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Macon County Commissioners

Coverage of the meetings of the Macon County Board of County Commissioners.

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Coverage of the meetings of the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen.

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Coverage of the meetings of the Macon County School Board.

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About

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Weather Briefing for Tuesday, July 6, 2021



OUTLOOK

Continued warmer and more humid conditions are expected today. Rain chances will increase more sharply Wednesday through Thursday, as a trough of low pressure approaches from the west, and moisture from Tropical Cyclone Elsa possibly passes through or near the region. An active mid-summertime pattern will develop by the weekend as the synoptic pattern becomes more amplified with a chance for showers and thunderstorms each day by this weekend and into the early part of next week.


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Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.

Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC. Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC

All your masonry needs are available. Our phone number is 828.524.8545, the public is welcome, we’ll help you with your next project.


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Local News Update
(National News is published after the Macon Calendar section)

Drake Software opening Waynesville call center [The Mountaineer]

2021 Fireworks Display in Franklin, NC [LINK]

Bob Scott Announces Retirement

PRESS RELEASE (07-06-2021) BOB SCOTT, MAYOR OF FRANKLIN

It’s time for me to pack up my bust of Harry Truman and my “No Sniveling” desk plaque and move on. I will not be seeking a fifth term as mayor.

Most politicians bow out saying “to spend more time with family.” Which is code for getting out before an indictment or a scandal breaks. Not me. I am just too darn old. Franklin needs a new mayor.

I would have run again, but Council Member Jack Horton has filed to run for mayor. Jack is qualified and well known across the state. I can leave knowing that if elected, Franklin will be in good hands with Jack.

I will be gone in three months from Town Hall. I will leave knowing I had little support from some other politicians in trying to save our hospital from a for profit company. A huge disappointment. There were other ideas I had which were blocked, for whatever reason, in the last two terms I have served.

I do hope to get the skate park in place. Turn the Sunnyside property into public use with recreation facilities, and use federal relief funds to improve our infrastructure.

I campaigned on open government. In my four terms, the town got away from being a “who you know” town. It is now a “what you know” town. We have professionalized Franklin’s government. We are a town we can all be proud of. Our employees deserve the credit. Not me.

We have had very few closed meetings during my time as mayor. My philosophy has been one of instead of finding a reason to go behind closed doors find a reason to keep the doors open. I always have believed the mayor and town council exists for only one reason. To conduct the public’s business.

I hope the Town Council will keep working to preserve the fascination which makes Franklin a delightful place in which to live and work.

The toughest year of my service has been the year of the pandemic. Mayors across the nation became the lightning rod for anger and frustration. I certainly was. On social media I was called unique expletives I did not know existed. But on the other hand, I have had folks who understood town government. There was more support than anger. In looking back, I adopted the understanding that people were angry, scared and facing hardships. As mayor, I was a convenient politician to jump on. I was accessible. I answer my phone. You can catch me ambling along our sidewalks.

I do have some future plans. I have hobbies I have neglected. I will return to writing and photography. America is in serious danger as Democracy is in peril. I will find some way to express my contempt of authoritarianism.

Please never allow Franklin to become partisan. We are just fine as a non-partisan unit. Please fight to keep it non-partisan from those who want to change it for political power.

Does anyone have a small backhoe I can borrow to clean out my office? I need it by the first Tuesday in November. It has been a hoot to serve as mayor. My high school teachers would be astounded.

Mayor Bob Scott Town of Franklin, NC

Vet's Portrait Project for 2021 

 The Macon County Art Association in Franklin is pleased to announce that the Vet’s Portrait Project will be held this year. This will be our ninth year for this event. Unfortunately the pandemic precluded the project last year but the artists are ready to go for 2021. This year there are spots for 4-7 veterans as we had applications remaining from 2019. Please announce the call for Macon County Veterans or their family members to apply to have the Veteran’s portrait painted by one of our local artists. Vets or their families may apply at the gallery between Memorial Day and July 4th of this year. There is no cost to apply or for the portraits. The only requirement is that the Veteran or their family member be present to receive the portrait on Veterans Day November 11, 2021. Community members who wish to help support the costs for this program are also welcome. Contact the project chair by email at karen@programservices.org.

NC Dept of Justice Releases May 2021 Highlights [LINK]


National Weather Map for Today



General forecast through Wednesday Night


Franklin area

Today

Areas of fog before midmorning. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Light and variable winds.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Light winds out of the southeast. Chance of rain is 20%.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 60s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 60%.

Thursday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Highs in the lower 80s. Chance of rain is 80%.

Thursday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 9pm, then a chance of showers between 9pm and 5am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 60%.

Highlands Plateau

Today

Sunny, with highs in the upper 70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and 2am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Light winds out of the south. Chance of rain is 20%.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Winds out of the northeast 3 to 5 mph. Chance of rain is 60%.

Thursday

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2pm, then showers and thunderstorms likely before midafternoon, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. Highs in the lower 70s. Chance of rain is 80%.

Thursday Night

Showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a chance of showers between 2am and 5am. Lows around 60. Chance of rain is 80%.

Otto area

Today

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

Isolated showers before 1am, then a slight chance of showers after 2am. Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.

Wednesday

A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 11am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight. Chance of rain is 60%.

Thursday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Highs near 80. Chance of rain is 80%.

Thursday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 9pm, then a chance of showers between 9pm and 4am. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 65. Chance of rain is 60%.

Nantahala area

Today

Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Calm winds becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

Isolated showers between 7pm and 8pm. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.

Wednesday

A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 11am. Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 70s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 60%.

Thursday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Highs in the mid-70s. Chance of rain is 80%.

Thursday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 10pm, then a chance of showers between 10pm and 5am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 60%.

HAZARDS

Hazardous Weather is not anticipated today.

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK



Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
800 PM EDT Mon Jul 5 2021

For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Elsa, located over west-central Cuba.

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.


b>TROPICAL TIDBITS

Tropical Tidbits is a website run by Macon Media's favorite no-nonsense tropical forecaster, Levi Cowan. He does not post material just to get clicks or to sensationalize the storms he covers to "make them more exciting." He is reliable and sober, unlike The Weather Channel crowd of Drama Queen Meteorologists.

