Schools target alcohol abuse in county
By Lizz Harold Staff Writer

New alcohol prevention programs will be available in Cherokee County in the coming year.

Based upon state findings, the area has been identified as having a high rate of alcohol related fatalities.

Several neighbooring counties, including Swain County, do not compare with Cherokee County in the increase in substance abuse, particularly with alcohol.

"A few counties listed across North Carolina will be provided with funds from the state to target alcohol abuse," said Sue Lynn Ledford, director of the Safe Schools and Healthy Students Initiative.

In a joint collaboration with the Sheriff's Department and Smoky Mountain Mental Health, the schools will integrate the new evidence based programs to combat the local issue.

A needs assesment is currently underway in the county to distinguish the main problems that are accounting for the high rates of alcohol abuse.

County schools have benefitted from anti-cigarette and drug programs in the past. Local statistics have proven an improvement in the rate of students not trying those substances.

The Safe Schools and Healthy Students are optimistic that with the same approach to alcohol prevention, the county can lower alcohol related fatalities.

Convicted bank robber Leonard O. Parker will be eligible to get out of federal prison when he is 96-years-old.

On September 13, Federal Judge Lacy Thornburg sentenced Parker, 50, to 552 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. He is ordered to pay a $1,000 assessment to the courts. He must pay restitution to the two banks he robbed; $20,931 to First Citizens Bank in Peachtree in Cherokee County and $14,123 to Moresville Savings Bank in Cornelius. He is also to reimburse the government for the costs of his court appointed attorney.

Parker has filed a notice of appeal.

It took a federal jury only an hour and 15 minutes to find Parker guilty of all 10 counts against him. Parker claimed insanity because he said he quit taking Paxil, an antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug, during the time of the bank robberies.

Parker had faced a maximum of 144 years in prison.

Parker used a semi automatic pistol on January 11, 2006 to rob the Peachtree bank. He ordered a bank teller to drive him to the Murphy Medical Center parking lot.

Parker was arrested the day after the bank robbery at a motel connected with the casino at the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, NC.

Parker previously lived in Morganton, GA and owned Mountain Max Auto Superstore on the Murphy Highway in Union County.