Diary of a Transplant (San Diego to Asheville/Hendersonville/Brevard) (Hickory: 2009, home)

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by GroundControl

I viewed the local paper there today and saw that there was a double homicide in Hendersonville this weekend.

Apparently, a couple of teenagers have already been arrested on the NC coast in connection with the murders. Time will tell what the motive was.

Police investigate double homicide | Serving Henderson, Transylvania and Polk Counties | North Carolina | BlueRidgeNow.com

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by GroundControl

Hello Jan,

I found your posts very informative. My wife and I were thinking of possibly relocating from LA to Hendersonville or Ashville in a year or so.

Is there a way to contact you or your husband for additional info regarding the move from Southern CA to WNC.

I viewed the local paper there today and saw that there was a double homicide in Hendersonville this weekend.

Thanks,

Ground Control

Hi again, everyone, from the insomniac (sigh), and hello to GroundControl--welcome to the forum! You may email us at: parkies@mchsi.com. And just so you know, if you click on a poster's name, you will find his public profile and any ways you may contact him/her.

My husband Bill retired from a long career in law enforcement (police, marshall, sheriff). He loves the feel and pace of Hendersonville and laughs at the occasional mention of its "crime rate." Crime is everywhere, even in Mayberry, but there's little of it here in H'ville, from all we can tell, and most of that is property crime, not the violent crime you read about today. The homeless, jobless, illegals, and druggies, regardless of our feelings for them, have to eat, so we become their occasional victims. Though we wouldn't walk under bridges at night anywhere, Bill and I feel extraordinarily safe here!

You are welcome to email, GroundControl. Thanks for the post.

Jan

[mm34b]

The 2006 violent crime rate for Henderson County was only 47% of the statewide rate according to the NC State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Much less risk here.

NC SBI Report - http://sbi2.jus.state.nc.us/crp/publ...%20Summary.pdf

[marian2005]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

WOW.Thanks for enlightening us, Father John. What a sad example.

I have to agree about the HOA's. Never again for me either. The place I lived in before here, was something else. I had to fix/replace my broken garage door in a hurry, thought it was ok, right color etc. Never thought I had to get a special ok. Well, it was slightly the wrong pattern. It looked fine to me. When it came time to sell, a short while later, they held up the sale of my home till I put in yet another new garage door. And I got a letter about my friend parking her truck in the street. Well she was already gone before they even sent me the letter. Among other things. The HOA's can sometimes run amok. Maybe John remembers the news story about the man who shot one of the board members on one of them. Not sure where it was or all the details.

[Father John]

Murders can happen anywhere. I just got this email from our Blockwatch Chairperson:

Hey All! I felt this information was important to pass on to all.....
Rick was at a HOA meeting this past Saturday and the subject of the two women who were recently murdered came up....the one in the canal and the one on 2700 E. Leonora.
Here are some pretty uncomfortable details he learned from one of our neighbors who heard the info from a police officer....both women were:
* raped
* murdered
* and their bodies "dumped" in our neighborhood.
* they think both women were killed by the same individual
Please pass the word to as many women as possible and let them know not to go walking/running alone! Especially in the early morning hours and evening. In fact, it was stated not even during the daytime hours. For undisclosed reasons, they are currently not publicizing the case.
Be Safe!

We thought we were in a safe island here... but no place is safe.

Add tho this fact that yesterday, while mowing the front lawn, I found 3 spent 12 gauge shotgun shells in the front of our house. I thought little of it then... but after getting the above email, I called the police and they came and got them (complete with my fingerprints all over them, I suppose).

They might be nothing, but ...

We can hardly wait to move to North Carolina...

[marian2005]

Do you remember that one, maybe a couple of years ago, the guy was mad at something the hoa did and shot someone on the board and maybe others.

[Father John]

Originally Posted by marian2005

Do you remember that one, maybe a couple of years ago, the guy was mad at something the hoa did and shot someone on the board and maybe others.

