Furloughs ordered for N.C. state workers

The News and Observer is reporting "Gov. Beverly Perdue signed an executive order this morning, calling for furloughs of all state employees.

All teachers and state employees will receive a pay cut of 0.5 percent and in exchange will receive 10 hours of flexible time off before June 30.

"North Carolina continues to experience the effects of a national economic crisis, which forces me to make difficult decisions in order to maintain a balanced budget through June," Perdue said in a statement. "I will do what I must in order to ensure that North Carolina can pay our bills and provide the essential services required by our citizens."

The emergency steps respond to a worsening budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. Budget analysts have revised their predictions of the budget deficit. They now say it will grow beyond $3 billion.

Read the entire article

Mike Watt!

Because I love you people so much, and because I am trying to bring big-time entertainment to the blogging community here at BlogAsheville, I present to you courtesy of the Bugg Blog an interview with punk rock legend Mike Watt.

In the interview Watt speaks about his punk rock roots and the need to constantly evolve a create something new. For those of you who strive to create every day, a little Watt would probably do you right.

From the interview:

"This might be a lame example, but Trotsky talked about this thing called a permanent revolution. He said that the art isn't in the knife, it's what can be carved from the knife. A lot of the time thing, like when you're born and shit, that's circumstance, and you can't do anything about that. Like I said before, you can't unring the bell. You can't reinvent that time of the seventies when you were naive and stupid and then this other world came and you thought fuck it, you can try anything. Young people aren't damned for not being able to do that. In some ways, they have it better because there is more information that is accessable. But they've gotta make sure that the mentality don't get fouled, like there's no possibility that these things can be done. I think that's the responsiblity of some people from the older days to not make it too sentimental. That's just the days that I'm from, it doesn't make them better days, it just makes them different days."

Watt and his band The Secondmen are opening up for Dinosaur Jr. tonight at the Orange Peel, and the interview is up at the Bugg Blog. Read it right here.

Seedlings! Baskets! Perennials!

Tomorrow from 9-4:30 Vance Elementary will be holding a seedling and plant sale to help raise funds for the Vance Playground Project . Vance parents, kids and staff have been busy planting and growing tomato, kale, squash, okra, melon, broccoli, brussel sprout, herb and other seedlings (with lots of help from the kids and Special Ed. staff at AHS, thanks guys!) and they are ready to find new homes! In addition to the seedlings, Vance has once again partnered up with First Step Farms for this event. First Step will be bringing flats of perennials and gorgeous hanging baskets to the sale.

The sale will be held up at the Vance marquee on the corner of Sulphur Springs and Harnett in West Asheville. Come out and see what's growing!

Asheville High School Theatre Presents...

The Asheville High School Theatre Program will present Design for Murder on April 24-25, 7:30 p.m., and April 26, 2:00 p.m., in the AHS Arts Theatre.

Breaking from the comedic trend of the past several years, this semester’s advanced theatre class wanted to delve into the shadows of human nature. Design for Murder, first produced in 1931 as a touring show vehicle for Tallulah Bankhead, fit the bill. It is a terrific whodunit that should keep audience members guessing until the end.

Design for Murder tells the story of Celia Granger, a socialite widow, and her son David. The play opens on an engagement party for David and the daughter of a wealthy textile merchant. Celia has barely held the home together financially since her husband’s death some years ago, but the solution seems at hand. When a body is found just inside the gate of their Hudson River mansion the morning after the party, a search for the killer begins. Complications arise, including a second murder, before the thrilling climax of the play.

To find the Arts Theatre, enter the Asheville High School campus off Victoria. Tickets, $6 for adults and $4 for students, will be sold at the door.

For more information, call Theatre Director CJ Breland at 350-2641.

Thought You Missed the Dome?

Overwhelming response to my dome-tour post last month meant a lot of my fellow nerds got left out of checking out the virtual universe. But don't worry -- the GeoDome is an Asheville technology, and Asheville people will always have a chance to check them out.

The next chance is Friday, April 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m. as part of HATCHfest.

From the Elumenati, designers and distributors of the GeoDome:

Interactive tours of the universe in the GeoDome Portal will highlight the Asheville Hatchfest’s Design & Technology reception. Hatchfest brings together luminaries in the arts and entertainment world to serve as mentors to groundbreaking new talent. This marks the first year of the festival’s East Coast iteration in lovely Asheville, NC – home of a diverse creative community (and, of course, the Elumenati design studio). The mission of the Design & Technology track – including speakers from VisualComplexity.com and IDEO - is “to advance the state of technology that artists use to make their art, with an emphasis on tools that adapt both to the artists and their audience.” We’re pleased to be part of it and honored to set up the Portal alongside an interactive exhibit from the Bob Moog Foundation, this Friday, April 17, 6:30-8 pm at Hatch Battery Park.

