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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
OUTLOOK
A moist stationary front will linger across the Southeast through Saturday. Drier high pressure builds into the area Sunday, then settles near Bermuda by Monday, which will return typical summertime weather across the region into the middle of next week.
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Local News
Franklin Town Council, August 2021
The Franklin Town Council met last night. The public agenda and agenda packet are posted on [MaconMedia.com]
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 Monday Night
Franklin area
Today
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 2pm and 4pm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs near 80. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph by noon. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 11pm. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 2pm and 4pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with highs in the mid-70s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph. Chance of rain is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 11pm. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds.
Monday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 1pm and 5pm. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 60.
Otto area
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 1pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 1pm and 4pm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs near 80. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph by noon. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 11pm. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers after 11am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. Calm winds.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-80s.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Nantahala area
Today
Showers and thunderstorms likely before 3pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs in the upper 70s. Light winds out of the northwest. Chance of rain is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night
Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 11pm. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with lows around 60. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday
A slight chance of showers between noon and 5pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with highs near 80. Calm winds. Chance of rain is 20%.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s. Calm winds.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-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 Sat Aug 7 2021
For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:
1. A broad area of low pressure located a few hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands is producing a large area of disorganized cloudiness and showers. Environmental conditions are expected to be only marginally conducive for development, but a tropical depression could still form by the early to middle part of next week while the system moves west-northwestward to westward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic at 10 to 15 mph.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...30 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...40 percent.
2. A small but well-defined area of low pressure located over the eastern tropical Atlantic about a thousand miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands is producing limited shower activity. Some development of this low is possible while it drifts toward the west-southwest or west over the weekend and then moves a little faster toward the west-northwest over the central tropical Atlantic by the middle of next week.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...20 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...30 percent.
3. A tropical wave located over the west-central tropical Atlantic is producing limited shower activity. Significant development of this system is not anticipated as it moves west-northwestward across the Lesser Antilles and eastern Caribbean Sea during the early to middle part of next week.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...10 percent.
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Almanac
Air Quality
Air quality is in the extreme upper range of green for most of the county, with the ridges and other higher elevations today being in the extreme upper range of green.
Fire and Smoke Map
(There is haze from the wildfires out on the west coast.)
Pollen levels are expected to be in the low-medium range (7.0 out of 12) today with Grasses, Nettle, and Chenopods being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium range (5.9 out of 12).
Weather Extremes for Macon County on August 5th
Highest Temperature 98°F in Highlands in 1930
Lowest Temperature 43°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1950
Greatest Rainfall 3.64 inches in Highlands in 1937
Greatest Snowfall (No snowfall recorded on this date since records started being kept in 1872)
August Weather Extremes for Macon County
Highest Temperature 99°F in Franklin on 08-09-1980 Lowest Temperature 40°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 08-29-1968 Greatest Rainfall 9.68 inches in Highlands on 08-13-1940
Greatest Snowfall no measurable snowfall has been recorded since records started being kept in 1873
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of August
Data available from 1870 to 2020
Highest Temperature 110°F Fayetteville, Cumberland County 08-21-1983
Lowest Temperature 31°F Banner Elk, Avery County 08-23-1930
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 13.08 in Idlewild, Ashe County 08-14-1930
Monthly Averages for North Carolina
Warmest Weather Station 79.7°F Wilmington, New Hanover County
Coldest Weather Station 59.6°F Mount Mitchell, Yancey County
Wettest Weather Station 7.74 in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County
Driest Weather Station 3.12 in Lexington, Davidson County
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
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
Latest Olympic Results [New York Times]
NBC Nightly News, August 6th, 2021
PBS NewsHour full episode, August 6th, 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.
