On August 12, agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided a local defense contractor, Mills Manufacturing, and arrested 57 workers for being illegal immigrants. In response, the outraged community held a march and rally. Please post your photos here!

For more info on the raid, see http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/immigration_raid_at_...ts_57

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Today Asheville Rising Tide’s billionaire bloc descended on Bank of America’s regional headquarters to demand that BoA continue to invest their money in coal. The Billionaires for Coal carried signs reading “More Profit, Less Mountains” and sipped on dirty (coal) martinis to applaud BoA for its funding of mountaintop removal coal mining as well as the new generation of dirty coal plants. The Asheville Police Department did an excellent job of blocking access to the bank entrance and the ATM surely scaring off a number of bank customers.

Two days before, activists with Croatan Earth First! visited three Bank of America branches in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The activist entered the banks raising a ruckus and handing out fliers to customers until being forced to leave. The motley crew of billionaires then proceeded to demonstrate outside and informing the public of BoA’s dirty deeds. A few weeks before several activists were detained by police in Charlotte, NC (BoA’s hometown) for hanging anti-coal poster’s in the neighborhoods of several BoA executives homes. After intensive interrogation, they were let go without charge (remember kids, never talk to cops).

Bank of America is guilty of funding such notorious human rights abusers and ecological destroyers as Massey Energy, Arch Coal, and Peabody Energy. They have recently handed over heaps of cash to companies such as Duke Energy that is currently building the 800 MW Cliffside coal plant in Cliffside, NC.

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: A video of the APD doing a walk-through of Pisgah View Apts., a local housing project, one officer is carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. He refered to it as his piece maker.

This apparently happens somewhat regularly in PVA. The locals of the neighborhood have a lot to deal with. The police presence is intense and the when the police use such tactics as a means to intimidate people, its no wonder the community is afraid of the police.

http://www.myspace.com/ashevillecopwatch

Dancing after the water balloon fight

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: At around 1pm, dozens of colorful celebrators gathered at the Vance monument to enjoy their freedoms, express their dissent, have a waterball fight in the street, and parade around downtown for this year's international workers day.

Food Not Bombs provided food for the initial picnic while a marching band provided entertainment. Eventually people started shoving giant plastic barricades into the street, blocking all traffic in the intersection in front of the Vance Monument, so they could have a water balloon fight. Then there was a parade! Everyone marched around downtown, turning corners to avoid the police blockades. Right outside the Grove Arcade, one person got arrested and charged with inciting a riot, but he is now out of jail. His court date is scheduled for June 6. Everyone else marched back to Pack Place and continued the party for awhile. Over all, it was a wonderful May Day for Asheville.

Happy May Day!

See also: http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/may_day_parade_attra...f_apd

UNCA students walk out

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Over 60 students walked out of classes here at UNC-Asheville on Thursday, March 20th, to answer the national call to action from Students for a Democratic Society. They were joined by members of the community, as well as members of the WNC Peace Coalition, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, No More Victims, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization for a march downtown and a rally at Pack Square. These organizations made up the Asheville March 20 Coalition, organized by UNCA SDS. Leaders from all of these organizations spoke at the rally downtown.

Angela Denio spoke to the rally on behalf of UNCA SDS. In her speech to the assembled crowd she noted, “Almost 4000 American soldiers have died in this war. 1.2 million Iraqi people have died. Beyond this there is mass displacement- 4 million refugees.”

Do you keep missing meetings? Forget your dad's birthday? Didn't realize that martial law was declared to put down a meat packers' strike in Nebraska City on January 27, 1922? You must not have a Slingshot Organizer!

Asheville Indymedia is now selling 2008 Slingshot Organizers at Rosetta's Kitchen at 111 Broadway St in downtown Asheville. We know it's a little late in the year, but Slinghots are cool, artsy, collectively-made daily planners chock-full of facts about people's history. They also include menstrual calandars, space for address & phone numbers, and loads of useful information on emotional well-being, consent, dealing with government repression, etc. as well as a list of radical contacts around the world. For more information, go to: http://slingshot.tao.ca/organizer.php

Small "classic" pocket Slingshots are $6. Large desk calendar versions are $12. All proceeds go to Asheville Indymedia. Supplies are very limited, so go pick up yours today.

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Canupa Gluha Mani, leader of Strong Heart Civil Rights Movement speaks in West Asheville on Lakota independence.

With the stiff cold winds blowing and the snowfall covering my garden, I'm thinking again of the brave Lakota, who have so long endured hardship and oppression, and have now so boldly again declared independence from the treaty-breaking U.S. government. These First Nation people of Turtle Island have had enough of subjugation. They have reclaimed their sovereignty, and have invited all freedom-loving people to join them in the resistance.

At the West Asheville library last week, well over 150 heard Canupa Gluha Mani (One who walks as he protects the fight), aka Duane Martin, Sr., a warrior leader with Cante Tenza, the Strong Heart Civil Rights Movement. He was just back from Washington, DC where with eight other delegates of various Lakota tribes, they delivered documents to the U. S. State Department advising of a unilateral withdrawal from the trail of broken treaties.
"I never ever seen a man's face stretched as long as a rubber band," he said of the State Department employee on whom the Lakota served notice of their independence.

Calling the colonial oppressors by Lakota words meaning, "the people who like to steal fat," and "guy that can only smile for greed," Canupa Gluha Mani detailed some of the dire circumstances endured by the Lakota, including an epidemic of alcoholism, the removal of thousands of Lakota children to foster homes off the reservation, and the diminished life expectancy of Lakota men, many of whom fought in U.S. wars. "To this Godforsaken day it is always people of color going off to kill poor people."

In the spirit of open publishing, the Asheville Indymedia collective has updated its editorial policy to add more transparency to editorial decisions. The new editorial policy is published below, and you can always look up the latest policy by clicking the "editorial policy" link to the left. The editorial policy spells out what sort of content we would like posted to our website, and when editors are empowered to hide or featurize user-submitted content. We have also added (though we're still working out the kinks) a "compost bin", which can be accessed by clicking on its link to the left. Articles and comments that the collective decide to hide don't get erased from the website entirely, they just get moved to the compost bin.

Asheville Indymedia Editorial Policy

The Asheville IMC newswire works on the principle of open publishing: anyone is allowed to post to the site. Articles go straight to the newswire and are not passed through an editorial board or approval process. Once articles and media are on the site, however, they may be hidden (according to the guidelines below) to maintain the newswire's efficacy as a media resource. The content of posts is never edited though sometimes formatting is corrected (html errors, for example). AIMC is committed to remaining as transparent as possible regarding its decision making. In this spirit, we are working to create a page to collect hidden posts so that visitors to the site can view articles that the editorial group has decided to hide.

Ever wanted to get involved with Asheville Food Not Bombs? For years, the group has been serving free vegetarian meals to anyone who needs food. Currently, we host picnics and informal activist networking every Saturday starting around 3:45pm at Pritchard Park.

Our most recent kitchen space in downtown Asheville is no longer available because the folks who lived in the house where we cooked have moved. A plethora of local community centers and churches have been contacted but nothing has become available for our use. We would like to stay cooking in downtown Asheville because of the convenience and variety of people that help cook and clean; however, as of right now, until another cooking space is found, Asheville Food Not Bombs will return to Warren Wilson College campus to cook and clean.