For city voters, the biggest local question on this year’s ballot are three bonds, the first in almost two decades. A quick look at the issue and what it means It’s a long ballot this election year, with contests from the presidency to an abundance of state offices, general assembly

Early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 20. Here’s what you need to know and some handy tools to help you at the polls Above: An early voting sticker, a wonderful thing you’ll be able to get starting Thursday. You don’t need ID — A federal court struck down the state’s former voting

Without much fanfare, Asheville City Council moves to put more power over hotels and downtown development in their hands, reversing nearly a decade of city policy Above: Asheville City Council member Brian Haynes. File photo by Max Cooper. Local politics, like any other level of politics, is often a study

A bevy of items — including drug enforcement, housing and the interstate — lead to a long and occasionally contentious Council meeting Above: Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield. File photo by Max Cooper. The Sept. 16 Asheville City Council meeting was a long one, less due to a lengthy

Hundreds of Ashevillians showed up to protest Donald Trump’s Sept. 12 rally, running into the thousands that showed up for the event. Here are scenes from that day Above: Protesters and police outside the Civic Center entrance during the Sept. 12 Trump rally. Photos by Max Cooper Earlier this week,

The response to recent protests by APD leaders and the city attorney’s office is marked by petty retaliation, contempt for civil liberties and repeatedly shifting explanations, giving locals of all political stripes cause for major concern. Above: a slide in an Aug. 3 APD presentation about its response to late July

Asheville’s political culture is lately turning to wealthy executives to craft the response the affordable housing crisis. Excluding the people most affected by the crisis while giving leadership to those who caused or profited from it is a bad idea. Above: a map of city areas by median income, from the

While most attention is focused on the presidential and gubernatorial races, WNC’s state legislature seats will help shape the future of North Carolina politics With election season in swing, the Blade will run occasional perspectives from locals, especially focusing on politics in our corner of the mountains. In this piece,

Council sends the first bond referendum in nearly 20 years to the voters in a short meeting that illuminates the divides ahead Above: Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell. File photo by Max Cooper. Asheville City Council’s Aug. 9 meeting was a short one, just 40 minutes long. Front and

This November city voters might have the choice over $74 million for affordable housing, transportation and parks and rec. Behind Asheville’s first bond referendum in nearly two decades Above: City Hall under renovation. Photo by Bill Rhodes. Seventy-four million dollars. That is, by any standard, a lot of money. That’s