Asheville City Works, a short program produced by the city of Asheville and aired on the city’s local cable channel (Channel 11 on Charter), actually had some news tonight.
First up was a story on prostitution in Asheville. With video from a recent prostitution sting and interviews from several Asheville Police Department officers, the story made it clear that APD is cracking down on prostitution.
The upshot – “johns” arrested and charged with soliciting sex will have their names and mugshots aired on the local television channel. So don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. I’m dubbing it “John TV.“
The Asheville City Works program also profiled Jennifer Payne, the new “park ranger” in Pritchard Park downtown. Payne, outfitted in a dark blue shirt and pants and police radio, looks like a cop but is not a sworn officer. She described herself as a liaison between the police department and the city parks and recreation department. She said she’d be watching out for bad behavior in the park and working as a goodwill ambassador for the city.
Finally, the city show explained that there’s a new sanitation crew at work in the central business district downtown. The crew of two and their slick new truck will be picking up trash seven days to make downtown cleaner. They’ll also be scrubbing and painting trash cans. This is all at the request of Asheville City Council, and Mayor Terry Bellamy in particular.