Nikwasi Initiative, a new nonprofit established in 2018 with the mission of preserving the Nikwasi Mound in downtown Franklin and expanding access and educational activities, has hired its first executive director. 

In the last two weeks, the world has changed. From darkened downtown windows to packed-full parking lots at Ingles and Wal-Mart, the evidence is everywhere, impossible to ignore.

The town of Franklin is working toward creating a vision for the community that will guide growth and investment for years to come.

Franklin Town Council recently approved purchasing two parcels of land in the downtown area for a total cost of $206,660. 

Capt. Danny Bates will serve as Franklin’s interim police chief while the town goes through the hiring process to find its next full-time leader of the police department. 

Franklin Police Chief David Adams will have some big shoes to fill when he becomes Waynesville’s new police chief, but according to Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hites, Adams is the right person to fill them. 

The town of Franklin will keep its incumbent mayor while welcoming two new faces to the town board.

After running unopposed for his last two terms in office, Franklin Mayor Bob Scott is being challenged for his seat by fellow Town Councilmember Barbara McRae. 

Scott is seeking his fourth two-year term as the town’s mayor and served as a councilmember for 10 years before that. 

Voters will be faced with a long list of candidates when they go to vote in the Franklin Town Council election, but they should be aware that two candidates on the ballot have dropped out of the race last minute.

Beneath the woodsy world of tree trunks, ferns and leaf litter is another, hidden realm. It’s the world of fungi, where these shadow organisms — not plants, but yet not animals — spread their tendrils through the soil, through the moist decay of fallen branches, into the bark of standing trees, both living and dead. Where the two worlds meet is where the mushrooms grow.