The news was pretty slow on Friday. Everybody was outside marveling at the cooler weather and the fact that we might actually get fall after all. Here we go:
Madison High football players suspended
John Le went out to Marshall to do a story about 10 Madison County High School football players suspended for violating team rules. Nobody would say what the violations were, but it put the team’s season in jeopardy.
But instead of a hard news story leading the six, the story came off like a sentimental cheerleading piece in the hands of Le. He said the team had a “tough road to toe” and he told us to do the math – the team has 23 players, 10 were suspended so – yes! – that means there are only 13 players left. Junior varsity players were being called up, said Le, who added that if Madison can’t finish its season, the team will have to pay $3,000. Le never explained why. The coach, Darren Ponder, looked baffled by it all and ended up telling Le he was gonna have to “pray” over it all to figure it out.
Then Le went on to talk about “Patriot Pride” and how the “beat goes on” as he showed band practice. There’s going to be a meeting Monday of parents and players and such to try and figure out the rest of the season.
Friday night, Hendersonville whupped Madison 39-6, and Madison only had 16 players on the sideline.
The grapes are sweet in Polk County
Sheraldo went down to the Green Creek Winery, where the folks there said the drought has produced unusually sweet grapes this season. They’ve got fewer grapes, but the quality is the best they’ve seen in 20 years, the grower said. The winery is going to mark bottles with “survivor” to note the harsh weather conditions they’ve come through.
Sexual harrassment alledged at Arby’s
The local Arby’s franchise faces a federal sexual harrassment lawsuit, WLOSers said. An employee said she was the victim of unwanted sexually charged remarks, gestures and touching by a manager. She says she was fired after she complained. WLOSers quoted a lawyer who said a lot of women are afraid to “make a fuss” in situations like this.
In other news…
Five McDowell County elementary schools will receive $800,000 in taxpayer money so students can take part in an after-school program to help them with their cipherin’… A family in Marion is not going to put on its massive Halloween display this year because the woman of the house died and the widower just didn’t have the heart to hang the spooky ghosts outside this year… Dozens of veterans are preparing for a trip up to Washington, D.C., today as part of the HonorAir program. The vets will check out the WWII monument and* Arlington cemetery… There’s a weekend boat show at the WNC Ag Center… And the now infamous Sen. Larry Craig airport bathroom* in Minn. is getting new stall dividers that go all the way to the floor.
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Rough night, Jason?? 🙂