With election day just five short weeks away, the Macon County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) held a forum for candidates vying for the open seats on the Board of Commission and Board of Education. County Commission incumbent Bobby Kuppers faced off against challenger Paul Higdon, while Board of Education incumbent Tommy Baldwin squared off against challenger Melissa Evans.

The forum was centered around the candidates thoughts on education in Macon County and ways to continue improving the system to be able to provide the best resources for students. John deVille, vice president of Macon County's NCAE, served as the event’s moderator.

Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale was sworn in as First Vice President of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) last month during the Association’s 105th Annual Conference, which was held in Wake County.

As NCACC First Vice President, Beale will work closely with the other members of the NCACC Executive Committee to guide the NCACC Board of Directors on legislative and administrative issues affecting counties throughout the year.

With less than seven weeks until the November election, candidates running for the North Carolina 11th Congressional District seat were in Franklin last Thursday as guests of the League of Women Voters Forum at Tartan Hall.

Mark Meadows, Republican candidate from Cashiers and Hayden Rogers, Democratic candidate from Brasstown rallied support for their campaigns by tackling topics such as their view on the health of the economy to the government's role in women's health care issues.

Defendant ‘rented out’ provider number; used proceeds to purchase $500,000 in jewelry and vehicles

A Shelby woman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Sept. 13 for her involvement in a health care fraud scheme that defrauded Medicaid of at least $6.1 million for sham mental and behavioral health services, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Linda Smoot Radeker, 61, of Shelby, N.C. pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer to one count of health care fraud conspiracy and two counts of money laundering. At today’s plea hearing, Radeker admitted that from 2008 to 2011 she obtained at least $6.1 million in fraudulent reimbursement payments from false claims submitted to Medicaid.