This is a smaller and different kind of dome than the one we toured in last month, but it's still worth a visit.

Here's the Elumenati blog, a great way to keep up with Elumenati events!

Weldon Rising at The Bebe Theatre Benefit for Youth OUTRight

What?

Weldon Rising by Phyllis Nagy is an edgy and unpredictable play with apocalyptic themes through the fluid chronicle of a circle of gay characters estranged from each other after witnessing a hate crime.

Who?

Scapegoat Theatre Collective is a local, non-profit theatre committed to exciting, relevant theatre in a community based model.
http://www.scapegoattheatre.org

When?

Thursday-Saturday, April 9-11 and 16-18
8 PM, $15

Where?
BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St.
Tickets are available at Malaprop’s

Why?

This is a benefit for Youth OUTRight, a support and empowerment group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth. http://youthoutright.wordpress.com

For more information, contact producer Hope Spragg at 333-3074 or hope@scapegoattheatre.org.

YWCA Solar Panels + Specials

From the YWCA of Asheville's Blog:

On Wednesday, April 22, at 8:00 AM, the YWCA of Asheville will celebrate Earth Day by dedicating 30 new solar panels. The public is invited to attend this event at the YWCA, 185 S. French Broad Avenue. The recently installed panels supply more than 80% of the YWCA’s hot water needs, including the pool, kitchen, laundry, and showers.

In addition to the Earth Day event, the YWCA is offering two specials to celebrate the fact that the YWCA is the area’s first “green gym”! Anyone who joins Club W: The YWCA Health & Fitness Center between April 20 and April 26 will get one month free (with a year contract). New participants who sign up for the April 27 session of YWCA Swim Lessons will get one lesson free.

The YWCA of Asheville is the first community center in Buncombe County to install a solar thermal system. At a time when we all are feeling the rising costs of fuel and gas, the YWCA is taking this important step towards energy independence.

More importantly, the YWCA is committed to being a good steward of our natural resources. This solar energy system will prevent the release of 18 tons of carbon pollution per year. It will have the equivalent air quality benefit of taking seven cars off the highway or planting 4200 trees. The YWCA will be a visible example to the thousands of children and families who we serve annually about the opportunity to use clean, renewable energy.

The YWCA Solar Project is in memory of Ske Bonsike, a wonderful teacher and example of conservation. The lead gift for the project was given by the William and Frances Beattie Foundation. The lead corporate gift was from Progress Energy.

Happy Earth Day!

Homeless in Asheville

We live in one helluva weird world. A world in which a decent human being - while surrounded by people - is utterly isolated. A world where that same guy - while wondering about his next meal and shower - is sharing that experience digitally and online, hopping onto wireless networks free for the taking of by the literate. Struggle for food and shelter, but by all means have access to unbelievable technology!

What does this mean?

Next DITLOA Meeting April 23

Day in the Life of Asheville photography project is coming up again! The next meeting/meetup will be on Thursday, April 23 at 6:00 pm. Where? Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Avenue.

Meet your fellow photographers!

Hear the stories of DITLOAs past!

Get your camera tuned up and ready!

Bring a friend or twelve!

Take moodily lit artsy photographs of pints of beer!

It's exactly ONE MONTH before DITLOA 2009, so we will see you there!

Party like its Two Thousand SHINE!

I'm a huge fan of the Bountiful Cities Project. I worked as an organizer for years with this organization, and now serve as a board member. BCP has been steadily working for nine years on the ground in Asheville communities, building gardens, building community, and growing food. A decade later, as everybody's finally coming to understand the importance of concepts like Urban Agriculture and Food Security, the Bountiful Cities Project is poised to grow and continue to serve as a resource for communities who want to take control of their food systems. Rock On! How can you help, you ask?
Volunteer in the gardens (you might get some yummy produce out of the deal!). Email ashevillebcp at gmail or call (828) 257-4000.
Build a Birdhouse.
Come to the Auction. (details below).
Donate your skills! (especially graphic designers- we're in serious need of a "branding" campaign and new logo)

But, ahem, without further ado:



the Bountiful Cities Project Presents:
The 7th Annual Birdhouse Auction!


On April 18th, 2009, starting at 5pm, The Bountiful Cities Project hosts the 7th Annual Birdhouse Competition, Live Auction, and Celebration of Spring at the Courtyard on Lexington in Downtown Asheville to raise money for Urban Agriculture.

Featuring handcrafted birdhouses from local artists, the 2009 Birdhouse Auction will be a festive celebration of springtime! Dozens of locally made birdhouses, both functional and artistic, will be on display. The entries will be judged, with exciting prizes going to the top three winners. The entries will then be auctioned off in an old-fashioned live auction, while attendees enjoy hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer, and peruse the plants for sale. The location is the beautiful brick courtyard behind Bouchon French Restaurant on Lexington Avenue in Downtown Asheville. The 2009 Birdhouse Auction will be a lovely springtime evening celebration among friends and community!

