Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
School assault
It’s taking months for a sentence to be handed down in the case against a former Yancey County school teacher, and victims’ parents and grandmothers are getting pissed. Cherub Charu went all the way to Burnsville to bring us the story.
The former Clearmont Elementary School teacher was found guilty of assaulting young students back in January, but hasn’t been sentenced yet. Nobody seems to know why, except that the accused hasn’t had a court-required psych eval yet or something. Larry Leake is the defense attorney.
In other news…
A Henderson County man charged with murder set to go on trial in the next day or two… A no-kill animal shelter in Hendersonville is looking for new home. All Creatures Great and Small wants to move… Construction along I-40 around Candler is causing traffic back-ups, but the DOT wants everybody to know that they’re working as hard as they can. A DOT dude told Terrie Foster that nobody sees anybody working because all the DOT guys (pause) work at night. What caused long delays on Monday was tree-trimming work, which can’t be done at night. What causes the most delays? Wrecks, like the six-car pile-up on Sunday nearby, but outside, the construction zone… Julie Blunder says dogs get hot in summertime… And Cathy Walters is teaching kids to finger paint at Carolina Day School. Why anyone would care is beyond us.
New fire stations
The Asheville Fire Department opened up two new fire stations in Ashvegas on Monday, the first two new stations for the department since the 1970s, according to WLOSers.
Engine Company No. 11 on Brevard Road is near the Biltmore Square Mall. That station will also house the regional hazardous materails team because it’s close to I-26. Engine Company No. 10 is on Old Haywood Road. The new stations cost taxpayers $6 million.
Civic Center director quit
David Pisha, the director of the much-maligned Ashvegas Civic Center for the past 10 years, quit on Monday. He said he’s going to pursue other professional opportunities or something.
More help for the homeless
Four of five donation boxes were installed around downtown Ashvegas on Monday in an effort to quell panhandling and still get money to help the homeless. The Asheville Downtown Association has started a campaign it hopes will help direct the money to relief agencies, instead of liquor stores and drug dealers.
Babies with a message
John “Punnyman” Le introduced us to a Fletcher businesswoman named Ellen McNeil who makes T-shirts for babies. The T-shirts carry “green” messages such as “Recycle and reuse” and the ever clever “Conserve.” McNeil says people remember messages on baby T-shirts.
I don’t know HR – do tell 🙂
How many recycled babies does it take to make a fleece pullover?