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LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved a hangar lease and construction agreement that, until Airport Road is reconfigured, rounds out economic development opportunities on the airport's south side.
The 30-year lease allows M&B Properties to build a 5,960-square-foot hangar on 11,776-square feet.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County is moving forward with the shuffling of office space, while long-range facilities needs remain on the radar.
By the first of the year, Franklin County had moved its senior center, veterans services and elections offices into the newly renovated Franklin Plaza space -- the old Walmart building on Bickett Boulevard in Louisburg.

A BUNCH OF HAMS. Dozens of ham radio operators, and those interested in amateur radio, flocked to a property near the Franklin/Wake County boarder for the American Radio Relay League Field Day. The event, hosted by the Franklin County Amateur Radio Club, tested operators' abilities to establish temporary stations and make radio contacts around the world, demonstrating their skill and usefulness, particular if dire circumstances warrant their activation. Above, a crew of, from left, John Rapp and Kevin Carpenter demonstrate their ham radio abilities, also.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Early voting for the second primary, featuring races for School Board Districts 3, 5 and at-large 7, continues this week.
Early voting began July 7 and runs through July 23 at the Board of Elections office at 279 S. Bickett Boulevard and the Youngsville Library at 218 U.S. 1-A.
Early voting hours on weekdays in Louisburg are from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. In Youngsville, those hours are from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG -- One of the Civil Air Patrol's core duties is to help with civilian searches.
During the most recent meeting of the Franklin County Airport Advisory Board, leaders within the organization said they want to do a better job of making sure people find out about them.

Siblings Ruby and Paxton Lester

In case you haven't noticed, it's July in North Carolina.
And if you need proof, just step outside.
Between the heat, the humidity and the occasional thunderboomer with fantastic aerial light shows, you'll quickly agree that it must be July.
Maybe it's not humid enough for August, but it's close.

If you've been around Franklin County animal service efforts, you could get long-range whiplash.
On Monday night, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution that put the operations and supervision of animal control back under the authority of county management.

ROCKY MOUNT, NC--Funeral services for Alice Delores Wallace, age 85, who died on Saturday, July 9, 2022, will be held 2 p.m., Friday, July 15, from the Galatia A.M.E. Church in Nashville, NC. Burial will follow in the Oakland Cemetery, Nashville, NC.

HENDERSON, NC--Bernard Francis "Bernie" Scerbo, 77, of Henderson, NC, died Sunday, July 10, 2022. He was born April 5, 1945, in North Adams, Massachusetts to the late Romeo Bernard and Nora Susan Savage Scerbo.

HENDERSON, NC--Kristy Woodlief Honaker, 51, died at Maria Parham Hospital Sunday morning on July 10, 2022.

LOUISBURG, NC--Richard Norman Gupton, 76, of Louisburg died July 5, 2022 at Wake Medical Center. He was born on September 26, 1945 to the late Norman and Virginia Radford Gupton. In addition to his parents, Richard was predeceased by his brother, Melvin Gupton and his sister, Judy Gupton.

WAKE FOREST, NC--Shirley Ayscue Blackley 59, of Wake Forest, NC died Monday, July 11, 2022. She was born in Nash County, NC to Robert Lee Ayscue and Cora Ann Pendergrass Creekmore.

WENDELL -- It would be quite the understatement to say that Louisburg got off to a hot start Monday in the first-round of the Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Baseball Tournament.
The All-Stars collected an inning-maximum of five runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back en route to defeating Wendell White by a 14-9 total in opening-round action at Carver Elementary School Park.

WENDELL -- It took awhile for Youngsville's bats to get going, and that was not a recipe for success against the hard-hitting Wendell Blue All-Stars during Monday's first-round action at the annual Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Tournament.
Youngsville didn't plate a run until the fourth inning, and by then Wendell had built a substantial lead en route to securing an 11-4 decision over the All-Stars at the Carver Elementary School Park.

WENDELL -- Nash County's strong defense kept the club in the game -- and the offense erupted late to help the All-Stars secure a comeback first-round victory over Louisburg at the annual Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Tournament.
The All-Stars mustered just one run over the first four frames, but their defense was exceptional to that point in keeping Louisburg's scoring to a minimum.

