Hello folks. Ashvegas is back after a few days of much-needed downtime. So here we go:
Child deaths investigated
Investigators are still investigating before deciding whether to charge anyone in the deaths of three little girls in Rutherford County last week.
Twin 2-year-olds and their 4-year-old sister were playing in a car and died what police think may have been heat-related deaths. The cops told WLOSers that the 4-year-old knew how to use mom’s keys to get into the car, and that the kids played in the car quite a bit.
Traffic fatality
One man died in a traffic wreck in Rutherford County yesterday and several others were injured. A car coming around a curve hit a minivan at the corner of Union and Camp roads.
Not breaking news: Liberty Dollars aren’t legal tender
We’re not sure why this story still hangs around, because it’s been done to death. But Pat “Simple” Simon went around downtown and talked to people about whether or not they take Libery Dollars, money that some people print up and use like barter money. It’s not legal tender. It was hot a few years ago, but it’s not any more, Simon said.
The Gourmet Perks lady said she doesn’t use it. Mike Rangel and Asheville Pizza says he doesn’t use it. But if you bring him your old remote control, you’ll get two real dollars off a large pizza.
Man shoots kitty
Terrie Foster out in Haywood County talked to a man who admitted that he shot and killed a girl’s kitty cat.
The 13-year-old girl said she saw her neighbor blast the cat, and the neighbor told Terrie that yeah, he did it. He said he’s tired of cat shit in his yard, and that cats have scratched his car and scared birds from his trees and eaten frogs in his pond. He said he’s sick of cats.
But it won’t happen again, he promised. “Sure I feel bad about killing a girl’s pet kitten,” he told Terrie.
Back to school in Yancey and Mitchell counties
Schools are open again in Yancey and Mitchell counties, which had closed due to the flu.
Holly Headache said that teachers and students were glad to get back to class. CDC officials are in the mountains investigating the case. Holly said school officials closed becuase of absenteeism, not to stop the spread of the virus. Some 450 people were out of school on Nov. 1. Yesterday, 180 were out sick.
Yancey schools were closed for more than a week. Mitchell closed for two or three days. All those days will have to be made up, and we haven’t even had snow days yet.
How’s the weather
Weather was terrible on Sunday, but Monday it was 20 degrees warmer and wonderful. More rain and cold air is on the way.
Christmas jam
Tickets went on sale Monday afternoon for the annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam at the Ashvegas Civic Center. Special guest this year is Dave Matthews. The concert is Dec. 16. All proceeds go to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Stop those sex offenders
People in Black Mountain want the town to start enforcing a ban that bars sex offenders from public parks. Town officials said they’ve been waiting to enforce the law to be sure it holds up. The same law in Woodfin was challenged and upheld. Cherub Charu said the Black Mountain town board planned to talk about enforcing the law at a meeting Monday.
Boy loses fingers in bus wreck
Kassandra “Special K” Pride talked to an 8-year-old boy who lost his pinky and ring fingers off his right hand in that McDowell County bus wreck from last week. The boy’s mom said she saw the fingers just a hangin’. The boy started therapy on Monday at Carolina Hand. Kassandra noted that he’ll be back to school this week, “but he told me he won’t be riding the bus. Back to you, Larry.”
In other news…
Sheraldo said some Baptists at a state convention are looking at adopting some rule against allowing homosexuals in their churches… In Hendersonville, they’re still studying a developer’s plan to put 280 condos on Signal Hill Road. They’re called the Fountain View condos… Toxic dirt taht’s been sitting in Fletcher is going to be taken care of. Some of it will be buried on site, while the rest of it will be shipped to a Michigan landfill. The dirt contains PCBs from and old wood preservatives plant. The clean-up will be complete Dec. 8…. And Park Ridge Hospital is looking for state approval for a $25.5 million expansion that will add 50,000 square feet and improve services, they say.
Gingerbread houses are here
You know it’s the holiday’s when John “Punnyman” Le is standing inside the Grove Park Inn working on his gingerbread puns. Le actually kept himself pretty well under control for this year’s report.
He had a little teaser that said people at the Grove Park were “walking gingerly” and the anchors helped out by noting “sweet prizes up for grabs” in the contest and such. Le also noted that the tension was so thick “you could cut it with a serrated bread knife.”
Le talked to the inn’s pastry chef, who gave him a lot of good quotes about how awesome the competition is. Then Le found a cute little girl who was crying because she didn’t want to let her house go. Then Le interviewed Jill Cordes of Food TV, who was the host for the big event that showecased hundreds of houses from people all over the country.