Newsie news news

Here's some of yesterday's/last night's exciting news day. General and spot, all in one day. Aren't I a lucky gal?


Spent the afternoon in Olympia waiting around to see Tom Mason's preliminary hearing broadcast to the courtroom from the county jail. Super exciting three minutes of fame right there. Hard to make a picture off a TV screen. Mason is being charged with arson along with a few other felonies. He burned his house while his wife and cousin were inside. I wanted to get his hands in the photo because they are bandaged up from being burned. The reporter and I found a gal who happened to be at the hospital the night of his arrest (for an unrelated matter) and saw him walking out all bandaged up. She had some interesting quotes. Family at the courthouse said meth has been a major factor in his behavior the past few years. Meth meth meth... everywhere in this town. It's really sad. Spintralia at it's best.


Adam and I were sitting outside on the porch trying to cool off from the unbearable hot weather when I got a call from Sharyn about a house fire a few blocks away. I was stoked to finally get some spot news. Really tough to shoot a fire at night. When I arrived I couldn't see any flames from my angle and was sitting in a smoke cloud most of the time. Tried to stay as still as I could because my flash wouldn't reach nearly as far as I needed it to. And my TTL cord is MIA at the moment so I was stuck with slow shooting.


Some of the neighbors and friends of the home owner watching the commotion. I thought those kids were crazy for having blankets after how hot it'd been all day. I kept telling them they were nuts. Of course I froze later in the night while I waited around to get more info from authorities.


The man in the center is the owner of the home. He is currently renting the house out, apparently to some not very responsible or stable folks. He was really upset about having lost the home. It is completely destroyed and will probably have to be bulldozed. He's currently on leave from work and on disability. This was his only source of income. It was difficult talking to him but I really wanted to make a picture of him and his side of what he was going through. I spent time talking with his friends and family before taking the shot.



A view from a neighbor's backyard. The neighbor happened to be the cousin of the owner of the house and was really helpful. He introduced me to a ton of people and helped me cross the street back and forth when the cops wouldn't let me. Having a resident with me was like a free ticket back into the area. My helpful companion was really drunk and I think that's why he was really helpful and so cheery about the whole ordeal.


And our star of the night. This is Dorothy (center). She burned the house down. Smart huh? Really tough to get a picture of her. Initially, she was in the middle of the street and would have been super easy to get a shot of but I didn't yet know the details of the fire. The fireman on the right came out into the street to block my shot after they saw me crouched in the dark and I got pointed out by the chief. He didn't do a great job. Neighbors told me that she was pissed because her "old man" was over across the street drinking with friends and he wouldn't come home. Her idea was apparently to set the curtains on fire to get him home. I couldn't confirm any of this with the police (even though i waited around til almost 1 a.m. for them) so I'm waiting to read the paper tomorrow for more details. Everyone out there was telling me that she was crazy. These three little kids even ran up to me and they were like, "She's a maniac!"


And just to really round out the death an destruction post.. a gravestone! Nothing too exciting. This gentleman died in 1914. He was a Woodsman of the World. Interesting looking site marker (it's a tree). Think I could get a camera for mine?

I have more Idaho/Montana/Wyoming pics but they are stuck on my laptop and will stay there until I decide to charge the battery. But what's the point when it only lasts 20 mins?

Anyone seen Tabloid Wars? I just d/l'ed it off of iTunes. I love free iTunes! I live for that stuff. I'm too tired to watch it tonight and I have to wake up early to go milk goats. I'm stoked. Coming soon.. pictures of me with a goat (I hope).