On Saturday night, a Swain County man died after wrecking his motorcycle in Jackson County.

At approximately 6:40 p.m., 43-year-old Eric Stephen Smith reportedly collided with a guard rail after traveling on the Jackson County side of US 441 North, coming from Macon County.

The wreck occurred eight-tenths of a mile from the county line, according to the accident report from Trooper Rico Stephens of the Jackson County Highway Patrol. Riding as Eric’s passenger was his wife, 41-year-old Kelli Kitchin Smith.

As of press time, Superintendent Dan Brigman confirmed he is still in the running for the position of superintendent of Huntsville City Schools. Last Monday and Tuesday, May 23 and 24, Brigman traveled to Huntsville, Ala., to participate in the second round of interviews for the position.

Three candidates were invited for second interviews, but according to recent reports, Brigman's main competition is Casey Wardynski, chief financial officer of the Aurora (Colo.) school system. Wardynksi is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army and graduate of a 10-month executive training program at the Broad Superintendents Academy in California.

The Macon County Board of Commissioners have revised the county Planning Board’s comprehensive plan draft on May 31. The 164-page comprehensive plan applies to the development and growth of the county for the next 20 years, and was submitted to the board last April after nearly two years in the making.

Before a packed room of Macon residents and advisory subcommittee members, commissioners reviewed the language of the plan, from pages 64 to 133, which covered “the meat of the program,” as chairman Brian McClellan called it. Commissioners deliberated over supporting economic development and public services and improving sewer, water, land use policies and construction regulations.

Jeff Pruett of the North Caroina State Highway Patrol is reminding motorists to be careful over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Memorial Day holiday, which is set aside to honor deceased men and women from the Armed Forces, is expected to be a busy one and officially kicks off the summer vacation season in North Carolina, This means more people will be on the highways, increasing the chance of traffic crashes

Troopers across the state will increase patrols on all interstates and major four lane highways during the holiday weekend. Speed is the leading cause of traffic collisions and fatalities in the state.