Local

Press photo/Mia Overton - Crews are working on the county’s Phillips Street property as the initial stages of construction for the new Franklin High School begins. The school will be built on the current upper practice field on Panther Drive, on the hill above the Frogtown property. Carroll Daniel Superintendent Joey Cain says they are doing slope work to be followed by erosion control on the Frogtown property.

Press file photo - A litter of puppies rescued and taken to the animal shelter earlier this year.

Press file photo - A house under construction in the Scenic Ridge neighborhood earlier this fall. A recent housing study showed a need for more homes priced between $195,468-$289,200 to be more in line with local household incomes.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Lake Emory Dam as photographed on Nov. 15. The Macon County Board of Commissioners has directed the county Planning Board to study the possibility of removing the dam and the impact that would have. Currently the dam is privately owned.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - The Macon County Board of Commissioners was the last government entity to approve the updated inter-local agreement with Fontana Regional Library. The agreement was unanimously approved at the commissioners’ Nov. 12 meeting. At that meeting they also approved spending $410,210 to repair the damaged porte-cochere at the Macon County Public Library.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Macon County Board of Election members Lynne Garrison and John VanHook feed absentee votes into a machine that tallies the totals during canvass on Friday, Nov. 15. Approved absentee and provisional ballots were added to the totals and the board made the 2024 General Election official.

Press photo/Rachel Hoskins - The Town of Franklin was the second municipality statewide to pass a Resolution Pledging to Practice and Promote Civility. Council members and Town Manager Amie Owens attended a two-hour webinar on the Commit to Civility program, signed the pledge and adopted the resolution. In passing the resolution, Mayor Jack Horton expressed his appreciation to the council on their professionalism toward each other and the public.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - More than three dozen community members showed up for the Macon County Planning Board meeting on Nov. 7. However, no business could be conducted because there was not a quorum of the board members.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - The Macon County Board of Elections members read off the early-voting results from the ticker tape prior to entering them into the statewide database. Pictured (from left) are Board of Elections members Lynne Garrison, Chair Kathy Tinsley, John Vanhook and Vice Chair Gary Dills while Sheriff Brent Holbrooks looks on.