MountainX: News

Merry Kitchmas!
In the mid-1960s, the aluminum Christmas tree was the height of sophistication. Now, like many other accoutrements from that era, they are prized for their vintage tackiness. Now, Brevard is bringing it all back with the Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Seasonal Ornament Museum (conveniently shortened to ATOM by omitting some words) at the Transylvania Heritage Museum. This is a full-immersion aluminum-tree celebration, with some 50 vintage trees, revolving color wheels and an overdose of ?aesthetically challeneged? ornaments. The exhibit will run Friday, Nov. 27, through Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Transylvania Heritage Museum, 40 West Jordan St., in Brevard. The museum is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more on the ATOM aluminum tree love affair, go to http://www.aluminumtree.com. ? Brian Postelle, staff writer ...

Buncombe Commissioners: Zoning war winding down?
CTS cleanup controversy continues County sells Merrimon Avenue site for affordable housing complex Eight months ago, the N.C. Court of Appeals struck down Buncombe County's 2007 zoning ordinance on technical grounds, saying that the county hadn't properly notified the public and that the county Planning Board hadn't had sufficient time to consider the sweeping changes. Here's your sign: Mike Fryar holds up a sign announcing the zoning public hearing, comparing it to larger election signs from the commissioners' last campaign. Photos by Jonathan Welch That ruling sent county staff scrambling to craft a new zoning ordinance that would satisfy state standards. At the Nov. 17 meeting of the Buncombe Coun…...

South Asheville rising
Tom Montgomery looked south and spied opportunity. By last year, 12 Bones Smokehouse, the rib shack in Asheville's River Arts District co-owned by Montgomery and Sabra Kelley, had racked up three successful years. Powered by strong demand for their smoky barbecue and a talented staff itching to do still more, they decided to launch a second restaurant on Sweeten Creek Road in Arden. Southside powerhouse: A joint venture of the Asheville-based Biltmore Farms and Charlotte-based Crosland, Biltmore Park Town Square is the big growth engine in south Asheville ? it's a $204 million mixed-use development on Long Shoals Road that features a 15-screen movie theater,  285,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 270,000 square feet of office s…...

Asheville City Council says goodbye to outgoing members, confronts budget woes
In addition to covering today?s Asheville City Council meeting for an upcoming article in Mountain Xpress, staff writer David Forbes also turned in this coverage via Twitter, the micro-blogging program: ? 4:59 pm: City Council meeting is about to begin. It?s the last for council members Miller, Cape & Mumpower. ? Mayor Bellamy is presenting resolution of appreciation for Kelly Miller, praising his ?leadership? on issues like graffiti, parks. ? Miller: ?We did a lot this last year? on balancing budget, using stimulus dollars. ? Miller has received proclamation signed by mayor, council, council member-elect Cecil Bothwell. ? Council approves gun buyback for the 2 weekends before X-mas. ? At Mumpower?s suggestion, a clause is added that city will consider reselling guns instead of destroying them in future. ? 6:06 p.m.: Council…...

Asheville City Council preview: Of master plans and development
Tomorrow is the last meeting of the current Asheville City Council, but among many other agenda items, they?ll begin discussion on one of the Downtown Master Plan?s most controversial recommendations: reducing Council?s authority over large downtown development. Council will begin discussion on development-ordinance changes recommended in the master plan, including requiring developers to hold more community meetings. Council will also discuss one of the more controversial changes recommended by the plan: a scaling back of Council?s ability to review large development projects. Currently any development over 100,000 square feet has to pass muster with Council. Under the master plan?s r…...

Former Asheville firefighter gets 4 months for shooting cyclist
Former Asheville firefighter Charles Alexander Diez will spend four months in prison for shooting cyclist Alan Simons in July. Diez plead guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill yesterday. On July 26, Simons was riding with his family on Tunnel Road. According to Asheville police, Diez had stopped to argue with Simons, saying that the child seat the cyclist?s 3-year-old son was riding in was unsafe. As Simons began walking away, Diez fired his handgun, the .38-caliber bullet tearing through the back of Simons? bike helmet, less than an inch from his head. Diez has no prior criminal record and was sober at the time. While he was originally suspended with pay at the time of the incident, on Aug. 10 he ended employment with the Asheville Fire Department. While Diez was originally charged with attempted fi…...

