News and Weather Briefing for Thursday, July 29, 2021

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Local News
Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
On This Day
Support Macon Media

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OUTLOOK

Hot and dry high pressure extends into the region through Friday allowing heat indices to climb near or into the low 100s outside the mountains. Friday a cold front will approach the area gradually sinking south across the Carolinas and northern Georgia throughout the day. This front is expected to track south of the forecast area Saturday before lifting north again into the area Sunday. This frontal boundary will keep shower and thunderstorm chances around. Early next week another cold front brings cooler weather along with more shower and thunderstorm chances.




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Local News

Dedication Ceremony - Beloved Man Dr. Jerry Wolfe Highway/b>



Macon County Board of Education, July 2021



For more information, visit [MaconMedia.com].

Macon County Board of Commissioners, July 2021



Supporting documents can be found at [MaconMedia.com]

Franklin Town Council - July 2021



Supporting documents posted online at [MaconMedia.com]

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Local Weather

National Weather Map for Today

General forecast through Saturday Night


Franklin area

Today

Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with highs in the lower 90s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with lows in the upper 60s. Calm winds.

Friday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midafternoon. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 90s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph mph in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with highs near 90.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Highlands Plateau

Today

Sunny, with highs near 85. Winds out of the west around 5 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph mph.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 60s.

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Otto area

Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with highs near 90. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Increasing clouds, with lows around 70. Calm winds.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before midmorning. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs near 90. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 8 mph.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with highs near 90.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Nantahala area

Today

Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with highs near 90. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Increasing clouds, with lows around 70. Calm winds.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before midmorning. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with highs near 90. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 8 mph.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midnight.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with highs near 90.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 60s.

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Hazards and Tropical Weather

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK

Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Thu Jul 29 2021

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

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

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Almanac

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 UPPER range of yellow.

Fire and Smoke Map
(There is haze from the wildfires out on the west coast.)

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (4.9 out of 12) today with Grasses, Plantain, and Nettle being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium range (5.4 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County on July 29th


Highest Temperature 101°F in Franklin in 1952
Lowest Temperature 40°F in Highlands in 1911
Greatest Rainfall 21.15 inches in Highlands in 1879
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

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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)

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Katie Dean announces Macon Co. Townhall

Katie Dean is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 11th District. Katie is holding a Townhall on Thursday, July 15, 6pm – 7pm at the Big Bear Shelter [E. Main St. and Little Tennessee River].

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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

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National News Roundup

Level1 News July 28 2021: Our Satellites Will Black Out The Sun



Weather Video: Night of the Green Ghosts



Sprites [Wikipedia]

Red Sprites and Blue Jets Explained - New Discovery! (May 2020)



Ken Burns On Misinformation, Paranoia and Conspiracy



NBC Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - July 28th, 2021



PBS NewsHour full episode, July 28th, 2021

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COVID-19 News and Updates

Since it looks like we may be in for a new wave of infections, here is a section on COVID-19. It will include local, regional, state, national, and global items.

COVID-19 Q and A with Amy and Vincent (July 28th, 2021)



Dr John Campbell: CDC changes it's mind (July 28th, 2021)



TWiV 786: You make mucus and you move it (July 29th, 2021)



TWiVsters review off-season epidemics of respiratory syncytial virus in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions, and impaired innate immune responses in upper respiratory tract cells from patients with severe COVID-19. Show notes at [https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-786/]

Covid-19 Delta variant affects younger, unvaccinated populations in NC [Carolina Public Press]

How the coronavirus infects cells — and why Delta is so dangerous [Nature]

SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant exhibits higher infectivity and immune resistance [BioRxiv]

Covid-19 Breakthrough Infections in Vaccinated Health Care Workers [New England Journal of Medicine]

Surveillance Data Shows White-Tailed Deer Exposed to SARS-CoV-2 [USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service]

Risk of Myocarditis from COVID-19 Infection in People Under Age 20: A Population-Based Analysis [MedRxiv]

Long covid—mechanisms, risk factors, and management [BMJ]

Six Month Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine [MedRxiv]

A new perspective for mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection: priming the innate immune system for viral attack [Royal Society]

CDC Confirms That Viral Loads In Vaccinated People With Delta May Be Infectious, So Masks Are Necessary [SFist]

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On This Day

July 29th is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 155 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)


587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.
• [Neo-Babylonian Empire]
• [Babylonian Conquest and Destruction of the First Temple]
• [The Neo-Babylonian Empire (Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar II, Nabonidus)]

238 – The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor, the sixth emperor of the year.

