Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The Kansas City Star has a story about Michael Sandy, a UNCA grad who has taken over a nature sanctuary there.
The Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary — Liberty’s own little slice of the wild — has a new director.
Michael Sandy took over as director of the sanctuary in October, after serving as interim director for several months.
In his permanent role, Sandy has several plans for reinvigorating the nature center’s volunteer program and broadening its educational programs. He sat down this week with The Kansas City Star to describe those plans.
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I’m from North Carolina originally, and earned a bachelor of arts in biology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. I started out volunteering at the Western Carolina Nature Center and then worked at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, where I was director of the animal department.
The Charlotte Observer has a blurb about the top congressional races in North Carolina in 2008. Our 11th Congressional District makes the short list:
Summary: In his first political race, Shuler knocked off veteran Rep. Charles Taylor two years ago. Taylor said in December that he won’t run again, and Republicans have recruited three potential candidates to try and regain the seat in far western North Carolina.
The Telegraph in London has a column about how Western North Carolina has “something for everyone:”
The population originally was largely Scots-Irish but there has been extensive movement from the northern states in recent years, making the population today very cosmopolitan. The general atmosphere is laid back and friendly. A British accent is no handicap, either!
And finally, earthtimes.org has bit about AsheCache:
Geocaching is an interactive way to explore beyond the typical tourist attractions.
Starting May 20, 2008, Asheville is calling visitors to pack their GPS units and a spirit of adventure for The Ultimate AsheCache, a geocache site-seeing expedition with hidden treasure valuing more than $1,700.
With more than 7,600 active geocaches hidden within 100 miles of downtown, the Asheville area is a mecca for the travel trend of high-tech scavenger hunting. Designed by world-class geocacher Graeme McGufficke – ranked second in the world for hiding the most geocaches – The Ultimate AsheCache will amp up the adventure as visitors explore the area Outside magazine recently named “”Best Southern Town”.