Levi typically posts videos late in the afternoon or early before midnight on Youtube. [Youtube Channel]

Elsa to Cross Cuba During Late Monday, Approach Florida on Tuesday (recorded July 5th)





Tropical Storm Elsa Discussion Number 23
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL052021
1100 PM EDT Mon Jul 05 2021

Radar data from Cuba and Key West, Florida, along with surface observations, indicate that the center of Elsa is back over water, having emerged off the northern coast of of Cuba around 0200 UTC. Doppler velocity data from the NOAA WSR-88D at Key West indicate values of around 55 t at 10,000 ft, which supports equivalent surface winds of 49 kt. An Air Force reconnaissance aircraft flying just offshore the north coast of Cuba over deep water measured reliable SFMR surface winds of at least 50 kt. Based on these data, the intensity has been increased to 50 kt.

The initial motion estimate is 330/10 kt. Just like over the past three days, no significant changes have been made to the previous track forecast or synoptic reasoning. Elsa is now moving north-northwestward around the southwestern periphery of a deep-layer ridge whose axis extends westward across the Atlantic to central Florida. The cyclone should gradually move around the ridge over the next 36 hours, turning northward on Tuesday and then north-northeastward Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. By late Wednesday, Elsa should accelerate northeastward ahead of a mid-latitude trough and frontal system, moving across the eastern United States to near Atlantic Canada. The new NHC track forecast is very similar to the previous advisory track, but was nudged slightly eastward due to the more eastward initial position, and lies a tad east of of the various tightly clustered track consensus models.

Some additional strengthening is expected over the next 36 hours, with some of the SHIPS and global models showing Elsa possibly reaching 60 kt just before landfall along the northwestern Florida peninsula. This would typically require a Hurricane Watch for a small portion of northwest Florida. However, given that Elsa has been hugging a very tight mid-level moisture gradient -- a condition that is expected to continue until landfall occurs in about 36 hours -- the new official intensity forecast remains similar to the previous advisory and holds the peak intensity at 55 kt due to expected intermittent dry-air intrusions. Subsequent NHC forecasts can assess the new reconnaissance and model data that will be coming in later tonight, and determine if an increase in the intensity forecast and the issuance of a hurricane watch or warning is required. By 96 hours, the global models suggest that the cyclone will merge with a frontal zone, so the new intensity forecast continues to shows extratropical transition at that time.

Key Messages:

1. Heavy rain will impact the Cayman Islands and Cuba tonight resulting in significant flooding and mudslides over Cuba. As Elsa approaches the Florida Keys, Florida Peninsula, and southeast Georgia through Wednesday, heavy rainfall may result in isolated flash, urban, and minor river flooding, with considerable flooding possible in southwest and western portions of Florida. Mid to late week, heavy rains across coastal South Carolina, North Carolina, and southeastern Virginia may result in isolated flash and urban flooding.

2. There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the west coast of Florida Tuesday night and Wednesday, and a Storm Surge Warning has been issued for that area.

3. Tropical storm conditions are expected to continue across portions of central and western Cuba tonight, and spread northward across portions of the Florida Keys and the Florida west coast through Wednesday, where a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect.

4. There is a risk of tropical storm conditions along portions of the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas Wednesday and Thursday.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INIT 06/0300Z 23.5N 82.3W 50 KT 60 MPH
12H 06/1200Z 24.9N 82.9W 55 KT 65 MPH
24H 07/0000Z 26.9N 83.3W 55 KT 65 MPH
36H 07/1200Z 29.2N 83.1W 55 KT 65 MPH
48H 08/0000Z 31.6N 82.0W 30 KT 35 MPH...INLAND
60H 08/1200Z 34.0N 79.8W 30 KT 35 MPH...INLAND
72H 09/0000Z 36.9N 76.1W 30 KT 35 MPH...INLAND
96H 10/0000Z 43.3N 66.0W 40 KT 45 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP
120H 11/0000Z 50.5N 52.4W 40 KT 45 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP



Air Quality




Air quality is in the middle range of yellow for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the middle range of yellow.

Fire and Smoke Map
(There are no significant sources of smoke in the region as of 3am on 04-22-2021.)

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (3.1 out of 12) today with Grasses, Plantain, and Dock being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low range (2.4 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County on July 6th


Highest Temperature 93°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2012
Lowest Temperature 45°F in Highlands in 1915
Greatest Rainfall 4.00 inches in Nantahala in 1959
Greatest Snowfall (No snowfall recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)


July Weather Extremes for Macon County

Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on 07-29-1952
Lowest Temperature 34°F in Highlands on 07-27-1911
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on 07-29-1879
Greatest Snowfall no measurable snowfall has been recorded since records started being kept in 1872


Macon Calendar

The Macon County Art Association (a not for profit member organization) is offering classes in encaustic painting on Specified Fridays from 10AM-12PM at the Uptown Gallery 30 E Main St Franklin NC. Specific class dates are Friday July 9 and 23, August 3 and 27, September 3 and 17, October 29.

For more information contact the instructor, Karen Smith, at karen@programservices.org

National News Update

Level1 News July 6 2021: Polish Prez Pilloried, Police Pull In Pupils



WeatherBrains #807



National Mall fireworks in Washington DC celebrates July 4th | WUSA-TV



PBS NewsHour full episode, July 5, 2021



On This Day

July 6th is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 178 days remain until the end of the year.



Historical Events

(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)


371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Leuctra]
• [The Battle of Leuctra 371 BC]

640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt).
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Heliopolis]
• [Muslim Conquest of Egypt 640 - Battles of Babylon and Heliopolis]

1253 – Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Mindaugus]

1348 – Pope Clement VI issues a papal bull protecting the Jews accused of having caused the Black Death.

1411 – Ming China's Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after the third treasure voyage and presents the Sinhalese king, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to the Yongle Emperor.
• [Wikipedia: third treasure voyage]
• [Wikipedia Bio: Zheng He]
• [Zheng He's Floating City: When China Dominated the Oceans]
• [How China Could Have Conquered The World | When China Ruled The Waves | Timeline]

1415 – Jan Hus is condemned by the assembly of the council in the Konstanz Cathedral as a heretic and sentenced to be burned at the stake. (See Deaths section.)
• [Wikipedia Bio: Jan Hus]

1438 – A temporary compromise between the rebellious Transylvanian peasants and the noblemen is signed in Kolozsmonostor Abbey.

