With the uncertainty of what the state's future plans for public education are, Macon County's Board of Education is once again turning to commissioners to fill the void left by state budget cuts. Each year, the school system develops a capital outlay budget to address maintenance concerns in the district.

While general statute identifies public education to be a state responsibility, there are exceptions to the rule, such as infrastructure and maintenance to buildings, that fall under the county's responsibility. In order to meet those needs, year after year the county has designated a pocket of money known as capital outlay specifically designated to infrastructure renovations and development.

The League of Women Voters hosted guest speaker Kevin Corbin, Chairman of the County Commissioners on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Corbin gave updates of the goings on within the board of county commissioners and allowed the audience a chance to ask questions and make comments.

The discussion began with an update regarding the situation of Whitley Products Inc., the local manufacturing plant that closed down recently and that has since reopened for production. The company is currently in a state of‚ “receivership,” which means that the company can no longer pay its bills and therefore becomes bank owned. The bank then puts a third party in charge to run it until it is sold. The commissioners have worked with the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and County Manager Jack Horton to keep the factory up and running. Commissioners, the EDC, and the Town Board have since held meetings with an engineering firm who has shown interest in purchasing the company. Corbin was unable to disclose the name of the potential buyer.

In the first split vote since membership on the board changed after the November election, Macon County commissioners voted 3-2 to purchase 12 new defibrillators for ambulances in the county. At the recommendation of Emergency Service Director David Key, Commissioners Ronnie Beale, Kevin Corbin and Jimmy Tate cast the majority votes needed to purchase the equipment at a total cost to the county of $374,000 which includes a 1.57 percent interest rate over a 59-month period.

According to Key, the new equipment is definitely needed, with the age of some defibrillators exceeding 10 years, when the recommended usage is half that. The 12 devices for which the county gave approval will not only replace out-dated equipment, they will also consolidate devices, explained Terry Bates, EMS coordinator. “These machines will be used on every patient that rides in our ambulances,” said Key.

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The Postal Service’s financial hardships continued in the first quarter of this fiscal year as the agency waits for Congressional action to address its mounting debt. The U.S. Postal Service ended the first three months of its 2013 fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2012) with a net loss of $1.3 billion. Continued growth in shipping and package revenue (+4.7 percent) and increased efficiency helped mitigate but could not fully offset the financial effects of continued First-Class Mail volume declines and costs that are beyond Postal Service management control.

As a result, the Postal Service announced last week that it would move forward with accelerated cost-cutting actions necessary to help maintain liquidity because Congress has not passed comprehensive postal reform legislation.

Focuses on implementation of marketing strategy

The Tourism Development Authority (TDA) met on Monday, Feb. 11 for its monthly meeting to discuss the current financial state of the entity.

Board member Summer Woodard opened the meeting by giving the financial report. In December 2012, the board collected $4,746.80, with a net collection of $166,089.89, for Fiscal Year 2012-13 to-date, with $93,520.38 in the less reserve. The purpose of the reserve is to provide money to the board in case of an emergency.

Last week, a grand jury ordered up 24 true bills of indictment against the former owner of Sylva's Moody Funeral Home.

The grand jury's ruling comes after years of court rulings and investigations into Reginald Moody Jr., 49, who was initially arrested on Dec. 18.

Sylva Police Department Detective Daniel Peoples led the investigation and on Dec. 17, five arrest warrants were issued after evidence revealed that Moody had taken money from several victims under the false pretense that he would provide a service, when in fact he did not. Further investigation uncovered evidence to support 24 addition bills of indictment, with each of the charges against Moody, alleging that he obtained property by false pretenses. Moody, of Dills Cove Road, Sylva, was arrested on Jan. 23, the day after the jury's ruling, and was released the same day after posting a $38,000 secure bond. Moody previously owned and operated Moody Funeral Home.

During Monday's regularly scheduled meeting of the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen, Angel Medical Center (AMC) employees Don Capaforte and Bonnie Peggs requested the town consider a deal to transfer town property to the hospital for the development of a memorial garden.

“In addition to being the director of marketing and public relations, I am also the hospital's chaplain,” said Peggs. “A memorial garden is something that we have been thinking about for a long time and definitely think it is something the hospital needs and can benefit from.

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Earlier this week, The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles announced that the Franklin Driver License Office will be moved and will open in its new location in downtown Franklin on Monday, Feb. 11, at 8 a.m.

The DMV office will close its doors today (Thursday) at the Industrial Park location and will be closed on Friday in order to get everything moved to the new location. The new offices will be located on the corner of Palmer Street and Patton Avenue behind the Barrett EMS building. Known as “The Yellow Building,” the new office will be housed in a Macon County-donated space.

A driver traveling east on Old Murphy Road was involved in an accident shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.

As temperatures remained below freezing throughout the day and into the night, an accumulation of snow and ice remained on many portions of the roads in Franklin.

Due to these conditions, the 58-year-old driver slid his 2000 Dodge Durango off of the right side of the road landing on its side at the bottom of an embankment.

Macon County Sheriff's Office Detective Amy Stewart spoke with members of the media last Thursday for the first time since being served with two criminal summonses on Jan. 6. Under the advisement of her Asheville-based lawyer, Jack Stewart, Detective Stewart answered questions from members of the media that did not directly reference the pending charges or ongoing investigation.

“The way I have been treated is unfair,” said Stewart. “Because of the events and the way the school's administration has handled it, I can not go to my daughter's senior basketball games. If my daughter was hurt, I wouldn't be allowed on campus to take care of her. If she needed money for something I couldn't take it to her, and this may continue and prevent me from attending her high school graduation.”