Sheriffs Office, Local VFDs and Helicopter Search for Missing Man in Jacobs Branch Area of Macon County UPDATE: The Missing Man has been Located!

Updates are being posted at the end of this article. The man was located at about 8:10 pm this evening! Macon County Sheriff Office, Franklin Fire Department and Cowee Fire Departments, along with MAMA-2 using an Infrared camera system, have been searching for a missing older man in the Jacobs Branch area this evening. Franklin Fire Department was called out at 4:44 pm and the Command Post at 1120 Jacobs Branch Road requested Cowee Fire Department...

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Downed trees lead to widely scattered electrical outages in Macon County

Readers are reporting trees in the roadways across the county this morning. Please be cautious as you head out today. The map included with this update shows locations where Duke Energy reports outages. Haywood EMC reports none of their customers are out of service this morning in Macon County. I have added the NCDOT to the scanner feed at MaconScan.com so you can listen to their crews as the remove trees from the roads, but they do not not always...

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Letter to the Editor Christmas made brighter for those in need

The Macon County Department of Social Services would like to extend our most sincere appreciation to the following sponsors in helping us make Christmas brighter for the children, the families, and the individuals we serve. Thank you for helping us to fulfill our mission of partnering to promote, protect, and strengthen our community. Matt Bateman, Franklin Fitness Center Jeff Cloer Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory Employees Discover Church Chris...

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MACON COUNTY WEATHER BRIEFING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016

OVERVIEW Cold high pressure will dominate the local weather pattern through Saturday. Increased moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will result in increased chances of rain through Tuesday. HOW TO REPORT AN ELECTRICAL OUTAGE Duke Energy Call 800.769.3766 or in Spanish 866.4.Apagón (866.427.2466). If you see a fallen power line or safety hazard, call Duke Energy at 800.Power.On (800.769.3766) or in Spanish 866.4.Apagón (866.427.2466) or...

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Dense Fog Advisory Issued Until 9 am

The National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for our area this morning until 9 am. Please exercise caution on the roads this morning and please burn your headlights so other drivers can see you. Here is the full text of the advisory: ***Dense Fog Advisory*** URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 221 AM EST WED DEC 28 2016 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT... .DENSE FOG IS EXPECTED TO...

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Knoxville News Sentinel: Social media underused in Gatlinburg firestorm A Personal View

Excerpt from the article: A spokeswoman for Gatlinburg said neither the city nor its public safety agencies had any social media accounts when the Nov. 28 inferno responsible for 14 deaths, more than 180 injuries and the damage or destruction of more than 2,400 structures struck the city. Officials said damage from the fire will exceed $500 million. Since the disaster, spokeswoman Marci Claude said, the Gatlinburg Police Department...

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Macon County Board of Education December 2016 Meeting

The Macon County Board of Education held it's meeting for December 2016 last night. Here is the full video of the meeting. MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets with reporters present at the meting) Macon Media The Franklin Press The Macon County News and Shopping Guide WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM Individual segments from the meeting will be posted separately, and links to each segment will be added here as they are published. The mini-agenda that the school...

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Morning Time Lapse for December 16, 2016

The evolution of colors this morning was spectacular! Here is a time lapse taken from the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning of the sky before sunrise this morning. You can also see photos taken by other people that were posted to the Macon Media Weather Page. [LINK] ...

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West Macon Fire Department and NC Forest Service Extinguish Loose Fire Caused by a Downed Power Line

West Macon Fire Department and the North Carolina Forest Service responded to report of a small grass fire caused by downed power lines. The location was reported to be near the intersection of Wayah Road and Crawford Road. The fire was quickly extinguished and, as of press time [9:03 am] firefighters were still waiting for Duke Energy crews to arrive on the scene and begin repairs. No outages were displayed on the Duke Energy map. This post...

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Legislative Calendar for December 16, 2016

Background The state legislature is having two Special Sessions this week. The first was called for by Governor Pat McCrory on December 9th [PROCLAMATION] to address disaster relief for Hurricane Matthew in the east and the Wildfires in the west. During this session, the state legislature passed The Disaster Recovery Act of 2016 [SEE TEXT] [DOWNLOAD PDF] [VOTING HISTORY/VERSIONS]. The state legislature then called a fourth Special Session...

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National Weather Service Issues Wind Advisory High Winds Above 3500 feet, Scattered Power Outages Possible

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for our region above 3500 feet. Winds on the ridgetops will be coming out of the southwest 2 to 35 mph, gusting to 50 mph or more overnight tonight and into the morning on Saturday. The full text is at the end of this update. Winds will not be as high for us in the valleys, but we will notice the higher winds. Our impact will be in the form of power outages as winds at higher elevations...

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Southwestern Commission - Mayor's Meeting Roundabout Presentation

The Southwestern Commission Rural Planning Organization held a Mayor's Meeting of Mayors from around the seven westernmost counties in North Carolina today in the town hall. The group heard a presentation by Michael P. Reese, P.E., an engineer with the NCDOT Congestion Management Section, on Modern Roundabouts. He went over the history of Roundabouts in North Carolina and discussed the advantages of having roundabouts. Afterward, he took questions...

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Whitewater Falls on the Nantahala National Forest Closed

PRESS RELEASE National Forests in North Carolina 160A Zillicoa St. Asheville, N.C. 28801 Asheville, NC - December 12, 2016 - Whitewater Falls and the Foothills Trail (TR 437) that connects to Whitewater Falls on the Nantahala Ranger District is expected to remain closed for some time. Although the Whitewater Fire was only 23 acres, it totally destroyed the staircase and access facility to the Whitewater Falls observation deck....

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Benefit Planned for Cali Smolarsky in Highlands

A 21 year old former student at Highlands School has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.  She had her first round of treatments last week.  A benefit has been planned for this Saturday, December 17th at the Highlands Rec Park. A Pasta Dinner, Raffle and an Auction is being planned to assist with medical costs. MOre information is posted below: It Takes A Village Raffle Drive *1991 Suzuki Samurai Auction- $25 each or...

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USFS Release: Every Kid in a Park

PRESS RELEASE National Forests in North Carolina160A Zillicoa St.Asheville, NC 28801 Asheville, NC - December 9, 2016 - Fourth graders can visit the Every Kid in a Park website to obtain a free pass that provides access to federally managed lands and waters - including national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and marine sanctuaries. The Forest Service offers places for hiking, biking, skiing, nature viewing, and scenic drives. Many...

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Macon County Planning Board December 2016

Members of the Macon County Planning Board met at the Robert C Carpenter Community BUilding late yesterday afternoon. A quorum was not present, so no official business could be conducted. Members that were present discussed the elements of the Macon County Comprehensive Plan they've been working to update. The next meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2017. MACON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD AGENDA ITEMS DATE: December 8, 2016 ORDER...

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Macon County Board of Elections Recount Ballots in State Auditors Race

Ballots being recounted in the State Auditors race in the Macon County Board of Elections office on the morning of December 7, 2016.The State Board of Elections has ordered a recount in the State Auditor's Race be complete by Thursday afternoon, December 8th, and the local board will be having their recount beginning at 8:30 am in the morning.. The State Board will then certify the results on Friday, the 9th of December.[Read more about this developing...

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