In this week’s archives of the Cherokee Scout and Andrews Journal:
10 years ago – March 25, 2015, Scout: A “Knight With Your Princess” daddy-daughter dance was held at the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center in downtown Andrews, helping bring local families closer together.
* Employees at the Dollar General store in Murphy helped a local woman escape an abusive man who had a history of violence. Levi Winslow Sutton, 25, was charged with first-degree kidnapping, assault by strangulation and assault on a female. Sutton was already on probation in a child abuse case Sheriff Keith Lovin called one of the worst cases he had seen in 30 years of working in law enforcement.
* A discarded grenade closed down part of U.S. 64 East Alternate in Peachtree, while the Asheville Bomb Squad was called in to defuse the situation.
March 26, 2015, Journal: Teresa Carpenter and Dell Jordan, owners of Burger Basket, were named the Andrews Chamber of Commerce’s Business Women of the Year. The sisters’ restaurant has thrived for the last 13 years. Update: And is still going strong today.
* The 58th annual Western North Carolina Wagon Train was being planned for the summer, which would include camping in Andrews and participating in the town’s Fourth of July Parade. Update: The Wagon Train hasn’t been through the Valley in the last few years.
25 years ago – March 22, 2000, Scout: A 20-pound wild turkey flew into the windshield of a United Parcel Service truck in Murphy, shattering glass on driver John Henry. “I didn’t have a chance to swerve,” he said.
* While the search for fugitive Eric Rudolph was continuing, the Southeast Bomb Task Force’s Command Center at the former Owenby building in Andrews was closing down.
* The Learning Center charter school in Murphy was moving ahead with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan to build a new school site at Connahetta and Regal streets. The loan will cover 80% of the costs involved in moving and constructing the modular and permanent campus.
March 23, 2000, Journal: Many residents were concerned that the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners was still planning on bringing a plasma torch to the landfill in Marble. Commission Chair Barbara Vicknair said public hearings would be held before any decision is made.
* A four-lane highway between Andrews and Robbinsville was no longer included in the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan because environmental studies made in the 1970s and ’80s were outdated.
50 years ago – March 27, 1975, Scout: After the Tennessee Valley Authority announced it was raising power rates by 46 cents per kilowatts used, the Murphy Electric Power Board voted to completely drop a $1 per kilowatt surcharge, resulting in a net decrease of 54 cents per kilowatt to customers.
* Boyce Stiles’ store on Andrews Highway was robbed of $127 in cash and 490 cartons of cigarettes, while despite a locked gate and private driveway, a safe was taken from Herman “Bull” West’s office that contained $1,500 in cash, stocks, bonds and papers.
March 26, 1975, Journal: How much has the world changed in the last five decades? Andrews High School Principal Roy Pipes planted a kiss on the cheek of Heart Fund drive queen Kathy West. The dance, along with the king and queen contest, raised $300. Update: That’s worth about $1,771.40 in today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation.
– Publisher David Brown