In the WLOSer news: A fugitive manhunt, Sept. 11 remembered and lots of diarrhea in Cherokee

Jason Sandford

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

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Manhunt
Carolyn Ryan told us with urgency to lock our doors and windows because an armed an dangerous fugitive was on the loose in Ashvegas. Scary!

There were lots of holes in this story – how did the guy get loose? Who spotted him in Asheville? It didn’t make sense. All Carolyn told us was that Anthony Ray Artrip was fleeing police when he crashed his truck into an embankment at Ledgewood Village Apartments in Oakley in east Asheville.

Ryan said Buncombe County sheriff’s deputies, Asheville police and U.S. Marshals were on the scene, searching with police dogs. The dude took off running, but the cops couldn’t find him. How can that be?

The guy was in prison for armed robbery of a bank, and Carolyn said he had a lot of tattoos, including a unicorn and a bird on his arms.

In other crime news that WLOS put at the top of the newscast…
A fugitive profiled on WLOS turned herself in after seeing the story… Testimony started Tuesday in teh trial of John Beavers, the guy charged with shooting Dr. Brian Ling to death. At issue in the trial is whether or not the killing was pre-meditated. The defense says no, that Beavers was distraught over the death of his son, who was under the care of Ling. State prosecutors say the shooting was a cold-blooded killing.

The attack of the Shig
Cherokee residents and businesses are on the rebound after a bacterail infection called shigellosis shut down four of five day cares on the tribal reservation and closed a couple of restaurants. Everything’s open again, and two people who were hospitalized for dehydration were released from the hospital.

Shigellosis is a diarrheal disease, WLOSers said. They didn’t really say what caused it, but they said good hand washing can prevent it. Sing Happy Birthday to yourself twice while washing your hands and you’ll be safe, reported Terrie Foster. “Hundreds” got sick, Foster said. How’s that for being specific?

Deadly train wreck
An “elderly woman” was killed when a Norfolk Southern train hit the car she was in at an intersection in Black Mountain. WLOSers said the woman’s husband was standing outside the car and trying to wave the train down as the woman was in the car, apparently trying to back up. Police said all the warning lights and stuff were working properly at the intersection.

Sept. 11 remembered
WLOSers cued the dramatic piano music and kept it playing under an interview with Jerry VeHaun, the head of Buncombe County’s EMS and also mayor of Woodfin. VeHaun worked at Ground Zero, dealing with the dead. VeHaun had some decent quotes, but the dramatic music was a little much. Just tell us the story straight.

Sheraldo also went into drama mode to tell us a story of Henderson County unveiling a memorial to rescue workers who have worked there. This story also didn’t really make sense. A three ton block of granite memorializes local rescue workers. It has nothing to do with Sept. 11, but it was dedicated on Sept. 11. Why? Sheraldo went so far as to interview a local firefighter who fell off a ladder and hurt his wrist while fighting a fire. The guy said yeah, it’s a tough job and he really respects those who have died in the line of duty, but he’s sure glad he didn’t die in his fall so he can live to fight another fire. Just weird.

Ashvegas Fire Department officials also held a 9/11 ceremony, and handed out awards. Two retirees were honored, as were newly minted firefighters.

In other news…
Peak Fitness at the Westgate Shopping Center is closing. We’ve heard a lot of compliants about the lack of cleanliness at this place, so this is probably a good thing. A new gym will apparently be moving in…. Pardee and Park Ridge have teamed up to open a free clinic for psychiatric care, apparently a first in the state… UNCA students had their service day Tuesday and changed 5,000 light bulbs in three public housing complexes around town. They put in the energy-saving bulbs, and Jeremy Butterfield came in from the Rutherford bureau to do the story…. There’s going to be a new Walgreens built at the intersection of Hwys. 25 and 126 in Hendersonville… And Blue Mountain Pizza in Weaverville gave out free pizza to any policeman or firefighter who showed up in uniform, to honor Sept. 11.