Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Woodring’s body found
WLOSers scrambled to try and stay on top of the biggest story of the day – the discovery of John “Woody” Woodring’s dead body in a houseboat on Fontana Lake in Graham County. Woodring, as you’ll recall, was wanted for shooting and killing his wife inside a Jackson County domestic abuse shelter six weeks ago. Woodring went on the lam and the case was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Terrie Foster, Russ “Beefcake” Bowen and Holly Headache were all on the story. They said Woodring was found a couch inside the houseboat of a friend. It looked like he died of a gunshot wound to the head, and WLOSers said it looked like a suicide. The houseboat owners had come to winterize the boat when they found the body.
Holly told us over and over that “it’s amazing how quickly word got around” that Woodring’s body had been found. That’s because cops had been in the area for two weeks, apparently, and the story broke about noon on Wednesday, although WLOSers didn’t have anything on the TV box until after 5 p.m.
Friends and family of Woodring’s dead wife were breathing a “sigh of relief,” Holly said, noting that the discovery of Woodring’s body “gave closure” to shelter workers tramautized by the whole thing.
Flu outbreak
WLOSers said Yancy County has shut down schools because of a possible flu outbreak. Some 250 children at schools and day cares have gotten sick in the past few days, so officials are shutting schools down until next Wednesday.
Breaking news…
We didn’t see this on WLOS, but have heard that U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor and challenger Heath Shuler will debate on Matt Mattan’s talk radio show on Friday. The two candidates will be in the studio together, answering questions back and forth. The show is on AM 570. Not sure of the time, but we’ll find out for you.
In other news…
Sheraldo says grafitti artists are hitting Hooterville buisnesses hard. A cop tells Sheraldo that businesses should paint over the grafitti and install more lights and security cameras… Cold, rainy weather is coming after four great days of above-average temps in the high 60s and low 70s… There was a shootout in Rutherford County the other night. Cops went to serve papers on a dude who started shooting. He and police exchanged fire for about 45 minutes before the dude ended up dead. The SBI is investigating to see if the dude committed suicide or was killed by police… Andrew Reed, a well-known figure on the local theater scene, was sentenced to a year in prison on charges that he had child porn on his computer.
Boudin talks to a predator
Sex-crimes reporter Michelle Boudin interviewed a 53-year-old man charged with planning to meet a 14-year-old girl at the Ashvegas mall for sex. Turns out the 14-year-old girl the guy was chatting with on the Internet was a Buncombe County detective.
The old man, who works at Ridgecrest, a Christian conference center, said he just wanted to meet the girl and talk to her. He said he wanted to buy her something to eat, that’s all. Boudin asked if he wanted to touch her. The guy said maybe give her a hug – but that’s ALL! Boudin said are you sure? The guy said yeah, he’s worked at Ridgecrest for eight years, where he’s around thousands of children every summer, and he’s never touched a one.
Boudin went back to the detective, who said the guy referenced specific sexual acts, and even mentioned that he hoped he wasn’t really talking to a cop cause he didn’t want to end up in the pokey.
In still other news…
The state DOT is installing some fancy gravel on highways 19/23 north and 25/70 south to help motorists with winter driving. Charu told us about the “special pavement.” Like we said, it’s just fancy gravel that helps tires grip the road… Pat “Simple” Simon did the usual localization of the John Kerry kerfuffle. Simon talked to Democrat Max Haner and Republican George Keller, heads of their local respective parties here in Ashvegas, to get their take on it…. Bob Barker is retiring next year… And John Le did a story about a local woman who was connected to “General Hospital,” but the audio didn’t work, so we had to watch Simon and Tallahassee Tammy Watford talk about Luke and Laura, and Christopher Cross, for-evah.
Good Lord people,
About a third of the times I see Heath Shuler’s name, it’s misspelled. There is no "c" in Shuler. You’re thinking of Chuck Schumer, who is a Democrat from New York. There’s no relation.
I’ve seen it in press stories, on websites, on television. What’s up with the added ‘c’?
Off the debate topic and on the flu topic:
Here’s your Buncombe Co Health Dept at work — Yancey County is closing down schools because of a flu outbreak, and Buncombe’s health dept yesterday cancelled the flu shots it was going to give at schools in the next few days. Instead they’re telling the parents they can take the kids to the clinic at Biltmore Square Mall if they want them vaccinated. Talk about a bonehead move. They know there’s a problem with the flu hitting schoolkids in our area, so they decide not to give them shots.
Latest news is Schuler "should" be there, and Taylor "plans" on being there. Taylor speaking is getting a little labored, so don’t be suprised if he demands a really short debate.
don’t count yr debates before they hatch, ash… last i heard, taylor hasn’t officially confirmed whether he can clear it in his schedule or not.
if it does happen, it’ll be from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. and it’ll be podcasted for those of us who either won’t be in wwnc’s broadcast range or near a computer during that timeslot. if it does happen.
Schuler will not be there for the debate, but one of his staffers will. Schuler is out in cherokee campaigning still, but Taylor is supposed to show up.
I think Woodring went on the lam, though he have have gone on the lamb as well. That’s just gross, though.