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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners are being asked to appropriate $28,328,192 to operate local public schools for the 2023-24 school year which begins on July 1. That total amounts to a 9 percent increase in spending per pupil for all children in Franklin County schools and charter schools.
The Board of Education unanimously agreed Monday night to forward that request to the commissioners following a detailed financial presentation from Quinnley Coley, the district's chief of finance.

LOUISBURG -- A Louisburg Town Council decision about Louisburg Falls, the largest mixed use development in the town's history, will have to wait until at least early May.
The council tabled a decision on zoning map amendments that would have cleared the way for the project during a meeting Monday night.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County recognized three of its best volunteers, including one who earned the state's highest volunteer service award.
Bernie Meader joins two other Franklin County residents [Dot Robertson in 2008 and Jim Grove in 2018] who have earned the Governor's Medallion Award, recognizing outstanding service.

LOUISBURG -- Attorneys who represented a convicted murderer admitted they mishandled an opportunity to sever the cases against Garry Yarborough.
Now, a superior court judge will determine if the mistake warrants a new trial.
In 2018, Superior Court Judge David Lambeth Jr. sentenced Yarborough to life in prison without parole -- plus 40 years -- after a jury found him guilty of the summer 2015 killing of Tracy Williams.

BINGO. The Bunn Cert Lions Club held a Cow Chip Bingo fundraiser last Saturday. First prize was $500, second was a barbecue grill and third prize was $50. Above, Connor Brady, center, who loves cows, points out the interesting animals to Samuel and Earlene Brady.

Sarah and Jasper Alford

Spring has spring -- hopefully for real this time.
Everything is rapidly greening up, the farmers are working their fields, the flowers are beginning to bloom and the birds sound happier than they have in months.
Everyone, it seems, loves springtime in North Carolina with the possible exception of those who are very sensitive to the pollen that seems to encase just about everything these days.

I didn't grow up in a large family, but I was, at one time, married into one.
And, anyone who's been to a large family get together around the table knows one thing: A closed mouth doesn't get fed.
Basically, it means speak up for what you want or what you need.
Otherwise, it's a pretty good bet you'll never get it.

Henderson, NC--Ann Overton Marshall, 85, of Henderson passed away on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at her home surrounded by her family. She was born to the late Crowell Lee Overton Sr. and Tempie Ayscue Overton in Vance County, NC on October 1, 1937.

Castalia, NC--Funeral services for Geraldine R. Evans, age 72, who died on Saturday, April 15, 2023, will be held 3 p.m., Saturday, April 22, from the Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, with Dr. Timothy Walker officiating. Burial will follow in the Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery.

LOUISBURG, NC--Lori Winslow Murray, 57, of Louisburg, passed away on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. She was born to the late Kenneth L. Winslow and Sophia Jones Winslow on November 1, 1965, in Pasquotank County.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Lynn Medlin, and her brother-in-law Robert Jones Jr.

STANHOPE -- Franklinton might be an up-and-coming squad on the Big East Conference girls soccer scene, but the Southern Nash Ladybirds are currently entrenched as the Queens of the League.
Southern Nash affirmed that status Tuesday by delivering a 10-1 triumph over the young Lady Rams at historic Firebird Stadium on the SNHS campus.

STANHOPE -- Coming into the game, veteran Southern Nash softball coach Scott Collie had expressed concern about his club's inability to produce offensively in some of the most important contests on their schedule this spring.
Those fears were set aside during one huge inning as part of Southern's duel-for-first-place matchup against Bunn on Tuesday in a crucial Big East Conference showdown.

SPRING HOPE -- Big East Conference golfers prepped for the league championship with one final regular season event Monday at Peachtree Hills Country Club.
Once again, Roanoke Rapids finished in the top spot with 332 strokes. Southern Nash has been a consistent second-place finisher this spring, and the Firebirds matched that result again by taking the runner-up position with 354 strokes.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Round and round the Big East Conference girls softball standings go. Where they'll stop -- nobody knows.
Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, which began Tuesday, four teams sat tied atop the Big East with identical 8-2 records -- Southern Nash, Bunn, Roanoke Rapids and Nash Central.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- With four games remaining, the Northern Nash Fighting Knights control their own destiny in their quest to repeat as the Big East Conference regular season baseball champions.
But it won't be easy as the Knights will have to tangle with rivals Nash Central (this week) and Southern Nash (next week) to finish out the campaign.

(L to R) Southern Nash High School's Charlotte Benson and Franklinton's Mackenzie Allred try to gain possession of the ball during Tuesday evening's Big East Conference girls soccer showdown as SNHS' Firebird Stadium in Stanhope.

GREAT SEASON! The Louisburg College Lady Hurricanes' softball squad is currently ranked a best-ever second in the nation in the National Junior College Athletic Association rankings. Louisburg College, under the direction of veteran head coach Eric Lee, has a 44-game winning streak to go with an overall record of 47-2. The Lady Hurricanes swept a doubleheader on Tuesday against Southeastern Community College out of Whiteville by scores of 14-0 and 13-0.

The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting last month, celebrating new offices for Safe Space Inc. -- a non-profit organization that combats domestic violence and sexual assault. Their new offices, Safe Space Inc. The Jim Grove Family Resource Center, is located at 118-A N. Main Street in Louisburg.

LOUISBURG -- A Louisburg Town Council budget workshop evolved into something else -- a tentative first look at a couple of issues town leaders likely will be facing next fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
And those two issues, which have yet to be resolved, could affect nearly every Louisburg resident.

LOUISBURG -- In a long, rather unusual meeting, the Louisburg Town Council Monday night voted to table a decision on Louisburg Falls (see related story) and waded through a long agenda of rather routine business.
A highlight of the meeting was perhaps the sale of the town-renovated building at 109 N. Church Street.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A Wake Forest teen was killed in a single-vehicle wreck over the weekend.
The State Highway Patrol did not immediately identify the 17-year-old because of his age, but a Bright Funeral Home obituary noted 17-year-old Jeremy Tyler Moran died in an car crash on April 16.

LOUISBURG -- A Sanford man sentenced to life in prison for his role in robbing a high-stakes poker game is hoping to get to play a better hand in a new trial.
In April 2014, a jury found Walter Eugene Spinks guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

ZEBULON -- Federal transportation officials are investigating a glider crash that sent a 16-year-old pilot to the hospital.
The pilot's injuries were classified as minor, according to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The pilot has not been identified.

TAKING THE OATH. Louisburg Town Administrator Sean Medlin (center) is sworn in as the town's representative to the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency. Holding the Bible is Town Clerk Pamela Perry while Mayor Christopher Neal administers the oath. NCEMPA is the governing agency for ElectriCities.

LOUISBURG -- When the Northeastern Franklin County Revitalization Group gathered last week, there were two ways to look at the meeting: It was either the end of the beginning or the beginning of another effort at economic development in that long-neglected region of the county.
The group gathered -- for a covered dish dinner -- to salute 14 people who had just completed an intense eight-class series that was designed to help them start and/or better run their independent businesses.