In the wake of numerous criminal charges from both the state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tied to two alleged sexual assaults, Curtis Cochran has retired from his position as the Swain County Sheriff. 

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been charged with several crimes after allegedly soliciting two women for sexual acts and is now suspended from office.

Cochran, who was first elected to office in 2006, was charged on June 27 with one count of sexual battery, soliciting a prostitute and assault on a female, all misdemeanors, as well as felonious restraint. In addition, Cochran has been charged with violations of the Cherokee Code; specifically, two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact.

More than two years after he was shot by Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT Team members, Jason Harley Kloepfer has reached a $10 million settlement with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee County, ending any chances of what was shaping up to be a difficult and complicated federal trial.

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who live on tribal land and possess a medical marijuana card will now be able to grow their own cannabis. 

U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced Brandon Tyler Buchanan to 30 years in prison for second degree murder, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

New filings in the civil suit Jason Harley Kloepfer filed seven months after he was shot by police in the doorway of his own home cast a new shadow over the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Extension office is hosting a workshop to teach people about the preservation of heirloom seeds.

Heirloom seeds help to ensure future generations maintain a reliable food supply, support financial self-reliance, preserve agricultural heritage and reflect cultural traditions. 

After over a century since receiving recognition from the state of North Carolina as an Indian Tribe, the Lumbee appear to be on the cusp of full federal recognition. 

A man initially convicted in a Cherokee Tribal Court for playing a role in a debilitating December 2019 ransomware attack is suing the tribe. 

Cody Long, the tribe’s former lead systems administrator for its Office of Information and Technology, was held in jail for 454 days and was in solitary confinement for the better part of a year following his initial arrest for tampering with public records and obstructing government functions.

At the request of Gov. Josh Stein, FEMA has granted North Carolina an extension for local governments and certain types of non-profits to apply for public assistance until Feb. 6, 2025.