Asheville News

Blog bits: A casino, art and one nice ass

Jason Sandford June 12, 2005

Jason Sandford

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

Cherokee casino expanding?

Seems the Eastern Band of the Cherokee want to ramp up the gambling in Cherokee. The tribe has given the governor a new proposal, one that would allow them to expand to a new location, offer credit and offer live gambling.

Has the conversation ended?

Ashvegas blew up a few years back when Ashvegas City Council debated whether to spend taxpayers’ money to buy a piece of public art called “Conversation Piece #4c” by sculptor Ida Kohlmeyer. Council ponied up about $50,000 of our hard-earned money in the end, but that’s where the discussion ended.

Council said it was going to put it out on display, and asked for input. One idea was to place it along an Ashvegas greenway, such as the Weaver Blvd. greenway near UNC Ashvegas.

But giant work, infamously described as a “watermelon and a bannana” or something stupid like that by Councilman Joe Dunn, has rested inside the confines of Pack Place, home to the Ashvegas art museum and Diana Wortham Theatre and such. Council feared public desecration of the piece, especially after the heated rhetoric about buying it.

But can’t we put it on display someplace out in the open? It’s time to get the conversation started again.

Your ass here

Your ass here.

(oops)

Your ad here.

Jason Sandford

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

Blog bits: A group blog, a group ride, and a guide

Celebrity post #2: Tammy stops laughing (for a minute) but keeps her sense of humor

3 Comments

Dad June 16, 2005

Thank you again my son.

Love, Dad

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Bulldog June 13, 2005

Speaking of wasted taxpayer money, how many Ashvegans remember the Asheville Trolley debacle back in the 80s? A local downtown do-gooder named Karen Field found a couple of dilapidated former Asheville trolley cars in some junkyard in Rutherford County and talked the city into spending several thousand dollars to reclaim them. Seems it was about $20,000 apiece. The plan was for everybody to pitch in and restore the trolleys, but the last time they were seen they were (further) rotting away behind the City Maintenance sheds.
That old coot at the Rutherford junkyard must have seen Karen Field coming from a mile away.

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Bulldog June 13, 2005

Now that’s what I call a “Conversation Piece.” Maybe City Council ought to consider turning that into one of those Times Square billboards for Pack Place and see if they can get our money back on the painted scrap metal.

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