1483 – Richard III is crowned King of England.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Richard III]
• [Was Richard III Really Britain's Worst Tyrant King? | Richard III: Fact Or Fiction | Timeline]
• [Richard III - The Archaeological Dig]

1484 – Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Diogo Cão]

1495 – First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo: Charles VIII defeats the Holy League.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Fornovo]
• [Wikipedia: First Italian War/a>]
• [
Italian Wars 3/10 - The Battle of Fornovo 1495]

1535 – Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Thomas More]

1557 – King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, sets out from Dover to war with France, which eventually resulted in the loss of the City of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.
• [Wikipedia Bio: King Philip II of Spain]
• [Wikipedia Bio: Queen Mary I of England]

1560 – The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.
• [Wikipedia: Treaty of Edinburgh]

1573 – Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.

1573 – French Wars of Religion: Siege of La Rochelle ends.
• [Wikipedia: Siege of La Rochelle]
• [Wikipedia: French Wars of Religion]

1614 – Raid on Żejtun: The south east of Malta, and the town of Żejtun, suffer a raid from Ottoman forces. This was the last unsuccessful attempt by the Ottomans to conquer the island of Malta.
• [Wikipedia: Żejtun]

1630 – Thirty Years' War: Four thousand Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
• [Wikipedia: Thirty Years' War]
• [Wikipewdia Bio: Gustavus Adolphus]
• [Why the Thirty Years' War Was So Devastating - European Wars of Religion]

1685 – Battle of Sedgemoor: Last battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. Troops of King James II defeat troops of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.
• [Battle of Sedgemoor]
• [Monmouth Rebellion]
• [LINKTEXT]

1751 – Pope Benedict XIV suppresses the Patriarchate of Aquileia and establishes from its territory the Archdiocese of Udine and Gorizia.
• [Patriarchate of Aquileia]

1777 – American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
• [Siege of Fort Ticonderoga]
• [Fort Ticonderoga: The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes] (American Battlefield Trust)

1779 – Battle of Grenada: The French defeat British naval forces during the American Revolutionary War.
• [Battle of Grenada]

1801 – First Battle of Algeciras: Outnumbered French Navy ships defeat the Royal Navy in the fortified Spanish port of Algeciras.
• [First Battle of Algeciras]

1809 – The second day of the Battle of Wagram; France defeats the Austrian army in the largest battle to date of the Napoleonic Wars.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Wagram]
• [Wikipedia: War of the Fifth Coalition]
• [Napoleon's Revenge: Wagram 1809]

1854 – In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held.

1885 – Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.

1887 – David Kalākaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, which transfers much of the king's authority to the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1892 – Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded.

1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Aqaba]
• [T.E. Lawrence And How He Became Lawrence Of Arabia I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?]
• [Lawrence of Arabia (5/8) Movie CLIP - Attack on Aqaba (1962) ] (movie dramatization)

1918 – The Left SR uprising in Russia starts with the assassination of German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach by Cheka members.
• [Left SR uprising]
• [The Other Russian Revolutionary Parties: Kadets, Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs)]

1919 – The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.
• [dirigible R34 ]
• [R34 First Round Trip]

1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.

1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell.

1937 – Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Brunete]
• [Great Battles of the Spanish Civil War - Ep.8 - the Battle of Brunete] (English subtitles)
• [Ten Minute History - The Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco (Short Documentary)]

1939 – Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany closes the last remaining Jewish enterprises.
• [Wikipedia: Anti-Jewish legislation in pre-war Nazi Germany]
• [The Path to Nazi Genocide]

1940 – Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia's longest cantilever bridge is formally opened.
• [Wikipedia: Story Bridge]
• [Silent Newsreel]
• [Drone Footage Shot at Night]

1941 – World War II: The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk.
• [Battle of Smolensk (1941)]
• [Barbarossa Visualized: The Battle of Smolensk [July 1941] [Episode 5]]

1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial.
• [Wikipedia: Jackie Robinson]
• [Jackie Robinson Clip: 1944 Court-Martial]

1944 – The Hartford circus fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.
• [Wikipedia: Hartford circus fire]
• [The Hartford Circus Fire | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror ]

1947 – Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.

1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.
• [Wikipedia: AK-47]
• [Developmental History of the AK with Max Popenker]
• [Russia Today: Legendary Kalashnikov - Story of AK-47 Rifle]

1957 – Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.

1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.

1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place.
• [Wikipedia: Operation Plowshare]
• [Wikipedia: Storax Sedan]
• [The largest human-made crater in the Mainland United States Project Sedan 104Kt]
• [Why Apollo Astronauts Trained in Nuclear Bomb Craters]

1962 – The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time.

1964 – Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

1966 – Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President.

1967 – Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.
• [Wikipedia: Nigerian Civil War]
• [Nigeria's civil war explained - BBC News]
• [An Honest Explanation of the Nigerian Civil War | The Biafran Story]

1975 – The Comoros declares independence from France.

1986 – Davis Phinney becomes the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France.

1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.
• [Wikipedia: Piper Alpha]
• [A Brief History of: The Piper Alpha Oil Rig Disaster (Short Documentary)]
• [Explosion in the North Sea (Piper Alpha)]

1989 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff.
• [Wikipedia: bus 405 suicide attack]

1990 – The Electronic Frontier Foundation is founded.
• [Wikipedia: Electronic Frontier Foundation]
• [Elliot Harmon | The Electronic Frontier Foundation]
• [Official Youtube Channel]

1995 – In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
• [Wikipedia: Bosnian War]
• [Wikipedia Bio: Ratko Mladić]
• [Ratko Mladic disrupts court with angry outburst, gets life sentence for war crimes]
• [Yugoslav Wars | 3 Minute History]

1996 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 operating as Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 experiences a turbine engine failure during take off from Pensacola International Airport, killing two and injuring five of the 147 people on board.

1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland.

1998 – Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city's international airport.

