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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County's health director said COVID-19 numbers are trending in the right direction.
But now is not the time to veer off the path.
"Even though we're moving to a more positive area," Scott LaVigne told commissioners and the public during the board's meeting on Monday night, "now is not the time to ease up, yet.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- If election results hold up, Louisburg will have its first black mayor.
And, there will be new faces on governing boards in Franklinton and Youngsville.
Louisburg featured a six-person race for the mayor's seat, but incumbent Councilman Christopher Neal took the top spot, unofficially, by nine votes -- 252 compared to the next highest, 243 for incumbent Councilman Boyd Sturges.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners agreed to put more than $2 million toward the initial work needed to build a new county administration building and judicial complex -- with estimated price tags of $24.5 million and $13.6 million, each.
Monday night's decision produced only one dissenting vote.

Downtown Franklinton was full of fun and fright as the town celebrated its annual Frankenfest Halloween event. Above, Imagine Circus performer Callie Kirsch strides high above the Frankenfest fray while on stilts.

If you've been watching a new TV show, you know that it took a concussion for the lead character to begin seeing ghosts. But if you were in downtown Louisburg last Friday, the Sanderson Sisters -- all ghosts -- were quite visible and all decked out for the season. From the left are Sarah, Winnie and Mary Sanderson. Some say the ghosts bore an uncanny resemblance to (from the left) Tammy Bell, Rita Cox and Janice Gilliam -- but you can be the judge of that.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved a new redistricting map that will guide elections for the next decade.
County officials and management had held the matter open to generate public input and proposals, however, no proposals from the public were presented.
On Monday night, the board approved redistricting map Option No. 1.

Football player Camdon Perry

Although I dislike even bringing up this topic, you know what this coming weekend requires, right?
Yep, it's time to "fall back" an hour early Sunday (or late Saturday if you prefer) and suddenly it will be getting dark an hour earlier each day.
Ugh! And, worse, it will continue to get darker each evening until almost Christmas when, gradually, we'll begin to get our evenings back.

I've lived in Franklin County and, specifically, Youngsville, for more than three years now.
So, when countywide or municipal elections pop up, they engender a bit more excitement than they did for much of the previous 16 years when I "just" worked here.
But, I'll tell you right now, there's an election that occurred in the tiny county of Graham -- population 8,441.

FRANKLINTON, NC--Betty Grace Huff Strickland, 67, of Franklinton went home on Monday, November 1, 2021. Betty was born on January 24, 1954 to the late John and Daszerlean Morton Huff. In addition to her parents, Betty was predeceased by a son Dwaine Strickland.

Connie B. Kidd age 58, died Tuesday, October 26, 2021. She was born in Franklinton, NC on June 28, 1963, the daughter of the late Marvin and Idell.

CENTERVILLE, NC--Funeral services for Johnny Evans, age 69, who died on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 will be held on Monday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m., from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg. Burial will follow in the Mary Helen Jones Cemetery.

ROCKY MOUNT, NC -- Joshua "Josh" Alan Edwards, 43, died Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. He was born in Franklin County, NC, March 31, 1978.

AYDEN - Every intangible seemed to be working against the Louisburg Lady Warriors during the fifth set of last Thursday's showdown at Ayden-Grifton in the third round of the Class 2-A State Volleyball Playoffs.
After winning two of the first three sets, Louisburg dropped the fourth set in lopsided fashion -- and Ayden-Grifton appeared to firmly have momentum in its favor as the Lady Chargers rolled to an 11-3 cushion in the first-to-15 deciding fifth set.

BUNN -- Bunn's 2021 football regular season might not have lived up to in-house expectations, but the final chapter proved to be one to remember for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored on the first play of the game and never trailed the rest of the way en route to defeating ultimate rival Louisburg by a 40-12 margin in Big East Conference gridiron action last Friday night at the BHS Football Field.

FRANKLINTON -- All was not lost for the Franklinton Red Rams during last Friday's 48-22 road football setback at powerhouse Southern Nash.
Coming into the outing, there was a bit of uncertainty as to whether the Red Rams needed to win in order to make the postseason.
But that questioned was answered last Saturday when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its Class 3-A State Playoff Brackets -- and the Red Rams were included.

FRANKLINTON -- Southern Nash proved to be the main nemesis for the Franklinton Red Rams during an otherwise-glorious 2021 boys soccer season.
The Red Rams, coached by Bert Woodburn, went 20-5 overall, with three of those losses coming against Southern Nash -- including a 5-3 setback to the Firebirds in last week's championship match of the Big East Conference Tournament.

CHAPEL HILL -- Here are the first-round matchups for this Friday night's beginning of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's Class 2-A and Class 3-A State Football Playoffs:

Louisburg High School's Greenleigh Gleason (right) rips a kill last Thursday evening during state volleyball playoff action at Ayden-Grifton.

Kerr Vance Academy in Henderson recently announced their first quarter honor roll and headmaster list.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies are investigating an assault that resulted in a death.
On Oct. 28, deputies and paramedics responded to 137 Elsie Marie Drive, southeast of Youngsville, to find 40-year-old James McLeod suffering from an assault.
A day later, investigators said, McLeod died from his injuries.

FRANKLINTON -- Police are investigating allegations of vandalism with tinges of racial undertones.
According to published reports and police, proprietors of The Jamaican Patty Shack on Main Street reported a vandalism on Monday morning.
According to reports, the note, written in chalk outside the building, said "Get the hell out of Franklinton."

YOUNGSVILLE -- Authorities continue to look for a Vance County man they allege kidnapped a woman, returning her home hours later with minor injuries.
Youngsville Police have secured warrants for Robert Maguel Brodie Jr., alleging he entered a Hampton Lane residence the evening of Oct. 27 and kidnapped the occupant.
Authorities intentionally have not released the woman's name.

LOUISBURG -- A Louisburg man was transported to WakeMed for injuries sustained in a single-vehicle wreck that knocked out power along the town's major thoroughfare on Tuesday.
Officers responded to Bickett Boulevard near Oak Street after the sport utility vehicle driven by Ernest Wilson Harris Jr. ran off the road and hit a utility pole.

LOUISBURG -- Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 Governor's Volunteer Service Award.
The awards program, created by the Office of the Governor in 1979, recognizes North Carolina's most dedicated volunteers.
Through the years, the award has been bestowed on thousands of North Carolinians who have shown concern and compassion for their neighbors by volunteering in their local community.