Local

Press photos/Linda Mathias - The Friends of the Greenway celebrate completion of the Greenway connector at a rally on June 12.

Press photos/Linda Mathias - The Friends of the Greenway celebrate completion of the Greenway connector at a rally on June 12.

FROG officially unveils Greenway connector

Jake Browning
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
The Friends of the Greenway celebrated the completion of the long-awaited connector on the Little Tennessee River Greenway with a small rally held on Saturday morning.

Police chief has violent encounter at Macon Plaza

Jake Browning
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Franklin Police Chief Bill Harrell had an intense altercation with a man last Friday evening. At approximately 5:07 p.m. in the turn lane outside Macon Plaza, Harrell said he witnessed a shirtless man, later identified as Jesse Ray Machuca, who appeared to be high.
Press photo/Jake Browning – The Macon County Board of Commissioners approved a $56,681,218 budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year

Press photo/Jake Browning – The Macon County Board of Commissioners approved a $56,681,218 budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year

Commissioners vote 3-2 on tax increase

Jake Browning
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
The Macon County Board of Commissioners approved a $56,681,218 budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year during their regularly scheduled meeting on June 8, albeit by the slimmest of margins.
Press photos/Jake Browning - Mya Crisp and Lexi Hoyt take a whirl at the Shriners Carnival, which continues through June 12.

Press photos/Jake Browning - Mya Crisp and Lexi Hoyt take a whirl at the Shriners Carnival, which continues through June 12.

Shriners carnival returns to Franklin

Jake Browning
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
After a year of coronavirus-induced hiatus, the Smoky Mountain Shrine Club has returned to Franklin for its annual carnival. The Shriners Carnival was a yearly celebration for over a decade before last year’s festivities were canceled.
News

News

Town Council approves loan for Chick-fil-A development

Mia Overton
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
The Town Council met Monday night and approved a $200,000 loan to assist in the development of the site for a Chick-fil-A on Siler Road.  The loan is for Hendon Tiller Franklin, a limited liability corporation registered in Georgia, that owns the property.
Photo/Eric Haggart - Aerial views show the extent of the road repair work on Cowee Mountain, which has traffic down to one lane in each direction.

Photo/Eric Haggart - Aerial views show the extent of the road repair work on Cowee Mountain, which has traffic down to one lane in each direction.

Cowee Mountain repair plans switching to stone

News Staff
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
The slide of U.S. 441 on Cowee Mountain may be stabilized by the end of the year as a contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation changes construction plans.
Fatality

Fatality

Franklin teens killed

Mia Overton
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Two 17-year-old boys, James Sweeten and Dakota Williamson, both of Franklin, were killed in a wreck May 24 on Sanderstown Road. According to North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Hunter Gass, a Chevy Tahoe traveling toward U.S.
File photo - Longtime FHS football coach Josh Brooks coaches up his players from the sideline against Hendersonville March 12.

File photo - Longtime FHS football coach Josh Brooks coaches up his players from the sideline against Hendersonville March 12.

Brooks returns to FHS

Will Woolever
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
A Franklin High School fixture is returning to his longtime post.  When head football coach Josh Brooks announced his intent to step down from the top job last month, it appeared the reign of FHS’s all-time winningest coach would come to an end.