Cherokee looks to increase retirement vesting period

Pension plan double-dipping is prompting the Cherokee Tribal Council to consider tripling the number of years required to draw from the tribe’s retirement plan from five to 15. 

Tribal member sues over alleged workplace hostility, harassment

A Cherokee woman who successfully fought off disorderly conduct charges earlier this year has filed suit against nine parties in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians government, claiming that she’d been subjected to years of hostile working conditions and sexual harassment leading up to the criminal charge, which she said was based on a fabricated version of events. 

Tribe to expand casino parking

New parking is coming to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino following the Cherokee Tribal Council’s unanimous vote Aug. 2 to transfer a 4.7-acre tract to the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise. 

Regulations on use of cultural terms discussed in Cherokee

A brief conversation in Tribal Council Wednesday, Aug. 1, was the first public discussion on how the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians might eventually regulate the commercial use of culturally sensitive names since the issue was raised following the launch of 7 Clans Brewing. 

Cherokee debates election laws

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is in the midst of an effort to overhaul its elections laws, with a Sept. 30 deadline to take a final vote if the new rules are to apply for the September 2019 elections. 

Cherokee to seek $280 million in credit for construction

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will seek $280 million in credit to fund a list of five priority projects following a 9-2 vote during Tribal Council’s July 10 Budget Council meeting.

Cherokee hospital to build $39 million crisis unit

Long-debated plans to renovate the old Cherokee Indian Hospital building as a crisis stabilization unit will now move forward following a 9-2 vote from Tribal Council to appropriate $31 million in funding. 

Macon Airport Authority still eyeing expansion project

The Macon County Airport Authority may have hit a roadblock in the planning process for a project that will add another 1,000 feet to the runway. 

Sentence delivered in 2015 Smokemont murder

A Cherokee resident will spend four years in federal prison for his involvement in the 2015 stabbing death of 25-year-old Tyler Gaddis, of Whittier. 

Cherokee tribes condemn family separations

The three Cherokee tribes joined voices last week to decry the recent surge of family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

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