Yes. I don't remember the deatils - it may have been over a flag pole or else maybe his kids "jungle gym" he built. There have been a number of incidents where the HOA got angry people after them.

There was one in Sun City a number of years ago, but I think that guy was just deranged and not after the HOA itself.

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by Father John

Murders can happen anywhere. I just got this email from our Blockwatch Chairperson:

Hey All! I felt this information was important to pass on to all.....
Rick was at a HOA meeting this past Saturday and the subject of the two women who were recently murdered came up....the one in the canal and the one on 2700 E. Leonora.
Here are some pretty uncomfortable details he learned from one of our neighbors who heard the info from a police officer....both women were:
* raped
* murdered
* and their bodies "dumped" in our neighborhood.
* they think both women were killed by the same individual
Please pass the word to as many women as possible and let them know not to go walking/running alone! Especially in the early morning hours and evening. In fact, it was stated not even during the daytime hours. For undisclosed reasons, they are currently not publicizing the case.
Be Safe!

We thought we were in a safe island here... but no place is safe.

Add tho this fact that yesterday, while mowing the front lawn, I found 3 spent 12 gauge shotgun shells in the front of our house. I thought little of it then... but after getting the above email, I called the police and they came and got them (complete with my fingerprints all over them, I suppose).

They might be nothing, but ...

We can hardly wait to move to North Carolina...

We can imagine your distress, John and Laura, at finding spent shells in your own front yard! We would feel personally violated--and newly aware of the crime problem in our entire country. Obviously it's more than sad.

But those particular murders have nothing to do with HOAs (unless I missed something). As you said, murders happen everywhere. More to the point is that a few crazies (at least once or twice in America) have murdered HOA board members--violence presumably related to HOA rules and regs and violations thereof. But in the big picture, surely HOAs are safe environments and have many things to recommend them--why else would the concept be perpetuated?? (P.S. We are leaning AGAINST them right now because of their artificiality, control, and potential problems, but we have wavered on this issue because we definitely see both sides of the issue.)

I believe there's a whole thread or two on the subject of HOAs, for those who are interested enough to "search."

[the Parkies]

We arrived here in Hendersonville just six weeks ago.

Who would have thought when we left everyone and everything behind that we would be sharing Thanksgiving Day with a Black Mountain family of five (parents, two children, and a spouse)!!! Six weeks ago we knew one wonderful couple here—have known and loved them for years—but distance separated us. We had talked with the husband's delightful sister (she runs his store)--but never had so much as a cup of coffee with her. Now I will be working with her in the same store and playing music with her brother and his wife. I will soon become very close to them.

Today the sister called to invite us to her home, to join the family, for Thanksgiving. I am so looking forward to meeting the parents and experiencing the family. I am overjoyed. I can’t help thinking of those tender lyrics by Julie Andrews, Sound of Music, “Somewhere in my youth or childhood... I must have done something.... good....!!!”

In addition to those five, there have been the countless folks we’ve come to know on this forum, three of whom we actually got to spend time with last weekend! A couple of others we’re looking forward to seeing very soon!

Observation: We still treasure our friends in CA and PA, of course, are in touch with them almost every day, and look forward to their upcoming visits. But we are amazed that we have made as many friends here in WNC in eight weeks as we ever counted at any one time in 44 years of living in San Diego. It’s true!

Who could have guessed?

[the Parkies]

[Minor correction: SIX weeks. We've been here SIX weeks (not eight).]

Today another surprise!!

We got in late this evening, were enjoying a 9:00 P.M. meal in the dining room, which is mostly enclosed by glass. Bill heard "something." We switched off the overhead light and turned on the outside patio light. To our delight there were THREE rather fat RACCOONS searching through piles of autumn leaves for their own culinary tidbits. So we lit table candles and enjoyed our free live entertainment for the next 45 minutes!!!

First gray squirrels, chipmunks, birds, a couple very special WHITE squirrels, domestic cats--and now RACCOONS!!! Since they're nocturnal, we'll look for them every late evening now.

OH MY! living here is fun!

Jan