Charlotte, NC

Asheville, NC

Am I wrong? It looks pretty simple to me. Hire 40% more policemen, pay them a salary so they can live in Asheville and put them where they are needed the most — downtown Asheville. — Barbara Newman. Asheville. Editor’s note: Most of the letters about downtown Asheville in...

Letter: Improving dreadful downtown Asheville

I have attended and presented at the annual National Alliance to End Homelessness conference. It is an able organization. I’m sure that many Asheville residents are aware of “the travelers” who regularly pass through. They are the heirs of those who rode the rails back during the Great Depression. Those whom I engaged told me that Asheville has a reputation for being a place where transients can congregate and panhandle with little to no resistance from the local police, outside of the occasional show of force at one of the many campsites.

Letter: The dynamic of ‘travelers’ and police

Want to see immediate improvements to the ghastly state of downtown Asheville? Move the mayor’s office to the now-abandoned police substation on Haywood Street. Editor’s note: Most of the letters about downtown Asheville in the March 15 issue came in after a recent Xpress newsletter that highlighted three articles covering concerns about public safety and cleanliness downtown. Those stories can be found at avl.mx/chu, avl.mx/chw and avl.mx/cht. To sign up for Xpress’ free newsletter, go to avl.mx/8st.

Letter: Guaranteed results for downtown’s woes

Florida State

I moved to Asheville in 2011, when downtown was safe and friendly. In the past years, there has been a very large increase in crime, drugs, violence and a large homeless population. Needless to say, I haven’t gone anywhere near downtown in several years because of these very sad changes...

Letter: The sad decline of downtown Asheville

Having been involved in the “Save Downtown” movement in the late 1970s, when a group of citizens joined with business and property owners to defeat a plan to demolish the center of downtown in order to replace it with a suburban-style shopping mall, hearing the reports of the state of downtown now, to use an old Southern expression, “breaks my heart.”

Letter: How quickly can downtown be saved (again)?

Ohio State

Now that the city of Asheville has agreed to play ball, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider joining the financial team for improvements to the home of the Asheville Tourists. The board meets Tuesday, March 21, to consider pitching in $250,000 annually over a 20-year period — a...

McCormick Field funding approaches Buncombe vote

Lauren Rogers Hopkins, education programs manager at Flat Rock Playhouse, discusses helping kids find their creative voices. Why is teaching the arts beneficial for young people?. The arts are extremely important and beneficial for so many reasons. It allows young people to grow in confidence, to feel a sense of...

Kids stuff: A safe space to create, grow and learn

Jacquelyn Hall, co-executive director of Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe, discusses the importance of reading to children from a young age and how everyone in the community can play a role in promoting literacy. Why is it so important to start to encourage children to love reading at such a young...

Kids stuff: Build early literary skills

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

Making paper

The Asheville Art Museum has again achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM)—the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. AAM Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public. “I’m thrilled and honored by this prestigious recognition,”...

Asheville Art Museum receives AAM reaccreditation

Nathan Duvall, a local deejay at Asheville FM, notes that the station’s nonprofit status lends itself to less commercial music. And while Asheville is rightly seen as a hotbed of bluegrass and a magnet for touring jam bands, he adds the city is no stranger to less familiar sounds.

Sounds from the avant-garde music scene in WNC

Massachusetts State

Buncombe County, NC

Kate Spratt, Buncombe County Public Libraries youth services specialist for the Preschool Outreach Program, discusses trends in children’s literature and ways parents can make reading fun. What trends in children’s literature have you observed over the past several years?. I have noticed that world building has been increasingly...

Kids stuff: Make reading fun!

Asheville High School/SILSA’s Sara Monson has been named the Asheville City Schools 2023 Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year. She will move on to compete for the title of 2023 North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) CTE Teacher of the Year. “I just want...

Sara Monson named ACS 2023 Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year

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NewsBreak

Asheville joins Buncombe County surveillance system

Even as the Asheville Police Department wrestles with staffing shortages, it’s finding a way to get more eyes on the city’s streets. An agreement between Asheville...

Asheville joins Buncombe County surveillance system

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