KK Kituwah LLC broke ground Tuesday, April 11, on a new entertainment district within its 200-acre property off Interstate 40 in Sevier County.

Tears, hugs and applause exploded through the Tribal Council chambers April 6 when the body unanimously passed a resolution placing a tribal constitution on the ballot for the Sept. 7 General Election.

A An autopsy report released by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled the death of beloved Swain County educator Lambert Wilson  a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the neck, arms, chest and abdomen. It also reports a significant concentration of alcohol in his aortic blood.

D During its April 6 meeting, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council unanimously approved an ordinance change  exempting police car and body cam videos from the tribe’s public records law. The vote comes on the heels of a Dec. 13, 2022, Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT response  in which officers fired at Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer after he opened the door to his home with his hands held above his head, according to a home security video Kloepfer posted Jan. 18.

T The U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Native American Issues Subcommittee is meeting in Cherokee this week, bringing together leaders from across the country to spend three days discussing issues that are important to both the Department of Justice and Native American tribes.

When Katelynn Ledford McCoy stood in front of her Cherokee High School classmates in June 2009, the class valedictorian was so high that, later, she wouldn’t be able to recall a word she said in that long-awaited speech.

In a divided vote Thursday, March 2, the Cherokee Tribal Council appropriated $275,000 to buy out the lease of a Painttown Road business, paving the way for a future mixed-use development.

A total of 43 candidates have been certified to run for 17 offices up for election in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians this year, nearly 20% fewer than the 53 candidates certified during the last chief’s election year in 2019. The final list contains some expected contenders and a scattering of surprises. 

During a special election Thursday, March 2, Wolfetown and Big Y voters chose Mike Parker to fill the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council seat vacated by former Wolfetown Rep. Bo Crowe — selecting the only candidate from the field of six with previous Tribal Council experience.

The human condition frequently subjects us to the lie that every experience we face daily is also what every other person is experiencing, causing a state of willful blindness to our fellow man. Then one day, someone comes along with a spark that claims, “I've got this idea,” and it catches on like wildfire in the eyes of everyone who witnesses it.