Visit Bookends Bookstore

Buy a book, get a bargain. Bookstore open during library hours.

Abandoned mobile homes can be an eyesore, blighting the surrounding area.

Meningitis is an illness in which the tissues that cover the brain or spinal cord become inflamed.

Improving public health and the environment for is just a click away. A new EPA Web site features dozens of projects that local communities can do to help make the air cleaner and healthier to breathe.

The EPA has announced a revised Energy Star specification for televisions.

The Buncombe County Department of Social Services is hosting an upcoming seminar to empower foster and adoptive families.

This week we are featuring some animals available for adoption from FurEver Friends. Please consider making one of these animals your "FurEver" friend by giving it a loving home.

Congratulations to Thomas Israel of Asheville for his Pineapple Cream Dessert recipe!

During National Nutrition Month®, the American Dietetic Association urges consumers to look beyond the myths of nutrition and focus on the facts. Remember, the theme for 2008 is Nutrition: It’s a Matter of Fact.

The Experts at ADA have identified the following facts:

1. Eating right doesn’t have to be complicated. Use Mypyramid.gov to develop a personalized plan for lifelong health.
2. The best nutrition advice is based on science. Before adopting any changes to your diet, be sure the information is based on scientific fact.
3. Get your food and nutrition facts from an expert - a registered dietitian. RD’s are uniquely qualified to translate the science of nutrition into reliable advice you can use every day.
4. Balancing physical activity and a healthful diet is your best recipe for managing weight and promoting overall health and fitness.
5. Think nutrient-rich rather than “good” or “bad” foods. The majority of your food choices should be packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients - and lower in calories.
6. Look at the big picture: No single food or meal makes or breaks a healthful diet. Your total diet is the most important focus for healthful eating.
7. Prepare, handle and store food properly to keep you and your family safe from food-borne illness.
8. Don’t fall prey to food myths and misinformation that may harm rather than benefit your health.
9. Read food labels to get nutrition facts that help you make smart food choices quickly and easily.
10. Find the healthy fats when making food choices. By choosing polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, you can keep your saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol low.

Here are a few clean, green facts about recycling:

• Fact: Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. So, yes, it pays off to recycle.
• Collect newspapers in a paper grocery bag or in tied bundles, depending on your community’s guidelines, and set them out on pickup day. (It takes up to 75,000 trees to produce one Sunday edition of the New York Times.)
• Don’t recycle wet cardboard. It can clog sorting machines. Throw it away to keep it from contaminating the rest of the load.
• Don’t recycle bottle tops; they’re not made from the same plastic as recyclable bottles. But if you forget, don’t sweat it. They’ll be sorted down the line. (The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle can power a computer for 25 minutes.)
• Rinse cans, but crushing isn’t necessary. The aluminum can is the most recycled item in the United States, as well as the most valuable. It can be recycled again and again, and so efficiently that a can is regenerated and back on the shelf in as little as 60 days.
• Don’t fret if you can’t get the lime out of the beer bottle or the last of the peanut butter from the jar. The recycler’s machinery will zap all contaminants. But do empty and rinse glass jars and containers.

Source: www.realsimple.com

Spring forward... Fall back... It's ingrained in our consciousness almost as much as the A-B-C's or our spelling reminder of "i before e..." and it's a regular event!

This year, Daylight Saving Time begins for those of us in North Carolina at 2 am on March 9.

So don't forget to spring forward -- March 9 is coming fast!

The Buncombe County Transfer Station, located at 190 Hominy Creek Road in Asheville, now accepts the following at no charge to Buncombe County residents:

• Metal
• Aluminum
• Appliances
• Bicycles
• Water Heaters
• Old Grills
• Lawn Mowers, Etc.

The Transfer Station is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Questions? Call 250-6205.

Please take a few minutes to complete this Viewer Satisfaction Survey for Buncombe County Government Television. The deadline to take the survey is Wednesday, March 6, 2008.

We welcome your feedback and appreciate your honesty. With your help, we can make BCTV the best it can be. You could even win a BCTV prize pack!

Take the Survey

Buncombe County Parks and Recreation offers a variety of exciting programs for all ages.

To see a complete listing of their Adult and Senior programming for March, see the Sightseers Workshops & Trips brochure.

For more information, call Buncombe County Parks and Recreation at 250-4260.