MURPHY
DSS receives care funding
The Cherokee County Department of Social Services will receive almost $57,000 in state funds over the next two years to assist in temporary placement for children in the custody of DSS agencies.
“The Division of Social Services recognized the current situation with locating the required residential treatment placement for children in DSS custody with complex behavior health needs,” Adam Daye, deputy director for child welfare practice with the state Division of Social Services, Child Welfare, said in a letter distributed to DSS agencies throughout the state.
State DSS allocated just shy of $2.3 million this fiscal year and $5.5 million next fiscal year for the DSS Emergency Placement Fund.
“These funds are intended to temporarily assist county departments of social services in addressing identified placement needs for children in the custody of the agencies who are awaiting Medicaid leveled treatment placement,” Daye wrote. “While children await the location of the placement, these funds can be used to prevent them from staying in a DSS office.”
Cherokee County will receive $16,721 this fiscal year and $40,130 in the next fiscal year. Elsewhere in the region, Clay County will receive $12,321 this fiscal year and $29,570 next fiscal year, Graham County will receive $11,496 this fiscal year and $27,590 next fiscal year, Macon County will receive $17,546 this fiscal year and $42,110 next fiscal year, and Swain County will receive $15,346 this fiscal year and $36,830 next fiscal year.
To ensure funding for even the smallest counties, all counties receive a base amount of $20,000 for the 2024-25 fiscal year, with distributions based on their foster care census. The counties will be allocated a pro-rated portion equivalent to five months for 2023-24.
HIWASSEE DAM
Community garden set
A community garden is planned on Cherokee County property near the Hiwassee Dam Fire Department within the planned Hiwassee Dam Park footprint.
A rough sketch of the community garden, an all-volunteer project led by the Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors, would be 40 feet by 40 feet with a dozen 4-foot by 8-foot garden plots, space for an herb garden, a compost area, a storage shed and a covered area with a picnic table.
RANGER
Ag Youth Day set on April 5
Local agriculture groups will be using the Mountain Folk Center, disused following the collapse of a pipe that damaged the outdoor arena, will be using the venue for an Agriculture Youth Day on Friday, April 5.
The event is being sponsored by the Cherokee County Farm Bureau, Cherokee County 4-H, local farmers and livestock producers. Third-graders from throughout Cherokee County will take part.
The Cherokee County Saddle Club has proposed relocating the outdoor arena elsewhere on the site. The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will take a deeper dive into the proposal during budget planning.
ATLANTA
Rudolph loses case
A man sentenced to life imprisonment for fatal bombings at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and an Alabama abortion clinic will not get a chance at a new sentence, an appeals court ruled Feb. 13.
A three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Eric Robert Rudolph, formerly of Nantahala, remains bound to the terms of his 2005 plea agreement, during which he accepted multiple life sentences to escape the death penalty, according to an Associated Press report.
“Rudolph is bound by the terms of his own bargain. He negotiated to spare his life, and in return he waived the right to collaterally attack his sentences in any post-conviction proceedings,” Judge Britt Grant wrote.
Rudolph admitted to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks in Georgia and Alabama. He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of arson as well as using a destructive device during a crime of violence.
Rudolph argued he was due a new sentence after a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in which justices found that a statute providing enhanced penalties for using a firearm or deadly device during a “crime of violence” was unconstitutionally vague. The 11th Circuit rejected his claim.
MURPHY
Working on water line
Town contractors will begin connecting services to new water lines from today through Friday, according to a release.
Work will take place from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. No planned water outages are scheduled, the release says.
Details: Visit townofmurphync.com.
MURPHY
Discovery at Church
MountainView Church, 169 Smith Hollow off of U.S. 64 West, will host a Discovery Weekend on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9, to answer the question, “How can we see transforming revival come to our community?”
The two days of teaching will inform, inspire and address four questions:
1. Do we need transforming revival?
2. What is transforming revival?
3. How do you prepare for transforming revival?
4. What is the personal cost (sacrifice) to see transforming revival?
Details: Contact Ron and Elana Stockman at 727-487-3124 and elanastockman@gmail.com.
MURPHY
3 states, 3 counties
Three counties in three states, including Cherokee County, are entering into a joint effort to improve infrastructure in the region.
Participants also include Polk County, Tenn., and Fannin County, Ga. The three counties are seeking a $100,000 planning grant from Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies.
The program is designed to catalyze regional economic transformation through collaborative projects. The grant requires a 40 percent match. The county committed to a 10 percent match.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Public meetings
THIS WEEK
- Cherokee County Department of Social Services Board meets at noon today in the DSS conference room, 4800 U.S. 64 W. in Ranger.
- Andrews Board of Aldermen meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Facilities Building, 85 Fourth St.
COMING SOON
- Cherokee County Planning Board meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 7, immediately following the Board of Commissioners meeting in the boardroom of the courthouse, 75 Peachtree St. in Murphy.
Compiled by Publisher
David Brown and Editor Randy Foster.