Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Belle of the Ball
Cherub Charu reported the historic swearing in of Ashvegas’ first African-American mayor, Terry Bellamy, then followed Bellamy to a fancy ball at a downtown hotel Tuesday night.
Bellamy, decked out in a giant Oprah-like, golden satin gown for her Inauguration, greeted more well-wishers and talked about a new day dawning in town. Then Charu talked to Bellamy’s mother, who seemed more than ready to build up the Bellamy mystique. She told of how, when Bellamy was a baby and they had no money or anything, she took baby Bellamy down to the courthouse, made her look up and said, “One day, girl, you’re going to make it here.”
Freebie
City Council appointed Bryan “Freebie” Freeborn to fill Bellamy’s vacant seat on the board. When Diva Darcel noted that in her report, she called Freeborn “the fourth runner-up.” Actually Darcel, Freeborn was the first runner-up. The top three vote-getters won, with Freeborn finishing fourth.
Weird wire stories
WLOS picked up two stories from outside sources. One was about a man who stole an ambulance in Wake County and died during the ensuing chase. The other was about a drug-crazed woman who saw a block of cheese in a house, thought it was cocaine, and hatched a murder plot to steal it. Crazy.
Strange. Just strange
WLOS told us the strange case of a woman named Melissa Strange, a McDowell County woman sentenced to some 16 years in prison for having sex with a 13-year-old boy who was a friend of her son’s. The woman’s family stood by her, one by one taking the stand, including her husband, who said “we all make mistakes.”
Heard it on the radio
This has nothing to do with WLOS, but did anybody hear the NPR report about the Ashvegas Mall? The mall has been taking complaints from some people who say the mall Santa is set up too close to the Victoria’s Secret store and its sexy undies. More on this later
Just a thought, but if Victoria’s had been sending out catalogues when I was 12, the Sears catalogue wouldn’t have held the sacred place of honor in our treehouse.
As if, Ash.
‘Dog, I knew that. I did.
syntax, yup.
EM, did you catch the Victoria’s Secret tv special on Tuesday night? Hot, hot, hot.
Dad, Ashvegas has got it going on. Always.
13 only gets you 16 these days? damn…
Sorry to wake you, Ash, but Susan Reinhardt wrote a column about the Victoria’s Secret window models enchanting the youngsters in line to meet Santa a week ago. In fact, with that for inspiration, I think I’ll get in line and make a wish my ownself.
I listen to NPR a lot but missed that moment. (To bad, because I like it when I hear something in the news related to a place I’ve actually been.) Howsomeever, I did know it from a post at Edgy Mama’s (www.edgymama.com) blog. Or, was it? It sounds like something that would be on EM’s blog
This as well from NPR: "And a shopping mall in Roanoke, Va., has drawn a black curtain between Santa’s chair and a Victoria’s Secret store. Parents complained about kids visiting Santa in his red cap — and seeing a mannequin in a hot pink thong."