ANDREWS
Project for businesses
One Dozen Who Care Inc. has been awarded a $9,645 NOW Grant from the WNC Bridge Foundation. This grant will be used for the Capacity Building Through Improved Digital Workflow & Implementation project under development.
Executive Director Ronda Birtha, who has an extensive background in training and curriculum development, said in a release that she is looking forward to implementing the first phase of what she anticipates will be a comprehensive training opportunity for self-employed professionals and small business owners in and around the region.
“If there is a constant refrain that I hear with small business owners, it is the struggle to organize their administrative workflow,” Birtha said. “Organizing an efficient and productive administrative workflow, which is a fancy way of saying ‘paperwork’ – digital or otherwise – requires planning and then competently using the right tools to execute a well-laid strategy.”
Birtha admits that few business owners want to deal with mundane tasks, but points out that such tasks are critical and directly tied to profitability and sustainability. She added that One Dozen Who Care will be seeking a small business to beta-test the Digital Workflow and Implementation project on a larger scale. To be considered for the Beta-test phase, fill out the online form at https://onedozenwhocare.org/small-business-center-training.
CHEROKEE
Tribe talks pot, taxes
With the passage of two pieces of legislation during its regular session Thursday, Tribal Council has authorized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians officials to work with North Carolina lawmakers regarding cannabis issues and the state income taxation of tribal members, according to the Cherokee One Feather.
“As this next legislative session in Raleigh gets started and we’re down there doing lobbying work, this just grants us permission to talk to them about medical cannabis and the subsequent North Carolina law that will probably be on the floor during the next General Assembly,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed told the newspaper.
Also passed was resolution stating states, “… the tribe considers it a legislative priority, and supports the drafting and approval of legislation to amend state law in North Carolina, to provide an exemption from state income tax for citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who do not reside on tribal trust lands but who do reside within the ancestral territory of the Tribe, also known as the established service area.”
Around 15 percent of EBCI tribal members live in North Carolina off of EBCI tribal trust lands. The tribe’s service area includes Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.
RALEIGH
$43 million comes home
State Sen. Kevin Corbin and state Rep. Karl Gillespie (both R-Franklin) were sworn in on Jan. 11 to another term in the N.C. General Assembly. They represent Cherokee and surrounding counties in the Legislature.
“I am very excited to get started on my second term in the N.C. House of Representatives,” Gillespie said in a release. “I will continue to advocate and work tirelessly for the mountain values of western North Carolina.”
During his first term in office, Gillespie helped secure $43 million in direct funding for the 120th House District to improve local infrastructure, emergency response, and enhance the educational and economic opportunities for the region. Corbin just completed his first term in the Senate.
The official start of the 2023-2024 legislative biennium began when the House and Senate convened in Raleigh on Jan. 11 for opening ceremonies. Under state law, the Legislature must then adjourn for two weeks before beginning official legislative business.
CHEROKEE
Casino has 2022 report
Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos has released the 2022 Community Impact Report on the 25th anniversary of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and seven years after Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel opened in Murphy.
The report shows $7.5 million was donated to the Cherokee Preservation Fund, $161 million went to vendors for goods and services, while team members’ salary and wages added up to $187,190,977. A release says 3,800 team members took care of 4 million visitors last year.
Through HERO – the Harrah’s Employees Reaching Out program – team members also contributed 117,490 in volunteer hours in 2022. The casinos also donated $425,000 through sponsorship donations. All of those numbers were up considerably from 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full bloom.
Some of the organizations helped by the casinos, according to the release, include Folds of Honor, Make-A-Wish, MANNA Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, The Better Life Foundation and Young Harris (Ga.) College.
FRANKLIN
Woman wins $100K lottery
After buying a $25 scratch-off, Cynthia Brown of Macon County couldn’t stop shaking when she realized she won a $100,000 prize.
“I couldn’t even write my name on the ticket I was shaking so much,” she said.
Brown, 61, bought her lucky Extreme Cash ticket from Dowdle Mountain Pit Stop on Dowdle Mountain Road. She said she couldn’t believe it when she saw the winning number on her scratch-off.
“It was the No. 13,” she said. “I was floored.”
Brown said she lives in a small town, and word of her big win traveled fast.
“Trust me, the whole town knew by the next morning,” she said with a laugh.
Brown arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,257.
Ticket sales from scratch-offs make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $2.1 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Cherokee County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
ANDREWS
A Fire in the Valley
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7620 will present the annual Fire in the Valley chili cook-off from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Andrews Community Center.
Sample different types of chili, then vote for your favorite. There is a $20 entry fee for your chili, and a $5 admission and tasting fee. The winner will be chosen by popular vote.
At 1 p.m., the Beard & Mustache Contest sponsored by Bigfoot Refinery Beard Co. is also returning to the fun event, with prizes given in four categories – Most Artistic, Best Groomed, Longest and Weirdest. The entry fee is $20, with all proceeds benefiting Reach of Cherokee County Inc.
Go to visitandrewsnc.com/chili-cook-off for applications and details.
RALEIGH
State bans TikTok app
TikTok and WeChat, the popular social media apps with Chinese ownership, are now banned in North Carolina government.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, pressured by the just-seated 170 members of the Republican majority General Assembly, on Thursday ordered the state’s chief information officer and the Department of Information Technology to “develop a policy within 14 days that prohibits the use of TikTok, WeChat and potentially other applications on state agency information technology systems in a manner that presents an unacceptable cybersecurity risk.”
TikTok and WeChat are banned immediately, Cooper’s executive order says, and other “applications, products or technologies” may be added in the developed policy.
The change is significant for many reasons. For example, the state Department of Transportation gets safety messages out on TikTok in addition to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Nextdoor and YouTube. In another example, in December the city of Charlotte banned use of TikTok.
CORRECTION
A letter to the editor in the Jan. 11 edition of the Cherokee Scout contained a submitted error. President Franklin D. Roosevelt served three full terms in office, 12 years, as well as part of a fourth term before his death.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Public meetings
THIS WEEK
- Cherokee County Board of Education meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Central Office, 911 Andrews Road in Murphy. (This will be live-streamed on the Scout’s Facebook page.)
- The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the multi-purpose room of the Cherokee County Courthouse, 75 Peachtree St. in downtown Murphy. (This meeting will be live-streamed on the Scout’s Facebook page.)
COMING SOON
- There are no public meetings scheduled from Jan. 25-31.
Compiled by Publisher David Brown.