Regional

Photo/Conner Horn - An agreement has been announced for Legacy Ventures to purchase The Dillard House Inn and Restaurant. The sale is not yet complete but is expected in 60 days.

Family to sell The Dillard House Inn and Restaurant

News Staff

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Megan Horn - CNI News Service One of the most iconic venues in America, The Dillard House Inn and Restaurant, is poised to change ownership within the next two months.

Press photo/Mia Overton - Nicole Hinebaugh of Mountain Wise speaks about food insecurity in Western North Carolina during a recent Rotary Club of Franklin meeting.

New program delivers fresh produce to families

News Staff

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Owen Marsten, Intern - thefranklinpressnews@gmail.com The new Produce Rx Program offered by MountainWise will provide free weekly boxes full of produce and meal recipes to 100 food insecure families in Macon and Swain counties.

A map showing the newest changes to U.S. House District 11.

Few changes in legislative maps

News Staff

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Local representatives will remain with mostly intact districts after the North Carolina General Assembly passed new district maps into law recently. Votes on the three maps – the U.S. House, N.C. Senate and N.C. House - took place on Oct. 24 and 25.

File photo - $20+ million in state funding coming to Macon County

State budget includes Medicaid funding

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Along with Medicaid expansion and teacher pay raises, a Town of Franklin fire substation, funding for a chiller unit and a regional indoor firearms training facility are some of the projects that got funding from the North Carolina state biennium budget approved by legislators last week.

Fall leaves photographed by Fred Alexander

Warm weather could make for longer leaf season

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

There are two things fall foliage prognosticators generally agree on. The first is that you can’t predict what day the leaves will turn, and the second is that due to elevation changes and different tree species, you can view multiple peak seasons around Macon County for most of October.

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Cherokee Nation votes to legalize marijuana

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

With 70% in favor, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians voted to legalize recreational marijuana on tribal lands, creating a “pot haven” in Western North Carolina while the drug remains illegal outside of tribal boundaries. The cannabis referendum unofficially passed 2,464 to 1,057 on Sept. 7.

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State budget vote likely next week

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

While the state delayed the planned Oct. 1 Medicaid expansion launch, the state biennium budget that will fund it is scheduled for a vote next week. “We have been told the [N.C.

Press photo/Thomas Sherrill - Stephen Johnson shares his recovery story with the Behavioral Health Task Force.

Recovering from opioid addiction

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

After meeting once every two months to talk about the opioid crisis, housing crisis and other behavioral health issues in Macon County, on Aug. 17, the Macon County Behavioral Health Task Force heard from a recovering opioid addict about his experiences and treatment.

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Legislators override six vetoes

Thomas Sherrill

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

After a month and a half, the N.C. General Assembly reconvened the week of Aug. 14 not for a budget vote, but for veto override and to consider a new election bill. In total, six vetoes were overridden, with the votes mostly along Republican supermajority lines.

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Otto man charged with murder in Georgia

News Staff

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Clayton Tribune Staff news@theclaytontribune.com The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO), Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and multiple other agencies assisted in a murder investigation involving a deceased human body located in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest Aug.