Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Earthquake!
Diva Darcel, using the same line she used a few months ago, told us that an earthquake “rocks the mountains.” Actually, it was a 2.6 or 2.8-sized quake that knocked a few bricks off a shitty mountain cabin in Burnsville. We all know these mountains are a bit unstable – there was a quake in Hot Springs last year, as well as another quake felt right here in Ashvegas. WLOSers quoted some “scientist” who told us we don’t really have anything to worry about because earthquakes happen all the time, “we just don’t feel them.”
Fire!
WLOSers pretty much blew off the giant Polk County brush fire, which has consumed more than 300 acres, while competitors FOX and that other station with 10 o’clock news both led with dramatic coverage of how firefighters are battling the blaze.
Coverage of the fire was run-of-the-mill. But the real story was in the comment of one firefighter, who said this fire is typical, with one major difference – the presence of so many more homes in the mountains, homes now threatened by the flames. Now there’s a story to follow up.
Sex scandal
Some dude was on trial today in Buncombe County court for running into an 86-year-old woman’s home wearing only a ski mask and raping her. Damn.
More creepy sex
Some other dude in Haywood County was sentenced to prison time after having sex with a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old while his 22-year-old wife videotaped it all. She’s already been sentenced. Damn again.
T.S.Morrison closing
Jon “Punnyman” Le had a horribly pun-filled story about the closing of an Ashvegas institution, the T.S. Morrison store down on Lexington Avenue. The store opened more than 100 years ago and bills itself as Asheville’s oldest business. It began as a feed, seed and farm machinery business. But the current owner, who bought the store in 1980, turned it into a business selling nostalgic toys, candy and touristy crap.
It’s sad to see a business with such a storied history go down the tubes. On the bright side, there’s going to be one helluva sale there on Thursday, a sale where everything, including the ceiling fans and light fixtures, must go. Be there.
Apparently all the naked bean bag sitting cheeto eaters are posting their Ron White quotes all over the internet:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=naked+in+a+bean+bag+chair+eating+cheetos&spell=1
Where are these naked cheeto eaters? I typed it into Google and got nothing.
When they had that weather guy that looked like he was about 12 years old and they were always sending him outside in the parking lot to do weather stories, I always figured it was because he smelled.
Looked like fresh video and a sound bite to me. Just because it’s easier (because of the timing of editing the story, or because they can’t get a microwave signal out from the location of the story, or because Sinclair was too cheap to let them keep a dedicated satellite truck operator, or because they want to do two live shots back to back and can’t move the receive antenna quickly enough) to do a live shot from Biltmore Park than where the story happens doesn’t mean they don’t leave Biltmore Park to do (most) of their stories. There’s a lot more to it than just sitting naked in a beanbag chair eating Cheetos(tm) and firing off clueless dismissals.
Isn’t this the same fire that the Citizen-Times website told us earlier in the day (http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/NEWS01/60306008/1001/archives) was under control and in the "mop up" stage?
"Can reading blogs kill you? The story, at 11…"
People don’t think about the fact that they’re building in fire zones–nor that ridgetop homes are often inaccessible to emergency vehicles. Idiots.
They would actually have to leave Biltmore Park to cover the fires in Polk Co.properly. They don’t care, they will just keep showing the same tired old film footage over and over.It’s sad.