Man sentenced to 15 years for extreme child abuse
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that a Cherokee County man pleaded guilty to intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.
Vecinos receives SECU Foundation grant
SECU Foundation recently awarded a $1.6 million grant to Vecinos for a new medical center and human services hub in Macon County.
New Building Outdoor Communities cohort named
Six new recipients in Western North Carolina have been awarded grants to participate in the MADE X MTNS Partnership’s Building Outdoor Communities Program.
Officers in Kloepfer shooting won’t face charges
A special prosecutor tasked with examining the investigation into a 2022 police shooting that severely injured Jason Harley Kloepfer at his home in Cherokee County has concluded that no criminal charges are warranted against any of the officers involved.
Filling the vacancy: Unique process plays out to replace retiring Superior Court judge
When Superior Court Judge William Coward announced his retirement late last year, it caught many in the Western North Carolina legal community off guard and set in motion a process with little precedent.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office answers police shooting lawsuit
In a 65-page answer to an extensive lawsuit filed in response to the December 2022 police shooting of Jason Harley Kloepfer in Cherokee County, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office emphasized that it was officers with the Cherokee Indian Police Department, not CCSO deputies, who fired the shots, and denied allegations that its deputies and supervisors mishandled the case from the beginning.
SBI report on police shooting heads to special prosecutor
Nearly 11 months after a Cherokee County man was shot by police officers in the doorway of his own home, a State Bureau of Investigation probe into the shooting is complete.
Prescribed burns planned in Cherokee National Forest
Residents in the furthest west counties may see smoke over the coming months as the Cherokee National Forest carries out prescribed burns on an estimated 18,500 acres in Monroe and Polk counties, Tennessee, which abut Graham and Cherokee counties in North Carolina.
State budget commits substantial funding to critical needs in WNC
This year’s state budget process may have been one of the most discordant in recent memory, but Western North Carolina’s legislative delegation was able to secure record-setting funding for critical needs in a relatively poor region that sometimes feels overlooked when Raleigh gets to dishing out the dough.
