Local

Murphy’s $665,000 state grant will go toward the revitalization of the four downtown pocket parks into a “town square” around the roundabout and other highway projects the N.C. Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin building in 2024.

Murphy’s $665,000 state grant will go toward the revitalization of the four downtown pocket parks into a “town square” around the roundabout and other highway projects the N.C. Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin building in 2024.

Murphy gets $665K for downtown improvements

David Brown
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Body Murphy – The town is receiving $665,000 from the state’s Rural Transformation Grant Program to recreate the four pocket parks into a viable downtown square.
Abigail Blythe Batton/Staff Correspondent Darrin “Hollywood” Wright and his daughter, Samantha Wright Cook, shared a career in cutting hair for 13 years at Hollywood’s Barbershop in Murphy.

Abigail Blythe Batton/Staff Correspondent Darrin “Hollywood” Wright and his daughter, Samantha Wright Cook, shared a career in cutting hair for 13 years at Hollywood’s Barbershop in Murphy.

Grandma said ‘a woman can barber as well as a man’

Abigail Blythe Batton
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Body Murphy – Samantha Cook knew her vocation by age 3 while hanging out inside her family’s barbershop.
Anngee Quinones-Belian/Staff Correspondent  Bailey Jones was happy to have her face painted by Grace’s Painted Faces during the Murphy Christmas Parade on Dec. 3.

Anngee Quinones-Belian/Staff Correspondent  Bailey Jones was happy to have her face painted by Grace’s Painted Faces during the Murphy Christmas Parade on Dec. 3.

Quick Reads

News Staff
Friday, December 16, 2022
Body ANDREWS Woman a CNN Hero
Photos by Abigail Blythe Batton/Staff Correspondent Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Church filled the town’s new parade route with lit angels on a spectacular float Saturday night.

Photos by Abigail Blythe Batton/Staff Correspondent Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Church filled the town’s new parade route with lit angels on a spectacular float Saturday night.

A hometown Christmas

Abigail Blythe Batton
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Body Andrews Main Street, dotted with boisterous  children, strolling adults and even a goat on a leash, remained dark Saturday night, causing the expectant parade attendees t

County set to give back $50M grant

Jared Putnam
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Body Murphy – Cherokee County commissioners have until Jan. 4 to decide whether or not to formally accept a $50 million grant for a new consolidated high school.
Abigail Blythe Batton/ Staff Correspondent Author Karrisa Van sits at the Rare Bird Emporium in Murphy with her new book, Tried and True, A Melody Grey Novel.

Abigail Blythe Batton/ Staff Correspondent Author Karrisa Van sits at the Rare Bird Emporium in Murphy with her new book, Tried and True, A Melody Grey Novel.

Local author dives into fantasy fiction in novel

Abigail Blythe Batton
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Body Murphy – Local resident Karrisa Van dabbles in magic in her new book, Tried and True, a Melody Grey Novel.
An overland view of the Mainspring Conservation Trust Welch Farm. This historic plantation farm was owned by John and Betty Welch in the mid-1800s.

An overland view of the Mainspring Conservation Trust Welch Farm. This historic plantation farm was owned by John and Betty Welch in the mid-1800s.

County farms face grim future

Abigail Blythe Batton
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Body A total of 26,000 acres of Cherokee County farmland seems like a large number. But a zoom out reveals Cherokee County has almost 300,000 acres in total.
Photos by Anngee Quinones-Belian/Staff Correspondent  Julie, Steve and 3-month-old Angel Johnson played the roles of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 

Photos by Anngee Quinones-Belian/Staff Correspondent  Julie, Steve and 3-month-old Angel Johnson played the roles of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 

‘One Night in Bethlehem’

Anngee Quinones-Belian
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Body Ranger – For three hours on Saturday evening, Mountain Folk Center was transformed into the town of Bethlehem.