MURPHY
$375K grant for a tanker
The Town of Murphy Fire Department is receiving a $375,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for a new tanker truck.
The grant award will help Murphy replace a 45-year-old tanker, a key component in the department’s five-year strategic plan. The grant requires a 5% match.
“This is a big win for the Town of Murphy and our Fire Department. We are proud of the hard work Fire Chief Al Lovingood and his team put into the grant application, and for the assistance from Congressman Chuck Edwards’ staff,” Mayor Tim Radford said in a release.
“This will help us provide even better service to our community without burdening our taxpayers, and this award is one more example of why the Murphy Fire Department is the top-rated fire agency in Cherokee County and one of the best in the state of North Carolina.”
The Murphy Fire Department provides fire and rescue services to two primary fire districts in Cherokee County: Town of Murphy and Murphy Rural (which includes Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal property), which total 25.49 square miles. The department boasts an ISO Class 3 rating inside the city limits and a Class 4 in Murphy Rural – the best in Cherokee County.
The Murphy Fire Department is a combination department with a full-time fire chief, three full-time firefighters and a part-time staff of 21 personnel. Personnel dedicate many hours annually to training and incident mitigation.
In addition to fire protection, the department is credentialed by the N.C. Association of Rescue and Emergency Medical Services as a heavy rescue provider with specialties in agriculture, high angle and confined space.
MURPHY
Man facing sex charges
Kenneth James Gauthier, 35, was arrested Aug. 5 after a Clay County Grand Jury handed down indictments charging him with eight felony counts of second-degree exploitation of a minor.
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Gauthier was arrested by Cherokee County authorities at his residence and transferred to the Clay County Jail, where he is confined with no bond. He is scheduled to appear in Clay County Superior Court on Monday, Sept. 23.
The arrest is the cumulation of a long investigation that began after a device was found in a roadway by a concerned citizen, who turned it into the sheriff’s office. Pursuant to a search warrant, the device was forensically examined and the owner of the device was determined to be Gauthier.
The examination of the device confirmed that there were pornographic images of prepubescent children downloaded onto the device, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. Gauthier was interviewed by investigators with Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, during which Gauthier admitted to ownership of the device and its contents.
Compiled by Publisher David Brown.