In this week’s archives of the Cherokee Scout and Andrews Journal:
10 years ago – March 18, 2015, Scout: Owenby, 44, of Ranger, was shot and killed outside King Leathercraft on U.S. 64 West after he was involved in a minor automobile accident and got into an argument while waiting for a tow truck. Daniel James Hughes, 55, of Murphy, was charged with second-degree murder. Update: Hughes was acquitted and found “not guilty” in 2020 in a highly emotional case.
- The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners continued working on an ordinance that would make it next to impossible for an adult establishment, like a strip club, to open here. Commissioner Gary “Hippie” Westmoreland said just banning the sale of alcohol and smoking at any such clubs should do the trick.
- Scout Publisher David Brown shared in a column why he was denying inmate Sean Champs’ fake lawsuit request to have back copies of graduation sections mailed to him in jail. Champs was behind bars on charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a victim ages 12-15. “I would never violate our readers’ trust by giving a pervert what he wants,” Brown wrote.
March 19, 2015, Journal: Dean Williams, owner of Dean’s Music Consignment & Art on Main Street, was named the Andrews Chamber of Commerce’s Business Man of the Year. A family man, Williams previously owned a sign painting business in Andrews and Murphy.
- The new Andrews Town Hall is … the old one, after needed renovations were done on the building constructed in the 1940s on Main Street downtown.
25 years ago – March 15, 2000, Scout: James Leonard Derreberry, 27, of Murphy, was charged in the shooting of Patrick Howell, 31. It was the first murder of the year in Cherokee County.
- Of the 117 N.C. Local Education Agencies, only nine – including Cherokee County – didn’t provide a local supplement to teachers. Hiwassee Dam media coordinator Mary Ashley called the request to provide a 5% supplement “urgent,” saying the system was going to lost good teachers if they don’t.
- Dr. Larry Holder, 60, of Murphy, faced charges of misdemeanor child abuse; resist, obstruct and delay; and assault on a government official. His wife, Susan, 53, was also charged with assault on a government official.
March 16, 2000, Journal: Cherokee County Board of Education members said it would be a good step to add fluoride to county water systems as the best, most inexpensive way to combat tooth decay, especially in children.
- Marble Elementary School had its first Beta Club when five students – President Heather Bettis, vice president Justin Hensley, recorded Felicia Griffin, treasurer Rachel Sanders and representative Julie Palmer – were inducted. Principal Vicki Irons and Lisa Orr were co-sponsors of the club.
50 years ago – March 20, 1975, Scout: Roger Fulford of Andrews, Michael Charles Johnson of Topton and Rex Killian of Murphy escaped from their same cell on the second floor of the Cherokee County Jail in downtown Murphy. The inmates sawed through a cell bar, then a padlock, before sliding down a rope fashioned from strips of mattress.
- The first three Cherokee County fire trucks were placed on active duty to serve various volunteer departments. The fire truck in Hanging Dog was rotated with Beaverdam and Unaka, the truck in Hiwassee Dam was rotated with Hot House and Ranger, and the truck in Peachtree was rotated with Bellview, Brasstown and Martins Creek.
March 19, 1975, Journal: For the fourth year in a row, Fontana Village Resort released a $10,000 bass into Fontana Lake for the angler lucky enough to catch it in the next month. Smaller cash prizes were also awarded for top fish in different categories, along with a grand prize of a 91/2-horsepower Johnson motor.
– Publisher David Brown