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Highlands soccer complex gets a green light

fr soccerMacon County has it sights set on building a new soccer field in Highlands, one of the few mountain communities where the sport is king of the fall season, not football.

Finding your roots in Appalachia

art frRonan MacGregor didn’t know where he came from.

He knew he was of Scottish decent, but that was about it. It wasn’t until he moved to Macon County several years ago and wandered into the Scottish Tartans Museum in downtown Franklin that he began digging into his family’s past.

A good year to work for Macon: New pay plan includes salary hikes for everyone

Nearly two months after a majority of Macon County commissioners approved a slew of salary raises for all county employees, the nitty-gritty details of the pay hikes have been released.

Macon schools budget could soon face time of reckoning

Macon County Schools may be in store for some noticeable changes come the start of school this fall.

Filling the flood plain under debate in Macon

fr floodplainMacon County is weighing whether to relax its existing rules that ban fill dirt in the flood plain.

The county’s planning board is split on the issue and struggling to find mutual ground to stand on.

Macon and Jackson locked in a friendly feud over 1/10th of a cent

fr jackchuckWho has the lowest tax rate in the state — Macon County or Jackson County? The answer is both, it just depends on who you ask.

Macon commissioner duo wants to spend down savings to bring on tax cuts

Two tight-pocketed Macon County commissioners, who have voted consistently against all sorts of new government spending, have decided to go on the offensive and push for a tax decrease.

Macon School leaders ask county for bailout, or harmful cuts are imminent

Macon County Schools are facing a $2 million budget shortfall and are hoping the county will come to the rescue.

That leaves county commissioners with a difficult decision: inject substantial amounts of money into the school system or force the school board to make difficult cuts.

Sweepstakes industry chalks up tiny victory with uncertain bearing

A convenience store owner in Macon County was let off the hook by a judge for four misdemeanor charges of operating illegal sweepstakes machines — but it will have little or no bearing on the state’s ban on the machines.

New high-tech training center to be a feather in Franklin’s cap

A state-of-the-art training facility built by Drake Software is the latest addition to Macon County’s economic landscape.

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