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LOUISBURG -- The documentary, Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook, begins with Barack Obama addressing a crowd of well wishers after securing the presidential election in 2008.
The 44th president of the United States was carried to victory by a wealth of first-time voters and minorities.

With a snip of the ribbon last Saturday afternoon, Louisburg College supporters unveiled a new entrance into Frazier Field, a baseball field named for veteran coach Russell Frazier who mentored the team for 40 years officially -- and more than that unofficially.
The new gateway was a project of the Golden Anniversary Club which selected and then raised the money for this project.

BUNN -- When Bunn turned 100 back in 2013, town officials gave birth to an idea that culminated last week in the grand opening of a new town park.
With swings, slides, musical instruments and monkey bars, the young and the young at heart now have a place in town for recreation.
"This park has been a dream of mine for many years," said Mayor Marsha Strawbridge, addressing the crowd that turned out last Friday for the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the park right next to town hall.

LOUISBURG -- Nearly drowned out by whirring propellers and aviation engines, dozens were on hand to hear of the impact that former airport director Stephen Merritt had on Triangle North Executive Airport.
That was fitting, ceremony organizers said, as Merritt was key to generating the kind of stir that was demonstrated by plenty of aviation activity at the county's airport.

Bunn's Bennett McGlothlin enjoys the swing

I suppose it's a sign you're getting old when a typewriter similar to the one you wrote your first news story with is now nailed on the wall of a restaurant as decoration!
I noticed that last week a few hours after a friend sent me a link that explained one of the most depressing potential changes to hit the community newspaper business in my lifetime. More about that at the end of this column.

For the longest time, the argument -- whether it was based in fact or not -- was that if you walked into a doctor's office complaining of pain, it was much easier for the physician to treat the symptoms, not the underlying issue.
As a result, it was much easier to get ahold of pain medications. More specifically, it was much easier to get one's hands on opioids.

Dear editor:
Imagine if every preschool child received a book in his/her home every month for the first five years of life. Imagine the excitement those children would have in receiving those gifts. Imagine if this 60 volume library was absolutely free to the child and his/her family!

YOUNGSVILLE--Allen John Flock Jr., 56, died suddenly on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

HENDERSON--Annie Pernell Blanton, 85, died, Tuesday, June 25, 2019 at her home. Funeral services will be held Friday, June 28, at 2 p.m. at South Henderson Pentecostal Holiness Church, conducted by the Rev. Frank Sossamon. Burial will follow in Sunset Gardens.

BUNN--Robert Nelson Moore, age 80, passed away Monday, June 24, 2019.

FRANKLINTON -- Franklinton High School continued to make impressive waves in its second season in the Big East Conference.
FHS took fourth place in the league standings for the annual Wells Fargo Conference Cup competition.
The Red Rams were strong in the overall standings with 171 points, edging Northern Nash (170) and Rocky Mount (169) for the fourth spot.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Two county baseball standouts have been saluted on the state level -- and the best news is that both will be returning next season.
Louisburg's Jaheim Brown and Bunn's Trent Simmons have both been selected to the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association's All-State Team for the 2019 campaign.

LOUISBURG -- A new coach with an impressive pedigree is now in charge of the Town and Country Stingrays summer swim team.
Shelby Cash, a former Stingray during her youth, is Town and Country's skipper -- and she is making quite an impact on the program.
Cash's mother, Jamie, used to be the TC coach, and Shelby went on to enjoy an exceptional career at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg College is seeking a new men's basketball coach following the surprising resignation of skipper Neil Dixon.
Dixon, who has been the head coach at LC for the past four years, recently accepted a position on the Division I level as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, in conjunction with Wells Fargo, has announced the final standings in the Wells Fargo Conference Cup competitions for the 2018-2019 sports season.
The Wells Fargo Cup award, sponsored by Wells Fargo and the NCHSAA, recognizes the schools that achieve the best overall interscholastic athletic performance within each of the state's four competitive classifications.

RALEIGH -- The National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they will host their seventh annual Summerfest this week at PNC Arena, culminating with the Summerfest Celebration on Saturday.
Parking and admission are free to the general public.

Among the outstanding swimmers this season for the Town and Country Stingrays are (l to r) newcomers Israel, Naomi and AJ Miranda, along with returning veterans John and Jacob Sheldon.

Kerr Vance Academy in Henderson recently announced its honor roll and headmaster list for the fourth quarter, second semester and for the year.

Rockey A. "Quint" Hester graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology on June 7, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. After a summer internship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, he will pursue a master's degree in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Personnel decisions highlighted much of the Franklin County Board of Education's first June meeting as part of the annual ritual of accepting resignations and beginning the hiring process to staff schools for the upcoming academic year.

Louisburg College held their graduation in May.

Above, Dr. Gary Brown, College President and graduate Jamiya "Miya" Lamea Hargraves.

RED RAMS. Carrington Fogg and Faith Parks

RED RAMS. Fatima Lopez, center, surrounded by Breah and Ayana Tingle

WARRIORS. Spencer Dickerson, right, grabs his diploma

WARRIORS. Paulina Guitierrez grabs a flower, which is part of the LHS graduation ceremony

GREEN MACHINE. Daisy Alvarez flashes a smile and a thumbs up after getting her diploma

GREEN MACHINE. Nicole Garcia and Isaiah Akridge study their grad program

ZEBULON -- Emergency responders, law enforcement, veterans and others lined overpasses and bridges as an Honor Mission escort made its way from RDU, through Franklin County and to a Korean War veteran's birthplace in Nash County.
PFC William Hoover Jones, from Rocky Mount, went missing in November of 1950 during the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River.

LOUISBURG -- A Franklin County farm has been quarantined after state vets confirmed a beef cow tested positive for rabies.
Cooperative Extension Agent Martha Mobley said last week that a farmer was confronted with an aggressive cow on his property in a rural part of the county.
Mobley said she could not specifically identify the farm because of privacy laws.

LOUISBURG -- A South Carolina man was killed in a motorcycle crash this past weekend.
According to a report by Trooper R.M. Goodacre, Yadira Hernandez of Sledge Road was driving north on Sledge Road when the 42-year-old was turning into a driveway in the 1600 block of the road and veered into the path of an oncoming motorcycle.

FRANKLINTON -- Commissioners specified what's allowed at its cemeteries, and where. They also set timelines on when flowers and holiday decorations need to be removed.
Officials made both changes so that staff will have less clutter to deal with during maintenance and sets a guideline for staff to perform deep cleaning that takes place before major holidays.