2003 – The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.
• [Wikipedia: Cosmic Call]

2006 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

2013 – At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria.
• [Wikipedia: Yobe State school shooting]

2013 – A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board.

2013 – A 73-car oil train derails in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and explodes into flames, killing at least 47 people and destroying more than 30 buildings in the town's central area.

2016 - Pokémon Go, the real-world mobile game by Niantic, is first released
• [Wikipedia: Pokémon Go]
• ["I Remember Summer 2016" - Pokemon Go Retrospective (2018)]
• [Shiny Trifecta! 5th Anniversary Event Is Insane! Shiny Starters, Lure Modules, Darumaka | Pokémon GO]

2017 - France announces it will ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040
• [rance goes green: Plan to ban petrol and diesel cars]

2020 - America officially begins withdrawing from the World Health Organization
• [US withdraws from WHO: Trump tells congress he formally withdrawn from World Health Organization]
• [U.S. formally withdraws from WHO]
• [Dr. Fauci on rejoining WHO and how Biden’s COVID plan will affect vaccine rollout l GMA]
• [US rejoins WHO under Biden administration]





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Published at 4:00am on Tuesday, July 06, 2021



Monday, July 5, 2021

Weather Briefing for Monday, July 5, 2021



OUTLOOK

Temperatures and moisture will rebound early this week. Rain chances will increase Tuesday through Thursday, when a trough of low pressure will approach from the west. Tropical Cyclone Elsa could also affect the region around that time, possibly enhancing the threat for heavy rainfall. The active pattern may continue into next weekend.


---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---



Weather Sponsor



Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.

Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC. Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC

All your masonry needs are available. Our phone number is 828.524.8545, the public is welcome, we’ll help you with your next project.


DAY SPONSOR

Carrion Tree Service is underwriting Macon Media for today. they are a fully licensed and insured tree service, specializing in dangerous tree removal, view clearing, pruning, and crane services with a 24 Hour emergency response.

Their phone number is 371-4718.

They can handle all your tree removal needs in good or bad weather.

--- END SPONSOR SEGMENT---


Local News Update
(National News is published after the Macon Calendar section)

2021 Fireworks Display in Franklin, NC [LINK]

Vet's Portrait Project for 2021 

 The Macon County Art Association in Franklin is pleased to announce that the Vet’s Portrait Project will be held this year. This will be our ninth year for this event. Unfortunately the pandemic precluded the project last year but the artists are ready to go for 2021. This year there are spots for 4-7 veterans as we had applications remaining from 2019. Please announce the call for Macon County Veterans or their family members to apply to have the Veteran’s portrait painted by one of our local artists. Vets or their families may apply at the gallery between Memorial Day and July 4th of this year. There is no cost to apply or for the portraits. The only requirement is that the Veteran or their family member be present to receive the portrait on Veterans Day November 11, 2021. Community members who wish to help support the costs for this program are also welcome. Contact the project chair by email at karen@programservices.org.

NC Dept of Justice Releases May 2021 Highlights [LINK]


National Weather Map for Today



General forecast through Wednesday Night


Franklin area

Today

Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs near 85. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Calm winds.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph.

Tuesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds.

Wednesday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Chance of rain is 60%.

Wednesday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 7pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7pm and 2am, then a chance of showers after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 60%.

Highlands Plateau

Today

Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Light winds out of the southeast.

Tuesday

A 20 percent chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Winds out of the south 3 to 6 mph. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly in the midafternoon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-70s. Calm winds becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 60%.

Wednesday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers between 8pm and 5am, then a chance of rain after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Chance of rain is 60%.

Otto area

Today

Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers between 2pm and 5pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 20%.

Tuesday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms between 9pm and midnight, then a slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Light winds out of the southwest. Chance of rain is 30%.

Wednesday

A chance of showers before 11am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11am and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Light winds out of the southeast. Chance of rain is 60%.

Wednesday Night

Showers likely, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 60%.

Nantahala area

Today

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Calm winds.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers in the mid-to-late afternoon, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 20%.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Winds out of the south around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight. Chance of rain is 20%.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly in the mid-to-late afternoon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 70s. Light winds out of the south. Chance of rain is 60%.

Wednesday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 60%.

HAZARDS

Hazardous Weather is not anticipated today.

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK



Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Mon Jul 5 2021

For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Elsa, located just south of central Cuba.

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.


b>TROPICAL TIDBITS

Tropical Tidbits is a website run by Macon Media's favorite no-nonsense tropical forecaster, Levi Cowan. He does not post material just to get clicks or to sensationalize the storms he covers to "make them more exciting." He is reliable and sober, unlike The Weather Channel crowd of Drama Queen Meteorologists.

Levi typically posts videos late in the afternoon or early before midnight on Youtube. [Youtube Channel]

Elsa Approaching Cuba; Impacts to Florida will Begin Monday (recorded July 4th)





Tropical Storm Elsa Discussion Number 19
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL052021
1100 PM EDT Sun Jul 04 2021

Similar to this time last night, Elsa has undergone another convective bursting pattern, except that tonight this has translated into at least some slight strengthening. An Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft investigating the cyclone this evening has found maximum 850-mb flight-level winds of 55 kt and reliable SFMR surface winds of about 55 kt. Although there have been SFMR winds of 60 kt or more reported northeast and north of the center, those values appear to be contaminated by shoaling and/or breaking waves owing to the shallow water flowing in and around the offshore Cayo Anclitas and Cayo Pingues archipelagos. The estimated center pressure of 1004 mb based on dropsonde data also does a higher intensity of 60 kt. Therefore, based on the most reliable data, the intensity has been increased to 55 kt.

The initial motion estimate is 310/13 kt. There remains no significant change to the previous few track forecasts and synoptic reasonings. Elsa is expected to move northwestward and then northward around the western periphery of a mid-level subtropical ridge during the next 3 days, followed by acceleration toward the northeast on days 4 and 5 as the cyclone moves near the southeast U.S. coast and then over the northwestern Atlantic. The new NHC track forecast is basically just an update and extension of the previous advisory track, and lies close to a blend of the tightly packed corrected consensus model HCCA and the simple consensus models TVCA and GFEX.

