Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Storms pass
Some nasty thunderstorms rolled through Ashvegas Thursday night, knocking out power to a few thousand people. Some trees and tree limbs came down. And Larry “Smoka” Blunt said at 11 that there were two major accidents, one in Weaverville at the New Stock Road exit and one on Smoky Park Highway.
Terror plot: toss that hair gel
Larry told us that police disrupted an alleged terror plot in Britian. The alleged plan was to kill thousands of airline riders by smuggling liquid explosives in drink containers onto plans. Then Larry tossed it over to Carolyn “Little Red” Ryan, who talked with travelers at the Ashvegas airport.
Carolyn said people were watching the news and slowly getting the message that an liquids and hair gels and such would have to be stuffed into checked luggage or tossed out. One woman bravely said that if our boys and girls can go overseas and fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, she can do without her hair gel and mascara. The Ashvegas airport public relations flak told Carolyn that people were getting the message – give up your suntan lotion, stand up for your country.
A community reacts to severed body parts
Russ “Beefcake” Bowen, looking clean and sharp as hell in a dark suit Thursday night, got down and dirty on a great follow-up report about the woman’s body parts that have turned up along Riverside Drive.
Earlier in the day, WLOSers talked to the victim’s father. But Bowen put his shoe leather to work and got a solid report about the woman, who police identified from a fingerprint found on one of two severed hands, which were discovered in a culvert on Monday. Last week, a skull and some other bones were found near Highwater Clays alongside the French Broad River. Police said the woman had a criminal record that included prostitution and drug charges.
Russ went down to South French Broad Avenue, where he found a woman who recognized the dead prostitute. That was her corner, the source told Russ as she pointed to a little alley. Then Russ headed over to a shitty convenience store on Haywood Road, where he found another woman who said she spent time in jail with the victim. “She was a nice person. She didn’t deserve to be killed and chopped up,” was basically what the woman said.
Then Russ went to a flophouse in downtown Ashvegas, where he found a dude who Russ identified as an “occasional roommate.” We think Russ meant “pimp,” but we’re not sure. Anyway, the dude said he last saw the victim on Bele Chere Friday.
Police say they’re working on some hot leads.
Just a great story by Russ. Way to report a story, Russell!
Devin has a marker
WLOSers said the boy who died in his mother’s car trunk, Devin Smith, now has a stone marker for his grave.
Earlier this year, Devin’s mother was acquitted of murder charges in a dramatic trial. The boy had been buried, but there was no money for a marker. Once that fact came to the attention of the media, then the public, donations poured in. Now there’s a lovely stone at Forest Lawn Cemetery to mark Devin’s final resting spot. WLOSers had video of the mom sitting next to the gravesite.
Stolen caviar
Somebody set fire to the Sunburst Trout Farm in Canton and stole about $100,000 of cavair, WLOSers said. Police are investigating.
they said devin smith, but his last name is gibson. i think they mixed up two stories and gave him the last name of the woman in the first story.
Wow. I make an overnight trip to Chapel Hill to attend a meeting and I miss the big events. WLOS actually reports a story in depth and there were wild thunderstorms. There’s a large tree not far from my house that looks like it must have completely blocked the road before being cleared and it’s badly charred. The debris is piled high on both sides of the street. And my tomato plants are flattened.
I was one of the folks who lost power. It lasted for about 40 minutes or so. It came back only to go out again for another 5 minutes shortly thereafter.
The storm was nasty in Candler. We had hail for aoubt 10 minutes that sounded like it was absolutely pounding my house. The rain was coming in sideways and it lightning’d like crazy. Definitely one of the worse storms I’ve seen in my 6 years here.
Ater it let up a bit, my wife came home from work. She was hungry and so we drove to Taco Bell. On the way out, Smoky Park was fine. No big puddles but there was a ton of debris in the road. On our way back, we saw emergency vehicles and a wreck that I wouldn’t exactly call "major."
This morning I went to the grocery store and noticed a freshly cut tree that looked like it had fallen across one of the side roads.