News Staff A man from Western North Carolina will spend several months in prison…after fraudulently collecting nearly $1 million dollars in disability benefits from the VA. A federal judge sentenced John Cook, 58, of Marshall, to 10 months in prison, five of which he will serve in home confinement. Cook had pleaded guilty in July 2021…after claiming … Read more
The president of North Carolina’s community college system is stepping down, as board members who lost confidence in him after barely 18 months on the job accepted his resignation. Thomas Stith III, once chief of staff to then-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory and a former Durham city council member, will resign effective Friday. The statement disclosing … Read more
(HAYWOOD COUNTY) – It’s an area child sex case. Prosecutors tell the media…William Burnette, 71 of Waynesville…has been arrested and charged with five counts statutory rape of someone under 15 years of age. More charges apply in the case, officials add. Burnette was booked into the Haywood County Detention Center. Bond?…set at two-and-a-half million dollars. … Read more
(HAYWOOD COUNTY) – Several people are hurt in a fiery crash along Interstate 40 in Haywood County, on Monday. The accident shut down traffic in the area for a time. Witnesses told officers…a big rig, hauling frozen food…and a car…were eastbound on the interstate when they collided. Troopers say…the Corvette overturned…while the tractor-trailer went over … Read more
(GRAHAM COUNTY) – In a three strikes case…a Graham County jury finds a Robbinsville man guilty of breaking into and stealing items from a garage…then guilty of being an habitual felon. Bryan Berryman, 52, will have to serve a minimum of 132 months in prison…up to 183 months.
(MIDSTATE) – As reported last week…Mike Clampitt, the North Carolina Representative from the 119th District…invited Swain County and Town of Bryson City officials, and others, to a meeting…to discuss a possible command consolidation for countywide public safety services. Over the weekend…Clampitt got a reply from the Commissioner Chairman…explaining why they were not interested in attending … Read more
(SYLVA, NC) – An officer on the Sylva Police Department quits the force…as an internal investigation by the force finds Patrolman, Patrick Trantham was guilty of excessive force in a recent arrest. The force leadership got word of the case and initiated the probe. Before the final findings were released…which indicated Trantham did indeed use … Read more
(RALEIGH) – Two weeks after the North Carolina State Board of Elections rejected a Green Party petition to place candidates on the November ballot, the party has sued the state board, amid an ongoing criminal investigation into thousands of apparently fraudulent signatures the Green Party submitted for approval. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. … Read more
(SURFSIDE, SC) – A 70-year-old man and his 10-year-old granddaughter that went missing near Surfside have been found safe. Officers searching for the two said the grandfather, David Joyner, experience bouts of dementia. A pair of Good Samaritans spotted the two…they were aware of the story.
(RALEIGH) – The North Carolina State Board of Elections denies a Republican Party request that the board authorize county elections officials to scrutinize signatures on absentee voting documents, citing concerns that the proposal would create unequal standards across counties. Challenging the board’s prior guidance discouraging signature matching, the proposal would permit county boards of elections … Read more