Cuban radar data from Pilan and Camaguey have occasionally revealed an eye-like feature in the low -and mid-levels of the cyclone where cloud top temperatures have been colder than -80C and also where significant lightning activity has been occurring. Given that the circulation centers have become better aligned and the upper-level outflow pattern is well-established and steadily improving, some additional strengthening during the next 12 h is forecast, which calls for Elsa to be near hurricane strength before landfall occurs along the south-central coast of Cuba tomorrow. Over the eastern Gulf of Mexico late Monday and Tuesday, some restrengthening is forecast after Elsa clears Cuba, but southwesterly vertical wind shear is expected to hinder the intensification process. The official intensity forecast remains on the high side of the numerical model guidance, and follows a blend of the HCCA intensity consensus model, and the LGEM and and Decay-SHIPS statistical-dynamical models.

Key Messages:

1. Widespread heavy rain will continue to affect portions of Jamaica tonight where isolated to scattered flash flooding and mudslides will be possible. Heavy rain will then impact the Cayman Islands and Cuba tonight into Monday resulting in significant flooding and mudslides over Cuba. As Elsa approaches the Florida Keys, Florida Peninsula, and coastal Georgia Monday through Wednesday, heavy rainfall may result in isolated flash, urban, and minor river flooding. Mid to late week, heavy rains across coastal South Carolina may result in isolated flash flooding.

2. Tropical storm conditions and a dangerous storm surge are expected with hurricane conditions possible in portions of eastern Cuba tonight. Tropical storm conditions are expected in portions of central and western Cuba tonight and Monday, and will spread into portions of the Florida Keys by late Monday.

3. Tropical Storm and Surge Surge Watches are in effect for portions of the west coast of the Florida peninsula where tropical storm conditions and a dangerous storm surge are possible beginning as early as Monday night and continuing into Tuesday.

4. There is a risk of tropical storm conditions, storm surge, and rainfall impacts along the remainder of the Florida Peninsula Tuesday night through Wednesday and the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas Wednesday and Thursday.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INIT 05/0300Z 20.6N 79.2W 55 KT 65 MPH
12H 05/1200Z 21.9N 80.7W 60 KT 70 MPH
24H 06/0000Z 23.5N 82.1W 50 KT 60 MPH
36H 06/1200Z 25.1N 82.9W 50 KT 60 MPH
48H 07/0000Z 27.1N 83.2W 50 KT 60 MPH
60H 07/1200Z 29.2N 82.8W 45 KT 50 MPH...INLAND
72H 08/0000Z 31.5N 81.6W 35 KT 40 MPH...INLAND
96H 09/0000Z 36.0N 76.0W 35 KT 40 MPH...INLAND
120H 10/0000Z 41.0N 66.8W 40 KT 45 MPH...OVER WATER



Air Quality




Air quality is in the upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the upper range of green.

Fire and Smoke Map
(There are no significant sources of smoke in the region as of 3am on 04-22-2021.)

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (3.3 out of 12) today with Grasses, Plantain, and Dock being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (3.3 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County on July 5th


Highest Temperature 95°F in Franklin in 1948
Lowest Temperature 46°F in Highlands in 1996
Greatest Rainfall 3.78 inches in Highlands in 2013
Greatest Snowfall (No snowfall recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)


July Weather Extremes for Macon County

Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on 07-29-1952
Lowest Temperature 34°F in Highlands on 07-27-1911
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on 07-29-1879
Greatest Snowfall no measurable snowfall has been recorded since records started being kept in 1872


Macon Calendar

The Macon County Art Association (a not for profit member organization) is offering classes in encaustic painting on Specified Fridays from 10AM-12PM at the Uptown Gallery 30 E Main St Franklin NC. Specific class dates are Friday July 9 and 23, August 3 and 27, September 3 and 17, October 29.

For more information contact the instructor, Karen Smith, at karen@programservices.org

National News Update

President Biden Delivers Independence Day Remarks



A Capitol Fourth 2021 | PBS



National Mall fireworks in Washington DC celebrates July 4th | WUSA-TV



021 Macy's Fireworks 4th of July Fireworks - Full Show (No commercials)



On This Day

July 5th is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 179 days remain until the end of the year.



Historical Events

(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)


328 – The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
• [Wikipedia: Constantine's Bridge]

1316 – The Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea meet in the Battle of Manolada.
• [Wikipedia: Principality of Achaea]
• [Battle of Manolada]

1594 – Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka.
• [Campaign of Danture]

1610 – John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.

1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
• [Wikipedia: Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]
• [Newton on the Beach: Principia Mathematica] (Stanford University)
• [Isaac Newton: Principia - Summary and Analysis]

1770 – The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Chesma]

1775 – The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition.
• [Wikipedia: Second Continental Congress]
• [Wikipedia: Olive Branch Petition]
• [Loyalist vs Partiot Olive Branch Petition]
• [Dramatization from HBO's John Adams Mioniseries]
• [History Brief: The Second Continental Congress and the Olive Branch Petition]

1803 – The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of the Electorate of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).

1807 – In Buenos Aires the local militias repel the British soldiers within the Second English Invasion.
• [British invasions of the River Plate]

1809 – The largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Wagram is fought between the French and Austrian Empires.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Wagram]
• [Wikipedia: War of the Fifth Coalition]
• [Napoleon's Revenge: Wagram 1809]

1811 – The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is adopted by a congress of the provinces.

1813 – War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence.

The events below will be updated by noon today. I (Bobby) ran out of time to complete this section before publish time.

1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa: American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1833 – Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
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1833 – Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1841 – Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1884 – Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1915 – The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1934 – "Bloody Thursday": Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1935 – The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1940 – World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1941 – World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river.
• [LINKTEXT]
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• [LINKTEXT]

1943 – World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
• [LINKTEXT]
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1943 – World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1946 – Micheline Bernardini models the first modern bikini at a swimming pool in Paris.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1948 – National Health Service Acts create the national public health system in the United Kingdom.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1950 – Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1950 – Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1954 – The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1954 – Elvis Presley records his first single, "That's All Right", at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1962 – The official independence of Algeria is proclaimed after an eight-year-long war with France.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1973 – A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1975 – Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1977 – Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1980 – Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1987 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1995 – Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
• [LINKTEXT]
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1997 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP A. Thangathurai is shot dead at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College in Trincomalee.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

1999 – U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2003 - SARS is declared "contained" by the WHO after affecting 26 countries and resulting in 774 deaths
• [LINKTEXT]
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• [LINKTEXT]

2004 – The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2009 – A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2009 – The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in England, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2015 – The United States women's national soccer team defeated 2011 champions Japan 5–2 at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]

2016 – The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]
• [LINKTEXT]





CROWDFUNDING OR DAY SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES


If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.



