Tag Archives: Asheville Visiotr Information

Rangers enforce shutdown of private hotel on Blue Ridge Parkway that rents …

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 8, 2013

Conservative activists protested Saturday outside a private hotel and restaurant forced to close during the partial federal government shutdown because it leases a federal government building on federally owned land.

Protesters gathered on the shoulder of the Blue Ridge Parkway to protest Friday’s forced closure of the Pisgah Inn, owner Bruce O’Connell said in an interview. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported (http://avlne.ws/15SS44e ) the crowd numbered fewer than three dozen. One of the demonstrators handed him a card claiming membership in a tea party group based in Asheville, about 30 miles east, O’Connell said.

“They’re up there making a statement I guess — that they’re not happy with the state of things and wanted to make a point,” O’Connell said.

Park rangers began blocking the inn’s three entrances off the parkway at lunchtime Friday, stayed through the night and remained there Saturday to make sure the inn didn’t reopen, O’Connell said.

Parkway Chief Ranger Steve Stinnett said park service managers in Washington directed him to block access to the inn.

The 470-mile federal road that winds through the North Carolina and Virginia mountains remains open to traffic but National Park Service visitor centers, campgrounds, picnic areas and restrooms are shuttered because of the budget dispute on

Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/10/05/rangers-enforce-shutdown-private-hotel-on-blue-ridge-parkway-that-rents-federal/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Air Force Academy Narrowly Avoids Toilet Paper Shortage During Government …

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 7, 2013

The Air Force Academy has faced one of the most uncomfortable consequences of the government shutdown: a toilet paper shortage.

Fortunately, the problem was fixed, but it renews the debate over who exactly the “non-essential” employees are during a government shutdown.

“We’re not always aware at a high level who has the contracts with the toilet paper but we found out pretty fast and we fixed it,” said Superintendent of the Air Force Academy Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson during a press conference.

Johnson added that some 20 percent of courses at the Academy had been suspended because of furloughed teachers.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s a bureaucratic term for our colleagues of ‘non-essential,’ because it couldn’t be more wrong about what we rely on. And, it’s an accounting term that we’ve used, but it certainly does not apply to the worth of our colleagues, from very basic things to even grander things,” Johnson said.

Similar to the almost-toilet-paper-crisis, Saturday’s Air Force-Navy football game was nearly cancelled, but the game went on after a private donation from the USAA.

Colorado Springs is home to the USAA and was identified as the city that would be most affected by the

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/07/air-force-academy-toilet-_n_4058491.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Rob Neufeld on Lee Smith’s new novel, ‘Guests on Earth’

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 7, 2013

Not surprisingly, given Lee Smith’s body of work, her new novel, “Guests on Earth,” is much more than advertised.

Greatly anticipated as a look into Zelda Fitzgerald’s fire-consumed stay at Highland Hospital in Asheville, it resonates most of all as a cry of love for society’s misfits.

The book’s first epigraph is a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald to his and Zelda’s daughter, Scottie: “The insane are always mere guests on earth, eternal strangers carrying around broken decalogues that they cannot read.”

In this era of defunded mental health facilities, people’s hearts need to be prompted to ache.

The first of the book’s innocent unfortunates is the narrator, Evalina Toussaint, whose story of how she came to Highland fills the first chapter, and is an example of Smith’s distinctive, fertile, life-inventing imagination.

Smith presents her novel at Malaprop’s Bookstore at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Un-put-downable

When Evalina, as a child, refuses to eat and burns her arm with matches, it does not seem like an over-reaction. Her mother, an exotic dancer in New Orleans’ French Quarter, has committed suicide after a baby born to her and her aristocratic lover died; and, subsequently,

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131006/COLUMNISTS19/310060042/This-Zelda-in-Asheville-novel-cries-love If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Published in Asheville Attractions on October 7, 2013
by Shane Tourtellotte
October 06, 2013

The schedule throttles back from yesterday’s overdrive, leaving us time to ponder a question of practicality. If the baseball playoffs are going to have a couple of days with four games, wouldn’t it make sense to juggle the schedule so that one of them falls on a weekend? As it stands, we got a quad-header on Friday, and will get one on Monday. It would be nice for today’s kids (and I mean the East Coast kids) to be able to watch a postseason game or two through to the end. Not to mention those of us with work.

