A recent town hall exemplifies the repeated contempt and disdain of several local politicians for Asheville’s non-binary and transgender community, signaling that they do not deserve to hold office Above: State Sen. Terry Van Duyn, at right in white suit, standing alongside activists (including the author) from multiple LGBT and

The controversial proposal to expand policing downtown has been marked by confusing claims, a lack of transparency, a broken process and inaccurate numbers. The public deserves better. Above: Numbers for a range of crimes in the South Slope neighborhood, where APD Chief Tammy Hooper claims crime is escalating, assembled from the

May Day calls on us, as people and a city, to consider the reality of the world we face and how we can start to change it. Here are three important changes Asheville could do right now Above: City Hall under renovation. Photo by Bill Rhodes. “I am, somehow, less

Democrats, including two local legislators and Asheville’s mayor, ignore civil rights groups and cave on HB2, leaving the law practically intact. With its roots in earlier ‘compromises’ by our city’s leaders, this politically incompetent and morally bankrupt act is something no one should forgive or forget Above: Anti-HB2 protesters in

Despite a year of criticism and controversy involving senior city staff, at the recent Council retreat it was all back-patting and consolidating power for the city’s top officials Above: One of the discussion boards at Council retreat, sketching out a delegation of authority that could potentially give City manager Gary Jackson

Yes, this is actually happening. And Asheville’s political culture is absolutely, horribly unprepared for the coming years. That needs to change now. Above: protesters outside the Sept. 12 Trump campaign rally in downtown Asheville. Photos by Max Cooper. Over the chaos of the past few months, there’s a memory that’s

The next year promises to be a major — and contentious one — for local government. Here’s three of the forces that will continue to define our city’s divisions Above: City Hall by night. Photo by Max Cooper. While plenty of the attention was on national politics last year, local

This election season saw plenty of changes among the Buncombe commissioners. A look at what happened, what changed and the issues — from green spaces to transparency — facing the county leaders in the coming years. Democrats dominated up and down the ticket in Buncombe County during the 2016 election

An exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the planning meeting for a local, not-at-all-cluelessly-awful Black Friday promotional video for a business consortium Recently, the following promotional video has been making the rounds causing, as one might expect, some comment. The Blade has obtained an exclusive transcript of the decision-making process behind it. We’ve

National and statewide upsets, a resounding win for the bonds, a commission split continues and more in our election analysis. Also: why the Blade will never normalize the unacceptable Above: The precinct map of votes for Roy Cooper and Gov. Pat McCrory in Buncombe County. Well, that happened. After a