Citizen-Times details its LINC collaboration project with area bloggers
The Asheville Citizen-Times? collaborative journalism project, LINC, took a step forward today when Project Coordinator Angie Newsome announced a ?memo of understanding? that the paper crafted to lay out two sets of expectations: for itself as project convener and for those websites/blogsites that join the project. To read the blog post, go here Below is the text of the memo:   WNC Local Information Cooperative (WNC LINC)   Memorandum of Understanding   The Asheville Citizen-Times, as a participant in the Networked Journalism Project sponsored by American University?s J-Lab Institute and funded by the Knight Foundation, will partner with a select number of community news and information sites across Western North Carolina. The goals of this one-year, grant-funded project called WNC LINC are to: …...

Kilwin?s skates away as judges? fave downtown Asheville holiday display
Neither rain nor bribes of fudge kept the judges from dutifully evaluating 27 holiday window displays in downtown Asheville on a chilly, rainy Wednesday, Nov. 18. Did we say ?bribes?? It?s true that Kilwin?s Chocolates enticed the six-member panel into the warm shop, where co-owner Marcy Gallagher offered each judge a fudge sample. But it was Kilwin?s creative display that had the evaluators abuzz: On a miniature ice rink sprinkled with blueish snow dust, photo cutouts of customers and staff skate and pose, all smiling. Look closely, and there?s Gallagher front and center, held high aloft like an Olympic figure skater. When the votes were tallied later at Vincenzo?s, Kilwin?s had skated away with the prize, winning a little loose change as the judges? favorite (winners of the three categories split a cash purse). Jack of the Wood won Most Creative for its traditional but humorous nod to Saint Nicholas and …...

Bus routes to be affected by parade
The City of Asheville has released a list of bus routes altered due to road closings during Saturday?s Holiday Parade. According to the announcement, road closures will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 21. Here is the route information: Route 1 ? Haywood Rd ? will use Hilliard inbound and outbound instead of Patton Ave. to connect to Clingman Ave. Route 2 ? Merrimon Ave. ? will use Hilliard Ave. to Clingman Ave. to Haywood St. to I-240 both inbound and outbound in order to connect to the Broadway/Merrimon Ave. exit and maintain its normal route north starting at the bus stop at Staple & Greenlife. Route 4 ? Kenilworth Rd. ? will use Asheland Ave. to Southside Ave. to Short Coxe both inbound and outbound, then maintain its normal route south on Biltmore Ave to Mission Hospital. Route 5 ? Charlotte Street ? will use Hilliard Ave. to Clingman Ave. to Haywood St. to I-240 both …...

County will offer H1N1 vaccines tomorrow
The Buncombe County Health Department will offer the H1N1 flu mist vaccine to certain populations between the ages of 2 and 49 at seven schools around the county from 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 19). The flu mist vaccine will be available to healthy people between 2 and 24, except pregnant women. It will be available to those between 25 and 49 years of age who are health personnel or take care of infants 6-months-old or younger. The vaccine is free, but those with insurance are asked to bring their card, as the Health Department is charging an administrative fee to help recoup its costs. If the claim is rejected, the cardholder will not be billed. The vaccine will be available at A-B Tech campus, J. Herbert Coman Student Activity Center, Erwin High School, Hominy Valley Elementary School, North Buncombe High School, Owen High School, Reynolds High School and Roberson High School. ? David Forbes, staff writer ...

Buncombe Commissioners brief: Nov. 17 meeting
After a tense public hearing that saw one person thrown out of the chambers, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners reinstated countywide zoning in a 4-1 vote. Eight months after the N.C. Court of Appeals struck down the county?s zoning ordinance on grounds of insufficient public notice, county staff had a new ordinance and maps ready for the commissioners? approval. But that same ruling also reinvigorated the anti-zoning movement. During a long and contentious public hearing, many speakers ? some wearing ?Let us Vote? stickers calling for a referendum on the issue ? accused the county of ignoring the will of the people and infringing on basic property rights. Before the hearing, Chair David Gantt asked critics to ?be respectful of one another.? The rhetoric still became heated. …...

WNC Rail Corridor meets to discuss restoring passenger service to Asheville (via Twitter)
These Twitter dispatches about today?s WNC Rail Corridor meeting come from Asheville Area Chamber Governmental Relations Manager Jeff Joyce (@avlbizvoice): ? Headed to Black Mountain for a WNC Rail Corridor meeting at Phil?s BBQ. Working to bring passenger rail back to AVL ? WNC Rail Corridor mtg. Group is made up from towns with potential stops, from Salisbury to Avl, including Blk mtn, Valdesse, Conover, Morganton ? NCDOT rail division present. Gave update on stimulus funds applied for. Conover gave update on its new station and grants received ? Report: Norfolk Southern open to passenger rail. Improvements needed on track. Additional funding needed. Tough situation with current economics ? Members of WNC Rail Corridor feel push from Avl City Leadership is key to passenger rail coming back to WNC. ? [Members] hope to engage new city council members to push passenger rail as a priority in …...

