Breaking news
WLOSers at 11 on Monday led with breaking news about a shooting outside a Sylva shelter for women who have been victims of domestic violence. They didn’t have any details Monday night, but they’ll be all over the story Tuesday.
Davis, ready to die
Michelle Boudin was in court on Monday, following the hearing of James Davis, the man convicted of killing three people back in 1995 in one of Asheville’s worst cases of workplace violence. Davis opened up on his co-workers at the old Union Butterfield plant.
Boudin said that at Monday’s hearing, Davis told the judge he wanted to fire his attorneys and stop all appeals so that he could be put to death. The Vietnam veteran wants closure, Boudin quoted an attorney as saying.
Davis will have a mental evaluation so the court can be sure he’s capable of making such a decision. It so, then there will be another court hearing, and then the state Department of Corrections will set an execution date, Boudin said.
Breaking news – Diva gets a new wig
Diva Darcel was sporting on large, mushroom cap style wig on Monday. Guess the Prince Valiant look never goes out of style.
Thar’s rubies in them thar hills
Terrie Foster told us that people who go to gem mines find gems. Wow!
Actually, Foster said area gem mines are busier than usual because the Sheffield mine out in Macon County was featured on the Travel Channel recently. Foster said that Tiffany’s used to own the mine back in the 1800s, which was a cool detail, but they dumped it when they found a mine with more rubies. Which doesn’t bode well for our chances, but the tourists that Terrie quoted didn’t seem to care. They were having some muddy fun.
Mental health care company to close
New Vistas-Mountain Laurel, a company that serves 10,000 patients across Western North Carolina and employs 700, will shut down on Oct. 31. The company serves people with mental health problems, and it says the state, when it did it’s reforms of the mental health care system a few years ago, didn’t set rates high enough for a company to survive.
In other news…
The Mountain State Fair’s 10-day run is over. Attendance was 176,000, up 3,000 from last year. That’s still only half of what Bele Chere claims to attract over three days… Honda Goldwing riders will start arriving this week on the fairgrounds in Fletcher for a gathering… We’re a month and a half from Election Day ’96. You have until Oct. 13 to register to vote in the November election.
Breaking news – people now eating frozen spinach
Despite last week’s killer spinach, people are still eating the leafy green – it’s just that instead of the fresh stuff, they’re eating the frozen variety, reports Pat “Simple” Simon.
Pat went to a couple of restaurants to see how they were coping. The Apollo Flame said hey, we never used fresh spinach anyway. Perks Coffee and Deli said we’re using frozen. Still no word on where the e coli strain of bacteria on the spinach that made people sick across America came from.
Le gets off on bus
John “Punnyman” Le got all excited about the Ashvegas Transit System’s new bus, which city officials showed off on Monday. The bus, the Orion Seven, is six inches wider than current buses, and it has a fancy ramp, both of which are designed to make the bus more accessible for people with disabilities.
Le compared the bus to “a new spaceship” and went gaga over the rig. Le said the city spent $290,000 for five new buses that will replace 10-year-old rigs on the road now.
By the way, you can still ride the bus for free, Le said. The free rides, offered to encourage more people to ride the bus, last until Nov. 11.
Could you die in a hospital emergency room waiting area?
Cherub Charu seemed to be asking that question as she went to local hospital emergency rooms to check out wait times. She did that because a 49-year-old woman in Illinois died of a heart attack waiting to be seen in an emergency department.
Charu found that at Park Ridge, that hosptial pledges that you’ll be seen within 20 minutes if you show up at the ER, and if you’re not, they’ll give you an Appleby’s gift certificate or something.
Bad body image?
Susan Mundy seemed to be asking that question, as she did a local take on a story about Spain banning skinny models.
Spain said models have to weigh at least 123 pounds to strut a runway. Susan talked to a local Park Ridge Hospital nutritionist (kill two stories with one stop) who said larger, more realistic models send the right message to people.
Susan also went over to Ashvegas High School, where some 12th graders said everybody is beautiful in their own way.
In still other news…
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has some new guidelines for people who want to get married in the park. We have no idea what those are because WLOSers didn’t tell us… Spruce Pine Hospital plans to open a new wing at a costs of $18 million. It will be open next fall… Go to www.thepetition.com to sign a petition to slow development on mountainsides… REM performed down in Georgia and was inducted this past weekend into that state’s Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame… Patricia Kennedy Lawford died, and WLOSers showed the exact same stale video clip from the 1970s or something that didn’t even show her with her Hollywood star husband, Peter Lawford. Said clip was shown six times, plus it was used in the tease.