The log for the volunteer escorts at the Femcare clinic, June 7. Photo by Byron Ballard. At the end of this month FemCare, currently the last clinic in the Asheville area providing abortion services, will close. Last year, the clinic was controversially shut down for nearly a month by NC inspectors

By David Forbes The city of Asheville is on course to spend $147 million. That’s the amount of its annual budget, covering everything from parks to public art to smartphones for cops. Except for us urban policy masochists, the words “city budget” don’t usually make people run to pour over

In the five days since I posted An Asheville for the rest of us, I’ve been happily overwhelmed by the response. There’s clearly a real desire to discuss and address the issues raised; of how to create a functioning city for those of us that aren’t millionaires. One of the major

Skyline of downtown Asheville, looking toward the Flat Iron building. Photo by Max Cooper. By David Forbes The doldrums are over. “Real estate rebound in Asheville, N.C.” blared a recent headline from the Wall Street Journal. It’s the latest in a long, long line of major media outlets to refresh

When I first put a story up here just over a month ago, I planned to use the Asheville Blade exactly once. But on April 16, I was fired from my job at Mountain Xpress after pushing to organize a union and reveal unethical behavior. In announcing this unfortunate news,

Pardon the long introduction, but the facts in this case are important. In December, Mountain Xpress‘ publisher killed a piece on tenant rights because he didn’t want landlords negatively portrayed. Here’s what happened. Last October a county resident approached me with serious concerns about conditions at his home and the