In January, Principal Chief Richard Sneed made the unusual move of nominating a man who is attempting to unseat him in the September 2023 tribal election for a position on one of the tribe’s most powerful commissions — but Robert Osley Saunooke has turned down the appointment.

In a closely divided vote following an at-times tense discussion Thursday, Dec. 3, the Cherokee Tribal Council removed Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Chairman Jim Owle from his post. 

After nearly an hour of debate, Tribal Council voted unanimously last week to place term limits on members of the two boards that oversee tribal gaming operations.

Tribal Council approved a pair of appointments March 14 that added new members to two of the tribe’s most influential boards. 

Young Cherokee tribal members could soon be able to use their gaming allocations to pay for housing following a unanimous vote from Tribal Council last month. 

Opponents of Principal Chief Patrick Lambert are crying foul over a $5.6 million contract between the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise and the Cherokee Grand Hotel — which Lambert and his wife own — saying that its existence violates tribal ethics laws.

The Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise’s newest member will be anything but new to the business of casino management when she takes her seat on the board.

After a yearlong tug-of-war, Angela Kephart has vacated her post as a Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise board member following the Cherokee Tribal Council’s razor-close decision to uphold July legislation shortening her term by a year to end Sept. 30.

After being ousted from their jobs when the September elections brought a new Tribal Council and executive administration, the three people who had composed the Tribal Gaming Commission came before council last week hoping to convince councilmembers to give them their jobs back.