Story robs Asheville of jobs -- or did it?

• Position: Brief Article

All it took was reading an artide in The New Yorker for Lawrence Erlbaum to decide he wouldn't move part of his publishing business--an office, printing plant, 200 jobs -- from Mahwah, N.J., to Asheville.

He'd thought about it, he claimed in a letter to The Asheville Citizen-Times, until he read about a rally at a public high-school stadium by We Still Pray, a group opposing the U.S. Supreme Court ban on student-led prayer. The story also mentioned that Mayor Leni Sitnick had considered proclaiming The Lordship of Jesus Christ Awareness Week.

"It is clear that many of our employees and especially their children would not be comfortable in your community or schools," he wrote, notifying the paper and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce that the city was off Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.'s short list. The 25-year-old company publishes academic and professional books, journals and software.

Two things puzzle local folks. Chamber officials say Eribaum never contacted them about moving. "We had no dealings with them," says Dave...