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LOUISBURG -- The grand jury meets near the end of February and there's a chance prosecutors will seek first degree murder charges against two men accused of killing a Youngsville teenager.
Late last week, District Court Judge J. Hoyte Stultz refused to lower the bonds for Gavin Miller and Dillon Piper, the 18- and 19-year-old accused of killing Hamilton Woods Jr. on the evening of Jan. 29.

LOUISBURG -- Charges involving a fight between two girls sheds a bit more light on a January murder that sprang from the altercation.
Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested Gavin Miller and Dillon Piper, alleging the two were responsible for shooting and killing 19-year-old Hamilton Woods Jr. on Jan. 29.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Town commissioners held off on changing zoning in a neighborhood that's seen its fair share of zoning battles.
Cary-based Land Alternatives LLC has petitioned the town to rezone 66.37 acres from Agriculture Residential to Mixed Use -- making way for 400,000 square feet of technical flex space.

CHECKUP. Dr. Cole Younger of Full Circle Mobile Vet Clinic checks out Skipper, a quarter horse owned by Lee-Ann O'Neal, right. The annual equine vaccine clinic -- held Feb. 11 -- was hosted by the Franklin County Cooperative Extension and held at the Franklin County Farmer's Market Shelter. The central location allowed horse owners to save money by not incurring a farm call fee. Younger offered Coggins, 4-Way, 5-Way, Rabies and West Nile vaccines.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County's economic development director is preparing for retirement.
Franklin County's Human Resources Department closed applications for the post on Feb. 14 as Economic Development Director Richie Duncan prepares for retirement after nearly 20 years in the office -- spending the last six-plus years as director.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County filled out its economic development when it hired a new economic development specialist.
Monique Wilkins is slated to start in that post on Monday.
For about the last three years, Wilkins served as Louisburg's economic development coordinator.

Bunn Ladycat Alexis Perry

Sunday's big game almost lived up to some of the pre-game hype -- but the ending was kind of a dud, entertainment wise.
It was unfortunate that a questionable holding call by the officials cast a pall over the contest, and allowed the Chiefs to win easily by manipulating the clock.
Granted the clock gambit was perfectly legal -- and which most of us would have done if we'd been the Chiefs' coach -- it was a sad ending for such a hard-fought, exciting game.

I've been at this newspaper long enough that I've become part of the institutional history around here.
And, what I can tell you is that Youngsville has a very circular history when it comes to development, non development and exactly what side of the fence the town and its residents come down upon -- depending on the circumstances.
Let's start with development along Fleming Road and the Fleming Farms subdivision just outside of Youngsville.

Dear editor: I am both concerned and confused about the recent balloon sightings and when and where they were shot down.
For years NORAD has been able to track Santa Claus all the way around the world and now we are told they are unable to determine where some of these high-altitude objects came from.

OXFORD, NC--Diane Marie Thorpe, age 65, of Oxford, died Thursday, February 9, 2023 at her home. She was the daughter of the late William Hockaday, Sr. and Annie Hockaday born on March 4, 1957.

Castalia, NC--Funeral services for Joe Lee Carroll, age 69, who died on Saturday, February 11, 2023, will be held 2 p.m., Thursday, February 16, 2023 from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, NC. Dr. Timothy Walker, officiating.

Littleton, NC--Funeral services for Luther "Jabo" Hedgepeth, age 83, who died on Sunday, February 12, 2023, will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, February 18, 2023 from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg with Rev. Robert Hedgepeth officiating. Burial will follow in the Pine Chapel Memorial Garden Cemetery.

BUNN, NC -- Peyton Maddison Driver, 87, of Bunn, died Monday morning, February 13, 2023, with his family by his side.

LOUISBURG, NC - Sue Baldwin Clark, 83, of the Lake Royale Community, Louisburg, died Monday afternoon, February 6, 2023.

Wake Forest, NC--Funeral services for Susie B. Tanner, age 72, who died on Sunday, February 12, 2023, will be held 2 p.m., Saturday, February 18, 2023 from the Greenfield Missionary Baptist Church in Creedmoor with Rev. Norman Cooper officiating. Burial will follow in the Greenfield Church Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON -- If ever there was a season-long rivalry that deserved an encore performance, it's the Franklilnton-Rocky Mount showdown that has been one of the highlights of the 2022-23 campaign in the Big East Conference boys basketball scene.
The clubs have played two memorable games to date, beginning with Franklinton's triple-overtime triumph at home over the Gryphons last month in a down-to-the-wire thriller.

