Local

Photo submitted - Ann Clark, a resident of Macon Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, uses her new tablet to Skype with her family.

Photo submitted - Ann Clark, a resident of Macon Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, uses her new tablet to Skype with her family.

Volunteers provide new lifeline for love ones in care facilities

Jake Browning
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Everyone has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, but perhaps none have suffered as much as senior citizens in long-term care facilities who find themselves even more isolated than before.
Photo submitted - Amy Ballard and her family cherish their garden and bounty it produces.

Photo submitted - Amy Ballard and her family cherish their garden and bounty it produces.

Home gardening growing in coronavirus shutdown

Andy Scheidler
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
When Amy Ballard wants green beans, she goes downstairs and grabs a jar that she canned last year that were grown in her garden. When she wants eggs, she goes outside and collects them from the hens.  During a pandemic, simple pleasures like this mean even more.
Press photo/Andy Scheidler - It’s strawberry picking time for Deal Farms, which began plucking the ripe berries this week on farm ground located in the Cullasaja community. Caroline and Braxton Deal walk the rows Tuesday morning with the rest of their family. Farmers are hoping more people will continue eating locally-grown produce.

Press photo/Andy Scheidler - It’s strawberry picking time for Deal Farms, which began plucking the ripe berries this week on farm ground located in the Cullasaja community. Caroline and Braxton Deal walk the rows Tuesday morning with the rest of their family. Farmers are hoping more people will continue eating locally-grown produce.

Farmers adapt to coronavirus impacts

Andy Scheidler
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Joe Deal, along with his wife, sons and daughters, plucked fresh strawberries Tuesday morning after a brief rain shower subsided.  Each took a row, plucking the good berries and placing them in baskets, while discarding the bad ones.  Demand for the berries could be high, or it could be low.
Press graphic

Press graphic

COVID-19 cases hold at two, but health officials urge caution

Lee Buchanan
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Macon County is holding steady in the coronavirus pandemic, with two confirmed cases and one death from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. As of Tuesday, April 21, Macon County Public Health reported two confirmed COVID-19 cases among county residents, one of whom died.
Photo submitted - Kathy McGaha takes over as director of Macon County Public Health on April 29.

Photo submitted - Kathy McGaha takes over as director of Macon County Public Health on April 29.

McGaha takes reins as health director at challenging time

Lee Buchanan
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Kathy McGaha, who has been named Macon County’s new director of public health, is taking over a department where she has worked for 23 years in a wide variety of roles.
Press photo/Jake Browning - This mudslide near Chavez Road was one of eight caused by the estimated 5 inches of rain that swamped the county.

Press photo/Jake Browning - This mudslide near Chavez Road was one of eight caused by the estimated 5 inches of rain that swamped the county.

Heavy rain triggers flooding, mudslides

Lee Buchanan
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Emergency officials are still assessing the damage after torrential rainfall swamped Macon County in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 12, triggering mudslides and flooding that forced the evacuation of 19 people.
Press graphic

Press graphic

Macon has second case of COVID-19

Lee Buchanan
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
A second Macon County resident has tested positive for COVID-19. Macon County Public Health, which received notice of the positive test on April 8, said the patient is between the ages of 25-49 with underlying health conditions and is in isolation in a health care facility.