During Monday night's meeting, The Franklin Board of Aldermen received an update from Town Manager Sam Greenwood regarding the transition process that will ultimately result in Warren Cabe assuming the role as Franklin's manager.

According to a letter given by Greenwood before the start of the meeting, Greenwood's last day on the job will be March 29. “Warren Cabe and I have reached the conclusion that Warren will be ready to assume the duties of Town Manager effective April 1, 2013. Accordingly, I am giving notice under my contract that effectively my last day with the Town will be March 29, 2013.”

Greenwood came out of retirement in 2008 to lead the town as manager, and has since guided the town through a transition phase that found Franklin's government directed as a managerial government. After his contract expired on March 1, 2010 and an agreement was made to continue working with Greenwood until Feb. 28, 2012, he began searching for a replacement, and at the request of the board, searched from within current employees in the town to select his successor.

Macon County Department of Social Services has received additional money for CareNet to administer crisis funds for the Crisis Intervention Program (CIP). Households that are eligible for CIP must meet income guidelines including crisis guidelines posted at CareNet. The Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) will provide payment to the vendors for eligible households. Funds are limited and no appointments will be made for the Energy Programs.

Additional money has been approved for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program. LIEAP funds are available to households containing an elderly person age 60 and above. Also persons who are receiving SSI, SSA, or VA disability and receiving services through the Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) are eligible to potentially receive benefits through Jan. 31 or until funds are exhausted. All eligibility requirements must be met which includes income and asset guidelines.

Since its inception four years ago, Operation Think Twice has been making the streets of Macon County a little safer on New Year's Eve. With the end of the year holiday being one of the year's highest for Driving while intoxicated (D.W.I.) arrests and D.W.I. related accidents, Sheriff Holland and his department vowed to do what they can to make it safer for the community.

With no questions asked, anyone wanting a safe ride home on New Year's Eve was able to call the Sheriff's Department. “This year we transported 52 individuals,” said Holland.

Newsmakers and Top Headlines of the Year - Part One

National news headlines affected us all in 2012, whether it was nail biting down-to-the-minute news when President Barack Obama put another stamp on history when he defeated challenger Mitt Romney and was elected to a second term; or watching the Powerball lottery figures hit $550 million, the highest figure ever; or news that devastated the nation as Superstorm Sandy pounded the East Coast in October, leaving ruins that are still being cleaned up; or senseless tragedies such as the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida or most recently, the unfathomable mass murder of 26 in Newtown, Conn.

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The traditions of the Christmas season gets passed down from generation to generation, sometimes without any thought at all. Each year, we deck the halls with lights, bake cookies for Santa, hang our stockings and erect a holiday masterpiece of pine draped in ornaments, but do we know how these traditions were formed?

Arguably the most recognized Christmas tradition, Christmas trees have become a staple of the holiday season, from the individual trees in our homes, to the annual lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York. We all do it, but why?

Macon County Register of Deeds Todd Raby warns citizens to beware of a “Deed Processing Notice” being sent to local homeowners from a company with a Washington, DC address called Secured Document.

“We are appalled that a company would try to collect such exorbitant fees from our citizens,” says Raby. “The notice looks official and contains public information about the property. In the instances seen across the state, the notice stated that 11/30/2012 is the Compliance Response Date and lists a ‘Regulatory Document Number.’ It instructed the homeowner to respond by 11/23/2012 and if a reply was received after the requested date, an additional fee of $35 would be required before processing. For this fee, the company would provide to the homeowner a copy of ‘their current Grant Deed’ and ‘Property Profile.’ We have yet to see any instance of this in Macon County; however we want to see the public being on alert before the problem presents itself in our area.

Authorities in Macon County are investigating an incident of simple physical assault which occurred on Monday.

At approximately 5 p.m., Macon County Sheriff’s Officer Blake Buchanan responded to the solid waste facility in Otto in reference to an assault reported by Pamela Keyser. According to reports, Keyser, 63, was conscious and breathing, but not alert.

Upon arrival, Buchanan found Keyser hiding under the counter of the center’s office where she was reportedly “too afraid to come out.” Keyser was holding a pair of scissors and a can of pepper spray, fearful that someone was after her.

After years of court rulings and investigations, former Moody Funeral Home employee Reginald Moody Jr., 49, was arrested on Dec. 18.

Detective Daniel Peoples has been leading 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.

The Moody family had operated the Sylva funeral home since 1922, when it was opened by P.E. Moody, great-grandfather of Reginald Moody Jr.

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In the late afternoon hours, just before school let out at 3:05 p.m. at Macon Middle School, school faculty found “writing on a wall in a bathroom at the school stating that there would be a shooting at a given date and time” said Sheriff Robert Holland on Tuesday night.

According to Interim Superintendent Dr. Jim Duncan, MMS faculty immediately contacted the School Resource Officer, who, in turn, contacted Principal Scott Maslin and a Macon County Sheriff’s Office investigations unit. “It is unfortunate that kids do things like this that are terribly inappropriate and thoughtless,” said Duncan on Wednesday.

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At 3:30 the bell rang, and former pro wrestler Bobby Allen addressed more than 40 people in the stands. “Let us have a moment of silence in honor of those we lost in [Newtown] Connecticut,” said Allen. It was a clamorous Sunday afternoon at the community building in Franklin.

The turnout was all part of Save Our American Youth Club’s Pro-Wrestling Clash Before Christmas Spectacular Anti-Bullying Event — designed to raise awareness of the plight of bullying many youth face today.

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