Across North Carolina on Tuesday, newly elected officials were sworn into office. In Macon County, the Board of Education swore in two returning board members and welcomed one new face. After running uncontested races, Stephanie McCall and Jim Breedlove secured their seats on the board and were sworn back into office. Melissa Evans, who won the November election against long-time board member Tommy Baldwin, was sworn into office for the first time to represent the Nantahala District.

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During December's regularly scheduled meeting of the Franklin Board of Aldermen, Town Manager Sam Greenwood asked the board to consider moving Pickin' on the Square to the Town Hall parking lot for the 2013 season.

Historically held on Town Square at the Gazebo, Pickin' has been temporarily moved to Town Hall from time to time for small renovation projects to the Square, and according to Greenwood, individuals involved with the event seems to like the alternate venue.

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Ricky Fouts is scheduled to be in court today (Dec. 6).

A Burningtown man charged with murdering his son made bail last week.

Ricky Fouts, 52, was charged with second degree murder after he allegedly shot his 30-year-old son Cy Levi Fouts after a family dispute lead to his death on the evening of Nov. 13. The father was arrested and held in Macon County Sheriff’s Office custody on a $125,000 secured bond.

On Monday, Nov. 26, bail bondsman Darlene Ensley posted bail releasing Ricky Fouts from custody at approximately 10:24 a.m. As part of the condition of his release, Fouts is to have no contact with incident witness Julia Hixon.

During the November meeting of the Macon County Board of Education, long-time board member Tommy Baldwin was honored for his service to the students in the county.

Baldwin, who has served a combined 28 years on the Board of Education, represented District three, Nantahala.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Jim Duncan (left) and Board member Tommy Cabe (right) presented Baldwin (middle) with a plaque in appreciation for his service.

A Burningtown man charged with murdering his son has made bail this week.

Ricky Fouts, 52, was charged with second degree murder after he allegedly shot his 30-year-old son Cy Levi Fouts after a family dispute lead to his death on the evening of November 13. The father was arrested and held in Macon County Sheriff’s Office custody on a $125,000 secured bond.

On Monday, Nov. 26, bail bondsman Darlene Ensley posted bail releasing Ricky Fouts from custody at approximately 10:24 a.m. As part of the condition of his release, Fouts is to have no contact with incident witness Julia Hixon.

Commissioner Bobby Kuppers sat on the Board of Commissioners for his last meeting on Nov. 20, and in between continuing to work with the best interest of Maconians in mind, the board took time to recognize Kuppers for his four years of service to the county.

Fellow commissioners and other county employees who spoke of their time working with Kuppers, commended him for the level of integrity and intelligence he brought to the Board of County Commissioners and his diligence to always, regardless if it was what was favorable, stand up for the people he was in office to represent.

After fostering and eventually adopting a pet of their own from the Macon County Animal Control last year, Ken and Tammy Sigler have made it their mission to help find homes for the cats and dogs at the shelter.

“My husband Ken and myself have been volunteering at Animal Control for a few weeks now. It all began a year ago at Pumpkinfest,” remembers Tammy. “We saw a beautiful, but very abused, dog named Teddybear, disguised as a bumblebee at their "Last Chance" Pet Adoption downtown. We took him home as a foster pet and after several months of working with him, decided that we could not be without him in our lives.”

Macon County has been awarded federal funds through the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Management Agency under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program.

Macon County has been chosen to receive $17,667 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county.

The selection was made by a National Board that is chaired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from the Salvation Army; American Red Cross; The Jewish Federations of North America; Catholic Charities, U.S.A.; National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A; and United Way Worldwide. The local board is charged with distributing funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

A Franklin man has been charged with numerous offenses stemming from a burglary in south Macon.

On Nov. 16, Justin Kyle Hodgins, 25, of South Skeenah Road was arrested after initially being spotted attempting to break nto a home in South Macon.

According to reports, Macon County Sheriff’s Officer Tracy Burt received a call on the morning of the incident advising that a man was attempting to break into a home on Sunset Ridge Road. The suspect was allegedly attempting to unscrew the security lights at the residence, however the suspect was gone before Burt arrived. Hodgins was reportedly driving an older model black Honda Accord Sedan.

Macon County’s IT director Andy Muncey has successfully graduated from the 2012 Certified Government Chief Information Officers Program™ at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government.

The CGCIO™ program is the first local government specific program for CIOs in the nation and began in 2005. The program is designed for local government Chief Information Officers and Information Technology Directors whose challenging responsibilities require a broad understanding of management, leadership, legal, regulatory, and enterprise topics.\

The course is approximately 240 hours in length and course instruction covers strategic technology planning, communication, project management, emerging trends, risk assessment and management, acquisition management, change management, leadership, security, legal issues and financial trends.