CherokeeCountyNC

A firefighter from Valleytown Fire Department in Andrews helps direct traffic at a collision in Topton on April 28. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

A firefighter from Valleytown Fire Department in Andrews helps direct traffic at a collision in Topton on April 28. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

No injuries after cars collide near Cherokee/Graham border

Randy Foster
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Topton – Two cars collided – but no one was injured – April 28, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 19 and U.S. Highway 129 in Topton. At about 1:30 p.m., a 2002 Mitsubishi convertible – driven by Tiffany Jillson of Murphy – was headed west on U.S. 19, approaching the intersection with U.S.
A range of people including representatives from the logging industry, environmental groups, and local government listen to U.S. Forest Service officials describe the Crossover Project near the Graham-Cherokee county line on April 22. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

A range of people including representatives from the logging industry, environmental groups, and local government listen to U.S. Forest Service officials describe the Crossover Project near the Graham-Cherokee county line on April 22. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Forest Service hosts Crossover Project tour

Randy Foster
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Topton – There is a weathered wooden sign on a rutted turnout off U.S. Highway 129 southeast of Robbinsville that tells part of a story. “Timber for tomorrow,” the sign reads. “A low quality stand of timber was logged from this area in 1977.

New details in 124-year-old homicide

Randy Foster
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Sweetwater – All grave stones tell a story – even the ones too old to make out. But one gravestone in Robbinsville goes above and beyond. Thad Sherrill is buried in the Old Mother Cemetery near the Old Mother Church, under a mature shade tree that caused the gravestone to slant as the tree grew.
Bobby Kays has been accused of using a Graham County Sheriff’s Office vehicle to run through the front of Robbinsville Pharmacy on Saturday night. After the incident, the damaged portion was boarded up with plywood and the pharmacy reopened Monday. Photo courtesy of Robbinsville Pharmacy

Bobby Kays has been accused of using a Graham County Sheriff’s Office vehicle to run through the front of Robbinsville Pharmacy on Saturday night. After the incident, the damaged portion was boarded up with plywood and the pharmacy reopened Monday. Photo courtesy of Robbinsville Pharmacy

Humvee theft leads to two-county chase

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Robbinsville – It started with a vehicle being taken from the Graham County Sheriff’s Office.  It continued in Cherokee County.  And it ended just shy of the Macon County line.
A sign at the Robbinsville Wendy’s restaurant advertises help wanted, as Graham County continues to have the highest unemployment numbers in the Southwestern region. Photo by Charlie Benton/news@grahamstar.com

A sign at the Robbinsville Wendy’s restaurant advertises help wanted, as Graham County continues to have the highest unemployment numbers in the Southwestern region. Photo by Charlie Benton/news@grahamstar.com

A complex picture

Charlie Benton
Thursday, May 6, 2021
While people in western North Carolina are indeed returning to work, compared to the initial drastic dip with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic approximately a year ago, experts familiar with the local job market say the picture is more complicated.
Defense attorney Rich Cassady (left) speaks with his client, Jackie Slaughter, at trial last week in the Cherokee County Courthouse. Photo courtesy of Quintin Ellison Photography

Defense attorney Rich Cassady (left) speaks with his client, Jackie Slaughter, at trial last week in the Cherokee County Courthouse. Photo courtesy of Quintin Ellison Photography

Slaughter convicted of lesser charge in Cherokee

News Staff
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
By Penny Ray Cherokee Scout Murphy – On each day of the trial charging Jackie Slaughter with attempted murder, the judge instructed jurors not to research media reports about the defendant’s past.

County to receive funds for reopening schools

Charlie Benton
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Graham County has netted some money to help its public schools reopen safely in the wake of COVID-19.  According to a press release from State Rep. Karl Gillespie, R-Franklin, Graham County Schools will receive $1,252,350 from the $1.6 billion allotted by Senate Bill 36.

Gary Chamberlain

News Staff
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Gary Chamberlain, 74 of Murphy, passed Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, at a Flat Rock, N.C. hospice facility, with his wife Karen – of 21 years – by his side. Gary was born in Vancouver, Wash. to Joe and Arlene Chamberlain. The growing family spent their early years in Nyssa, Ore.