Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County.
GENERAL OUTLOOK
Dry high pressure lingers over the region into the weekend and provides above normal temperatures. Rain chances increase on Christmas Day into Tuesday with a moist frontal system crossing our area from the west. Expect cool and breezy weather behind this cold front.
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Saturday Night
Franklin Area
Today
Partly sunny, with highs near 60. Calm winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Calm winds.
Friday
Partly sunny, with highs near 60. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs near 60.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
`Highlands Plateau
Today
Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Light and variable winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Light and variable winds.
Friday
Partly sunny, with highs near 50. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs near 50.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 30s.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Mostly sunny, with highs near 60. Light and variable winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Calm winds.
Friday
Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 50s. Calm winds in thge morning increasing to come out of the south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 50s.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the upper 30s.
Nantahala Area
Today
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Calm winds.
Friday
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 50s. Calm winds in thge morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 30s. Light winds out of the southeast.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 50s.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 40
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Hazards
Hazardous weather is not expected today or tonight.
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News Briefing
---STATE AND LOCAL---
• McDowell County EMS extends its pause on non-emergency transfers to Mission Hospital [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office answers police shooting lawsuit [Smoky Mountain News]
• Judge rules on motion to dismiss claims in Cherokee County police shooting suit [BPR]
• Tillis to file bill to prevent states from banning presidential candidates from ballot [Raleigh News and Observer ]
• North Carolina Medicaid expansion enrollment reached 280,000 in the first weeks of the program. [WCNC-TV (Charlotte, NC) ]
• NC Republicans consider new law to keep Trump on ballot [WLOS-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
News 13's Weathering the Winter: Everything you should know about this year's El Niño & more | WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)
• Angel Medical Center President's Column for December 2023 [xxx]
---RECENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEETINGS--
• Macon County Board of Commissioners (Dec 2023) [Macon Media]
• Macon County Board of Education December 2023 Meeting at Franklin High School [Macon Media]
• Franklin Town Council (Dec 2023) [Macon Media]
---NATIONAL---
Colorado Supreme Court bars Trump from state's 2024 primary ballot | CBS News
SCOTUS expert on what to expect as Colorado ruling makes its way to the court. | ABC News
• Colorado Supreme Court justices face a flood of threats after disqualifying Trump from the ballot [NBC News]
• Trump urges Supreme Court to delay review of presidential immunity defense [Courthouse News Service]
• Nationwide swatting spree targeting Jewish institutions appears coordinated, coming from outside US: FBI [ABC News]
• Vaccines reduce the risk of long COVID in children [nature]
• Army to field new rifle, machine gun and optic in 2024 [Army Times]
• Cox Media Group claims to have capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers for targeted ads [Storyboard 18]
International News Headlines
Why Mexico’s $29B Train Megaproject Is So Controversial | WSJ Breaking Ground
Operation Prosperity Guardian - To Convoy or To Not Convoy? | Bab el-Mandeb, Red Sea & Gulf of Aden | What is Going on With Shipping?
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 20, 2023 [Institute for the Study of War]
• Liveblog: Hamas says 20,000 killed in Gaza as UN delays truce vote [BBC News]
• Congo: Why are elections in DRC so important? [DW News]
• INDIA bloc to hold protest march today from Parliament over suspension of MPs [Hindustan Times]
• U.S. deploys B-1B bomber after N.K. ICBM launch [Yonhap News Agency]
• How to cure China’s declining consumer prices divides opinion as deflation signs deepen [South China Morning Post]
WATCH: Funeral held for Sandra Day O'Connor | Washington Post
Ham Nation: Winter Field Day & 12 Days Of Christmas! | Ham Radio Crash Course
Failure at the Fence (full documentary) | FRONTLINE + @WashingtonPost
COVID-19 cases rising in U.S. as new "variant of interest" emerges | CBS News
Washington Today (12-20-23): Mixed reaction to Colo. Supreme Court keeping Donald Trump off ballot | C-SPAN Radio
Global National: Dec. 20, 2023 | Ottawa teen accused of anti-Jewish plot had bomb elements, RCMP say
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - December 20, 2023
Nightly News Full Broadcast - Dec 20 | NBC News
PBS NewsHour full episode, (December 20, 2023)
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On This Day
December 21st is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 10 days remain until the end of the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 is often the shortest day of the year and is sometimes regarded as the first day of winter.
In the Southern Hemisphere, December 21 is often the longest day of the year and occurs during the southern summer.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
• [Wikipedia: Year of the Four Emperors]
• [Wikipedia: Vespasian]
• [AUDIO: The Year of the Four Emperors]
• [Vespasian: From Mule Breeder To Roman Emperor | Imperium: The Path To Power | Timeline]
1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celestine II.
1140 – Conrad III of Germany besieges Weinsberg.
1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.
1361 – The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory.
1598 – Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.
1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• [Wikipedia: Plymouth Rock]
• [The Mayflower: The Puritan Voyage Of The Pilgrim Fathers | Journey Into The Unknown | Parable]
• [Wikipedia: Plymouth Colony]
1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
1832 – Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.
1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.
• [Wikipedia: Challenger expedition]
• [VIDEO: The Pioneering Voyage of the HMS Challenger]
• [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: The Challenger expedition]
1879 – World premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1883 – The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.
1907 – The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.
1910 – An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.
1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1919 – American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.
1923 – United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.
1936 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 88 multi-role combat aircraft.
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1941 – World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed.
1946 – An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.
1963 – "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
1965 – International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.
1967 – Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
• [VIDEO: Apollo 8 Launch]
• [Wikipedia: Apollo 8]
• [NASA: Apollo 8/a>]
1970 – First flight of F-14 multi-role combat aircraft.
1973 – The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.
1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.
• [Wikipedia: Pan Am Flight 103]
• [Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives]
• [[VIDEO] The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story]
• [VIDEO ARCHIVE: Lockerbie Bombing 1988 - BBC Newsnight]
• [WSTM Channel 3 News - Pan Am Flight 103 - 12/21/88 - Syracuse NY]
• [Lockerbie | Largest Crime Scene In The World | FULL EPISODE | Mayday: Air Disaster]
1988 – The first flight of Antonov An-225 Mriya, the largest aircraft in the world.
1992 – A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, killing 56.
1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1999 – The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain.
1999 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18.
2004 – Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers.
2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
• [LIVE VIDEO from Guardian News]
• [Photos at EarthSky]
• [Macon Media]
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Published at 5:00am on Thursday, December 21, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe 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, 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.
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