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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County Schools have several things to celebrate after the state released the 2018-19 school accountability results on Monday.
The district had no low performing schools in the ranking, the only area school district in the region to achieve that level of performance.
In addition, 12 of the 16 Franklin County Schools -- including all eight elementary schools -- met or exceeded expectations.

Young Wyatt Eldridge, who is almost 3, was eager to work at the Justice Truck and Tractor Show last Saturday and hopped on this grader to display his talents. As might be expected, his mom, Danielle Stevenson, was close by, just to keep an eye on his work habits. The show opened a little later on Friday due to the hurricane but Saturday was a picture-perfect day to enjoy vintage cars, equipment, renew old friendships -- or maybe hop on a road grader and get a little work done!

Louisburg's Janie and Abe Kemp, regulars at the Justice Truck and Tractor Show for years, are noted for bringing a wide variety of restored equipment to display. They've brought large trucks, many types of cars, a bulldozer, a custom-made road grader and, in past years, even a collection of toy tractors and hog oilers! But all of those things were centered around work so this year the duo changed things up when they brought a recently restored 1961-vintage travel trailer -- and decided to sit back and relax, at least long enough for a photo.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County Schools, and other school districts across the state, are headed toward implementation of a web-based tool that uses electronic devices to help evaluate their youngest students as they learn to read.
Called Istation, the computer-based program has been controversial at the state level, but the state Department of Instruction has ordered that the new system be implemented, even though the controversy remains unresolved.

BUNN -- An engineering company presented town officials with a services agreement that could serve as an all-encompassing guide for building a new town hall.
More than a year ago, the board began having conversations about the prospect of a new town hall.
According to the county's tax office website, Bunn bought the building -- essentially a house -- in April 1989.

RALEIGH -- Legislators have until Wednesday to create new maps that outline legislative districts after judges ruled the two-year-old maps violated the state constitution.
According to Carolina Public Press, a three-judge panel held that the maps were racially gerrymandered.

Brandon Matthew Frederickson, 2

It's not that I'm complaining -- nor are any other Franklin Countians that I've run across -- but Hurricane Dorian was much ado about nothing as far as this area was concerned.
Out Mapleville way, we got a little over an inch and a quarter of rainfall -- and the winds were more of the stiff breeze variety than anything else.

I hope you're hungry.
The first day of fall is Sept. 23 and the first Saturday in the fall, there will be no less than four community events taking place that day.
It's hard not to imagine that these three events won't cannibalize each other.

Dear editor:
An exhibition of Art Quilts by Ann Harwell opened Aug. 28 at Louisburg College and will be on display through Oct. 9 on the college campus in the Edith C. Lumpkin Community Gallery on the north side of the Seby B. Jones Performing Arts Center (JPAC). Times are from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays or at other times by appointment.

BUNN--Funeral services for Helen Louise Davis, 75, who died Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, will be held Sunday, Sept.15, at 3 p.m. at St. Stephens Baptist Church in Warrenton. Burial will follow in the St. Stephens Church cemetery.

LOUISBURG -- Two early-season football trends continued last Wednesday at Patterson Field -- Franklinton's uncanny ability to capitalize on opportunities and Louisburg's penchant for untimely mistakes.
That combination proved to be fruitful for the Red Rams and toxic for the host Warriors during the non-conference gridiron showdown, which saw FHS break open a tight game just before intermission en route to a 48-6 victory.

RED OAK -- Northern Nash's five returning starters this season -- compared to just one for Franklinton -- didn't add up to a hotly contested matchup during Tuesday's Big East Conference girls tennis showdown.
Instead, the homestanding Lady Knights rolled to an impressive 9-0 triumph over the rebuilding Lady Rams at the NNHS Tennis Courts.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Southern Nash senior veteran Elisabeth Collie is considered the favorite to claim the Big East Conference Girls Golf Individual Championship this fall -- and for good reason.
Collie has been a four-year standout for the Ladybirds and is coming off a second-place overall finish last season.