Game       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9    F
Rays       0   1   0   0   2   1   0   0   0    4
Red Sox    2   0   2   1   1 
Article source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/wps-recap-alds-1052013/
If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com
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Longwood men’s soccer earns 3-1 win over UNC Asheville

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 6, 2013

FARMVILLE, Va. – Sophomore Philip van Berkom/Zetten, the Netherlands recorded his first goal of the season along with his first career assist to propel the Longwood University men’s soccer to a 3-1 victory against Big South Conference opponent UNC Asheville (3-7-0, 0-2-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville.

Freshman Ben Ferrell/Fairfax Station scored once to add to the offensive effort, while sophomore Lee Martin/Gambrills, Maryland notched his first career points with a goal, as well. Freshman goalkeeper Carlos Canas/Manassas registered his first career win in front of the net for the Lancers with three saves in the outing.

“We can enjoy the win and take comfort that three points are in the bag, but it wasn’t easy, and give credit to Asheville, because they pushed us all the way,” said head coach Jon Atkinson. “Going a goal down is never a good idea, but I applaud our guys at the way they bounced back, showing initiative to go in with a lead at the half. I felt we should have killed the game off in the second half, but with a combination of poor finishing and decisions, we only had Lee Martin’s goal to provide us some

Article source: http://www.soccerwire.com/news/mens-boys/college-men/ncaa-d1-men/longwood-mens-soccer-earns-3-1-win-over-unc-asheville/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Blue Ridge inn forced to close over government shutdown

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 6, 2013

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. –

Conservative activists
protested Saturday outside a private hotel and restaurant forced to
close during the partial federal government shutdown because it leases a
federal government building on federally owned land.

Protesters
gathered on the shoulder of the Blue Ridge Parkway to protest Friday’s
forced closure of the Pisgah Inn, owner Bruce O’Connell said in an
interview. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported the crowd numbered fewer than three dozen. One of the demonstrators
handed him a card claiming membership in a tea party group based in
Asheville, about 30 miles east, O’Connell said.

“They’re up there
making a statement I guess — that they’re not happy with the state of
things and wanted to make a point,” O’Connell said.

Park rangers
began blocking the inn’s three entrances off the parkway at lunchtime
Friday, stayed through the night and remained there Saturday to make
sure the inn didn’t reopen, O’Connell said.

Parkway Chief Ranger Steve Stinnett said park service managers in Washington directed him to block access to the inn.

The
470-mile federal road that winds through the North Carolina and
Virginia mountains remains open to traffic but National Park Service
visitor centers, campgrounds, picnic areas and restrooms are shutteredArticle source: http://www.wncn.com/story/23616764/nc-hotel-forced-to-close-over-government-shutdown If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Home of the Week: Downtown Asheville loft

Published in Asheville Attractions on October 6, 2013

The elevator doors to Steve Lott and Mickey Randolph’s floor parted to reveal a hallway filled with art. Paintings glowed gently in the museum-quality lighting.

Steve dug for his keys while explaining he found the work through a lifetime of collecting. He opened the door to the condominium he and his wife share, and a visitor walked into a gallery of outsider art and face-jug pottery.

Framing the pieces was the loft, a space with skylights, narrow-plank floors and industrial windows that frame the southern sky.

Steve and Mickey’s loft is one of eight on the Asheville Art Museum’s Downtown Urban Loft + Art Tour on Thursday. The tour leaves from the museum in 15-minute increments (last departure at 6:30 p.m.) and takes in Alchemy Fine Arts gallery. A reception at the contemporary furniture store Mobilia follows, with music by Eleanor Underhill and local food, beer and wine.

Steve and Mickey bought their loft three years ago as an urban retreat and alternative to their home in Cullowhee. “This is what you always think of when you think of a loft,” Steve said.

The entrance gives way immediately to the kitchen.

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131005/HOMEGARDEN/310050013/Art-lifts-a-downtown-loft If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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