Local

Hiker rescued after ankle injury

Marshall McClung
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Slickrock – A dispatcher with Graham County 911 received a call about an injured hiker in the vicinity of Bob Bald – elevation 5,431 feet – shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday. Julie Martin, 39 of Evansville, Ind.
Graham County Schools Superintendent Angie Knight (left) shows representatives from Blue Cross NC Robbinsville High School’s Black Knights mobile food truck on Friday. Among Blue Cross NC officials were Dr. Tunde Sotunde, a pediatrician who is president and CEO of Blue Cross NC (center). Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Graham County Schools Superintendent Angie Knight (left) shows representatives from Blue Cross NC Robbinsville High School’s Black Knights mobile food truck on Friday. Among Blue Cross NC officials were Dr. Tunde Sotunde, a pediatrician who is president and CEO of Blue Cross NC (center). Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Blue Cross NC officials visit Graham County leaders

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Robbinsville – The state of health in Graham County was of keen interest to executives of Blue Cross NC, who stopped in Robbinsville on Oct. 7 at the midway point of a tour of all North Carolina’s 100 counties. Graham County was the 51st stop in the statewide tour that began in January 2021.

Road rage ends with gunfire

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Wolf Creek – An Alabama man is facing charges when a road rage incident escalated to gunfire between Stecoah and Wolf Creek on Friday. Graham County Sheriff Jerry Crisp said 71-year-old John O’Banion of Wetumpka, Ala.
Duane Wilkey looks at the silt-filled raceway at his trout farm on Hunting Boy Branch on Aug. 25. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Duane Wilkey looks at the silt-filled raceway at his trout farm on Hunting Boy Branch on Aug. 25. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Out of business

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Snowbird – For more than 30 years, Duane and Linda Wilkey operated a trout farm in western Graham County on Hunting Boy Branch, a stream that feeds into Little Snowbird Creek. In June 2017, they noticed the creek was unusually muddy following a light rain. The problem grew worse.
Almost two dozen members of the Noble Knights, a group that looks out for the welfare of fellow students, leads the Graham County Board of Education in the Pledge of Allegiance at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Almost two dozen members of the Noble Knights, a group that looks out for the welfare of fellow students, leads the Graham County Board of Education in the Pledge of Allegiance at the board’s meeting on Tuesday. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Funding, test scores punctuate meeting

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Robbinsville – Tuesday’s meeting of the Graham County Board of Education reflected hard financial times, recovery from low school scores – and a glimmer of hope for the future.
Donnie Orr (left) reads to children at Robbinsville Elementary School’s media center on Friday, as his sister Debbie Orr (right) waits his turn. The siblings were at the school to dedicate a reading nook in honor of their late mother Maxine Orr, who was a teaching assistant at the school for 30 years. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Donnie Orr (left) reads to children at Robbinsville Elementary School’s media center on Friday, as his sister Debbie Orr (right) waits his turn. The siblings were at the school to dedicate a reading nook in honor of their late mother Maxine Orr, who was a teaching assistant at the school for 30 years. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

‘Castle’ dedicated to teacher

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Robbinsville – Maxine Orr was a teacher’s assistant at Robbinsville Elementary School, whose presence will be felt at the school for years to come – thanks to a reading nook. Orr worked at the school for 30 years as a teaching assistant and occasionally – when needed – school librarian.
Graham County Commissioner Dale Wiggins (left) cuts the ribbon at a re-dedication ceremony of the Santeetlah Lake Trail South on Sept. 27. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Graham County Commissioner Dale Wiggins (left) cuts the ribbon at a re-dedication ceremony of the Santeetlah Lake Trail South on Sept. 27. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

‘Nature at its best, everywhere’

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Lake Santeetlah – County Commissioner Dale Wiggins cut the ribbon for a trail re-dedication that he has been working on since 2000. The Santeetlah Lake Trail South is 8.5 miles long, with Carver Cemetery at one end and the intersection of Snowbird and Santeetlah roads at the other.
Patsy Owens Rogers (center) goes over high school yearbooks with Mountain View High School alumni Nahala Ayers Nichols (left) and Judy Williams Biddix during a reunion on Saturday. Rogers started the annual reunion in 2019 along with her late brother, Richard. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Patsy Owens Rogers (center) goes over high school yearbooks with Mountain View High School alumni Nahala Ayers Nichols (left) and Judy Williams Biddix during a reunion on Saturday. Rogers started the annual reunion in 2019 along with her late brother, Richard. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Keeping memories alive

Randy Foster
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Meadow Branch – More than 30 alumni of Mountain View School gathered for their annual reunion at the Meadow Branch Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday. Mountain View School didn’t exist for all that long. It opened in 1953 and operated only as an elementary school during the 1953-54 school year.