Weekly COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County (August 6, 2021) [Macon Media]
Three things to know about the long-term side effects of COVID vaccines[University of Alabama]
Dr. Anthony Fauci: Expect 'a flood' of COVID-19 vaccine mandates after full FDA approval [USA Today]
Reduced Risk of Reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 After COVID-19 Vaccination — Kentucky, May–June 2021 [CDC]
Prior Statin Use and Risk of Mortality and Severe Disease From Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis [Oxford Academic]
SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have acquired mutations associated with an increased spike cleavage [BioRxiv]
Vaccination with B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 variants protects mice from challenge with wild type SARS-CoV-2 [BioRxiv]
Myocarditis Linked to mRNA Vaccine [JAMA Network]
TWiV 790: COVID-19 clinical update #74 with Dr. Daniel Griffin (August 7th, 2021)
In COVID-19 clinical update #74, Daniel Griffin covers infections in vaccinated individuals, expansion of Regeneron monoclonal antibody cocktail for prophylaxis, neutralization of variants by antibodies produced by infection or vaccination, longer hospital stays associated with remdesivir treatment, and post-acute sequelae of nfection and impact on quality of life 1-6 months after illness.
Show notes at [https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-790/ ]
Dr John Campbell: US, high cases in low vaccine areas
TWiV 789: Does delta mean a change?
TWiV reviews a leaked CDC document on virulence and spread of the delta variant, and how anti-alphavirus antibodies that do not neutralize infection can nevertheless protect mice from disease. Show notes at [https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-789/]
'COVID-19 Q and A with A and V Livestream (August 4th, 2021)
Coronavirus Briefing: NC Gov. Roy Cooper (August 4th, 2021)
PRESS RELEASE (08-04-2021)
GOVERNOR ROY COOPER
Governor Cooper Announces Third COVID-19 Cash Drawing Winner and Highlights HOPE Program for Rental and Utility Assistance
HOPE Program has increased cap on awards and is now accepting landlord referrals
Today, amid higher COVID-19 numbers statewide, Governor Roy Cooper again urged North Carolinians to get vaccinated. He also announced the third winner of North Carolina’s Your Shot at $1 Million Summer Cash Drawing. Winston-Salem resident and incoming Fayetteville State University freshman Audrey Chavous received the $1 million prize as part of the cash drawing that includes North Carolinians 18 and over who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
“The highly contagious Delta variant makes vaccination all the more important,” said Governor Cooper. “We can’t afford for people to wait any longer. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are up. Simply put, get your shot.”
Kody Kinsley, Chief Deputy Secretary for Health at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), said he hopes Chavous will inspire other young adults to get vaccinated right away and take advantage of the state’s new $100 Summer Cards for people who get their first dose of the vaccine.
“New cases of COVID-19 are on the rise and most of these cases are among young adults,” said Kinsley. “Vaccination is our way out of this pandemic and putting masks behind us. Our $1 Million Summer Cash drawings might be over, but you can still get a $100 Summer Card through the end of August. Don’t wait to vaccinate.”
In the last couple of weeks, North Carolina has seen a 42% increase in first shots.
“Facts about COVID-19 vaccines are key,” said Chavous, the cash drawing winner. “If you take your time and do the research, you’ll see that it’s backed by science and that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines far outweigh any short-term side effects or rare risks.”
Governor Cooper was also joined by Laura Hogshead, Director of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency to update on the progress of emergency rental assistance.
The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) stood up the HOPE program last year and it is helping people across the state stay in their homes with the lights on. The average turnaround from application to payment on claims is 14-18 days. Since the HOPE Program opened last fall, more than $328 million has been awarded to help North Carolina families, with over $234 million already paid to landlords and utility providers statewide.
The HOPE Program has recently implemented program changes that will expand landlord participation and increase the amount of assistance going to families across the state. As of August 1, HOPE is accepting landlord referrals of tenants who need assistance. If you are a landlord whose tenant is struggling to pay rent, you can submit their name and contact information at the HOPE website.
In addition, the HOPE Program has increased the cap on financial awards to applicants The monthly rent award limit has increased by 30 percent and the utility award limit has increased a full 100 percent for all new applications as of August 1.
For more information on the HOPE program visit WWW.HOPE.NC.GOV or call 888-9ASK HOPE to get help.
