12 Bones in RAD to be demolished
New Belgium’s tasting room to open in May — See STORY, Pg. A6
Group ‘channels’ The Carpenters
— See STORY, Pg. A6
— See REVIEW, Pg. B1
LLE I V HE AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
May 2016
Vol. 12, No. 6
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com FREE
Asheville pays tribute to Prince, ‘the ultimate rock star’
After losing Deschutes, blame cast, sparks fly From Staff Reports
Prince (above), a global rock star adored by fans and known for his mercurial brilliance and electrifying charisma on stage, was found dead early April 21 at his compound in Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minn. The cause of his death was unknown at presstime. Meanwhile, his Asheville fans celebrated his life and music with a late-night dance party — “like it’s 1999” — on April 23 at the Admiral restaurant
The mummy’s cursor
Q: I’m a woman in my 20s, and female friends and I find that, generally speaking, once a guy gets into a relationship, his texting dwindles into brief news bites, like “fell asleep!” or “phone died.” Why do men seem to lose interest in chatting by text like I do with my girlfriends? Are men just less feeling than women? — Annoyed A: Who says men aren’t emotional? “I don’t wanna talk about it!” is an emotion.
Donated photo
at 400 Haywood Rd. in West Asheville. Also, “Purple Rain” (a 1984 film starring Prince) was shown twice April 25 at Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. on Merrimon Avenue— and the 7 p.m. showing was sold out. In addition, the Fine Arts Theatre in downtown Asheville scheduled screenings of “Purple Rain” — “in remembrance of Prince” — at 9:30 p.m. April 29 and April 30.
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
But actually, the male brain is not the emotional dead zone many women suspect it to be, with a few tumbleweeds and a Doritos bag blowing through in place of feelings. In fact, neuroscientist Tor Wager reviewed 65 brain imaging studies and found that men’s brains aren’t any less responsive to emotional stimuli than women’s. However, women do tend to be more emotionally expressive. See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A12
Verbal sparks are flying — along with fingerpointing — between two factions (splitting along party lines) on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners over just who is to blame for the March 22 decision by Deschutes Brewery to choose Roanoke, Va., instead of Asheville as the home for its East Coast facility. A key aspect of the deal, the purchase of property for Deschutes, also split down party lines, with the four Democrats on the commission favoring the move and the three Republicans opposing it. After a seven-hour commissioners’ meeting April 5, Democratic Commissioner Holly Jones said, “I am really concerned about the (135) people in our commmunity that would have had a good job if we hadn’t of gone off half-cocked... Those people are really short-changed by folks having their own agendas.” Moreover, Jones and her fellow Democratic commissioners charged that Republican Commissioner Miranda DeBruhl was partially — if not largely — to blame for Deschutes’ choosing Roanoke instead of Asheville for its new regional brewery site. DeBruhl, who represents District 1 on the board and is running for commissioners’ chair, countered that the land purchase supporters were speculating with taxpayer money. She also charged that the Democrats primarily wanted to “control” what happened with the deal’s property — and that her Democratic opponent for chair, Brownie Newman, had said “that he wanted to not allow (George Vanderbilt heir) Jack Cecil to build homes there.” See DESCHUTES, Page A8
Asheville council calls for HB2 repeal; considers anti-bias LGBT ordinance From Staff Reports
Asheville City Council is calling for the repeal of the state Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (commonly known as House Bill 2 or just HB2) and is working collaboratively with other local governments and plans to work within the legal system to end discrimination. In addition, three councilmen are calling for the city to write an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance now in anticipation of the overturning of a North Carolina law forbidding such local protections. The trio’s move follows a ruling by a federal appeals court saying a Virginia school board discriminated against a transgender teen by forbidding him from using the boys’ restroom.
Councilmen Cecil Bothwell, Brian Haynes and Keith Young said the city should write a local ordinance modeled after Charlotte’s. That ordinance drew attention for allowing transgender people to choose which bathroom to use and led Republican lawmakers to pass HB2, negating such local ordinances. In general, the Charlotte ordinance made it illegal for private businesses open to the public, such as hotels, to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “It is our belief that the Asheville City Council should prepare an ordinance modeled on the nondiscriminitory ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council on Feb. 22,” Bothwell said in a news release sent to the Daily Planet. See HB2, Page A8