: Women’s March on Asheville 2018
Thousands turned out for the second Women’s March on Asheville on Jan. 20. Organized this year by four high school students, the event featured speakers including Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Asheville City Council member Sheneika Smith and Our Voice Executive Director Angelica Wind.
Conscious Party: Penland Post Office Project auction
The Penland Post Office Project’s online auction runs Thursday, Feb. 1-Thursday, Feb. 8.