A federal jury in Asheville convicted Shane McKinley Swimmer, 21, of Cherokee, of second degree murder late on Thursday, Sept. 9, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Abbott Owle, an 11-month-old member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, grabs a copy of “We love you Moms and Babies” from the Little Free Library at the Dora Reed Qualla Boundary Head Start/Early Head Start Center on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 8. 

In their meeting Tuesday night (Sept. 7), members of the Cherokee Central Schools (CCS) Board of Education made it clear that they would be doing everything possible to stay open amid raising numbers of COVID-19 on the Qualla Boundary.

After 27 years and a few too many cramped meetings, the Hiwassee Dam Volunteer Fire Department opened the doors to a new facility in Cherokee County over the weekend.

A Franklin man will spend at least 118 months and up to 128 months in prison after admitting in court to helping rob and beat another man.

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.