Category: Views

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

Survive. Organize. Resist. A few words that must be said, about what happened, where our city and country are going and what we have to do. Above: Protesters and police outside the Civic Center entrance during the Sept. 12 Trump rally. Photo by Max Cooper.…

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…

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…