Asheville News

Ashvegas hot shots: On coal ash ponds, economic outlook forums and more

Jason Sandford June 30, 2009

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Some of what’s going around:

– Why is everyone suddenly freaking out again about Progress Energy’s coal ash ponds? Since the big pond failure over in Tennessee, the coal ash ponds here in Asheville have come under scrutiny. Yeah, it’s not good.

– There’s a cool new comedy night happening in Asheville. Every Tuesday night at the New French Bar on Biltmore Avenue, comics get up and do their schtick. Every comic has three minutes to do their thing, then they can keep going. But everyone in the audience has a foam tomato, and there’s a big gong up on stage. When the ‘maters start hitting the gong, the funnyman/woman is done. Fun!

– There’s yet another economic outlook forum coming up in Asheville in a couple of weeks. For the past couple of years, I’ve been covering these forums, and I’m getting more frustrated with them. While they offer a good survey of current data, the forums don’t really seem to be helping anyone plan. There’s got to be a way to make these things a little more useful.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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4 Comments

Where's RiverLink? July 1, 2009

Where is RiverLink on the Coal Ash Pond issue? They’ve got volunteers out in every rainstorm searching for mud puddles (The RiverLink Mud Puddle Police, otherwise known as Muddy Water Watch), but these coal sludge ponds are laced with heavy metals which could be a real hazard to plant and animal life, including people in Asheville and Buncombe County, Madison County, Tennessee and beyond. Where’s Mr. RiverKeeper, our water quality champion?
We’re listening, waiting….

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Ash June 30, 2009

Jenny, yes – that’s why you read Ashvegas. To find out what’s going on around town!

b.c.w., i agree with you. it just seems that nobody paid attention to coal ash ponds before the Tennessee mess. now, news is everywhere. guess i’m just frustrated that nobody seemed to be paying attention before now.

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b.c.w June 30, 2009

People are freaking out about coal ash for good reason. With all the talk about ‘clean coal’ technology, this blows the lid off the thing. It’s a fossil fuel that leaves carbon byproducts behind… it was never meant to be burned in the first place. It’ll never be clean.

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Jenny June 30, 2009

There’s nothin’ on the New French Bar site that I could find about the comedy – or the timing of said comedy. Their facebook page lists what I think are bands starting tonight (Tuesday) at 10 pm. Is the comedy before that, or after, I wonder?

(New reader here – heh – now I get all my "what to do in Asheville" information from your site!)

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