By Michael Beadle

There’s a dance of light in a work of glass. Move around the piece and it changes color as if it were alive.

As county planner in Macon County, Stacey Guffey knows a little bit about controversy and soliciting public opinion.

Members of a heritage task force in Macon County want town and county leaders to form a commission with regulatory powers to protect historical districts and landmarks.

The preservation of the Cowee mound and village site alongside the Little Tennessee River in Macon County is truly significant in regard to this region’s cultural history. The Hall and Porter families are to be commended for making this possible through the agencies of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

As a child growing up in Oklahoma, Tom Belt often heard that there were reasons a group of Cherokee had remained in the East when others were forcibly marched west.

Southwestern Community College officials anticipate holding classes this fall at a new satellite campus in Macon County, more than a half-year later than originally planned.

The possibility that a 40-acre island in the Little Tennessee River might be developed has sparked outrage among conservationists and calls for preservation from those living nearby.

Franklin’s elected leaders will review how much it would cost to replace the siding on a town-owned building in downtown before deciding whether to relocate administration offices there.

It’s no small task moving a library.

When Macon County Manager Sam Greenwood retires at the end of this year, he’ll take with him more than three decades of governmental experience and an encyclopedic understanding of the county’s political scene.