MURPHY
First Farmers Market opens
The first Murphy Farmers Market of the 2022 season will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, continuing weekly through October.
The market offers fruits, vegetables and plants, as well as a wide variety of arts and crafts from local vendors. Everything from K-9 attire, birdhouses and hand-decorated spring and steampunk hats to jewelry, soaps, handmade rugs and various items of woodworking will be on display.
The market also has vendors selling eggs and different snacks, such as cakes, cookies and other baked goods. The Murphy Farmers Market is at the L&N Depot, 4 Railroad St. near downtown.
PEACHTREE
Town Hall meet Friday
There will be a Cherokee County Republican Party Town Hall Precinct meeting in the Peachtree Community Center at 6 p.m. Friday. Everyone is invited to attend.
Candidates for the local offices will be in attendance, as will several candidates running for the 11th Congressional District. For details, call Alex Parker at 828-644-4875.
ANDREWS
Squad plans Meet & Greet
The Andrews Rescue Squad invites you to a Meet & Greet for candidates for political office this year at 1 p.m. Saturday in the squad building near Ferebee Park.
Members are inviting candidates for all offices. Please forward this to any interested person.
PEACHTREE
Changes on bear hunting
State Rep. Karl Gillespie and Sen. Kevin Corbin (both R-Franklin) have invited the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to discuss the state’s proposed changes that would allow hunting on three western bear sanctuaries.
The rule change would permit limited bear hunting beginning in fall 2022 in sanctuaries in the Pisgah National Forest, Standing Indian and the Panthertown area in the Nantahala National Forest. Officials indicate they support the change at the request of the U.S. Forest Service, which has reported increasing numbers of “negative human-bear interactions” in recent years.
The meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the McSwain Building Lecture Hall at Tri-County Community College off U.S. 64 East. The meeting is open to the public.
CHEROKEE COUNTY
Only 8 new with COVID
Eight local residents tested positive for COVID-19 from March 21 through Monday, according to the Cherokee County Health Department.
Of the 26,101 tests handled through the department since the pandemic began in March 2020, 18,985 were negative, six are pending and 7,110 were positive. Of those cases, only four are active, 6,987 were released and 119 are deceased.
About 50 percent of the county has received at least one vaccination shot. Health Director David Badger encourages everyone who has not been vaccinated or needs a booster to set an appointment online at https://novelhealth.ai/practice/cherokee-county-health-department-287668.
ANDREWS
Church gives away clothes
The Andrews First Baptist Church Operation Help/Hope ministry is giving away clothes ay 9 a.m. Saturday, April 9.
The ministry site is in White’s Plaza, 13970 U.S. 19/74. For details, email ntaylor11@frontier.com.
MURPHY
Egg hunt, duck race
An Easter Egg Hunt & Rubber Ducky Race will be held at 11 a.m. and noon Saturday, April 16, at
Konehete Park.
There will be cash prizes, food trucks and more. The event is sponsored by the United Way of Cherokee & Clay Counties. For details, call 828-644-3290.
FRANKLIN
Two license plate moves
The Franklin License Plate Agency will temporarily close today after the contractor announced her retirement. The agency at 353 Westgate Plaza will reopen under new ownership in April.
Until then, the Cherokee County office at 1176 Andrews Road is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For details, call 837-9922.
In addition, the Robbinsville License Plate Agency at 74 S. Main St. will permanently close at 5 p.m. today and is moving to 36 Tapoco Road (U.S. 129).
Services such as registration renewals can also be completed online at www.MyNCDMV.gov.
ALARKA
Man guilty of a sex assault
A jury in Swain County found Robert Simpson, 33, guilty on March 17 of six felony counts of rape and sexual assault, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch and Sheriff Curtis Cochran said in a joint statement.
Simpson sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl from Feb. 23 through March 3, 2019. He admitted knowing the victim was underage, but unsuccessfully argued to jury members that he had done nothing wrong, because he believed she was “14 to 15” years of age.
That claim is outrageous, Welch said. Children in North Carolina under the age of 16 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.
“There is no excuse and no justification for what he did, period,” Welch said. “We hope that Mr. Simpson’s conviction and sentence sends a strong message: We simply won’t tolerate this sort of behavior.”
The jury found Simpson guilty on two counts statutory rape of a child and four counts statutory sex offense with child. Superior Court Judge Peter Knight sentenced Simpson to serve a minimum of 496 months to a maximum of 620 months in the N.C. Division of Adult Corrections. The judge also issued a lifetime no contact order against Simpson to further protect the victim.
FRANKLIN
Ignorance of law no excuse
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A convicted sex offender who hung out at the Macon County Recreation Park learned that ignoring the law is not a persuasive legal argument, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said in a release.
Last week, a Macon County jury convicted Highlands resident Archie Picklesimer, 52, on two felony counts of registered sex offender on child premises. He went twice on July 4, 2019, to the park near on U.S. 441 South. A GPS tracking unit alerted a probation and parole officer to the violation. He, in turn, notified Macon County deputies.
Picklesimer was convicted previously, in May 2012, in Rabun County, Ga., on two counts of child molestation. He served six years in prison, moving to Macon County in November 2018 and registering as a sex offender with the state.
One of the restrictions on convicted sex offenders in North Carolina is they are not allowed on property where children frequently congregate, such as recreation parks. Picklesimer initialed his understanding of that requirement when he signed the state’s offender registration form.
CHEROKEE SCOUT
Youth sports
pics wanted
Did you have a youth recreation or travel team that had a particularly good season? Did they win or possibly play for a championship?
If that sounds like your team, then we’d love to run their photo in the Cherokee Scout. Please drop off a photo at our office, 89 Sycamore St. in downtown Murphy, or email a photo, along with the names of the people in it, to Sports Writer Justin Fitzgerald at sports@cherokeescout.com.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Public
meetings
THIS WEEK
u Murphy Town Council meets at 5 p.m. Monday at Murphy Electric Power Board, 5 Wofford St. downtown.
u Cherokee County Board of Commissioners meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the multi-purpose room of the Cherokee County Courthouse, 75 Peachtree St. in downtown Murphy.
u The Learning Center Board of Directors meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 945 Connahetta St. in Murphy.
COMING SOON
u Cherokee County Tourism Development Authority meets at 2 p.m. Monday, April 11, in the Murphy Visitors Center,
20 Tennessee St.
u Andrews Board of Aldermen meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the
Facilities Building, 85 Fourth St.
u Cherokee County Veteran Forces meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the Cherokee County Courthouse, 75 Peachtree St. in downtown Murphy.
u Cherokee County Board of Education meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at Central Office, 911 Andrews Road in Murphy.
u Andrews ABC Board meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 18, in the Facilities Building, 85 Fourth St.
u Cherokee County Department of Social Services Board meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in the DSS conference room, 4800 U.S. 64 W. in Ranger.
CLARIFICATION
Referencing an article on page 8A in the March 23 edition of the Cherokee Scout, while Cherokee County E-911 Communications is a public safety department, it is actually under the umbrella of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, not Emergency
Management.
From staff reports.