Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Boy drowns
A 13-year-old boy drowned Thursday night in the pool at the Howard Johnson’s in Biltmore Village. A grim-faced Russ Bowen brought us the report. All Russ said was that he was there with a group, and there was an adult chaperone present. Still, how does something like this happen? Find out for us, Russ.
40th anniversary
Thursday was the 40th anniversary of the crash of a Cessna and a jetliner in Henderson County. It was a horrific collision, and dozens died. A local guy is making a documentary about it. Go here to see the guy’s web site.
Belly landing
A small plane made a belly landing at the Asheville Regional Airport Thursday. The airport spokesman, smiling, said everything was completely fine. Let’s hear that from the pilot, then maybe we’ll believe you.
Fugitive Files update
A Henderson County woman profiled on the WLOSers’ Fugitive Files was arrested. Yeah – the cops do their job!
South French Broad neighborhood meeting
A group of people who live on or around South French Broad Avenue held a neighborhood meeting Thursday night to complain about prostitutes working their streets and such. Carolyn Ryan said the residents were trying to “take back their streets.” They’re going to form a neighborhood watch or something. Mayor Terry Bell-it’s-all-about-Me was there.
Larry’s crush on Thelma Lou
Finally, Larry Blunt went all the way to Mount Airy to file a report about the actress Betty Lynn, who played Thelma Lou on the Andy Griffith Show. Betty Lynn moved back to Mount Airy, the inspiration for Mayberry, and the whole town came out to welcome her.
We’re not sure why this deserved special attention by Larry and a solid two-and-a-half minutes of air time. The video was great. The package, narrated by Larry, was spiffy.
But seriously – who the hell cares? Larry must have had some kinda crush on Thelma Lou when he was a young man, because he just gushed all over her.
Ah, contextual. The very word gives me shivers of pleasure.
But Ash, you still watch the news. You may complain about it, bellyache, write "critiques", and name call like a 10 year old; but bottom line, you still watch news.
your not going to get it Asheville, not at WLOS!
well, i want news in my news. if i wanted some soft feature story on a washed-up Mayberry actress, i’d look somewhere else. my point is "the news" isn’t even news anymore – it’s just soft stories to entertain. i want my news to be news – contextual, enlightening, crusading. guess that’s too much to ask.
Sometimes people want more than what they usually get from the news. I know I do! I enjoyed the Mayberry story. Good Job!