Santeetlah

Kae (left) and Moe Salah will greet customers at Skyway Convenience, which has re-opened to the public after closing its doors in February 2023. Photo by Latresa Phillips/The Graham Star

Kae (left) and Moe Salah will greet customers at Skyway Convenience, which has re-opened to the public after closing its doors in February 2023. Photo by Latresa Phillips/The Graham Star

New outlook, same location

Latresa Phillips
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Santeetlah – Cherohala Skyway Convenience Store re-opened under new owners and management Feb. 19.  Kae and Moe Salah look forward to meeting new friends and serving the community. Although the two men are new to the operation, their partner Imran Alam owns 19 gas stations in North Carolina.

More snowfall, more … brush fires?

Marshall McClung
Friday, January 31, 2025
Santeetlah – Apparently, the saying “history repeats itself” is true: the last two snowfalls in Graham County have both been followed by brush fires in the same weeks.  Maybe the next time it snows, firefighters will be tempted to grab fire rakes instead of snow shovels. Shortly after 3 p.m.
Tory Lynnes (left) and Brent Eller faced hazardous weather conditions to rescue a young woman from the Joyce Kilmer Forest last week. Photo courtesy of Kim Hainge

Tory Lynnes (left) and Brent Eller faced hazardous weather conditions to rescue a young woman from the Joyce Kilmer Forest last week. Photo courtesy of Kim Hainge

Weather braved to rescue hiker

Marshall McClung
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Santeetlah – Graham County Rescue Squad members Tory Lynnes and Brent Eller faced some extreme weather in the high mountains of Graham County between the late-night hours of Jan. 24-25, to reach a hiker in the Joyce Kilmer Forest. Graham County 911 received a call from a mother around 6:45 p.m.
Fire engines from around the county were dispatched to a home fire in the Santeetlah area Dec. 29. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Fire engines from around the county were dispatched to a home fire in the Santeetlah area Dec. 29. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Hot ashes spark grass fire

Marshall McClung
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Santeetlah – The Graham County 911 Center received a report of a fire spreading out of control around 2 p.m. Dec. 29. Firefighters with the Graham County and Santeetlah Fire departments, N.C. Forest Service and U.S. Forest Service responded to Golf Course Circle off U.S.

Louisiana man dies in two-vehicle accident 

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Santeetlah – A 31-year-old Louisiana man was killed in a two-vehicle accident Friday on U.S. 129.  Lafayette resident James B. Mills II was traveling southbound toward Robbinsville among a string of motorcycles around 3 p.m.
Asheville-area resident Mike Plemmons looks on as a car goes flying by during Saturday’s leg of the CCR-SCCA Dragon Hill Climb, which was held inside the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Plemmons has been involved with racing for over 40 years. Visit our Facebook page for more photos from Saturday’s portion of the event. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Asheville-area resident Mike Plemmons looks on as a car goes flying by during Saturday’s leg of the CCR-SCCA Dragon Hill Climb, which was held inside the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Plemmons has been involved with racing for over 40 years. Visit our Facebook page for more photos from Saturday’s portion of the event. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Need for speed

Randy Foster
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Santeetlah – Race and road rally cars of all shapes and sizes participated in the 16th Dragon Hill Climb event over the weekend. The Central Carolinas Region of the Sports Car Club of America started hosting the event – this year called Dragon SCCA Hill Climb – in 2011. The 2.
Station 3 Fire Chief Brian Johnson is planning construction of a three-bay metal building to supplement the existing structure off Tapoco Road. Station 3 volunteers have been saving up for years for the project, which will cost an estimated $80,000. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

Station 3 Fire Chief Brian Johnson is planning construction of a three-bay metal building to supplement the existing structure off Tapoco Road. Station 3 volunteers have been saving up for years for the project, which will cost an estimated $80,000. Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

An aging fleet

Randy Foster
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Graham County emergency services have come a long way. A handmade two-wheel cart with fire hose served in lieu of a fire engine in the late 1940s, and a hearse served as the county’s only ambulance until the early 1960s.

Brush fire damages equipment

Marshall McClung
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Santeetlah – A Dec. 15 brush fire spread quickly up a hillside and into an area where some equipment and construction items were stored near the Castlewood area on U.S. 129. A box trailer was damaged, and several vehicle tires and traffic cones were destroyed. The fire was reported around 3:30 p.
A residence on East Buffalo was totally destroyed by fire on Sept. 7.

A residence on East Buffalo was totally destroyed by fire on Sept. 7.

Structure fire results in total loss

Charlie Benton
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Santeetlah – Graham County Volunteer firefighters from all stations were put to work on the morning of Sept. 7, when an East Buffalo Road home went up in flames. Despite the firefighters’ efforts against the blaze, the structure was a total loss.