The tyranny of the landholder (see my previous diary) raises its ugly head again, in a very different way.
Leland family braves cold with no heat
The headline doesn't do the family justice. Amy Smith and her family are living in an apartment with no heat. They have a 19-month old baby. The heat has been broken since November. Space heaters and the oven aren't heating the apartment properly; Amy worries that the baby will get sick from being so cold, and she worries that the other family members are getting frostbite. (Yes, this is eastern NC, and yes, it's damn cold here right now.)
The lease says the landlord is obligated to provide heat. The landlord has fobbed them off with excuses for three months. Amy refused to pay the January rent because the landlord is not upholding the lease.
The landlord is now trying to evict the family.
So how can we help?
We can bombard the message board of the television station with comments. We can bombard the reporter, Bailey Hicks, with outraged emails:
bhicks@wect.com
We can bombard the TV station with emails and phone calls expressing our outrage:
WECT contact information
What else? All good suggestions will be reflected in diary updates.
5:33 PM PT: If you do anything in response to this, please note in the comments. Thanks!
BTW, Leland (and my area, not far away) is getting hammered with sleet, and temps are below freezing again. That baby is COLD.
6:54 PM PT: http://www.wect.com/... BusyinCA notes that you can go to the story and uprate comments without signing in. Put some numbers in there!
6:56 PM PT: Recommended?!? Wow. I appreciate it, but it's all for Amy Smith and her baby.