There are crimes so cruel and senseless that they echo within a community for years – sometimes, decades – after the fact. In Macon County, father-of-three Derold Garry Ledford’s shooting death ranks among such crimes.

New Kituwah Academy (NKA), the early childhood to sixth grade Cherokee language immersion school located in the old Boundary Tree Lodge, is readying for several renovations in 2025.

For the fifth Congress in a row, a bill that would place 76 acres of land, containing several Cherokee historic sites in eastern Tennessee, in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPF) is proud to announce grants for ongoing disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. In response to the devastating impact of the storm, CPF has awarded funding to three organizations dedicated to providing critical assistance to affected communities across Western North Carolina.

The Lumbee Fairness Act (H.R. 1101), which would have granted federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina – a state-recognized group, died in the 118th Congress.  Now, two identical bills have been introduced into the 119th Congress, and President Donald J. Trump has entered the fray with a memorandum. 

In the Haywood County Courthouse, on Monday, Jan. 6, Shelli Buckner who previously served as an interim lead prosecutor for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney for the 43rd Prosecutorial District of North Carolina.

The Cherokee Police Commission held their first meeting of 2025, including the newly sworn commissioners, in the Ginger Lynn Welch building on the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 16.

In fall 2024, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation awarded 10 grants to partners within Western North Carolina. Grants totaled more than $2.1 million and were awarded to projects advancing the Foundation’s mission of improving the quality of life for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and neighboring communities.