News

Image/Franklin Press - Path of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Macon County (represented by the star) will see maximum coverage of the sun at 3:07 p.m.

Image/Franklin Press - Path of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Macon County (represented by the star) will see maximum coverage of the sun at 3:07 p.m.

Look to the sky: Macon to see 84% eclipse

News Staff
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Owen Marsten, Intern - thefranklinpressnews@gmail.com Franklin will see a partial solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, making it appear as though the moon is covering the sun.
Press photo/Thomas Sherrill. Angel Medical Center CEO Clint Kendall (far right) speaks to the Behavioral Health Task Force during its March 21 meeting.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill. Angel Medical Center CEO Clint Kendall (far right) speaks to the Behavioral Health Task Force during its March 21 meeting.

Angel Medical CEO says old hospital teardown likely

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Tearing down the old Angel Medical Center in Franklin is likely due to costs and the age of the building, according to the hospital’s CEO.
Photo/Enoch Autrey/Clayton Tribune. Then-MEC freshman Laura Covarrubias competes for Franklin in the long jump at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School March 31, 2022.

Photo/Enoch Autrey/Clayton Tribune. Then-MEC freshman Laura Covarrubias competes for Franklin in the long jump at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School March 31, 2022.

Students speak against potential MEC athletics ban

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Two Macon Early College students decried the potential of not being allowed to play Franklin High School sports during public comment of the Monday, March 25, Macon County Board of Education meeting at Macon Middle School.
Press photo/Thomas Sherrill. The Sowing Seeds of the Future statue was officially unveiled Saturday during a ceremony on the banks of the Little Tennessee River, near where each of the three women depicted once lived. From left, pictured unveiling the statue is Women’s History Trail leadership team members Mary Polanski and Theresa Ramsey, plus Rebecca Stacey, a descendant of Na-Ka Rebecca Morris who is one of the women depicted in the statue.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill. The Sowing Seeds of the Future statue was officially unveiled Saturday during a ceremony on the banks of the Little Tennessee River, near where each of the three women depicted once lived. From left, pictured unveiling the statue is Women’s History Trail leadership team members Mary Polanski and Theresa Ramsey, plus Rebecca Stacey, a descendant of Na-Ka Rebecca Morris who is one of the women depicted in the statue.

Sowing the Seeds of the Future

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
After six years of planning, fundraising and construction, the Women’s History Trail of Franklin has its centerpiece, as Sowing the Seeds of the Future was unveiled and dedicated on Saturday, March 23 in front of hundreds.
Press photo/Mia Overton. Duotech, located in the Macon County Industrial Park, plans to purchase additional property in the park, adding up to 50,000 square feet of new operating space and 95 jobs over five years.

Press photo/Mia Overton. Duotech, located in the Macon County Industrial Park, plans to purchase additional property in the park, adding up to 50,000 square feet of new operating space and 95 jobs over five years.

Duotech expanding, adding 95 jobs

Mia Overton
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
The Macon County Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to sell property in the industrial park to Duotech Services for an expansion that will create 95 new jobs over five years. While wages will vary depending on position, the average salary for the new jobs will be $91,271.
Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Macon County Board of Elections Chair Kathy Tinsley, Vice Chair Gary Dills and Secretary Jeffrey Gillette look over provisional votes during canvass on Friday, March 15.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Macon County Board of Elections Chair Kathy Tinsley, Vice Chair Gary Dills and Secretary Jeffrey Gillette look over provisional votes during canvass on Friday, March 15.

Board of Elections counts 15 more votes in canvass

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Fifteen extra votes were added to the tally in Macon County as part of the state-mandated canvass conducted by the Macon County Board of Elections on Friday, March 15.
Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - The Franklin High School sign and front entrance, as seen from Porter Street.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - The Franklin High School sign and front entrance, as seen from Porter Street.

FHS construction management negotiations begin

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
A Gainesville, Georgia, company known for building schools is in negotiations to be in charge of constructing the new Franklin High School.
Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Mary Ann Ingram speaks in favor of the quarter-of-a-cent sales tax during the public comment portion of the Tuesday, March 12, county commissioners meeting, holding up a penny to illustrate how the increase would only be a quarter of that.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Mary Ann Ingram speaks in favor of the quarter-of-a-cent sales tax during the public comment portion of the Tuesday, March 12, county commissioners meeting, holding up a penny to illustrate how the increase would only be a quarter of that.

Sales tax to be on November ballot

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Two years after it was voted down, the quarter-of-a-cent sales tax referendum will be back on the Macon County ballot this November. The Macon County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to put the tax hike up for a county-wide vote during its March 12 meeting.
Photo submitted - A rendering of the new Community Health Hub Vecinos will open at the old Smoky Mountain Systems building in Franklin.

Photo submitted - A rendering of the new Community Health Hub Vecinos will open at the old Smoky Mountain Systems building in Franklin.

Vecinos celebrates 20th anniversary

News Staff
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Owen Marsten, Intern - thefranklinpressnews@gmail.com Vecinos is a nonprofit health agency that provides free health care to uninsured people, with a focus on farmworkers and the Latino community in Western North Carolina. The entirely bilingual program marked its 20th anniversary on Feb. 27.
Press graphic

Press graphic

Planning Board discusses floodplain, control plan

Thomas Sherrill
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
The Macon County Planning Board began conversations regarding two proposed ordinances. During the March 7 Planning Board meeting, Commissioner Josh Young brought up both proposals to the board. The first was relaxing the rule barring outside fill dirt from being used in a floodplain.