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On This Day
August 7th is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 146 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)
461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the magister militum Ricimer.
626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople.
768 – Pope Stephen III is elected to office, and quickly seeks Frankish protection against the Lombard threat, since the Byzantine Empire is no longer able to help.
936 – Coronation of King Otto I of Germany.
1461 – The Ming dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
1479 – Battle of Guinegate: French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Guinegate (1479)]
• [Dramatization] (English subtitles)
• [Wikipedia: War of the Burgundian Succession]
1679 – The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the south-eastern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America. 1714 – The Battle of Gangut: The first important victory of the Russian Navy.
• [Battle of Gangut]
• [Historical Underwater Video Marathon: Battle of Gangut]
• [Gangut: The Tide Breaker. Re-enactment of the first naval victory of Peter the Great]
1743 – The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War.
1782 – George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed the Purple Heart.
• [Wikipedia: Badge of Military Merit]
• [Purple Heart]
• [Almanac: Purple Heart]
• [National Purple Heart Hall of Honor]
1786 – The first federal Indian Reservation is created by the United States.
• [Wikipedia: Indian reservation]
• [History.com: Indian Reservations]
• [How Independent Are Native American Reservations?]
1789 – The United States Department of War is established.
1791 – American troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War.
1794 – U.S. President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
1819 – Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.
1858 – The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College.
1890 – Anna Månsdotter became the last woman to be executed in Sweden for the 1889 Yngsjö murder.
1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California.
1927 – The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.
1930 – The last confirmed lynching of black people in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana; two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are killed.
1933 – The Kingdom of Iraq slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. This date is recognized as Martyrs Day or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory of the Simele massacre.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
• [Wikipedia: Guadalcanal campaign]
• [Battlefield S4/E5 - The Battle of Guadalcanal]
• [Guadalcanal Naval Campaign] (8 video playlist)
1944 – IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
1946 – The government of the Soviet Union presented a note to its Turkish counterparts which refuted the latter's sovereignty over the Turkish Straits, thus beginning the Turkish Straits crisis.
1947 – Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
• [Wikipedia: Kon-Tiki expedition]
• [Wikipedia: Thor Heyerdahl]
• [The Tangaroa Expedition (The Kon-Tiki Expedition) 2012 Documentary]
1947 – The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
1959 – Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1960 – Ivory Coast becomes independent from France.
1962 – Canadian-born American pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey awarded the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for her refusal to authorize thalidomide.
1964 – Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
• [Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]
• [The Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)] (Simple History)
• [The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution | History]
• [CBS News - Gulf of Tonkin incident - 1964-08-05]
1969 – Richard Nixon appoints Luis R. Bruce, a Mohawk-Oglala Sioux and co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians, as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1970 – California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
1974 – Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
1976 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars.
1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.
1981 – The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
1985 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
1987 – Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union.
1989 – U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
1990 – First American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of the Gulf War.
1993 – Ada Deer, a Menominee activist, sworn in as the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1995 – The Chilean government declares state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense, cold, wind, rain and snowfall known as the White Earthquake.
1997 – Space Shuttle Program: The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-85 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• [Wikipedia: STS-85]
• [STS 85 launch August 7 1997]
• [STS-85 Mission Highlights Resources Tape]
• [STS-85 Postflight Presentation]
• [STS-85 Day 01 Highlights]
1997 – Fine Air Flight 101 crashes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing five people.
1998 – Bombings at United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people.
• [Wikipedia: 1998 United States embassy bombings]
• [Al Qaeda's First Ever Attack: Nairobi Embassy]
• [1998 US Embassy Blasts Suspect Dead]
1999 – The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade invades neighboring Dagestan.
2007 – At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record.
2008 – The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia.
2020 – Air India Express Flight 1344 overshoots the runway at Calicut International Airport in the Malappuram district of Kerala, India, and crashes, killing 21 of the 190 people on board.
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Published at 5:00am on Saturday, August 07, 2021
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to the following websites or books: MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, On This Day..., The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War. Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center. Back to Top
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