615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12.

904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
• [Sack of Thessalonica (904)]
• [Arab–Byzantine wars] 923 – Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).

1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Kleidion]
• [Battles of Kleidion Pass and Thessalonika, July 1014]

1018 – Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.

1030 – Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.

1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
• [Siege of Damascus (1148)]
• [Wikipedia: Second Crusade]
• [Second Crusade | 3 Minute History]

1565 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1567 – The infant James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.

1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Gravelines]
• [HistoryPod Video] 1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Landen]
• [Wikipedia: Nine Years' War]

1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.

1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning "Memoir on the Diffraction of Light", precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.

1836 – Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

1848 – Great Famine of Ireland: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.

1851 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.

1858 – United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
• [Wikipedia: Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan)]
• [Boshin War | 3 Minute History]

1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Belle Boyd]
• [The Southern Belle]

1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.

1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.

1900 – In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Umberto I of Italy]
• [Wikipedia Bio: Gaetano Bresci]

1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9 and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.

1914 – The Cape Cod Canal opened.

1920 – Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.

1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.
• [Wikipedia: Bonus Army]
• [Wikipedia: Great Depression]
• [PBS Documentary: The March of the Bonus Army]
• [Bonus Army: US military attacks demonstrating American War Veterans]
• [The Bonus Army Conflict In Washington 1932 | Our History]
• [History Curator: Bonus Army]

1937 – Tōngzhōu Incident: In Tōngzhōu, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
• [Wikipedia: Tungchow mutiny]

1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.

1948 – Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
• [Wikipedia: 1948 Summer Olympics]
• [Movietone Newsreel]
• [London 1948 Olympic Games - Olympic Flame & Opening Ceremony]

1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
• [Wikipedia: No Gun Ri massacre]
• [No Gun Ri Massacre (1950)]
• [NHD 2019 Massacre of No Gun-ri, Junior Division]

1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.

1957 – The Tonight Show - Tonight Starring Jack Paar premieres on NBC with Jack Paar beginning the modern day talk show.

1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1959 – First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.

1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.

1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
• [Wikipedia: 1967 USS Forrestal fire]
• ["Situation Critical: USS Forrestal" - Documentary about the tragic 1967 fire]
• [John McCain in 1967 after the USS Forrestal disaster]
• [USS Forrestal - Nowhere to run - Trial by Fire: A Carrier Fights For Life - Restored film]

1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.

1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.

1973 – Driver Roger Williamson is killed during the Dutch Grand Prix, after a suspected tire failure causes his car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.

1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the "Son of Sam") kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.

1980 – Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution.

1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
• [Wikipedia: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer]
• [Charles & Diana ~ The Royal Wedding 1981]

1981 – After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

1987 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).

1987 – Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.

1993 – The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.

1996 – The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad.

2005 – Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
• [Wikipedia: Eris (dwarf planet)]
• [Eris -The World That Demoted Pluto (Beyond Pluto Episode 3) 4K UHD]
• [Eris Facts And History: The Most Massive Dwarf Planet!]
• [In Depth | Eris – NASA Solar System Exploration]

2010 – An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 80 deaths.

2013 – Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.

2019 – The 2019 Altamira prison riot between rival Brazilian drug gangs leaves 62 dead.
• [Brazil prison riot leaves 57 dead, 16 decapitated]
• [Brazil prison riot: At least 57 killed, 16 decapitated during clash]

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Published at 4:20am on Thursday, July 29, 2021

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