FRANKLINTON -- Success has been a staple of the Franklinton High School boys soccer program over the past two decades -- and look for that excellence to continue this fall.
The Red Rams are coming off a 20-5 campaign in 2021, with three of those losses coming to Big East Conference powerhouse Southern Nash.

KANNAPOLIS -- Hedbert Perez and Oswal Leones had consecutive run-scoring hits in the seventh, and Alexander Cornielle turned his first career quality start while pitching through six scoreless innings, but the homestanding Kannapolis Cannon Ballers scored five runs in the eighth while defeating the Carolina Mudcats for the fifth straight game 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Atrium Health Ballpark.

Louisburg third baseman Ensley Hamilton (right) chases down a Wendell player during Monday's action at the annual Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Baseball Tournament at Carver Elementary School in Wendell.

De'mani Ware delivers a base knock for the Louisburg All-Stars during Monday's matchup against Nash County at the Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Tournament.

Youngsville All-Star third baseman Caleb Kohler applies a tag to a Wendell runner during Monday evening's tournament showdown.

Louisburg All-Stars slugger Braxton West prepares to send a ball toward the outfield during Monday evening's victory over Wendell at the Tar Heel District 5 Coach-Pitch Baseball Tournament in Wake County.

PITCHER ROBERT SULLIVAN MAKES A PLAY FOR THE YOUNGSVILLE ALL-STARS DURING MONDAY'S TOURNEY ACTION.

From left, Owen Dawson, Jeff Dawson, Evan Dawson and Carl Dawson take part in the Franklin County Amateur Radio Club hosted American Radio Relay League Field Day. The event served as a test of operators' abilities to establish temporary stations and make radio contacts around the world.

The Franklin County Board of Education held its shortest regular meeting in years Monday night, perhaps in decades!
The meeting lasted just a tad under five minutes -- and only one vote was taken, to set the tuition rate for students who desire to attend Franklin County Schools this fall but who do not live in the county.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies continue to investigate an apparent attempt at extortion.
A man and woman reported that they had returned to their home the afternoon of July 7 and engaged in consensual sexual activity.
A short time later, an individual who had previously rented a room from the woman at that residence messaged her with a video, capturing the activity.

LOUISBURG -- Authorities are still trying to confirm that a body found near a hospital is that of a man reported missing from an assisted living facility.
Michael Hill was reported missing from Louisburg Manor on July 5.
He had been a resident at the Smoke Tree Way facility and was free to come and go without restrictions, authorities said.

LAKE ROYALE -- Lake Royale police arrested a 33-year-old Garner man they allege tried to run down people at the pavilion, prompting gunfire in response.
No injuries were reported in the June 26 incident.
According to authorities, Sgt. S. Tiberio was on patrol when he heard a disturbance and screeching tires coming from the Pavilion area.

LOUISBURG -- The widow and son of a man who died when a fleeing suspect crashed into the couple's car have filed a lawsuit against the assailant.
James D. Feely, 78, died on July 6, 2020 -- 18 days after Jeffrey Thomas Clopton crashed into the car he was riding in with his wife, Lynn Feely.
Franklinton police stopped Clopton that afternoon in response to a 911 call for careless and reckless driving.

BUNN -- Fire crews continue to investigate the cause of a fire that sent one person to the hospital and killed a dog.
Fire crews from Bunn and Pilot responded to a mobile home on Johns Way to find it fully engulfed in flames just after 3 p.m. on July 6.
According to authorities, one person at the home off N.C. 98 sustained burn injuries and was taken to WakeMed for treatment.

Members of the NC Farm Bureau State Women's Committee from across the state held their quarterly meeting at Franklin County's N and N Farms, owned by Steve and Jackie Nelms.
The day consisted of committee work, speakers, luncheon and assembling care packages for homeless veterans living in transitional housing.

Representatives and employees with Walker Auto & Truck - NAPA joined Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Richard Veverka, second from left, in holding a grand opening and ribbon cutting on June 23.