District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch today said a Haywood County jury recently convicted a Bryson City man on seven criminal charges in connection with trafficking in illegal drugs. 

Western North Carolina courts were saddled with a sizable backlog of cases following the shutdowns related to the COVID pandemic, and while much of the overload has abated, especially in Haywood and Jackson counties, there have still been problems. 

A man who was severely injured in a 2022 police shooting at his home in Cherokee County won’t see a resolution to his civil suit until August 2025 at the earliest, according to a recent filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. 

M More than six months after beloved Swain County educator was shot and killed  at his motel in Cherokee, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch has announced that the South Carolina resident who pulled the trigger will not face criminal charges. The man fired in self-defense after Wilson brandished a handgun, the investigation found.

A

This story has been updated from the original version published Wednesday, March 29, to include reporting from additional public records related to Sheriff Dustin Smith's whereabouts the night of the shooting and a proposed law in Cherokee that would exempt police body cameras from the tribe's public records law.

As the State Bureau of Investigation continues its probe into the Dec. 13, 2022, police shooting that severely wounded Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer, District Attorney Ashley Welch is seeking to recuse herself from handling the fallout — because statements members of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office made to Welch and one of her assistant district attorneys mean they are now witnesses in the investigation.

A lawsuit filed by a former deputy against District Attorney Ashley Welch and Assistant District Attorney John Hindsman has been entirely dismissed.

More than three dozen Western North Carolina judges, elected officials and municipal employees have been “served” with a bogus judgement from an illegitimate court that offers rewards for their capture if they do not immediately satisfy the terms.

It may look like any other rustic vacation community, but beneath the placid surface of Lake Santeetlah, division runs deep. 

Former NC-11 Republican Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has remained adamant that voters cast fraudulent ballots during the 2020 General Election, but after revelations about his voter registration came to light earlier this month, it appears Meadows wasn’t just talking about Chinese cybercriminals using thermostats  to hack voting machines or an Italian satellite  changing votes from outer space — he may have actually been talking about himself and his wife.

Former Western North Carolina law enforcement officer Eric Giles is suing District Attorney Ashley Welch and Assistant DA John Hindsman Jr. for issuing him a Giglio Order in 2018.