Pres. Obama
Obama visits Asheville area, again; hints at retiring here — See story, Pg. 2
Jim Aycock
Descendant says Gov. Aycock’s legacy trashed by Duke prof — See clashing guest columns, Pgs. 22-23
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
March 2013
Vol. 9, No. 4
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville
www.ashevilledailyplanet.com
FREE
Gun rights touted at Pack Square rally From Staff Reports
At “high noon” Feb. 23, Second Amendment supporters — some of them armed, including one with a loaded AR-15 — gathered at Pack Square in downtown Asheville to take a stand for their right to own guns. The 35-minute “Day of Resistance” event
drew more than 100 attendees. Comparing the loss of gun rights to a frog in a pot of boiling water, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, the lead speaker, told the crowd that “it (the change) happens so slowly that most of us haven’t recognized it... “Well, the temperature has been rising, and most of our fellow citizens are either unin-
formed or ignorant or don’t really care about what’s going on.” He added, “Guns in the hands of individual citizens represent the greatest single threat to tyrants — and they know it.” Besides Eichenbaum, who gave a talk that lasted 20 minutes, Dr. Carl Mumpower addressed the crowd in a more succint speech
Did someone say ... ‘Pillow Fight?’
Daily Planet Staff Photo
The Second Annual Anti-Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight gave people a chance to vent — in a fun and harmless way — at downtown Asheville’s Pritchard Park on Feb. 14. The hour-long event, which drew more than 100 people, is inspired by a similar anti-Valentine’s event in San Francisco that draws thousands of people.
Live off-the-grid, outside-the-box? By JOHN NORTH
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
SWANNANOA — His aspiration is to “live off the grid and outside the box” in harmony and balance, radical ecologist and graphic artist-author Aaron Birk said during a wide-ranging Feb. 6 talk at Warren Wilson College’s Canon Lounge. Despite his distress with what he sees as the ravages of industrialization, Birk said, “the nature without us ... always expresses itself ... You can always look within, when you feel crowded out by modernity.” For Birk, “the superhero (in comic books) is someone who finds their strength within, and not so much (from) an outside power.” Taking a conciliatory tack, the ecologist asserted,
“Rather than viewing the police or government as a blocking element, they can be regarded as yet another force” that should be befriended rather than treated with hostilty, for the long-term good of the effort to protect the environment. He added, “We need multiple approaches” — from individuals chaining themselves in key locations to delay fracking ... to more cooperative efforts. Birk, who addressed “The Anarchist’s Apiary: Guerilla Gardening, Urban Architecture and Restoration Ecology,” later fielded some questions from the audience and finished with a book-signing of his recently published graphic novel, “The Pollinator’s Corridor.” The program drew about 70 people. See LIVE , Page 10
Aaron Birk
of half the duration. A brief wrapup was given by rally co-organizer Kevin King. Eichenbaum and Mumpower are former GOP congressional candidates. Eichenbaum is an ophthalmologist from Murphy. Mumpower is a psychologist and a former member of Asheville City Council. See GUNS, Page 4
City erred in allowing guns at ‘picketing,’ Bothwell says
From Staff Reports Two hours after a Feb, 23 gun rights rally in downtown Asheville, City Councilman Cecil Bothwell issued a press release calling for “enforcement of Asheville’s ordinance banning the carrying of guns while picketing in the city.” He said his statement was in response to a story in that day’s Asheville CitizenTimes reporting that some gun advocates gathering for the Second Amendment rally intended to carry weapons to the event. In the aftermath of his statement, some of the event’s organizers and other gun-rights advocates expressed — to the local news media — sharp disagreement with Bothwell’s interpretation of the city ordinance. Several Second Amendment-backers also emphasized that the event was a “rally” and did not constitute “picketing” or a protest. Conversely, Bothwell asserted, “Carrying guns while picketing is strictly prohibited under our municipal code. The law is very clear, and the Second Amendment Rally obviously falls within the definition of ‘picket’ in our ordinance. “Furthermore, if someone is injured during this event, through intent or by way of accidents, a failure of the city to enforce its ordinance would invite a lawsuit from any injured party.” The councilman, who recently announced plans to seek re-election to another fouryear term and writes a monthly opinion column for the Daily Planet, cited what he termed the “pertinent sections” of the city ordinance. follows: “‘Picketing’ means the stationing of any person by standing, lying, walking, sitting, kneeling, bending or in any other similar manner at a particular place so as to persuade, or otherwise influence, another person’s actions or conduct, or to apprise the public of an opinion or message.” See BOTHWELL, Page 19