Big news Thursday

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WLOSers were almost hyperventilating Thursday as they dove in to a big news day Thursday. Here’s what they had:

School scare
More than 40 students and adults from Roberson High School were rushed to Mission Hospitals Thursday afternoon to be treated for exposure to some sort of irritant, WLOSers said. Tallahasee Tammy Watford said a fire department spokeswoman identified the substance as “Repulse, a rape deterrent.” Is that mace?

Students were brought to the hospital with burning eyes, burning throats and flushed faces and some were throwing up, a hospital doc told Russ “Beefcake” Bowen, reporting live at the hospital. They came in a bus and in private vehicles, Russ said.

The doc said the hospital called its “code triage,” some fancy Grey’s Anatomy terminology for all hands on deck, we suppose. The students were “decontaminated,” whatever that means.

WLOSers said parents were ticked off about how the school notified them of the incident. More at 5:30 and 6, they said.

Deadly shooting
Meantime, WLOSer Holly Headache was chasing a story about a 17-year-old who apparently tried to rob a 20-year-old at the Erskine Stree Apartments public housing complex. Both men pulled out guns and shot each other. The 17-year-old died, Holly said police said.

Holly played us part of a 911 call from a scared resident and she talked to a neighbor who didn’t know what was going on.

Dream home nightmare
Down in Rutherford County, WLOSer Jeremy Butterfield said the HGTV Dream Home is the only structure built at the new Grey Rock development. That’s because the development has had major erosion problems and has been cited by state and county officials.

There’s new management at Grey Rock, and county officials told Jeremy they’re hoping things get cleaned up. No new building permits are being granted until “corrective action” is taken, Jeremy said.

Fire in GSMNP
There’s a 400-acre brush fire on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, WLOSers said. The fire destroyed six rental cabins in the Ware Valley.

In other news…
A group of UNCA students is going back to New Orleans to help the rebuilding. WLOSers interviewed an Americorps person, Alana Rade, who talked about the project… And Brooke Owens, the non-stop sneezer here in Asheville, had stopped sneezing after several weeks on Monday, but started up again on Thursday, WLOSers said. Brooke is getting national attention for the “medical mystery,” and Good Morning America and Inside Edition want to interview Brooke, who is headed to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem to get checked out. Meantime, that non-stop hiccup girl that was making national news has stopped hiccuping.

3 Comments

B Smart March 6, 2007 - 11:19 pm

Not sure what the laws are in other states, but that info does not apply to NC, catnap.

Breathalyzer refusal is an automatic 1 year suspension in North Carolina, the same length as a 1st time offense for DWI. Further, the Breathalyzer is not required to win a DWI conviction, so on top of the refusal you could still be convicted of DWI.

After 6 months of the revocation has passed, and under other strict criteria, you MIGHT be able to get a limited driving priviledge. The criteria are:
1. no prior DWI conviction in last 7 years.
2. no prior refusals in the last 7 years.
3. no other pending Chapter 20 (driving) violations.
4. must have had a valid license within a year prior to the refusal.
5. incident involving refusal did not involve an accident causing death or bodily harm
6. incident involving refusal was not a level I or level II DWI conviction.
7. participate(d) in alcohol assessment program

catnap March 2, 2007 - 10:03 pm

I recently read a news story from Illinois or Indiana – can’t remember, judge was saying that the best way to beat a dui was to refuse the tests..most you get is automatic 6 month suspension, while if you take the test and blow positive you face much stiffer fines – police, he said, can’t make you take any tests.

B Smart March 2, 2007 - 4:51 am

Ash, I think you missed the gist of the DWI story. Ron didn’t say they would drop the charges (some of these people have already plead guilty and been convicted). He said that those that were convicted would be allowed to reverse their guilty pleas and have their case tried in court. Breathalyzers alone do not make a case and DWI convictions are often won without them.

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