GASTON -- Louisburg High School may have encountered a football season crossroads Tuesday at KIPP Pride -- and the Warriors were able to successfully speed through the challenge.
The clubs had started the game on the first Friday of the season, only to see the event postponed at halftime due to poor weather, and with the Warriors trailing by 14 points.

STANHOPE -- Strange as it may sound, Bunn did the best defensive job on the Southern Nash Firebirds to date this season -- and still allowed 42 points.
That's how potent the Firebirds' offense is as Coach Brian Foster's club had to last Wednesday's backyard rivalry showdown with the Wildcats at historic Firebird Stadium on the SNHS campus.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Caleb Garcia, a Franklin County teen in Kenny Buffaloe's Kyokushin Karate adult/teen classes at the ROCK in Roanoke Rapids, was recently promoted in rank.
These ranks were officially recognized and endorsed by the International Kyokushin Karate Organization in Tokyo, Japan.

Franklinton High School's Javion Alston sheds a tackle for the Red Rams during last Wednesday night's impressive road football triumph at rival Louisburg.

Sarah Kenny converts a putt for the Franklinton Lady Rams during Monday's conference matchup.

Now in its 78th year, Chamber Music Raleigh is set to open its popular concert season with one of the country's most well-known classical ensembles, The Eroica Trio.
Winners of the 1991 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Competition, the all-female ensemble will take center stage at the Daniels Auditorium at the North Carolina Museum of History on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2 p.m. as the opening date for Chamber Music Raleigh's nine-concert season.

Childhood obesity is a global health issue. In fact, childhood obesity is so prevalent that the World Health Organization identifies it as one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. As daunting a task as tackling childhood obesity may seem, it's a problem that can be solved.
The WHO notes that, in 2016, an estimated 41 million children across the globe were overweight. That's a troubling statistic, as overweight and obese children are likely to remain so into adulthood, increasing their risk for various diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The National Eye Institute notes that age is a risk factor for various eye and vision problems. But age alone does not make people vulnerable to such problems, as even young children can develop problems with their eyesight. According to the American Optometric Association, certain factors can increase the extent to which a child is at risk of developing eye and vision problems. The presence of any of the following factors may determine the frequency with which children's eyes need to be examined.

HENDERSON -- Friends and colleagues of the late Robert C. Pirie, Jr., have established a scholarship fund in his memory at Vance-Granville Community College.
Pirie passed away in May at the age of 75. A Vance County native, he was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, including service in Vietnam.
He retired from the Vance County school system after teaching for more than 30 years, primarily at Zeb Vance Elementary School.

Longtime NPR correspondent and host Frank Stasio spoke with Alesia Moore, winner of the $5,000 Leonard-Mobley Small Farm Fund grant, during the 6th annual Dinner in the Meadow. The dinner, organized by farmer and Cooperative Extension Agent Martha Mobley, features some of the area's best chefs and pairs them with local producers, and funds the grant. It's designed to give smaller farmers a boost.

Martha Mobley, left, stands with Leonard-Mobley Small Farm Fund grant recipients Alesia Moore, center, and Ann Payne. Leonard began the fund to aid small farmers in the name of her mother, Marjorie Leonard, and her late husband, Steve Mobley. Moore and Payne expect to use the grant to aid their Shepherd's Gate Fiber Processing Mill in Youngsville.

KITTRELL -- A trooper from Franklin County suffered minor injuries following an on-duty crash over the weekend.
According to the State Highway Patrol, Trooper C.R. Lanham was attempting to perform a traffic stop the afternoon of Sept. 5 when the accident that overturned his vehicle occurred on U.S. 1, about seven miles north of the Franklin County line.

CHAMBLEE, Ga. --Authorities arrested a Wake County man suspected in a rash of vehicle break-ins reported in Franklin County.
Youngsville police and Franklin County sheriff's office investigators identified Kedrick D. Jones as a person of interest in a series of vehicle break-ins reported earlier this summer.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A routine police stop turned into a large heroin bust for Youngsville police.
Chief J. Kimball said an officer stopped a vehicle during the early morning hours of Sept. 11 for an apparent equipment violation.
During the stop and talking with the driver -- whom authorities did not identify -- officers determined that there were 485 bags of heroin in the vehicle.