Skip to content

Tag Archives: Asheville Visiotr Information

Going Beyond the Card: Go Local Gets Growing

It started as little more than a poster in a window — a heart and the words “Love Asheville, Go Local” — a symbol the observant eye has undoubtedly come to know well. You’ll find it in shop windows, on the bumpers of cars, on the backs of T-shirts. That symbol launched the Asheville Grown Business Alliance, now an organization of hundreds of locally owned independent businesses, that encourages residents and visitors to support the local economy and local schools through the Go Local loyalty card.

Asheville Grown Director Franzi Charen, who first created that poster for her shop Hip Replacements, said this year will also be the first year the alliance will receive a portion of the sales from the card. That means new developments are in the works, including making the “Love Asheville” symbol more visible than ever.

“We’ve wanted to create a ‘Love Asheville, Go Local’ mural forever,” said Charen. “It would really beautify downtown, and I believe we can make that happen this year.”

Alsace Walentine, events coordinator at Malaprop’s Bookstore, said her store has participated in the Go

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/54739/Going-Beyond-the-Card-Go-Local-Gets-Growing If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

The Lesson from a Road Trip Across America: Size Doesn’t Matter

Motoring across the United States isn’t what it used to be. My first few crossings four decades ago, while still being educated, were marked by tall cups of java and an incessant sprint for the horizon. On my just-completed trip, the pace was slower, the stops more selective and the itinerary much more serpentine.

After 4,100 miles, 20 nights and 14 cities, a surprising picture of urban America comes to light. What stands out is not the continued predominance of the old cultural settlements of East Coast elites but the ever-brighter lights of major metropolises across the southern tier of the country; the tiny sparkle of urban gems on the smaller end of the population spectrum; and ancient Western desert towns thriving with innovative art and architecture.

Above all, the motor survey brings a renewed appreciation for the unpredictable nature of innovation and change in cities, equal parts old-fashioned creativity and new-fashioned smartness. And it suggests that, contrary to some current theories, when you’re looking for urban creativity size doesn’t matter that much.

Let’s start with the bright lights, which surprise us in the extent to which innovation builds on and deepens their distinct cultural identities.

Atlanta, Nashville, and Las Vegas — metropolitan

Article source: http://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-road-trip-across-america-innovation-creativity-cities-large-small.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

WCU Master Plan approved by Trustees

CULLOWHEE – A new campus master plan endorsed Friday (Dec. 6) by the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees is designed to closely link physical facilities of the university, including future construction and renovation, to goals of its recently approved strategic plan.

The master plan is meant to provide “a flexible framework for growth,” said Keith Storms of Hanbury, Evans, Wright and Vlattas, a firm specializing in campus design and planning.

The plan is based on enrollment projections that anticipate more than 11,000 students studying on the campus in Cullowhee by the year 2023, and the need for approximately 486,000 gross square feet of additional interior space to accommodate the needs of those students. Currently, about 7,800 students out of WCU’s total enrollment of 10,107 live and study in Cullowhee.

Approval of the plan, which was drafted with the guidance of a 16-member task force, comes after a 17-month process that included numerous public forums designed to collect input and feedback from university students, faculty and staff and from residents of surrounding communities.

During that process, the task force and the master plan consultants presented numerous options for land use and future development. Feedback from the campus and community led to a preferred

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/54761/WCU-Master-Plan-approved-by-Trustees If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Go Local 2014 Card Directory Launches

Watch out, Portland! Asheville is flexing its locally sourced muscles. Pretty soon you will be able to figure out where to dine out at your favorite local restaurant and easily establish the lineage of your hamburger, determine that your server is being paid a living wage, and know that you are benefitting not only the local economy but also local school children-all for only $15.

On December 11, Asheville will realize this new level of localization through the launch of the 2014 Go Local Card Directory published by the Mountain Xpress in partnership with Asheville Grown Business Alliance (AGBA), the Asheville City Schools Foundation (ACSF). 28,000 copies of the directory will be distributed in this week’s edition and 17,000 copies can be found in the top box of the Mountain Xpress kiosks as well as at select businesses throughout the year. Not only will the new 2014 Go Local Card Directory reveal incredible deals at over 360 local, independent businesses, it will also designate which businesses are committed to taking a thriving local economy to the next level.

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/54803/Go-Local-2014-Card-Directory-Launches If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Why Sarah Palin is here to stay

Sarah Palin signs books Dec. 6 at the Billy Graham Library. (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

Sarah Palin signs books Dec. 6 at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

CHARLOTTE – Merry Christmas spoken here.

That could have been the slogan at Sarah Palin’s book-signing on Friday at the Billy Graham Library. As she greeted admirers, surrounded by the lights, trees and decorations, her message came across loud and clear.

“She’s gorgeous,” someone said, after she appeared to loud applause from the crowd. And she was, dressed in black pants and a black patterned lace top – glasses on, hair up and pen ready.

Many of those waiting in line wore a pin that read “It’s OK to Wish Me a Merry Christmas,” carrying through the theme of Palin’s book “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas,” which sees the freedom to express the Christian values of the season under siege.

While some, including me, may believe stampede-triggering Thanksgiving Day sales more of a threat to those values than an innocently expressed greeting of “Happy Holidays,” the latter is indeed a problem, according to some in Friday’s enthusiastic crowd. (There were 68 cars

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/12/09/why-sarah-palin-is-here-to-stay/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Notable holiday events across the US



Originally published: December 9, 2013 2:24 PM
Updated: December 9, 2013 2:49 PM

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Biltmore in Asheville, N.C., features holiday displays

Photo credit: AP | The Biltmore in Asheville, N.C., features holiday displays through Jan. 12.

Article source: http://www.newsday.com/travel/notable-holiday-events-across-the-u-s-1.6570734 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

In Cape Town, leaders pay tribute to Mandela – Asheville Citizen

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Some remembered his kindnesses; others reminisced about his charity.

And at a special session of Parliament today, dedicated to paying tribute to the country’s first democratically elected president, all praised Nelson Mandela for his sacrifice, wisdom and humility.

“In a modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,” said Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa’s deputy president. He said that it’s important that the Mandela experience does not “fizzle out,” but “rather become the turning point for social change.”

Public capacity was reached before the ceremonies began. In one overflow room, people danced and sang songs from the struggle against apartheid.

Many wore somber Western-style suits or formal African dress. Yellow T-shirts from the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela’s party, were also popular.

A large number of women covered their heads with hats or scarves, representing traditions for both married Xhosa women and Western mourning customs.

“The icon of the world has gone to join his ancestors,” said Thandi Modise, premier of the North West Province, which was met with wide applause.

Numerous prominent Americans, including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King were quoted by the leaders of South Africa’s government.

In addition to the large

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/3925597 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com