Principal Chief Richard Sneed is now under investigation following the Cherokee Tribal Council’s unanimous vote Jan. 4 to look into a settlement agreement he signed off on to pay seven former tribal employees a total of $698,000.

Note: This is the second of a two-part series about Christian Priber, an utopian socialist whose beliefs — including free love — caused him in the mid-1730s to “flee” from Germany and eventually into the Southern Appalachians, where he intended with the aid of the Cherokee, to establish a Kingdom of Paradise in which those beliefs could be implemented.

Seven tribal employees who were fired or demoted when former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert took office in 2015 have received a combined $698,000 in settlement payouts following a November agreement that Lambert made public this week.

The U.S. Department of Interior, under the new leadership of Secretary Ryan Zinke, finally coughed up a payment to Swain County as part of the North Shore Road settlement agreement.

When U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visited Pisgah Inn last week, he unexpectedly delivered some good news for Swain County.

While Swain County pushes forward with a lawsuit against the federal government to collect $38.2 million it’s owed in settlement money, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, said he’s still pursuing the money on his end as well.

A federal judge has dismissed Swain County’s breach of contract lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior to collect $39.2 million owed to the county from the 2010 North Shore Road settlement agreement.

When speaking to the many people in Swain County and beyond who knew David Monteith either personally or professionally, they all used the same word to describe him — integrity.

Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, has introduced House Bill 260 in an effort to help Swain County recoup millions of dollars the federal government owes to the county for never rebuilding North Shore Road from Bryson City to Tennessee.

It’s been about five months since Swain County filed a lawsuit against the federal government for $38.2 million, and commissioners are still waiting for a response.