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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County' health department is preparing for a three-headed monster: Renewed COVID-19 testing, preparing to roll out thousands of booster shots and navigating an unrelated Medicaid transformation.
The question of how long the health department and the county is mired in this pandemic is up to the public, said Franklin County Health Director Scott LaVigne.

As COVID-19 cases spike upward -- 1,000 percent nationally since July 4 -- it is obvious that the local response to the pandemic is inadequate.
Despite the influx of millions of dollars of federal aid to Franklin County and local towns, much of that aid isn't reaching places where it can do the most good.
The photo accompanying this editorial is just one example. It was taken shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday morning and shows a long line of local residents awaiting COVID tests at the Impact Healthcare facility in Louisburg.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Firefighters Association is set to host its annual 9/11 Observance.
The event was cancelled last year because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the association is set to host once again this Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Franklin County Courthouse steps.

LOUISBURG -- Work to widen U.S. 401 from Wake County to the Royal community in Franklin County will continue with $10 million in bond funds.
Last week, State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced the release of $252.6 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle [GARVEE] Bonds to maintain or accelerate a number of transportation projects, including U.S. 401.

LOUISBURG -- A Franklinton woman who is suing a landlord over a bat infestation has moved.
The lawsuit remains pending.
In June, Superior Court Judge Alma S. Hinton approved a consent order that would relocate Sharon Jones and her family into a bat-free apartment.
The judge's order required Academy Village and its parent operation, One Management Inc., to relocate Jones and her family to a satisfactory unit by June 30.

STEAM Camp volunteer Jonathan Correa

If you stick around long enough you're likely to learn something -- and one of those examples was in last week's edition.
Who would have thought of a regatta in Louisburg where our biggest body of water is the shallow, usually muddy and almost completely ignored Tar River?
But leave it to the Boy Scouts as they and their leaders figured out a way to have a regatta -- and I don't think they even used Tar River water, let alone the river itself.

Like a lot of folks last weekend, I was flipping through channels as football season began in earnest for many colleges and high schools.
It was an Aug. 29 matchup between perennial high school powerhouse IMG Academy and a fairly new entry, Bishop Sycamore, that prompted me to put down the remote and glimpse some future stars.

YOUNGSVILLE, NC -- Funeral services for Jonathan Kearney, age 64, who died on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, will be held on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 1 p.m. from the Union Grove Baptist Church in Youngsville with Pastor Samuel T. Tunstall officiating.

LOUISBURG -- Like a 300 game in bowling, Erica Wammock has proven to be the perfect fit for the Louisburg High School volleyball program since becoming the head coach in 2006.
The victories and conference and regional championships have piled up ever since, so Wammock was on the verge of another milestone heading into last Thursday's home match against Big East Conference opponent Rocky Mount.

BUNN -- Big East Conference losses have been few and far between for the Franklinton High School volleyball team since FHS joined the league five years ago.
But one of those rare occasions came last Thursday when the Lady Rams were shocked at upstart Nash Central.
So Franklinton traveled to Bunn on Tuesday in need of a bounceback victory, but it wasn't going to be easy against a solid Ladycats' club.

ROCKY MOUNT-- When assessing how the Big East Conference volleyball standings were going to shake up this fall, it was easy and convenient to point toward Franklin County.
After all, that area has more of a spike tradition than Nash County, and Franklinton has been a force in the Big East over the past four campaigns.

LOUISBURG -- Better late than never for the Louisburg High School football team.
Week One of the gridiron campaign saw the Warriors' undertake a predetermined bye. But in the next week, LHS' scheduled game was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns from its opponent.

LELAND -- Talk about a last-minute football marriage -- that was certainly what happened last Friday when Bunn traveled to, of all places, North Brunswick for a non-conference gridiron showdown that hadn't even been scheduled until that morning.
Both Bunn and NB had seen their prospective opponents cancel due to COVID-19 concerns. So the Wildcats gathered a few buses and made the trip to Leland for an impromptu meeting between two clubs that knew nothing about each other -- aside from a playoff meeting several years ago.

RALEIGH -- North Carolina State University's two-headed backfield tandem appears to be stronger than ever -- at least judging by the results from the Wolfpack's regular season opener last Thursday against South Florida.
Franklin County's Ricky Person (Heritage) and Nash County's Zonovan 'Bam' Knight (Southern Nash) combined for a whopping 327 total yards of offense to go with four touchdowns as the Wolfpack roared to an impressive 45-0 decision over the Bulls at historic Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Bunn High School's Keagan Osika rises up for a kill Tuesday evening against volleyball rival Franklinton.

LOUISBURG -- County commissioners adopted a policy that will guide how the county maintains its vehicle fleet.
The policy, among other things, outlines the process by which vehicles are purchased; their appearance, including consistently located and designed county logos; their schedule of maintenance, including more real time accounting of miles and service histories; and transparent plans for replacing vehicles or re-distributing them through county departments.