For a dreary Tuesday:
-Gabriella’s opens: The new jewelry shop on the corner of Lexington Avenue and College Street has opened. It’s called Gabriella’s Studio Boutique, and it is owned by Gabriella Egan, who you’ve seen selling her jewelry at the Grove Arcade Market for the past few years. She and her husband own the Atelier gallery on Lexington Avenue.
-Demolition: The Courthouse Annex building – the former home of the Buncombe County Board of Elections on College Street – is to be demolished today. The building is a little landmark near the Buncombe County Courthouse that’s been standing there since the 1920s or so and was once a funeral home. It will be used as a staging area for a major construction project at the courthouse. The Asheville Citizen-Times details the $29 million courthouse rehab project here.
-Today’s beer news: The Thirsty Monk South will be celebrating Hanukkah with some great beer. On Wednesday night, they’ll have eight He’Brew Jewbelation beers on tap, and Jewbelation will be the beer of the month. It’s a great beer. Check it out.
-Fit for life: It won’t be long before everyone will be talking about new resolutions, but why wait? Take inspiration from one of my fellow CrossFit Asheville buddies, Heather, who blogs about how exercising and eating right changed her life. It doesn’t have to be CrossFit. Just get out and move, and start eating better. Way to go, Heather!
-The Exhibitionist: The latest issue of Verve has a nice profile of Asheville Art Museum Director Pam Myers, who is marking her 15th anniversary as head of the museum.
-Ingles sales: Ingles grocery store is having a good year, financially speaking.
-Big Crafty: The Big Crafty is coming Sunday. Crafty good times.
-Asheville can suck it: A new Facebook presence is catching some attention. It’s called Asheville Canblowme, and honestly, I’m not sure what the purpose of it is. Tagline: “for every rich asshole downtown there are six in biltmore.”
-FBI witch hunts: The Firestorm Cafe is hosting an interesting discussion on Wednesday starting at 7 p.m. Jess Sundin, a Minneapolis activist who says she was wrongly targeted by the FBI when it raided the homes of 14 well-known anti-war and human rights activists in Chicago and Minneapolis, will be speaking.
-UNCA men drop game: The UNC Asheville men’s basketball team lost in double-overtime last night to USC Upstate.
-Hurrah for hempcrete: Asheville leads the nation in construction with hempcrete. If you can’t smoke it, build with it, right? Actually, Asheville is leading the nation in smoking it, too, I think.