Funds raised will go directly to the Bountiful Cities Project (BCP) to support the work of community gardening and urban agriculture. BCP is an Asheville-based non-profit with a 9-year history of supporting community gardening, urban agriculture, and food security for the Asheville community. The mission of the Bountiful Cities Project is: “to create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces that produce food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability.” BCP works in and partners with 10 Asheville communities to grow food in the city: Shiloh, Burton Street, Montford, West Asheville (including Vance and Hall Fletcher Elementary Schools), Stephens-Lee, and others, running educational, youth and outreach programs and connecting communities to the resources they need to begin growing food in the city!

Community Gardening and Urban Agriculture are enjoying a renaissance as individuals recognize the health, environmental, economic and social benefits of growing, eating, and purchasing local food. BCP helps the idea become reality! Donating a birdhouse, and attending the party, will help BCP to fulfill its mission and enrich the patchwork quilt of gardens growing all over the city of Asheville.

Birdhouses are still being accepted! Donations accepted at the French Broad Food Co-op and the Short Street Cakes’ Cake Shop at 225 Haywood Road.

Children and youth in the Shiloh Community eating food from their garden as a part of the Bountiful Cities Project's Strong Roots Program:

Assemble, Build, Connect

Fellow Asheville Lovers!

I had to miss the March 15th discussion at Rosetta's Kitchen on "Supporting Indy Media & Community Journalism,", but I am looking forward to more upcoming meetings in the Asheville ABC series:

"a series of conversations that attempt to cover the most prominent community issues, opportunities & challenges as best understood by a group of volunteers involved in various levels of community service & action. These conversations are meant to Assemble, Build & Connect proactive ideas that can effectively create positive infrastructure and opportunities for the Asheville & WNC region."

More information, links to further discussion, and volunteer opportunities can be found at the Asheville ABCs portal. (There's a facebook community too if you just can't get outta that site these days.....)

Louis C.K. at the Orange Peel!

Sure, he's the director of Pootie Tang and his H.B.O. series Lucky Louie only lasted one season, but Louis C.K. is still possibly the funniest and bravest stand-up coming working in America today. With material ranging from fatherhood to the eventual decline of the fortysomething's body, C.K. approaches his material with a fearless and unflinching honesty. "As long as it's honest, or as long as I mean it, I say it. I really don't see a point in having a line in your life. it's a bizarre idea to me to have a limit in speech. That's the whole premise of my stand-up is to be honest. I really don't see the point in saying 'I'd better not say that', says the comedian.

Right now, you are probably asking 'what does this have to do with BlogAsheville'? The answer is this, Lousi C.K. is playing The Orange Peel tonight at 8 p.m. (the doors open at 7:00).

For those of you not lucky enough to grab tickets, fear not! Today on the Bugg Blog, I have placed a full interview with Louis. You can read it by clicking here.

Another Giveaway - Rollergirls!

This time it's tickets for the Blue Ridge Rollergirls, whose season starts tomorrow night. I have 5 pairs to give away, and I'll pick one winner each Friday (at 4 p.m.) for the next 5 weeks. Details and enter here: www.myweaverville.com/2009/04/03/blue-ridge-rollergirls-tickets

Edward Chapman's Celebration of Freedom This Friday

(C-T photo of Edward Chapman by Leslie Boyd)

The C-T has an article today about Asheville resident Edward Chapman, a former death row inmate who was found innocent and released from prison after 15 years.

From C-T blogger Leslie Boyd:

Hickory police had withheld exculpatory evidence, altered police reports and lied on the witness stand to gain Chapman's conviction for two unsolved 1992 murders. Chapman's court-appointed attorney did not even bother to investigate the evidence that revealed the true culprits in the two separate cases. One of the cases likely wasn't a murder at all.

Nonetheless, Chapman spent more than 15 years behind bars for two murders he did not commit. It took nearly two years for his case to get to trial. Once he was convicted, Chapman spent more than 13 years on death row. 

My personal impression of Chapman, whom I met once? A boyish, friendly, likable and decent person whose lack of bitterness is humbling. 

He lives and works here now, and some friends are holding a benefit and celebration of his first year of freedom with a Freedom From Death Row Ball. There'll be music, dancing, volleyball and food.

The First Annual Freedom From Death Row Ball: A Benefit for Edward Chapman

Friday, April 3

5:30 p.m.

Edward Chapman appearance with with UNCA professor Pam Laughon 

Thursday, April 2 

12:15 p.m.