Become a Patron!



Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia


Published at 4:35am on Sunday, July 05, 2021



2021 Fireworks Display in Franklin, NC



The Town of Franklin hosted their second annual fireworks display Saturday night at the Whitmire Property on the Highlands Road between Crane Circle and First Street. Macon Media positioned cameras in the field behind Mountain Credit Union on East Main Street, and the results are posted below.

DAY SPONSOR

Carrion Tree Service is underwriting Macon Media for today. they are a fully licensed and insured tree service, specializing in dangerous tree removal, view clearing, pruning, and crane services with a 24 Hour emergency response.

Their phone number is 371-4718.

They can handle all your tree removal needs in good or bad weather.

Main Camera


Cell Phone Camera (excerpts)


Photo Slideshow


2021 Franklin Fireworks

[Flickr Album]

A couple of photos are embedded below:









CROWDFUNDING OR DAY SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES


If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.



Become a Patron!



Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia


Published at 3:30am on Monday, July 05, 2021






Sunday, July 4, 2021

Weather Briefing for Independence Day, 2021



OUTLOOK

Temperatures and moisture will rebound early this week, with afternoon highs rising above normal Monday. Precipitation chances will gradually increase Tuesday through Thursday, when a trough of low pressure will approach from the west. Tropical Cyclone Elsa could also affect the region around that time, possibly enhancing the threat of heavy rainfall.

Happy 245th Borthday, America!!! [LINK]


---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---



Weather Sponsor



Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.

Open 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, M-F, located at 895 Hickory Knoll Road, Franklin, NC. Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Adams.Oldcastle.Franklin.NC

All your masonry needs are available. Our phone number is 828.524.8545, the public is welcome, we’ll help you with your next project.


--- END SPONSOR SEGMENT---


Vet's Portrait Project for 2021 

 The Macon County Art Association in Franklin is pleased to announce that the Vet’s Portrait Project will be held this year. This will be our ninth year for this event. Unfortunately the pandemic precluded the project last year but the artists are ready to go for 2021. This year there are spots for 4-7 veterans as we had applications remaining from 2019. Please announce the call for Macon County Veterans or their family members to apply to have the Veteran’s portrait painted by one of our local artists. Vets or their families may apply at the gallery between Memorial Day and July 4th of this year. There is no cost to apply or for the portraits. The only requirement is that the Veteran or their family member be present to receive the portrait on Veterans Day November 11, 2021. Community members who wish to help support the costs for this program are also welcome. Contact the project chair by email at karen@programservices.org.

NC Dept of Justice Releases May 2021 Highlights [LINK]


National Weather Map for Today



General forecast through Tuesday Night


Franklin area

Today

Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with lows in the upper 50s. Calm winds.

Monday

Sunny, with highs in the upper 80s. Light and variable winds.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 30%.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Chance of rain is 20%.

Highlands Plateau

Today

Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. Calm winds.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with lows in the upper 50s. Calm winds.

Monday

Sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 30%.

Tuesday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows around 60. Chance of rain is 30%.

Otto area

Today

Patchy fog before midmorning. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Calm winds.

Monday

Sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s. Light and variable winds.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 60s. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain is 30%.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 20%.

Nantahala area

Today

Sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Calm winds.

Monday

Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Calm winds.

Monday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Calm winds.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers between 2pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.

Tuesday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Chance of rain is 20%.

HAZARDS

Hazardous Weather is not anticipated today.

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK



Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Sun Jul 4 2021

For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Elsa, located just over one hundred miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.


b>TROPICAL TIDBITS

Tropical Tidbits is a website run by Macon Media's favorite no-nonsense tropical forecaster, Levi Cowan. He does not post material just to get clicks or to sensationalize the storms he covers to "make them more exciting." He is reliable and sober, unlike The Weather Channel crowd of Drama Queen Meteorologists.

Levi typically posts videos late in the afternoon or early before midnight on Youtube. [Youtube Channel]

Elsa Weaker; Significant Impacts Still Expected in Cuba, Florida, and Southeast U.S. (recorded July 3rd)





Tropical Storm Elsa Discussion Number 15
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL052021
1100 PM EDT Sat Jul 03 2021

Elsa is undergoing a convective bursting pattern the past few hours, with some cold overshooting tops of -90 deg C east and northeast of the center. However, data from an Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft indicate that this convective increase has not translated into an intensity increase. To the contrary, 5000-ft flight-level and SFMR surface winds have decreased while the central pressure has increased to 1004 mb. Based on the latest recon data, the intensity has been lowered to 55 kt. The aircraft has now climbed to 10,000 ft for safety reasons and will be penetrating the area of intense convection to check for stronger winds there.

The initial motion estimate is now 295/15 kt. Elsa is forecast to gradually move around the western periphery of a deep-layer subtropical ridge over the next 96 hours, accompanied by an additional decrease in forward speed. The latest model guidance has continued to converge along the previous advisory track, with the corrected-consensus models HCCA and FSSE nearly on top of each other. The TCVA simple consensus model is also similar to the HCCA and FSSE models. However, out of respect for the slightly more westward GFS and GFS-ensemble models, which have performed admirably thus far with Elsa, the new official forecast lies a tad west of the aforementioned consensus models and lies nearly on top of the previous advisory track.

