In this week’s archives of the Cherokee Scout and Andrews Journal:
10 years ago – March 12, 2014, Scout: Jim Keen’s truck got away from him at Joe Brown Convenience Store in Murphy, as the vehicle he thought was parked rolled down a hill about 100 feet, coming to rest in a ditch. It took a crane and a tow truck to get Keen on the road again.
- Malissa Kilpatrick, 43, of Murphy, was charged with bringing a gun on educational property, a felony. She was also charged with misdemeanor child abuse in an incident that started at home. Kilpatrick’s truck was later found to be carrying 15 rifles and shotguns.
- Frederick Hoyt Zimmerman, 74, of Marble, was charged with assault by pointing a gun, discharging a weapon into an occupied building and resisting a public officer after he allegedly yelled racial slurs before opening fire at a house where a multi-racial lived across the street.
March 13, 2014, Journal: Andrews Veterinary Hospital nurse Scott Gunnells was known as the “animal whisperer” for his way with patients.
- The Town of Andrews and Disability Partners held a “Meet the Stars” event to introduce residents to Cherokee County Emergency Management Services and other first-responders.
25 years ago – March 10, 1999, Scout: Harley Ray Self, 17, pled guilty to simple assault following a knifing at Murphy High School. Another student was cut in the incident.
- The Cherokee County Landfill in Marble was down $78,000 in unpaid tipping fees.
- Donald Stewart, 52, of Murphy, owner of Stewart’s Auto Sales on U.S. 64 West, died in an automobile accident on U.S. 76 in Oconee County, S.C.
March 11, 1999, Journal: Songwriter Rick Blalock, a native of Andrews, was back in town for a short visit. He was known for the song “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox,” which he called “the ultimate honky-tonk anthem.”
- Clifton Gibby and Louise Cooper were voted Valentine king and queen by their fellow residents at Valley View Care Center in Andrews.
50 years ago – March 14, 1974, Scout: A new $5.5 million hospital with 75 beds and an adjacent 120-bed nursing home were recommended to the Murphy Town Council by Mountain Health Services of Blairsville, Ga.
- Murphy council members debated whether town fire trucks should be used to fight fires 15-20 miles outside of the town limits. A vote was not taken.
- An advertisement remembered William Ralph Graves Jr., a local football player who died on March 15, 1970, while serving his country in the Vietnam War.
March 13, 1974, Journal: American Thread in Marble donated space behind their facilities for use by the Marble Little League. Volunteers cut base paths, erected a
wire backstop and built dugouts.
- The N.C. Department of Transportation’s allocated amount for Cherokee County that year was only a total of $429,000, which included upgrading Red Marble Road.
– Publisher David Brown