Living Green: A special section on sustainability
Passive aggressive Ken Huck pushes the virtues of a well-sealed house Margaret Williams A guide to green organizations Scores of local eco groups push for sustainability Compiled by Mannie Dalton Looking for greener goods? Local companies and products with an eco emphasis Alli Marshall Copenhagen or bust Asheville travels to the climate talks Margaret Williams Greening the painted ladies Montford historic district pursues solar panels Brian Postelle…...

Asheville City Council: Keeping a safe distance
Health Dept. reports on H1N1 Asheville City Market headed to Pack Square It will be up to a new Asheville City Council in a new year to determine what level of protective buffers will be installed around Asheville's streams. That decision by the current Council came at its Nov. 10 meeting, weeks after a Planning and Zoning Commission vote recommending that the city return to the state minimum of a 30-foot buffer for any grading or digging involving more than an acre. In 2007, the city adopted similar language for 30-foot buffers, but it adopted them for grading projects of any size. There had been a push to extend to a 60-foot buffer, but Council members complained that the one-size-fits-all nature of the ordinance didn't recognize variations in Asheville's topography or the different kinds of property uses in the city. Since then, at the request of Council and city staff, a Watershed Policy Commi…...

Passive aggressive
Green-building consultant Ken Huck has been playing with energy since he was 12 years old. The Canadian native helped wire his family's farmhouse more than 30 years ago, then toyed with radio kits in high school and studied the history of science and technology in college. By the time he worked on a solar-array project for the Vallejo, Calif., water system in 2003, he was hooked on alternative energy. An all-green Canadian import: Ken Huck started his green-building career helping his dad build a farmhouse in his native Canada. "Build it right in the first place," says the West Asheville resident. Photo by Margaret Williams These days, he's living in West Asheville and still experimenting. He's trying to match pragmatism with theory in design…...

A guide to green organizations
American Chestnut Foundation Working to restore the American chestnut tree to its native range within the woodlands of the eastern United States. Info: 281-0047 or http://www.acf.org. Appalachian Voices Bringing people together to solve the environmental problems that have the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. Info: 262-1500 or http://www.appvoices.org. Asheville Green Drinks Community members who are interested in environmental issues and topics meet for drinks at BoBo Gallery, 22 Lexington Ave. A guest speaker usually makes a short presentation. Sign up for the e-newsletter at http://www.ashevillegreendrinks.com. Asheville GreenWorks Our area's Keep America Beautiful affiliate, working to turn the community green and clean through environmental volunteer projects. …...

Looking for greener goods?
There's more to green products than just an official-looking emblem on the packaging. Ingredients get top consideration ? and buzzwords include organic, sustainable, renewable and recycled. Yet not everything that's dubbed "eco-chic" by advertisers is automatically earth-friendly. For example, wood is a renewable resource, but exotic species are not always harvested sustainably. Corn-based products are biodegradable, but what about the environmental impacts of growing corn? And then there's the matter of shipping: Even goods that are produced in the most environmentally responsible manner get blacklisted when their carbon footprints grow large because of the fossil fuel burned in bringing them a long way to consumers. So you want to do right by the earth, but you don't want to handcraft all your gifts from tree bark and dried grass, right? Here's a roundup of locally made items that may not come with a "Certified Organic…...

Copenhagen or bust
This December, world leaders will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark, to continue what they started with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997: fleshing out the framework for an international agreement aimed at combating climate change. Several Asheville residents will be there, reporting what happens, providing technical expertise and trying to convince world leaders to make strong commitments to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and slowing global warming before we reach the point of irreversible environmental damage. Climate geeks unite! Asheville resident Drew Jones ? who admits he's a bit of a geek ? has helped develop a climate-simulation tool that's already being used by some of the behind-the-scenes negotiators for the upcoming conference in Denmark. Photos by Anne Fitten …...