FRANKLINTON -- Franklinton's inside size and Bunn's perimeter speed provided an interesting contrast during Tuesday's first-round matchup in the Big East Conference Girls Basketball Tournament at the FHS Gymnasium.
But the result was the same as the two regular season meetings as the Lady Rams' paint prowess was simply too much for the smaller Ladycats.

BUNN -- These are whirlwind times for high school wrestlers -- especially when deep postseason surges are involved.
Such is the case at Bunn High School, where the Wildcats are experiencing limited turnaround time in both individual and dual team formats.
Less than one week after the Wildcats took part in the Class 2-A State Team Championships, they were back on the mat last weekend as they hosted the 2-A Mideast Regional Individual Championships at the Bunn Dome.

FRANKLINTON -- Last weekend proved to be a historic moment in more ways than one for Franklinton High School 285-pound wrestler Landon Michael.
During the Class 3-A East Regionals at West Carteret HS, the talented Michael finished in third place in his classification -- which earned him a spot in this coming weekend's Class 3-A State Individual Championships, which will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum.

BRIDGEWATER, VA. -- The North Carolina Wesleyan University baseball team defeated Bridgewater 5-4 last Saturday afternoon.
The Bishops were able to hold off a late comeback from the Eagles to sweep the opening weekend series.
Wesleyan had several players with multi-hit games, including Luke Chung, who went 3-4, and Jean Legreca, who went 2-3 with a walk.

Bunn High School's Austin Chastain (left) will represent the Wildcats at the Class 2-A State Wrestling Championships this weekend in Greensboro.

Bunn's Alana Sanders (with ball) drives toward the basket during Tuesday's matchup at victorious Franklinton in the first round of the Big East Conference Girls Basketball Tournament.

Franklinton's Chance Walker drives for a basket during Tuesday's tournament decision against rival Bunn.

The first concert of 2023 at Cherry Hill will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 and will feature pianist Robert Buxton with a unique musical presentation.
The assistant professor of piano at East Carolina University will play music originally written for the violin and later transcribed for the piano.
Works by J.S. Bach, Paganini, Faure, Elgar, and Kreisler were arranged by Franz Liszt, Percy Grainger, and others, including Buxton.

Lisa McClowry will bring her portrayal of CHER, featured in her one-woman Broadway-style show, "The Beat Goes On" to the Jones Performing Arts Center, at Louisburg College. Showtime is 7:30 p.m., Thursday, February 23.
The show incorporates dynamic dialogue, humor, seriously fun audience participation, and integrated interactive multimedia.

Back in the middle of winter, you may have noticed a red hue cast across the forest landscape; these were red maple trees blooming and is where they get their namesake. Red to yellow-orange flowers appear to float amid the bare branches. Upon closer inspection, red maple flowers are extremely intricate. Red maple trees are dioecious, meaning male or female flowers occur on separate trees. Still, it is not uncommon for both male and female flowers to appear on the same tree.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is investigating an apparent inmate suicide at the Franklin County Detention Center.
Staff found the inmate unresponsive in his individual cell at about 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
Detention officers and medical staff worked to resuscitate the inmate until EMS arrived.

The Order of The Eastern Star Helen D. Collie Chapter #39 recently visited the Louisburg Fire Station, then the Louisburg Police Station, to deliver some sweet treats to the fine men and women who serve and protect Louisburg. Tommy Leonard, now retired, worked with the Louisburg Police Department for 32 years and arranged the visit to honor the fire and police professionals. The group learned the history of each department.

WAKE COUNTY -- The Wake County Sheriff's Office said one person died and another was injured after a reported shooting Sunday afternoon near the Franklin/Wake County line.
Wake County sheriff's deputies responded to 7720 Zebulon Road -- just outside Youngsville -- at about 3:15 p.m. to find on adult dead. According to some reports, the decedent is a Youngsville resident, but authorities have not released an identification.

LOUISBURG -- A long-time tenant at the county's airport said inaction and indifference by airport staff and county officials is killing his business.
During the board's Jan. 17 meeting, Brett James, who operates a maintenance, seaplane and charter business at Triangle North Executive Airport advised the board that he's been interested in a space that's been vacant since June when Triangle Skydiving Center -- now Cadence Sky Sports -- left the space to operate their own landing zone at the airport on N.C. 56, between Louisburg and Franklinton.