love. But I was not in love. Although I did take birth control precautions, I accidentally got pregnant. The child was conceived through a night of passion with a boy I knew from college. He was handsome, and we had a little too much to drink. I had just moved to Asheville a few months prior to the pregnancy and was still trying to get myself financially and emotionally settled and stable. Neither of us were in the position to have a child. All I could see were disasters and difficulties in our future if I carried out the pregnancy. So, with the support of my mom, I decided to go to a clinic in Raleigh where I received the pill form of abortion. The whole process [took] about two weeks and was very safe. The abortion was not as difficult and painful as I thought it would be. Now I have my whole life ahead of me. I have created a new, spiritually awakened life here in Asheville and look forward to a future of light, love and endless possibilities. The politicians who have decided to take the right to choose away from women have also limited the futures of women and have therefore limited the future of our country. — Elizabeth Waters Asheville
CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN
The Merrmon village was bad news for neighbors Five Points Neighborhood would have loved to have an urban village built on the former Deal Buick site, and we tried to work with the developers to come up with a plan that wouldn't impose excessive costs on the neighbors [“Ruffled Feathers,” Aug. 7 Xpress]. But the 2007 proposal had two main problems, both of which ran counter to the directions of the development laws. The urban village code directs that tall buildings be located centrally within [the development] to avoid impacts on neighbors, but the Horizon's “twin towers” ran almost the full length of the lot on the back half, close to [residents], and would have presented neighbors on Eloise Street with a building rising about 150 feet above street level, set back only about 50 feet from the road, permanently blocking midday winter sun. ... The urban village code directs that loading-dock access should come from roads interior to the development, but the Horizon's plan called a loading dock on Eloise, directly across from a residential neighbor, which
would have led to a constant stream of trucks on this residential street. These are the two main reasons we filed a protest petition. Holly Shriner called the plans “phenomenally beautiful,” but I'm quite sure that she would protest if someone tried to build a 150-foot-tall tower and a loading dock across the street from her home. If the developers had been willing to change their plans to be better neighbors, we would have gladly welcomed an urban village on that site. — Benjamin Gillum, former president Five Points Neighborhood Association Asheville
back to what used to work — and work effectively. You have a fine publication. “Don’t mess with success,” as someone once said. — Terry Ward Asheville Xpress Responds: Thanks so much for your letter. In July we completed the testing phase of our redesign and applied it throughout the paper, with the goal of a cohesive style that makes reading and navigating easier. However, no newspaper design should be permanent. So you can expect to see refinements and redesigns in the future.
Sage advice I am disappointed and a bit puzzled about your recent format/ font change for Mountain Xpress. Articles and regular features that used to be typeset in a variety of interesting fonts now have a plain, vanilla uniformity. It’s very homogenized and not very interesting. Your publication that used to be visually engaging is now pretty lifeless. I hope you will consider going
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