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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners are slated to meet next week, perhaps setting a course for its new radio system.
By the end of October, Franklin County received two bids to install an 800 MHz digital simulcast trunked radio network.
By December, County Emergency Communications Director Christy Shearin and Tusa Consulting representatives presented proposals by Florida-based Williams Communications and Chicago-based Motorola Solutions to meet current and future needs.

State Rep. Matthew Winslow (center) brought an early Christmas gift to Louisburg last week -- and it came at the perfect time for newly installed Mayor Christopher Neal, right, who had just taken the oath of office for his new job. The giant check is for $700,000 in state aid for the Depot Hill project in south Louisburg. Keeping a firm grip on the check is Town Administrator Jonathan Franklin, left.

LOUISBURG -- Triangle North Executive Airport is set to undergo a much-needed foundational shift after the first of the year that will shut down a bulk of operations.
Between now and the start of construction, airport staff and advisors are working to make the blow as soft as possible.

LOUISBURG -- Police arrested a Greenville man they allege was responsible for a sweepstakes cafe robbery.
Investigators are looking for two more suspects in the armed robbery.
According to investigators, T'Marcus Daquan Ballard, 27, and two other suspects robbed the MGM Cafe at 326 Bickett Boulevard the afternoon of Dec. 9.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- A leader in the field of science and technology has teamed up with United Way of Franklin County to bolster children's educational opportunities.
Novozymes donated $100,000 to Franklin County United Way to fund the creation of an Innovation Mobile Lab.

LOUISBURG -- Senior Resident Superior Court Judge John Dunlow will hold administrative court next week, receiving updates on a host of pending cases, ranging from a matter involving the confederate statue in Louisburg, to allegations of unpaid work at Owens Park to assaults reported at Franklin County schools.
In chronological order:

County Department of Aging employees Tammie Piper, Shelby Cash and Cindy Jones

In a matter of hours, 2021 will wind down, closing out a difficult year on many levels and leaving us some serious concerns for 2022.
As we learn to write 2022, we'll also be dealing with yet another version of COVID-19 that is expected to ravage the country -- or at least the unvaccinated -- in coming weeks.
We can hope it won't be as bad as predicted -- but past predictions have proven pretty accurate, so hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

The end of the year always has me thinking about the promise of a new year.
And, by promise of a new year, I mean the taxes that I will most certainly owe the state and federal government.
Taxes, ie money, are generally on the mind of most folks this time of year as a host of forms, documents and other information is due to the tax office by the end of December.

Dear editor:
In a world full of political spats, heightened inflation, and farms being sold off to developers, there are still plenty of things to smile about (in this case, laugh about).

FRANKLINTON, NC--Debora Faith Hoyle Bennett, 63, of Franklinton died Friday, December 24, 2021. She was born on December 3, 1958, the daughter of Dorothy Perry Hoyle and the late Douglas "Red" Hoyle. In addition to her father, Debora was predeceased by a son, Brian Mark Bennett.

BUNN - For a moment, an earlier-than-expected rematch between Louisburg and Northern Nash seemed to be a distinct possibility in the boys portion of the Bunn Christmas Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at the Bunn Dome.
LHS and NN met earlier this month in Big East action, and the Warriors surprised the Fighting Knights in overtime at home.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- In the immortal words of legendary Arizona Cardinals football coach Dennis Green, 'They were who we thought they were.'
Of course, Green wasn't talking about the Rocky Mount High School boys basketball squad, but he might as well have been in reference to the 2021-22 Big East Conference title race.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The Big East Conference girls basketball schedule is only three games old -- with 11 more contests to play -- but some trends are already starting to develop. And none of them are overwhelmingly unexpected.
Talk among most of the league's coaches in the preseason was that the Rocky Mount Lady Gryphons were the prohibitive favorites to win the Big East -- and RM has done nothing to date to dispel that notion.

ROCKY MOUNT -- The North Carolina Wesleyan College Baseball team was ranked 13th with 252 points in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Div. 3 Poll which was released last Tuesday.
The Bishops are coming off a NCAA Regional appearance last season and a 33-win campaign overall (33-10) including 17-1 in the USA South that saw the Bishops fall in the championship game of the conference tournament.

FIVE GENERATIONS. Mary Boykin Strickland of Middlesex, pictured at far left is one proud matriarch of this family.

Carolyn Peters and The Grinch during the Louisburg Senior Center Christmas party.

CHRISTMAS SOCIAL. Franklinton Senior Center members participate in the annual Christmas party. Pictured above, left to right, are Mary Dimaio, Mary Harris, Nannie Solomon and Yvonne Winston. Pictured below, left to right, are Barbara Perry, Carolyn Debnam, Charles Etheridge and Pat Chatman.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested two out-of-towners on drug charges during a vehicle checkpoint.
Officers were set up at N.C. 56 East and Firetower Road on Dec. 18 when they made the stop and eventual arrest.
The driver, Terrell Quintel Battle of Elm City, and the passenger Morgan Leanne Haskins, of Battleboro, were charged with multiple counts of trafficking and possession of drugs, including heroin and marijuana.

Each Veterans Day, the members of VFW Post 347 in Glen Cove (Long Island, NY), are honored for their bravery and dedication for their years of service fighting for our freedoms.
During recent years, Glen Cove Councilman Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews, a Louisburg College graduate, has been invited to join the veterans early in the morning for a ceremony at their hall.

Nyle Wadford, president of Neuse Tile Service in Youngsville was recently awarded the prestigious NTCA Ring of Honor during the Total Solutions Plus conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) Ring of Honor is a lifetime achievement award that recognizes NTCA contractors and members whose efforts have been of particular service to the association and the tile industry.

HENDERSON --Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunity, Inc., has announced that a recent hire, Linda Biser, will serve as lead accountant for the agency.
Biser is a graduate of Mount Olive College, where she received an associate's in Business Administration. She moved to Warrenton in March of this year.
Though Biser grew up as a military child, she considers Goldsboro home.