10 years ago
* A helicopter flyover by the National Guard and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation resulted in the arrest of two men on Little Snowbird Road, for growing marijuana. Sheriff Mickey Anderson said the illegal crop was spotted from the air. A ground search resulted in the arrest of Matthew John Drigonis and Thomas Denton Wilcox, who were both charged with manufacturing marijuana. The marijuana’s purpose was allegedly for medicinal reasons to help a relative, Anderson said. The amount that was confiscated appeared to be more than needed for those purposes for one person.
* After winning the first two games of the season, head coach Dee Walsh felt that his team was more than ready to meet the challenge of hosting the Pisgah Bears. “I think we will match up well with them (Pisgah),” Walsh said. “I know that our guys will give it all they’ve got and play with aggression and heart. I expect Pisgah will do the same.” Walsh thinks the players gained confidence in winning the previous games.
25 years ago
* Noel Marsh, former town clerk for Santeetlah, pleaded guilty to 38 counts of embezzlement by a public official. The sentencing was to take place in December, pending a federal decision of whether Marsh should spend time in jail as a restitution to the state. Marsh applied for a law enforcement grant without town council’s knowledge or authorization. Upon his sudden resignation, Mayor Bill Wood said that about $28,000 was taken from the town’s accounts. After his court appearance in Robbinsville, Marsh told The Graham Star that he was looking for a job. “I’m not a horrible person,” he said. “It was mostly that old greed thing.”
* Peter Leary, owner of the Crossroads of Time Motel at Deals Gap, placed a display in his store where motorcyclists made donations to the Graham County Rescue Squad. Bikers had put in coins and dollars amounting to more than $1,000 for the season. “I hope I never go down,” said one biker as he slipped his donation in the jar. “But knowing the rescue squad is here is worth every penny. God bless them.”
50 years ago
* A U.S. Park Service inquiry found “no reason to hold any person responsible for the accident” that resulted in the drowning death of 60-year-old John Childers of Whittier, an employee of the Park Service. The accident occurred when the men were moving a back-hoe machine from a Fontana boat dock to a campsite in the National Park of Hazel Creek, about a five-mile trip. It was determined that a wave from an unidentified speed boat capsized the barge. Childers was thrown a life preserver but could not reach it.
* The Robbinsville Black Knights traveled to Bryson City, only to lose their first game of the season to the Maroon Devils, 16-14. With only four seconds left in the game, the Devils went four yards for a touchdown, tacking on a two-point conversion to win the game.
The Knights were hampered by the loss of four players, who had been out of action since the beginning of the season due to injuries.
-Compiled by Diane West