Josh Shaffer

Raleigh

Reporter and Columnist at The News & Observer

GA reporter and columnist for The News & Observer who has crisscrossed NC for 20 years in the same pickup truck. Eager to profile eccentric and quixotic heroes.

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Articles

NC man accused of killing mother says he was under influence of drugs and a spell

2 weeks ago | newsobserver.com | Josh Shaffer

A 31-year-old Raleigh man charged with beating his elderly mother to death testified Wednesday that he arrived at his parents' house high on Adderall and "ice," sleepless for six days, convinced he'd been placed under a spell, and so startled by his father's objections that he punched him twice. But Christopher McCullough insisted he did not kill his 75-year-old mother, Mary, instead telling jurors he found her face-down in a pool of blood after knocking his father down inside the house.
High on the Hog | Our State

2 weeks ago | ourstate.com | Josh Shaffer

On a glorious October day in 1972, North Carolina gathered an audience to publicly flex its barbecue muscles, declaring itself the eternal champion of outdoor, vinegar-based, slaw-topped, red pepper-flecked pork feasting. No less a figure than Gov. Bob Scott held court before a host of 300 loyal and hungry subjects, assembling them on the west lawn of the Executive Mansion to deliver his proclamation like a king reading from a royal scroll.
Remembering 'The Peanut Man,' fixture of downtown Raleigh, haunted WWII veteran

2 weeks ago | newsobserver.com | Josh Shaffer

Jesse Broyles served in the Marines during World War II. From 1963 to 1981, Broyles became known as the Peanut Man, selling peanuts on Capitol Square as flocks of pigeons flew near him. For almost 40 years, an old man in a gray fedora pushed his silver cart around the Capitol grounds, chewing a half-smoked cigar while the pigeons ate from his hands, perched on his shoulders and roosted on top of his head - companions through rain, snow and bad memories.
Blind cockatoo, a 40-year-old therapy bird, regains sight after NC State surgery

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Josh Shaffer

At 40 years old, Boo the cockatoo bumbled through life as a beloved pet in decline: almost totally blind, unable to fly or perch, reduced to waddling like a duck, bumping into walls and sleeping on a blanket at the bottom of his cage. A big decision faced Amy Hurst, Boo’s owner in Virginia: endure her bird’s blindness and a likely shortened life, or seek a risky surgery.
Netflix doc explores Irish businessman’s death, NC wife and nanny’s guilt

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Josh Shaffer

The tangled story of a widowed Irish businessman who married his children’s nanny in a storybook love affair will serve as the setting for a Netflix true-crime documentary, following them across the ocean to North Carolina and a fatal struggle in the family bedroom. “A Deadly American Marriage” premieres on May 9, billed as a “tragic love story” in which an idyllic romance turns dark.
Raleigh bishop recalls Pope Francis as a compassionate voice for the poor

3 weeks ago | newsobserver.com | Josh Shaffer |Kristen Johnson

Bishop Michael Burbidge, who led Raleigh's Catholic diocese for 10 years, fondly remembered Pope Francis as a powerful voice for the poor and the needy, a leader who considered compassion a "mandate from the Lord himself."Burbidge, who now the Bishop of Arlington in Virginia, recalled carrying the cornerstone from Raleigh's Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral to Rome to get the pontiff's blessing, where he presented it to Francis personally.
The day Raleigh nearly burned to the ground, set ablaze by an angry mob

3 weeks ago | newsobserver.com | Josh Shaffer

An 1865 depiction of Charleston, S.C., being burned by Union troops near the Civil War's end. This destruction weighed heavily on Raleigh's mind as those troops entered the city. In April of 1865, Raleigh found itself under the uncomfortable thumb of the Union army, a horde of 15,000 led by the hated Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, all of them perched on top of Dix Hill fresh from burning Atlanta, torching Columbia and beating the rebels into near-defeat.
The day Raleigh nearly burned to the ground, set ablaze by an angry mob

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Josh Shaffer

In April of 1865, Raleigh found itself under the uncomfortable thumb of the Union army, a horde of 15,000 led by the hated Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, all of them perched on top of Dix Hill fresh from burning Atlanta, torching Columbia and beating the rebels into near-defeat. The mayor had already surrendered the city, hoping to save Raleigh from the flames, and the long, bloody ordeal seemed all but finished for the ragged soldiers camped nearby. And then a telegraph arrived, bearing grim news.
Missing cat, the ‘Mayor of Wakefield,’ sparks Raleigh pet-care debate

3 weeks ago | citizensvoice.com | Josh Shaffer

As the de facto mayor of Wakefield, Winston the Bengal cat carries a reputation for wanderlust in his North Raleigh neighborhood, tagging along on walks, snooping through garages, ducking out at night on secret feline errands — never happy sitting still with a kingdom to explore.“He gets around,” said Amy Galland, his human.As a kitten, he would climb the walls and hang there, feeling suffocated by the indoors. He would tug at his collar to the point his feet got stuck.
Change the Atlanta Braves' Name? Brothers Have Their Idea Down to a 'T'

3 weeks ago | mdjonline.com | Josh Shaffer

Love for the Atlanta Braves runs so deeply through Chris Buccafusco that as a 12-year-old boy, he and his younger brother, Marty, built an 8-foot tomahawk in their front yard — a plywood monument to their baseball heroes. Even as an adult, Buccafusco tears up recalling his dad waking him up late on a school night to watch the last inning of the 1992 playoffs, when first baseman Sid Bream famously won the game with a slide into home plate.