A wedding amid tragedy, and prison news: Josh Shaffer stories to catch up on
If you missed a few of my Monday columns in May, here’s a chance to catch up on the odyssey of a pair of mischief-seeking boys who ended up locked in a boxcar, drinking stale beer to survive.
There’s also the life of a Wake County man locked in a prison, who found redemption and new life in writing about the world he sees around him.
And there’s the moment when, in the middle of chaos and fear, one Raleigh couple still managed to find lifelong love in a random place.
Railroad adventure with Schlitz
- Two Fayetteville sixth-graders, 13-year-old Billy Waddell and 12-year-old David Harvey Jr., survived 13 days locked inside a Schlitz beer boxcar by sipping the dregs from empty bottles after hiding in the car during a Friday afternoon adventure 60 years ago, eventually emerging in a Milwaukee rail yard and returning home to a crowd of 150 people.
Prisoner wins national award
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- Phillip Vance Smith, a 48-year-old inmate at Neuse Correctional Institution serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, won Prison Journalist of the Year at the Stillwater Awards for stories published in HuffPost and Slate documenting understaffing, violence and economic hardship inside prisons.
Soldier on the streets? Fun with how and why
- A life-sized, faceless World War I soldier mannequin in an olive-drab uniform and a Doughboy helmet mysteriously appeared on West Cabarrus Street behind the Berkeley Cafe in downtown Raleigh, with bartender Justin Sorrell guessing a contractor friend rescued it during work at a museum currently undergoing renovation.
Unstoppable love
- Rebecca Stewart and Billy Khantawong, who reunited at a Spill Canvas concert at Lincoln Theater after first meeting 20 years ago, married in Nash Square after a double shooting shut down the Wake County courthouse, with deputy clerk and ordained minister Angela Davis stepping in to officiate using a borrowed pen on the matron of honor’s back.
Do you have an idea for a column about someone interesting or a fascinating place? Is there an untold story about North Carolina that needs to be told? Email Shaffer at jshaffer@newsobserver.com.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by Josh Shaffer and Dave Hendrickson. The source reporting referenced above was written by Josh Shaffer.
This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 7:30 AM with the headline "A wedding amid tragedy, and prison news: Josh Shaffer stories to catch up on."