Around the same time people were packing into the board of elections office in Swain Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel issued an order that will prevent the two-person elections board in Swain from hearing and making a ruling on the candidate challenge against Sheriff Curtis Cochran. 

Cars lined the sides of U.S. 19 in Bryson City Monday night as people tried to find their way inside the small Swain County Board of Elections office to attend a public hearing regarding Sheriff Curtis Cochran’s eligibility for office. 

Following a social media threat that led to a countywide school lockdown and an early dismissal on Thursday, Feb. 22, many students at Swain County High School staged a walkout on Friday, Feb. 23, to advocate for change. 

Swain County Election Director Joan Weeks finally got a response from the county regarding a lawsuit she filed against the board of commissioners — but it was not the response she was hoping for. 

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget calls on Congress to fund the overdue remaining balance of $39.2 million owed to Swain County from the North Shore Road settlement agreement made with the federal government back in 2010. 

Editor’s note: This Back Then column by George Ellison first appeared in the Feb. 15, 2012, edition of The Smoky Mountain News.

Olive Tilford Dargan is fairly well known in literary circles as the author of From My Highest Hill (1941), a delightful collection of autobiographical stories set in Swain County, originally published as Highland Annals in 1925. But she is also one of the finest poets the Smokies region has as yet produced.

This story was updated Jan. 22, 2020.

Mystic Lands property owners may have prevailed in court over one issue — a paving contractual dispute — but the majority of the other claims made against developer Ami Shinitzky for fraud and financial wrongdoing were previously dismissed.

There are still plenty of children in need this Christmas in Swain County and your donation to the Swain County Family Resource Center could help.

Mission Hospital’s decision to let its contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield expire has resulted in increased business for Harris Regional Hospital, with patient admissions this October up about 20 percent over numbers from October 2016.

Swain County commissioners recently held a dedication ceremony to officially rename the Old N.C. 288 Park after David Monteith.