Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Breaking news: Saddam is dead
Saddam was hanged late Friday night.
Fire investigation
Fire investigators on Friday continued to try to find what caused a massive blaze that destroyed the old Summitt Inn out in Franklin in Macon County. The innkeeper, who went back in for his dog, died in the fire and his wife is in bad shape in an Augusta, Ga., burn unit.
WLOSers showed us a picture taken from some video that a local guy shot of the spectacular fire that destroyed the big Victorian mansion on the hill.
Truck wreck
A pick-up truck ended up wrapped around a pole after a wreck on Airport Road. There were three vehicles involved in the wreck, which tied up traffic. The truck driver’s in the hospital.
In news you already knew…
WLOSer Susan Mundane tells us that January’s a good month to make some financial resolutions. Cut back on spending. Make a budget. Seek financial advice.
Rock climbers stranded
John “Punnyman” Le went out to Jackson County tell us about the dramatic rescue of two rock climbers.
The climbers got stuck about 250 feet off the ground up on Laurel Knob, “an isolated and elevated island,” according to Le. The female climber called for help on her cell phone about midnight, according to Le, who said the woman didn’t want people to freak out. The firefighters had to call in an expert rescue climber to untangle the two danglers and get them off the rock outcropping.
Sinclair v. Mediacom
WLOSer Russ “Beefcake” Bowen told us that there’s still no resolution in the dispute between Sinclair, the corporate owner of WLOS-TV 13, and the cable company Mediacom. Mediacom will stop carrying WLOS at midnight Jan. 5 if no agreement is reached. That means thousands of viewers in several mountain counties won’t be able to watch WLOS on Mediacom cable.
All that just means you’re going to have to keep coming back to Ashvegas to get fill of WLOSers.
In other news…
The Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park is looking to hire 285 full- and part-time workers as it gears up for a May re-opening… Macon County is getting a new library. It should be open in April… A body was found along Upchurch Road in Haywood County. Police didn’t identify the body, but said they don’t suspect foul play… There was a wreck on Highway 19 in Swain County the other night in which two 20-somethings died after their car hit a tractor trailer… Well-known local author Wilma Dykeman was laid to rest in an Ashvegas cemetery on Friday… And gasp fitness goals are hard to stick to…. Also, Kassandra “Special K” Pride says it’ll cost you $300 to stay a local hotel for a New Year’s Eve party, and that’s a lot cheaper than the thousands of dollars you’ll spend if you get caught drinking and driving on New Year’s.