Greening the painted ladies
Ashevilleans go gaga over historic architecture and get their geek on when the subject is green technology. But historic homes are notorious energy wasters, and those located in national historic districts like Montford are restricted by national and local guidelines drawn up to ensure architectural conformance to the era in which they were built. The sun also rises: Michael McDonough stands outside the Montford home he built that includes solar panels for hot water. Photo by Jonathan Welch The inherent conflict between these enthusiasms has sparked a recent discussion among Montford residents regarding solar technology. The concept of solar power may have roots in the 1800s, but at the turn of the 20th century, when most homes in Montford were built, the technology certainly…...

"We're not stopping"
It's been an eventful year at AB-Tech. Not long after Betty Young ended her brief and controversial tenure as president by announcing her resignation in March. Russ Yelton, who had founded the college's Global Institute for Sustainable Technology, left for unrelated reasons. GIST has been a key player in AB-Tech's efforts at encouraging sustainability both on campus and off. Now GIST may face more upheaval, as current director Leslee Thornton will soon step down. Recycle it: Members of AB-Tech's Students for a Sustainable Campus during a recent on-campus recycling drive. Photo by Jonathan Welch Sometimes, when the president's chair at a college is empty, administrators concentrate on finding a new chief and pursue few new pro…...

What thing would you never give up to go green?
Jon Elliston: My Mountain Xpress "It's true that we recycle all of our leftover papers each week, and that the paper is printed with soy-based ink on 72 percent recycled materiel, of which 26 percent is post-consumer recycled paper. But there's no denying that our publishing and distribution operations have a sizable carbon footprint ? a price I'm willing to pay to get my newspaper." Brian Postelle: Long, hot showers "Yes it's a triple whammy: long showers use more water, more gas to heat and more energy to pipe water in. All…...

Sam Powers takes on Civic Center
In an announcement late Friday afternoon, the City of Asheville announced that the directorship of the Civic Center would fall to Economic Development Director Sam Powers. The city has been undergoing a national search for a new Civic Center director since the departure of Sherman Bass in June. Bass held the position for nearly a year and a half before taking a directorship in his home town of Amarillo, Texas. In an interview with Xpress on Monday, Nov. 16, Powers said the combining of the two offices makes sense. ?If you think of the Civic Center and our local and regional economic-development plan, there?s a really natural connectivity,? he said, adding that the current belt-tightening within the city added to the decision. ?With the current economic climate we are in, it made sense to look within instead…...

Buncombe Commissioners preview: Zoning cometh (again!)
Eight months after a court ruling struck down Buncombe County?s zoning ordinance, the Board of Commissioners is giving it another go, with a public hearing on the new zoning maps dominating the agenda at tomorrow?s meeting. In March, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that when Buncombe passed zoning in 2007, the commissioners hadn?t given enough notice of the public hearing, or enough time for the county planning board to consider the new ordinance. That ruling made zoning throughout the county null and void, and sent county staff scrambling to rework zoning in a way that would conform with state law. The ruling also breathed some life back into the county?s anti-zoning movement. Throughout the process, anti-zoning activists

Weekend News Round-up, via Twitter
This was a weekend of balmy weather, a bit short on news quantity, but long on downtown excitement, including the River District Studio Stroll. What follows is a summary of tweets that passed through the Xpress Twitter feed, on five different fronts, between late Friday night and 8 p.m. Sunday. The ?news?: FRIDAY: ? damn .. wtf RT @RussBowenNews13: Breaking: Two people shot at Applebees in Hendersonville. h0zae 11:28 PM ?more on Applebee?s shooting in Hendersonville, names released bit.ly/anxTL h0zae 2:07 AM SATURDAY: ?RT @AskAsheville:Struggling Artists tell their story which led to citation they received tonight twitvid.com/D02C8 Alicia & Jose talk to AVL Police / Park Ranger & get help on citation situation twitvid.com/ECBC1 J&A lost all in Miami. In AVL living in van, selling art,playing music on streets twitpic.com/pfdn7 fobes Nov. 14, 11:20 AM ? scenes from Vetera…...

Loco for locavores
Jules DerVaes, a California-based pioneer of the urban-homesteading movement, will join local locavores for a local-food potluck this Saturday, Nov. 14, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to bring a dish to this event, which is co-sponsored by Natural Food Choices and will include a screening of a documentary about DerVaes? work, Homegrown Revolution. For more information about the gathering, which will take place at Warren Wilson College?s Sage Café, see the press release below. Note: reservations are requested; see the bottom of the release for contact details. ? Jon Elliston, managing editor ????????????????? Event: Natural Food Choices and Warren Wilson College co-sponsor a ?Locavore? Pot Luck and Docume…...