Learn how to live safely with black bears during a program at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

With a hot sun falling behind the mountains, rock legend Tommy Stinson strapped on his Gibson acoustic guitar and stood behind a microphone on the side lawn of Yonder Community Market in Franklin. 

The series “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture” will host the Women’s History Trail program “Voices from the Past” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 17, at the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center in Franklin.

The candidate filing period for November’s municipal elections that opened on July 7 ends this coming Friday, July 21, at noon, and although things are starting to solidify in some races, there have been and may continue to be some surprises. 

The start date for construction of the Franklin Skatepark is approaching quickly, and now the project has all the funding it needs.

Progress will continue on the new Franklin High School after a vote by the Macon County Commission to enter into phase two of the project.

In a few short weeks, 47 people will charge from the shores of the island home to the infamous Alcatraz Prison into the freezing water that isolates it. Those brave souls will battle frigid temperatures, currents, wildlife and weather for two miles in an open water swim race to the California mainland, with little else than a swim cap, goggles and the thick skin of wetsuits to shield them from those unpredictable elements. 

Macon County is undergoing a tax reappraisal this year, and while the numbers are jarring, they won’t be a surprise to anyone who has borne witness to the rising prices of the crowded housing market in Western North Carolina since the start of the pandemic.

Decisions about following through with the new Franklin High School project were always going to fall to a new board of commissioners made up of different members than those who occupied the seats when plans were first initiated.

The Macon County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education have authorized architectural firm LS3P to submit designs for the new Franklin High School to local and state agencies for review, the next step in a multi-year process toward a new facility.