After interacting with the mountainous terrain of southwestern Haiti, which could have caused some disruption in the low-level field despite the center remaining offshore, little change in intensity is expected tonight. However, some slight restrengthening could occur by Sunday afternoon as Elsa approaches the south-central coast of Cuba where the sea-surface temperatures are quite warm at more than 30 deg C and the water is deep. Weakening is expected after the cyclone moves across west-central Cuba, followed again by some slight restrengthening after Elsa emerges over the warm Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida. Westerly vertical wind shear increasing to near 20 kt by 96 hours should prevent any significant strengthening from occurring. Elsa should become a very asymmetrical tropical cyclone late on day 3 and on day 4 with most of the heavy rain and strongest winds displaced along and to the east of the forecast track. The initial intensity is similar to the previous advisory and closely follows the simple and corrected consensus models.

Given the remaining uncertainty in the track forecast and the degree of land interaction with Hispaniola and Cuba, users are urged to factor in some of this uncertainty. For reference, average NHC track errors at days 3 and 4 are 125 miles and 150 miles, respectively. The average NHC intensity errors are around 15 mph for both days 3 and 4.

Key Messages:

1. Widespread heavy rain will move across southern Haiti and Jamaica tonight into Sunday where isolated to scattered flash flooding and mudslides will be possible. Heavy rain will then impact the Cayman Islands and Cuba Sunday into Monday resulting in significant flooding and mudslides over Cuba. As Elsa approaches the Florida Keys and Florida Peninsula early next week, isolated flash flooding and minor river flooding will be possible.

2. Tropical storm conditions and dangerous storm surge are expected with hurricane conditions possible in portions of eastern Cuba beginning early Sunday, with tropical storm conditions possible in central and western Cuba Sunday night and Monday.

3. There is an increasing risk of tropical storm conditions, storm surge, and rainfall impacts beginning Monday in the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula, and a Tropical Storm Watch is now in effect for portions of the Florida Keys. This risk will spread northward along the Florida Peninsula through Wednesday and reach the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas Wednesday and Thursday, however uncertainty in the forecast remains larger than usual due to Elsa's potential interaction with the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba. Interests elsewhere in Florida and along the southeast U.S. coast should monitor Elsa's progress and updates to the forecast.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INIT 04/0300Z 17.9N 75.3W 55 KT 65 MPH
12H 04/1200Z 19.2N 77.3W 55 KT 65 MPH
24H 05/0000Z 20.9N 79.4W 60 KT 70 MPH
36H 05/1200Z 22.5N 81.0W 50 KT 60 MPH...INLAND
48H 06/0000Z 24.1N 82.2W 45 KT 50 MPH...OVER WATER
60H 06/1200Z 26.0N 82.8W 50 KT 60 MPH
72H 07/0000Z 28.0N 83.0W 50 KT 60 MPH
96H 08/0000Z 32.7N 81.0W 45 KT 50 MPH...INLAND
120H 09/0000Z 37.7N 74.9W 35 KT 40 MPH...OVER WATER



Air Quality




Air quality is in the middle range of yellow for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the middle range of yellow.

Fire and Smoke Map
(There are no significant sources of smoke in the region as of 3am on 04-22-2021.)

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (3.3 out of 12) today with Grasses, Plantain, and Dock being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the low-medium range (3.5 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County on July 2nd


Highest Temperature 96°F in Franklin in 1948
Lowest Temperature 46°F in Highlands in 1996
Greatest Rainfall 4.46 inches in Highlands in 2013
Greatest Snowfall (No snowfall recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)


July Weather Extremes for Macon County

Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin on 07-29-1952
Lowest Temperature 34°F in Highlands on 07-27-1911
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands on 07-29-1879
Greatest Snowfall no measurable snowfall has been recorded since records started being kept in 1872


Macon Calendar

The Macon County Art Association (a not for profit member organization) is offering classes in encaustic painting on Specified Fridays from 10AM-12PM at the Uptown Gallery 30 E Main St Franklin NC. Specific class dates are Friday July 9 and 23, August 3 and 27, September 3 and 17, October 29.

For more information contact the instructor, Karen Smith, at karen@programservices.org

National News Update

On This Day

July 4th is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 180 days remain until the end of the year. The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.



Historical Events

(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)


362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.

414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.

836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.

993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.

1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death.

1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.

1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.

1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.

1456 – Ottoman–Hungarian wars: The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins.

1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.

1584 – Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe arrive at Roanoke Island

1610 – The Battle of Klushino is fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish–Muscovite War.

1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (now Quebec, Canada).

1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

1774 – Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts.

1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

1778 – American Revolutionary War: U.S. forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.

1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.

1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.

1826 – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, respectively the second and third presidents of the United States, die the same day, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adams' last words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives."

1827 – Slavery is abolished in the State of New York.

1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.

1832 – John Neal delivers the first public lecture in the US to advocate the rights of women.

1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.

1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.

1845 – Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau's account of his two years there, Walden, will become a touchstone of the environmental movement.

1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.

1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to U.S. forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.

1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Confederate invasion of U.S. territory.

1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.

1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.

1886 – The Canadian Pacific Railway's first scheduled train from Montreal arrives in Port Moody on the Pacific coast, after six days of travel.

1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.

1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, causing Monday (July 4) to occur twice, resulting in a year with 367 days.

1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.

1898 – En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks off the coast of Sable Island, with the loss of 549 lives.

1901 – William Howard Taft becomes American governor of the Philippines.

1903 – The Philippine–American War is officially concluded.

1910 – The Johnson–Jeffries riots occur after African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Between 11 and 26 people are killed and hundreds more injured.

1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.

1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.

1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.

1918 – Mehmed V died at the age of 73 and Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.

1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.

1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).

1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.

1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball.

1941 – Nazi crimes against the Polish nation: Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.

1941 – World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German-occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.

1942 – World War II: The 250-day Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea ends when the city falls to Axis forces.

1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle, begins in the village of Prokhorovka.

1943 – World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board, including general Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile; only the pilot survives.

1944 - 1st Japanese kamikaze attack, US fleet near Iwo Jima

1946 – The Kielce pogrom against Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland.

1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.

1947 – The "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.

1950 – Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.

1951 – Cold War: A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.

1951 – William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.

1954 – Rationing ends in the United Kingdom.

1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Acts (United States)).

1961 – On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-19 suffers a complete loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew are able to effect repairs, but 22 of them die of radiation poisoning over the following two years.

1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.

1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.

1976 – The U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial.

1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit.

