Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
WLOSers had a damn sexy newscast at six tonight. Here’s what we saw:
Ganging up on gangs
Pat “Simple” Simon, sporting his big platform shoes, told us that emotions ran high at a meeting of local residents who gathered at a local church to talk about the issue of gangs in our fair city.
The meeting between pastors and police wasn’t open to the public or the media, so residents who showed up gathered in the fellowship hall and talked. Simon said no blame was placed on police or local government. Instead, the finger was pointed directly at parents. Walt Robertson, a former Ashvegas police officer was there. Althea Goode, an active member of the local black community, was there. Bob Williams with the Community Relations Council was there.
Everybody said parents need to stop being friends with their children and start being parents. Clean out your closet before you go after others, they said. Lay the foundation, they said. Work with the police and watch your neighborhood, they said. It was all good.
Simon said there will be another meeting next Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Reid Center to keep the discussion going. Mayor Terry Bellamy told Simon she’d be there.
Selena Sullivan’s brushes with the law
WLOSers reported the news we reported below about Buncombe County sheriff’s deputies arresting Asheville City Council candidate Selena Sullivan for writing a worthless check for $1,500. WLOSers said more at 11 on her other “brushes with the law.”
CTS groundwater contamination results: not good
WLOSers said they have early results from the recent round of groundwater testing at the former CTS plant site out on Mills Gap Road. The testing shows some contamination levels are higher than what was found in 2000, while some other levels have dropped. But the bottom line is that the area of groundwater contamination has grown and spread. Some water near Southside Estates now shows signs of contaimation, where before there was no sign of potentially cancer-causing pollution.
Swannanoans: We want to be a town*
Carolyn “Little Red” Ryan said people in Swannanoa want to incorporate their own town. They’re meeting Thursday night to talk about a petition drive that will start Oct. 20. The local folks have to get signatures from 15 percent of registered voters in their area to be considered for incorporation by the state. Are there that many registered voters in Swannana-nowhere?
Residents say the area is growing so quickly that they need to incorporate to preserve their heritage.
In other news…
The Grind Tech USA expo is being held at the Asheville Civic Center. The expo shows the latest in industrial grinders… Larry Blunt got a big kick out of a story about the dudes at the Clyde landfill digging through garbage to retrieve a CD of photos that some dude accidently threw away. The disc contained photos of his recently deceased daughter or something… And John Le profiled twin sisters who play football for Erwin Middle School.
In still other news…
There was a stabbing in Brevard last night. Two roommates argued and things got out of hand… And Sheraldo went out into the woods to do a story on a search for a woman missing in the woods of Madison County overnight. The 82-year-old spent the night in a creek after falling 80 feet down an embankment after her son left her to get help after their car ran out of gas riding the back roads of Hot Springs or something.
