In this week’s archives of the Cherokee Scout and Andrews Journal:
10 years ago – Dec. 24, 2014, Scout: The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners shocked members of the pubic by unanimously passing a six-month moratorium on “discussions and actions on any items” to do with fracking. It was later clarified that the resolution affected commissioners, not members of the public.
- Murphy Mayor Bill Hughes’ office in Town Hall received a sudden renovation when a traffic accident caved in a good portion of the brick wall outside. Thankfully, the vehicle didn’t get all of the way through the wall.
- Roy Dickey, director of maintenance with Cherokee County, was chosen by the county’s Republican Party Executive Committee to become the District 5 member of the board of commissioners. “With God’s help, I’ll do the best I can,” Dickey said at the time.
Dec. 25, 2014, Journal: The story with the headline “Typogate ended ex-administrator’s stay” shared the story of how Blake Proctor wrote his own salary into Andrews Board of Aldermen meeting minutes, giving himself a $10,000 raise the town had not approved. Proctor thought the $48,500 salary mentioned was a typo, changing it to $58,500.
- Charlene Pace, 93, passed away at Valley View Care & Rehabilitation Center in Andrews. He served in World War II with the U.S. Army, receiving a Purple Heart after being injured overseas. He was a cattle farmer in Marble.
25 years ago – Dec. 22, 1999, Scout: James Lynn, 72, of Peachtree, perished in an early morning fire at a single-wide mobile home, but his wife – Frankie, 72 – survived the smoke and flames.
- Hundreds of volunteers across Cherokee County were planning to read Scripture as part of a nonstop Bible Reading Marathon from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1.
- Chuck Clayton, previously director of Cherokee County Emergency Medical Services, was named director of the county’s Emergency Management Services. Sheriff Alan Kilpatrick was not happy with the pick, saying law enforcement got “shortchanged again.”
Dec. 23, 1999, Journal: As chief executive officer Dan White returned to work at District Memorial Hospital in Andrews after being on medical leave, interim CEO Al Swan admitted that the hospital has had problems with some physicians.
- Ray Hogsed was appointed to the Andrews Board of Aldermen, replacing John Paul Jones, who resigned. In addition, Russ Pruitt was named the town’s zoning administrator as well as being chair of the zoning board.
50 years ago – Dec. 26, 1974, Scout: The Cherokee Scout was designated a National Blue Ribbon Newspaper for 1975 by the National Editorial Foundation of Washington. The local newspaper had to meet 25 different criteria in order to receive the honor.
- Thieves stole “sleeping pills, goofballs and heart pills” were stolen from a drug cabinet at Mauney Drugs on Valley River Avenue in Murphy. One night later, they tried it again, only to get nothing.
Dec. 25, 1974, Journal: Sadly, this edition is missing from our files.
– Publisher David Brown