1982 – Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist are kidnapped in Lebanon by Phalange forces, and their fate remains unknown.

1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (a.k.a. the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1994 – Rwandan genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.

1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.

1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.

2001 – Vladivostock Air Flight 352 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Airport killing all 145 people on board.

2002 – A Boeing 707 crashes near Bangui M'Poko International Airport in Bangui, Central African Republic, killing 28.

2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the World Trade Center site in New York City.

2004 – Greece beats Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final and becomes European Champion for first time in its history.

2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.

2006 – Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program's history to occur on the United States' Independence Day.

2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

2009 – The first of four days of bombings begins on the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao.

2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.

2015 – Chile claims its first title in international football by defeating Argentina in the 2015 Copa América Final.

2017 - North Korea tests first successful intercontinental ballistic missile into Sea of Japan

2019 - Biggest seaweed bloom in the world, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt stretches from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico after algae explosion due to deforestation and fertiliser

2019 - US President Donald Trump holds a “Salute to America” Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C., controversial for its emphasis on the military and presence of tanks

2019 - Russian President Vladmir Putin meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican

2019 - Record temperatures in Alaska as Anchorage reaches 90F (32C)





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Published at 5:30am on Sunday, July 04, 2021



Happy 245th Birthday, America!

 




Today, in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was publicly proclaimed after having been passed in secret on July 2nd by the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress voted to pass the Lee Resolution that formally declared the colonies free and independent states and absolved all allegiance to the British Crown. A more detailed play-by-play of the events and a copy of both the Lee Resolution and the Declaration of Independence is posted below. Also included is a video from the National Archives that discusses the Lee Resolution.


The Lee Resolution and the Declaration of Independence

On May 15, 1776, the revolutionary Virginia Convention, then meeting in Williamsburg, passed a resolution instructing Virginia's delegates in the Continental Congress "to propose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain". In accordance with those instructions, on June 7, Richard Henry Lee proposed the resolution to Congress and it was seconded by John Adams.

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.


That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.
Congress as a whole was not yet ready to declare independence at that moment, because the delegates from some of the colonies, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, had not yet been authorized to vote for independence. Voting on the first clause of Lee's resolution was therefore postponed for three weeks while advocates of independence worked to build support in the colonial governments for the resolution. Meanwhile, a Committee of Five was appointed to prepare a formal declaration so that it would be ready when independence, which almost everyone recognized was now inevitable, was approved. The committee prepared a declaration of independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, and presented it to Congress on June 28, 1776.

The declaration was set aside while the resolution of independence was debated for several days. The vote on the independence section of the Lee resolution had been postponed until Monday, July 1, when it was taken up by the Committee of the Whole. At the request of South Carolina, the resolution was not acted upon until the following day in the hope of securing unanimity. A trial vote had been tested on the 1st where it was found that South Carolina and Pennsylvania were in the negative, with Delaware split in a tie between its two delegates. The vote was held on July 2, with critical changes happening between Monday and Tuesday. Edward Rutledge was able to persuade South Carolina delegates to vote yea, two Pennsylvania delegates were persuaded to be absent, and Caesar Rodney had been sent for through the night to break Delaware's tie. So Lee's resolution of independence was approved by twelve of the thirteen colonies. Delegates from New York still lacked instructions to vote for independence, and so they abstained on this vote, although on July 9 the New York Provincial Congress would vote to "join with the other colonies in supporting" independence.

Video from the National Archives

Take a virtual journey with the National Archives to find out how the Declaration of Independence came to be and learn about Richard Henry Lee's writing of the Lee Resolution. The National Archives is the permanent home of the original Declaration of Independence. The Lee Resolution for Independence can be viewed here: https://catalog.archives.gov/ID/301684




Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;

For imposing taxes on us without our consent;

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses;

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 

We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

[Signed by] JOHN HANCOCK [President]


New Hampshire
JOSIAH BARTLETT,
WM. WHIPPLE,
MATTHEW THORNTON.

Massachusetts Bay
SAML. ADAMS,
JOHN ADAMS,
ROBT. TREAT PAINE,
ELBRIDGE GERRY

Rhode Island
STEP. HOPKINS,
WILLIAM ELLERY.

Connecticut
ROGER SHERMAN,
SAM'EL HUNTINGTON,
WM. WILLIAMS,
OLIVER WOLCOTT.

New York
WM. FLOYD,
PHIL. LIVINGSTON,
FRANS. LEWIS,
LEWIS MORRIS.

New Jersey
RICHD. STOCKTON,
JNO. WITHERSPOON,
FRAS. HOPKINSON,
JOHN HART,
ABRA. CLARK.

Pennsylvania
ROBT. MORRIS
BENJAMIN RUSH,
BENJA. FRANKLIN,
JOHN MORTON,
GEO. CLYMER,
JAS. SMITH,
GEO. TAYLOR,
JAMES WILSON,
GEO. ROSS.

Delaware
CAESAR RODNEY,
GEO. READ,
THO. M'KEAN.

Maryland
SAMUEL CHASE,
WM. PACA,
THOS. STONE,
CHARLES CARROLL of Carrollton.

Virginia
GEORGE WYTHE,
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
TH. JEFFERSON,
BENJA. HARRISON,
THS. NELSON, JR.,
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE,
CARTER BRAXTON.

North Carolina
WM. HOOPER,
JOSEPH HEWES,
JOHN PENN.

South Carolina
EDWARD RUTLEDGE,
THOS. HAYWARD, JUNR.,
THOMAS LYNCH, JUNR.,
ARTHUR MIDDLETON.

Georgia
BUTTON GWINNETT,
LYMAN HALL,
GEO. WALTON.

NOTE.-Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the Department of State, at Washington, says: " The names of the signers are spelt above as in the facsimile of the original, but the punctuation of them is not always the same; neither do the names of the States appear in the facsimile of the original. The names of the signers of each State are grouped together in the facsimile of the original, except the name of Matthew Thornton, which follows that of Oliver Wolcott."-Revised Statutes of the United States, 2d edition, 1878, p. 6.

Source:
Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American States.
Government Printing Office, 1927. House Document No. 398. 


Published at 5:15am on Sunday, July 4, 2020, 245 years later.