Archives

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners was set to discuss their spending plan this week.
At press time, it was still not clear how the county would navigate its plan to lower the tax rate.
County Manager Kim Denton presented commissioners and the public with a 2021-22 budget that proposes to spend $95.7 million while reducing the tax rate from 80.5 cents per $100 of valuation to 79.5 cents per $100 of valuation.

LOUISBURG -- It takes communication to build relationships. As an English teacher, that's Shelbi Wheeler's specialty.
Because of that, she was named Franklin County School system's 2020-21 District Teacher of the Year [TOY].
"My message to carry ... would be to stress how important it is to build relationships with your students, especially after being virtual and in a pandemic for the past year," said Wheeler, a 10th- and 11th-grade English teacher at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG -- A Bunn man appeared in court this week on charges that his drug dealings led to a death.
The case against Taylor Austin Proctor continues, though.
Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested Proctor on May 20, alleging he sold drugs that led to an overdose death.

FRANKLINTON -- Mystery solved.
For the past few months, Franklinton leaders, staff and downtown visitors have wondered why there has been an increased presence by the State Highway Patrol.
This week, Town Manager Gregory Bethea had the answer.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Famously, astronaut Neil Armstrong said 'the Eagle has landed' when the lunar module touched down on the moon.
While maybe not as boundary breaking, representatives with Wake Electric and Winslow Homes said the Eagle Chase subdivision is ground zero for new ways to make communities more resilient to energy loss prompted by disaster.

Louisburg College graduate Deepmala Sharma

Since this is a family-oriented newspaper -- and especially since we're located in an agricultural region -- there are some words that get used only very reluctantly.
So, it's with a great deal of reluctance that we point out that it's really, really dry out there -- at least it was when this was being written.
And, a check with the weatherman didn't give us much hope that might change anytime soon!

I promise you, I had intentions to write this column well before I saw the editorial cartoon above, but it certainly feels part of this story -- it does feel good to ditch face masks, under certain conditions, of course.
It does feel really good to begin to get back to normal.

Dear editor:
How in the world did we get here?
Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Representative Don Young (R-AK) are the oldest members of Congress. Both are over 86 years old. The 10 oldest members of the House and Senate are all over 83 years old. I do not know any of these people, but I wonder about their ability to do a lot other than run for re-election.

LOUISBURG, NC - Robert Taylor, 84, of Louisburg passed away on May 7, 2021 at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC. He was born in Franklin County, NC to the late Sidney Taylor and Annie Belle Thomas Taylor. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his four brothers, Wilbert, Wilmon, Charlie, and Johnnie.

Ruth Elizabeth Collins slipped away peacefully at the home she shared for the past two years and ten months with her daughter, Elizabeth Smith, on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021.

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash seemed well on its way to a successful series start against Franklinton last Tuesday in Big East Conference baseball action on the SNHS campus.
But everything changed in one swing -- and not in Southern Nash's favor.

BUNN -- Given the number of elite-level baseball players who have graduated from Bunn High School over the past several years, it would be rational to expect the Wildcats to have a down season at some point.
But Bunn keeps churning out the victories, and are in the mix for a Northern Carolina Conference championship as the campaign heads for the home stretch.

FRANKLINTON -- A spot in the Class 3-A State Playoffs was Franklinton High School's reward for a strong softball season in the always-competitive Big East Conference.
The Lady Rams, despite battling some injury and illness issues, went 8-2 in the league and finished second behind Southern Nash in the Big East standings.

LOUISBURG -- It has been awhile since Franklin County has seen one of its own transition to the Division I level coming from a basketball floor.
Recently, Spencer Brickhouse from Bunn played Division I baseball, while the chronicles of Ricky Person Jr. and Tarik Cohen are well-documented at the Division I and professional football levels.

RED OAK -- Northern Nash delivered a bit of a surprise during last Wednesday's Big East Conference home wrestling match against the Franklinton Red Rams. Most Big East pundits would have considered Franklinton to be the favorite coming in, but Northern Nash was able to come through with a clutch 42-36 decision over the shorthanded Red Rams at the historic NNHS Gymnasium.

SALISBURY, MD. - Ernesto Martinez hit his fourth home run of the season and Joe Gray Jr. collected two hits, but the Delmarva Shorebirds homered three times and scored in double digits for the second straight game while defeating the Carolina Mudcats 13-3 in the final game of a six-game series on Sunday evening.
The loss clinched a series victory for Delmarva (13-5) as they took the six-game set four games to two.

Bunn High School first baseman Justin Pendleton awaits a pickoff throw during last Friday's home victory against Oxford Webb in Northern Carolina Conference diamond action.

The Miracle League of Franklin County played its annual exhibition baseball game last Friday night at Bunn High School -- with the help of players from both BHS and visiting Oxford Webb.

SLUGGER LACI WADE RIPS A BASE HIT

MAJOR EVENT CELEBRATED! Rufus and Minnie Greene of Louisburg, NC, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on May 12, 2021. A gathering of their family was held to mark the occasion. The Greenes were married May 12, 1956 at Beasley Bookstore in Downtown Louisburg.

The Franklin County Department of Aging held a "Wizard of Oz" themed drive-thru honoring their volunteers.

Spring 2021 graduate Christopher Hawkins waves to the crowd.

De'Shone Hicks and his mom, Lateeya Johnson, celebrate his graduation.

FRANKLINTON -- Traffic enforcement efforts by a Franklinton police duo yielded a handful of drug arrests.
All of the following arrests are the result of traffic enforcement conducted by Officers J. Garrett and H. Cruz.
• On May 19, at about 12:30 p.m., Kyle Gilgen was stopped at the intersection of NC 56/US 1 Hwy for a seat belt violation.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Commissioners held off on rezoning a piece of property on Fleming Road to see if the developer would petition to be annexed.
For a number of commissioners, it seemed to be the only way they'd consider the high-density, 10-lot subdivision, which has been opposed by 64 nearby property owners.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Sheriff's deputies are probing allegations of a statutory rape.
According to authorities, a girl is alleged to have got involved with a male she was led to believe was 16.
The girl's sister found out about the relationship and believes the male to be older than that -- creating a statutory relationship violation.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies were looking into a matter involving a student with a weapon at Youngsville Elementary.
According to the report, on May 21 at about 1:30 p.m., authorities were alerted to a matter where a student had a pocket knife in a bookbag.
The knife was never used against anyone or to threaten anyone.

FRANKLINTON -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies expect to take out a juvenile petition against a Franklinton High student who threatened to kill the principal.
According to authorities, the incident was reported the morning of May 24.
The student, who is less than 18, created a disturbance at the school.