Catching up with the news: Mourning dead college students, cemetery vandalism, water restrictions in Cherokee, an unusual lesson at Evergreen charter school and more

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Here’s what we’ve seen on the teevee box news the past couple of nights. We’ll start with Tuesday, then hit Monday:

Family members of dead student speak
Friends and family members of Emily Yelton, one of the six University of South Carolina students killed in a beach house fire in Ocean Isle early Sunday, talked to the media on Tuesday. Some of the girl’s family is in Rutherford County, but that was never clarified.

Everybody remembered Yelton as “silly,” “Christian,” “sun-shiny” and “loud.” Her father said she died with her best friends. Her twin sister, Meredith, was the most upset, saying she felt like “half of me is gone.”

Fire investigators say they’ll try to get a preliminary report on the cause of the fire by Friday. The focus is on the second floor deck.

In obligatory crime news…
A man walking a dog on Victory Drive in Forest City discovered a burned vehicle with a body inside it. Police are investigating… Two women on Grassy Knob Road along the Polk-Rutherford county border say they’ve been attacked in recent weeks. Police are investigating… A 17-year-old will spend three years behind bars for running down a Polk County sheriff’s deputy back in March… And four people pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to breaking into cars in the Bent Creek recreational area. They’ll spend a few months in prison and pay back $32,000 in restitution.

Church cemetery vandalized
Sheraldo went out to the Berry Chapel Baptist Church cemetery on Tuesday to tell us that some 40 headstones had been overturned on the weekend. Tuesday, church members and family were making repairs. Everybody was ticked off and shaking their heads at why somebody would do such a thing. The church also wonders if somebody is picking on them in particular because there was a break-in earlier this month and some money was stolen.

Cherokee cranks up water restrictions
The Cherokee reservation has banned all car washing as the drought continues to strain water supplies. Homes or businesses caught violating any water restrictions will have a flow restrictor placed on their pipes after two citations and their water will be cut off after three strikes.

School discipline or just a good lesson?
Pat Simon had an interesting story on a teacher at Evergreen Community Charter School teaching her class a tough lesson.

Teacher Marni Silverberg recently had a lesson on South America and a discussion about impoverished children. After the lesson, the chillens made a mess and didn’t clean it up.

So the teacher took away the students’ tables and chairs this week and is making them do all their work on the floor to teach them a lesson about appreciating what they’ve got. Simon never said what grade this was, but they looked to be fourth graders or so.

The teacher told Simon she didn’t notify parents of what she’s doing, but she thought they wouldn’t mind. She said she’s heard support from some.

At least one parent – the one who talked to Simon – didnt appreciate the tactic. The parent said her neice was upset and didn’t understand. The parent said the move was “over the top” as far as trying to teach the respect and to pick up their crap. The parent will take her concerns to the school board.

Meantime, the parent is banned from campus. The school says that’s because she took cell phone pictures of students, which isn’t allowed.

Here’s some of what was in Monday’s news:

Beach house fire
Seven college students – six from the University of South Carolina and one from Clemson University – died in an early morning fire Sunday. Jeremy Butterfield went down to Columbia to talk to students about it.

Barbershop break-ins
Charu had a story about Fairview Barbershop getting robbed twice this month. That was about it.

In obligatory crime news…
A woman at an animal shelter somewhere was charged with stealing two floor fans… An Ashvegas man was arrested and charged with shooting at a home in Candler… Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver after a 17-year-old was killed early Saturday while riding a bicycle down Old County Home Road.

In weather news…
Springs and wells are drying up because of the drought. And there was a freeze warning and frost advisory out.