In this week’s archives of the Cherokee Scout and Andrews Journal:
10 years ago – Nov. 13, 2013, Scout: Unaffiliated Barry McClure was elected to the Murphy City Council, while five incumbents were re-elected. Council member Phil Mattox declined to seek re-election.
- Thanks to the Honor Flight Network, three local U.S. military veterans – Chuck Greenwald, Larry Heineman and James Roberson – were able to tour the war memorials in Washington, D.C.
- Cherokee Scout movie columnist Scott Stambaugh’s “Reel Reviews” took on the case of Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, which he called “especially inappropriate for its target audience,” but “I can’t say I didn’t laugh,” before giving it a three-cow rating out of five.
Nov. 14, 2013, Journal: Korbin Smith, 2, was named the grand marshal of the Andrews Christmas Parade by the Andrews Chamber of Commerce. “Baby Korbin,” as he was called, was fighting the cancer neuroblastoma.
- The Andrews McDonald’s restaurant was getting a facelift, adding room for more customers and a second drive-in lane. Update: Unfortunately, that McDonald’s location closed several years later.
25 years ago – Nov. 11, 1998, Scout: Two Murphy High School students were engaged in a fistfight when one pulled out a knife and cut the other, leading to charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possessing a weapon on educational property.
- Cherokee County commissioners agreed to pay $149,000 to buy a building on Hiawassee Street in downtown Murphy to use for central dispatching, and possibly the 911 coordinator’s and register of deeds offices. Update: That building was owned by Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, who has served the last nine years as a county commissioner.
- Pacesetters Inc. asked the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to lease 20 acres in a flood plain area near the landfill in Marble to build an adventure center serving hundreds of children every year. Update: The county agreed, and a new local landmark was born.
Nov. 12, 1998, Journal: The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners gave the Town of Andrews $30,000 to help ease the town’s water crisis. Thankfully, the boil water advisory was lifted.
- A full page of 26 Andrews Wildcats football photos, sponsored by seven local businesses and three families, was published in the Andrews Journal. Former staff writer Kandy Barnard even wrote a poem for the occasion.
50 years ago – Nov. 15, 1973, Scout: The new Cherokee County Sanitary Landfill was set to open in Marble, an investment of more than $150,000 that was years in the making. Manuel Phillips was in charge of operations.
- Margaret Walker Freel’s well-researched book, Our Heritage: A History of Cherokee County, was delivered and for sale at Freel Furniture Store in Andrews, where she was also autographing copies. Update: Our Heritage remains the standard local history book.
- Murphy council members were looking at spending a considerable amount of money on major sewer work, as the permit for the town’s sewage operating plant was expiring at the end of the year.
Nov. 14, 1973, Journal: Three incumbent Andrews council members – Ray Hogsed, Leo Hurst and Richard Parker – were re-elected, while Joe Brown ran a successful write-in campaign to join the board.
– Publisher David Brown