A man who sped in a stolen vehicle through Franklin last year in a botched attempt to evade law enforcement will spend 51 to 74 months in the N.C. Division of Adult Correction, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said.

Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Lillian Elaine Brady, 53, Cherokee, to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release on Thursday, Sept. 2 for trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl and other narcotics, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers were assisted by multiple emergency response agencies in the recovery of a drowning victim near Abrams Falls on Friday, Aug. 27.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers responded to a fatal motorcycle accident on the Foothills Parkway between Walland and Wears Valley, near mile marker 24, at approximately 11:35 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28.

The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Public Health, Jackson County Department of Social Services and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services worked collaboratively for more than a year to bring Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Services eligibility to Cherokee.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 25 that Newfound Gap Road is closed until further notice due to a rockslide that occurred near mile-marker 13 around 9 p.m., Tuesday Aug. 14.