DISTRICT 43
Parton new area judge
Gov. Roy Cooper announced a local appointment to the N.C. District Court last week.
Kristy Parton has been appointed to serve as a District Court judge in Judicial District 43, serving Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. She will fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Tessa Sellers to the Superior Court.
Parton works as a solo practitioner at her own practice. She also serves as a guardian ad litem for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Court, a guardian ad litem attorney advocate in Jackson County and an attorney for the Swain County Department of Social Services.
Previously, she served as a court-appointed family financial mediator. Parton received bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before earning her Juris Doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Law.
In a release, Cooper said Parton brings “a wealth of legal experience to the bench.” He praised her dedication.
NANTAHALA
Job Corps fixes tower
Over more than two weeks in July, a group of students from the LBJ Job Corps center in Franklin drove up to Wayah Bald to beautify and preserve the tower and Wilson Lick Ranger Station. The students learned masonry skills while cleaning one of the area’s premiere attractions.
Working through the nonprofit HistoriCorps and the Nantahala National Forest, LBJ Job Corps students removed graffiti from the interior masonry walls of the Wayah Bald tower and repointed the upper tower and stairs where mortar is missing.
Student Antanneya Belton said they started at the tower by stripping off the graffiti from the walls inside, leaving a stripper on overnight and scrubbing it off.
Student Amenia Neal said they had to follow all the precautions protecting themselves from the chemicals, including body suits, gloves and face shields. Kevon McMillan talked about filling in the cracks with the mortar on top of the tower.
The volunteers also made repairs at the Wilson Lick Ranger Station just a few miles down the road.
CABLE COVE
Boat flips, infant dies
A Swain County family experienced an unimaginable loss when a day of fun turned into tragedy.
Around 5 p.m. June 27, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was notified of a distressed vessel near the Cable Cove section of Fontana Lake in Graham County. Reports said an infant was missing.
Preliminary reports from the wildlife commission indicate that eight people were aboard a “tritoon” – which differs from a pontoon, in that the tritoon has three aluminum tubes to evenly distribute weight, as opposed to just two on a pontoon – while three more trailed the boat on what was described as a “high back tube,” attached by a rope.
For reasons unknown, the boat capsized – sending everyone onboard into the water. All of the individuals were wearing life jackets. Other boats on the lake immediately began assisting the family in the search for the 1-year-old, with the child later discovered and pulled from the water by the boater.
Compiled by Publisher David Brown. The Graham Star and Franklin Press contributed to this report.