Singles

Frances Knapp eats her breakfast and reads the paper at the Silver Dollar diner Tuesday morning. Knapp has been coming to the diner for 44 years. "I like to come down here because it's quiet most of the time. The prices are not high, it's reasonable. You can sit and nobody will bother you."
   
Carolina Bison ranch manager Mike Ellington and chief operations officer Frankie King drive to see some of the bison herd on the ranch.
  
The Asheville Fire Department held a controlled burn in a house off Mimidis Lane in Swannanoa, NC. The burn is part of required training for local recruits. The group, led by instructors, learned about fire behavior and patterns. At the end of the day, they burned the structure to the ground.
     
  
Escorted by fire engines, police and more than 50 Patriot Guard motorcycle riders, the remains of Korean War veteran Samuel Kelly Watkins returned home to Hendersonville after 60 years. The remains were identified using DNA from Watkins' sisters.
  
Waylon Devito, 1, picks up a hula hoop as hula hoopers swing to the reggae band, Chalwa, at the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival in downtown Asheville.
   
Jolene Mechanic hurries through an exhibit. Mechanic is the director and co-Founder of Flood Gallery & Fine Art Center in the River Arts District.
     
  
Jamya McMorris, 7, grumpily looks around in between warm ups with the Hillcrest High-Steppin' Majorettes and Drum Corps before the start of the annual Asheville Holiday Parade. The group has been participating for more than 30 years and won first place in last year's parade.
   
John Gray, far right, cheers with fellow demonstrators. Around sixty people gathered under the Vance Monument for SlutWalk Asheville, a gathering aimed to bring awareness to sexual assault. According to the group, "we want to walk against unwanted attention and labeling based on our attire and others perceptions of us regardless of sex or gender. It doesn't matter how short your skirt is, how low cut your top, how tight your pants or how lovely your lumps, nobody deserves sexual assault."
   
A girl shakes hands with President Barack Obama following a speech at the Asheville Regional Airport. The speech started the President's two state bus tour.
     
  
Family and friends of N.C. State Trooper Shawn Blanton react as a jury in the trial of Edwardo Wong find Wong guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Blanton in 2008. Blanton's widow, Michaela Blanton, far left, and mother, Jeanell Youngbird, are comforted by Trooper Christine Dotson, center. The verdict ended 30 days of testimony.
  
The mother of Lance Cpl. Jessie Cassada, 19, cries after receiving the flag that draped her son's coffin during the burial service at Forest Lawn Mortuary and Memorial Park in Hendersonville, NC. Cassada died while serving as a Marine in Afghanistan on January 6, 2009.
   
David Nolan, an intern with the Black Mountain College Museum, spackles the walls of the gallery in preparation for the upcoming show Triangle, which features three women of the Black Mountain College.
     
  
Luther Matthews, 92, does chores around the house as his wife, Maddy, gets the mail at their home in Timmonsville, SC. Despite being healthy and loving the work, Matthews retired after 68 years of barbering to be with Maddy who was suffering from Alzheimer's.
   
The Swain County Maroon Devils players and coaches celebrate after defeating the Ayden-Grifton Chargers in the NCHSAA 1AA State Championships at the BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. Swain won the game 20-14.
  
Sarah Hicks, the principal conductor at the Minnesota Orchestra and associate conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, leads a rehearsal Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. The North Carolina Symphony rehearsed side-by-side with the Asheville Buncombe Youth Symphony through selections by Beethoven, Derlioz and Offenbach.
     
  
Robert Wilcoxson, right, is embraced by his father Robert Wilcoxson-Bey after being proclaimed innocent and released from prison after being jailed for 11 years on murder charges. Robert Wilcoxson and Kenneth Kagonyera were determined innocent by a rare three judge panel Thursday. The N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission ordered the proceeding after it found credible new evidence that Kagonyera and Wilcoxson didn't committed the 2000 murder of Walter Bowman.
   
The Latin TV entertainer Cachita has followed a fascinating life's journey, from her youth in Cuba, through a sex change operation, and a rise to stardom on the Univision Spanish-language cable network. Cachita is the biggest name booked for the 13th annual Fiesta Latina, a day of music, food, informational events and children's activities.
  
Dancer Garth Grimball and Artist Molly Rose Freeman are collaborating on a new site-specific arts project in the River Arts District called the Asheville Rites Project.
     
  
Hundreds of fans gathered Friday night in Marshall to watch the North Buncombe vs. Madison High School football game. Though the game was close until halftime, North Buncombe pulled away to win the game 22-14.
   
Christ School's Corban Collins retains control of the ball despite heavy defense from Charlotte Christian's Trent Walker during the NCISAA tournament championships game. This is Christ School's fifth straight state title.