Jan. 2, 1997
* Asheville disc jockey and Graham County native Nikki Thomas helped raise $33,000 for the Toys for Tots program. Known professionally to WKSF-FM (99.9 Kiss Country) listeners as “Ida Ruth Millsaps Carroll,” Thomas garnered interest when she found a coveted “Tickle Me Elmo” doll to auction off on her morning show. Donations quickly followed, with many children in Graham and Swain counties benefiting from the effort.
Jan. 2, 1992
* Graham County resident Raymond Jennings Pate, 44, passed away from a head injury sustained while intoxicated. It was unclear whether Pate had been injured in a fight or a fall, but he was in the custody of the Graham County Detention Center when his condition worsened and he was rushed to Harris Regional Hospital. A CAT scan revealed a blood clot on Pate’s brain, with emergency surgery following to remove the clot at Mission Hospital in Asheville. Pate succumbed to the injuries five days after his detainment.
Jan. 2, 1986
* Three Robbinsville physicians resigned from Mountain Park Medical Center: Drs. Patricia Johnson, Carol Kaufman and Wayne Hoffman. The trio practiced at the Tallulah Valley Clinic in Graham County, but cited “frustration” with the corporate structure brought forth by SunHealth, Inc.’s purchase of the hospital in April 1984. “… I don’t feel that channels of communication have opened up in the past 18 months,” Johnson said.
-Compiled by publisher/editor Kevin Hensley.