Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Toddler killed
A 2-year-old who had wandered from home at an Oteen trailer park was hit by a car and killed on Saturday. Holly Headache said police were looking for the driver of a “vehicle of interest,” but she never said what the vehicle was. The accident happened on Lower Grassy Branch Road.
Was there a debate or not
A couple of loyal readers have been saying that there was a Taylor-Shuler debate down in Rutherford County Monday night, but the Forest City newspaper only shows that Shuler showed up. So no showdown that we can see, folks.
Scamming old people
WLOSers showed us how easy it is to take money from old people Monday. There’s a new sweepstakes scam in town, and here’s how it works – somebody sends you a check that looks real, asks you to deposit it, then asks you to send a portion of that money back to them so they, in turn, can send you all the rest.
Of course, the check is no good, and you’re out the money you send back. In the case of the little old lady WLOS talked to, she sent in several thousand dollars apparently (WLOSers never said how much).
Look people – smarten up. These sweespstakes are scams. Just stick to the N.C. lottery and lose your money there. At least you know you’ll be helping little school children.
Dr. Le?
John “Punnyman” Le dressed up like a doctor to tell us about the “Davinci robot,” some sort of fancy medical device at Mission Hospitals that cuts people in a “minimally invasive” way.
Water line breaks
A water line on Hendersonville broke early Monday morning, and Julie Wunder acted like it was the eighth wonder of the world. The line broke and shot a piece of pipe into the air, she said. There was also a water and gravel geyser some 20 feet high, she said. She was just amazed by it all.
The eight-inch line break forced repair crews to shut down at least one lane of traffic, and it knocked out water service to people nearby. It’s prolly all fixed by now.
Behind the scenes at ‘Ghost Town’
WLOSer Terrie Foster claimed to take us “behind the scenes” at Ghost Town, the movie, but there was just one scene being shot on Monday out neear Canton, so she talked to a few actors.
The moviemakers said their tale is an 1850s story of revenge. The moviemakers also noted that a couple of actors from the famous (or infamous) movie Deliverance are on screen together again in “Ghost Town.” Much of the movie will be shot on location at the Ghost Town amusement park in Maggie Valley, which is set to re-open next year. The movie will debut in connection with the reopening of the park.
O – Dolly Parton’s sister is gonna be in the movie, too.
Bad flood maps
WLOSer Jeremy Butterfield said McDowell County got some new flood maps from the state that sucked, so they got some new ones and they have until January to make sure they’re correct. Why is that a story?
Spray-paint vandalism
Cherub Charu went out to Leicester to look at a bunch of grafitti somebody sprayed on a building and a road. It said “Terry Evans” and “Don’t call 911.” That was apparently a reference to the Terry Evans who was shot and killed by a Buncombe County sheriff’s deputy this summer. Deputies had been called because they were told the young man was threatening suicide, but deputies felt the situation called for them to fire.
Evans mother has said the sheriff’s deputy acted with too much force, but hair dressers in Leicester that Charu talked to don’t think she’s responsible for the grafitti.
Sammy Stewart pleads guilty
Sammy Stewart, 51, a former major league baseball player from Asheville who pitched in a World Series for the Orioles in the 1970s pleaded guilty to drug charges on Monday. Stewart was sentenced as a habitual felon to six years in prison.
Politics and religion
Sheraldo went down to Transylvania County to tell us that the local Democratic Party chairman is upset about a candidate forum set for tonight. The chairman is upset because the forum is hosted by Pastor Randy Barton of Anchor Baptist Church and will be aired on his religious radio station, WGCR.
The Dem says its a bad mix of religion and politics. But Sheraldo talked to a couple of candidates, who said the radio debate is a good way to reach people they might not be able to otherwise. County officials also gave approval to the pastor to use a county building for the location of the debate.
In other news…
The “Empty Bowls” benefit for MANNA Food Bank was held Monday… Susan Mundy went out to Avery’s Creek to do a story about the school’s anti-bullying program… And Duke basketballer Greg Paulus injured his foot and is going to be out indefinitely. Yeah!
Concerning the vandalism piece… instead of "Don’t call 911" the graffiti was actually misspelled as "Don’t dail 911," which was pretty funny.
Hi Ash. I covered the forum Tuesday (I’m a reporter for the Transylvania Times now). Lots of amens. In the courthouse. It was strange.
’tis true. taylor was a no-show after confirming he’d be there.
there’s always next wednesday, but i’m not holding my breath.
Flood maps are important because you and I just paid an ass load of money after 2004 to reimburse damaged floodplain property. If you put anything in the floodplain after this, you are taking full responsibility for it and probably can’t get insurance that’s reasonable. The problem with this story is that the floodplain is likely ‘too much’ (ie. the county loses tax base) and so they are decreasing the area due to whining and politics. The net result: You and I will pay for a bunch of house trailers again because "they screwed up the maps again the last time they did them".
WLOS reports many stories like this without getting to the "meat" (as you know). What I can’t figure out: Do they know it’s a story? Where do they get the idea in the first place, if there’s no conclusion? The conclusion of this story is a bit subtle for their demographic, unless they spell it the hell out.
I guess I reiterate your comments here because I can’t figure out the genesis or heirarchy of their stories, let alone how they may actually report it-