Listen to Ingraham talk to commissioners. Smoky Mountain Center needs more time to transfer regional mental health services to a new provider, CEO Brian Ingraham told Clay County commissioners Thursday. Ingraham called the privatization of SMC’s services the most significant change to sweep the...

Ashton Owens was the only speaker to receive a standing ovation after his address to the Clay County Republican Party. While most candidates were allotted five minutes to rally the crowd, he got fifteen. And he’s not even running for office. Ashton, 14, is an eighth grade student at Hayesville...

The new shelter is currently rented from Truett Church. Listen to the interview with Executive Director Brenda Cormack If you’re using this newspaper to keep warm, there’s a better place for you. Plans are underway for the region’s first homeless shelter for women. The shelter, New...

Gov. Perdue Establishes Motorsports Advisory Council to Help Create and Sustain Jobs in North Carolina CONCORD – Gov. Bev Perdue today signed an executive order establishing the North Carolina Motorsports Advisory Council.  The council will advise the Governor on ways to strengthen the industry and...

For those who are unfamiliar with Internet terms, a brief glossary is provided at the bottom of the article. Janet Messex visits Murphy to get away from the rest of the world; her Cherokee County home has no cellular service and no Internet access. But now that the Florida resident is eyeing a permanent...

HAYESVILLE, N.C. – Safety and appearance are the impetus behind the town council’s latest efforts to clean up congestion at the Hayesville post office and restrict signage on local highways. Mayor Harrell Moore said he recently discussed the post office with Congressman Heath Shuler’s...

Child maltreatment in Clay County is on the rise, according to a new report from the local Department of Social Services. The department investigated 159 reports in 2009, a 50 percent increase since 2007. Abuse or neglect was found in 19 of the reports. Social Services stated that 14 children entered...

Clay County’s 150th anniversary is only a year away but the Historical and Arts Council is already preparing to celebrate the sesquicentennial event. President Sara J. Smith told Hayesville’s town council and county commissioners that she was giving them a “one year heads-up” last...

Sentinel photo by Harrison Keely A rockslide shut down portions of Highway 76 between Young Harris and Hiawassee, Georgia last week. The slide is the third to hit the region in recent weeks, following in the wake of larger disasters on I-40 to Knoxville and Hwy. 64 to Chattanooga. The rockslide, which...

Listen to the January 25, 2010 School Board Meeting. Clay County Schools has ranked as the most parent-friendly school system in North Carolina, according to a new report from the John Locke Foundation. Superintendent Scott Penland said he stumbled across an article about the study in “Carolina...