Franklin authorities have arrested a local convenience store clerk suspected of taking more than $15,000 from his place of employment.

Dennis Ray Mason, 54, of Hoffman Lane, was charged on May 29 with one felony count of larceny by an employee and one felony count of embezzlement. The charges stemmed from an incident reported on December 16 claiming that more than $10,000 went missing from the Automatic Teller Machine located inside the Village Trader convenience store, located on Hwy. 28 north of Franklin.

According to the incident report made at the time, Franklin Police Department Captain Steve Apel was provided with business deposit records by store owner Abdul Waliany.

Karen Reed, president of the Jackson County Early College PTO, accepts a check from Larry Hinton, General Manager of Andy Shaw Ford, Inc, as Erica Bullock, Andy Shaw, and members of Early College look on.

The extension of the Macon County Airport runway is nearly complete, according to Airport engineer Eric Rysdon, who reported to Airport Authority members on May 29 that the project could be finished within a few short weeks.

The finishing touches of the extension will be applied while additional lights are installed to make the runway operational. “Paving is complete,” said Rysdon. “The painters are actually out there marking the temporary stripes.”

Rhodes Brothers Paving took on the paving project under the commission of Buchanan and Sons, Inc., based out of Whittier, who began the project last October at a price of $2.6 million.

The history of the Macon County Airport has long been one of controversy and compromise, says Airport Authority Chairman Milles Gregory. At a recent meeting of the Aviation Historical Society, Gregory gave a presentation on that history in which he noted the many fits and starts since the airport was founded.

Born and raised in Franklin, Gregory told members of the society that after leaving town for a time as a young man, he returned with a vision to improve the opportunities for young people. Gregory served as a county commissioner for 8 years. Since 1999, Gregory has been the Chairman of the Airport Authority.

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