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FRANKLINTON -- Tick Hudgins said that when he signed up to join the crew of the Sensation, he knew that boat would win the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.
And, when they weighed the marlin that took a crew more than six hours to reel in, he felt like he delivered on his promise.
And then, tournament organizers disqualified the fish, claiming the marlin was mutilated by shark bites, disqualifying it from competition.

LOUISBURG -- "The town of Louisburg has a budget. We have finally passed it," said an obviously elated Louisburg Mayor Christopher Neal during a town council session Monday night.
Developing a budget this year has been a bit of an ordeal, including two lengthy budget sessions.

LOUISBURG -- A quick apology from Philip Slayter, Louisburg's planning and zoning chief, and then a fast, unanimous vote by the town council quickly headed-off a potential confrontation over food trucks during Monday night's meeting.
Last month, the council approved a new ordinance on food trucks that on one hand expanded the number of locations where they can operate -- but also took away the site, on private property, where the trucks have long operated next to the Tar Banks Brewery downtown.

LOUISBURG -- County management is slated to meet with representatives from all the county's fire departments today.
Officials asked them to take all the input from that meeting, and seek guidance wherever else they can get it to present them with guidelines for a Medical Responder Program that gets every department on board.

FRANKLINTON -- Franklinton High closed out Franklin County's public high school graduations, as nearly 600 students earned diplomas in 2023.
During FHS's June 14 graduation, Valedictorian Keniya Black and Brady Groves reminded their more than 260 fellow graduates that their unique journeys through high school have prepared them for what's next, and the communities of Franklinton and Youngsville serve as a great launching pad for their dreams.

Robbie and Emery Lee

Welcome to summer, 2023.
In case you weren't paying close attention, summer arrived yesterday, Wednesday, June 21, and for the last few days at least, it's been feeling like it with temperatures approaching or barely into the 90s.
Plus, if you blink more than twice, we're going to be celebrating the Fourth of July holiday before you know it -- and marking the end of the first half of 2023.

One of the benefits of writing is that it has the ability to last forever.
Don't believe me? Just take a trip to some dusty cave somewhere and check out the hieroglyphics.
It's one of the reasons I particularly make a point of trying to capture valedictorian and salutatorian speeches from the graduations I cover.

Dear editor: For 30 years, Emma Ruth Stewart has dedicated herself to the Town of Louisburg by serving on the town council. She announced she would not seek reelection this past Monday night at the Louisburg Town Council meeting to a full crowd.

Dear editor: I skimmed your opinion piece, essentially warning us that Franklin County may fail to make Playboy's best place to live and work in North Carolina if our women don't stay in line.

Dear editor: First, U. S. Census Bureau lists Black / African American as only 13.6 percentage of the American population.
I grew up during Segregation / School Desegregation Era.

Louisburg, NC-Jeremy Tyler Milton, 20, of Epsom, left us on June 18, 2023. He was born on February 2, 2003, the son of Kevin Milton and Bridget Ross Ellison. Jeremy was preceded in death by his very special Aunt Gladys.

GREENSBORO -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) recently held their annual awards ceremony.
Scholarships a plenty, referees, teams and school administrators are just a few of the many recipients who are recognized at the 2-hour event.
This year had a local award recipient as the Louisburg High School men's basketball program was awarded the NCHSAA Commissioner's Cup for their community work through the Mini Warriors program.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Given the competitiveness of the league, it's difficult for a school to claim the Wells Fargo Cup Championship in the Big East Conference -- let alone two years in a row.
But Southern Nash reached that lofty goal during the 2022-23 school year as the Firebirds repeated their Wells Fargo Cup overall crown.

LOUISBURG -- In a season full of awards and recognitions for Louisburg College softball, two Hurricanes received the highest individual honors in the nation at their position. Brianna Tucker was the Tucci/NFCA NJCAA Division II National Player of the Year.
She was also the NJCAA Division II National Player of the Year.
Zoey Jones was the NJCAA Division II National Pitcher of the Year.

ZEBULON -- Kay-Lan Nicasia drove in a run with a RBI triple in the ninth, Luke Adams went 2-for-3 with two runs and Logan Henderson totaled a career-high nine strikeouts, but the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats survived a late Carolina Mudcats' rally while escaping with a 4-3 victory in front of a paid crowd of 6,017 on Tuesday night at Five County Stadium.

WHAT A GREAT YEAR. The Miracle League of Franklin County recently completed its spring schedule with a spectacular event at the ML Field on the campus of Long Mill Elementary School in Youngsville. As part of the action, Liam-John LoPorto of the Braves ran through the Buddy Tunnel while accompanied by his Buddy and Coach, April Cates.

Pianist Clara Yang will present music by Beethoven, Chopin, Debussey, Brahms and current composer Stephen Anderson at Cherry Hill on Sunday, June 25.
The program, which will begin at 3 p.m., will include favorite works by the renowned composers, as well as a work written specifically for Yang by Anderson.
Dr. Yang, a graduate of the University of Southern California, the Yale School of Music, and the Eastman School of Music, is currently associate professor of music and head of keyboard studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Two Louisburg Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center residents recently celebrated milestone centenarian birthdays with family and friends.
Louisburg Mayor Christopher Neal presented each with a proclamation during a May 12 ceremony.
Ida Pauline Hicks Hall, turned 101 on May 2. She was born in Wake County on May 2, 1922. Hall is the daughter of a share cropper, where she worked the farm with her father, mother and siblings, giving up her dream of going to college to stay and help on the farm.

Welcome to summer finally. Each month we will be sharing an article about things you can grow in Franklin County. We also plan to share articles about how to prepare some of the vegetables and fruits that we write about. These monthly articles will provide you with more information about growing in Franklin County.
This month we will be focusing on growing summer squash. This article will be followed up with ways to prepare sum-mer squash for you and your family to enjoy.

FANTASTIC FISH. The Northern Sportsman, Chris Edwards, hosted the annual Take a Kid Fishing event, that drew about 60 kids. Above, James House and his uncle, Blake, show off a whopper they pulled from the lake.

Luke Harris gets a little closer to the fish he's trying to reel in.

Josh Carroll shows off a fish he caught while having fun with, from left, his mother, Kimberly, sister, Cierra, and dad, Jason.

Big kids Reece Gupton and Dale Byrns show off a fish they pulled from the pond.

North Carolina State University released their Dean's list for Spring 2023 semester. Following are the Franklin County students on the list.

Cousins with Franklin County ties graduated recently, one from college, the other from high school.
Jericka Brodie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jermaine Brodie graduated from Winston Salem State University, her parents' alma mater. Jericka graduated Summa Cum Laude and received a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Business Administration.

CALIFORNIA, PA--Clinton Whitfield of Franklinton has been named to Pennsylvania Western University Dean's List for the 2023 spring semester.
Over 3,500 Pennsylvania Western University students earned placement on the Dean's List. Degree-seeking undergraduate students who achieve high academic standards are identified in accordance with the following criteria:

Kerr-Vance Academy graduate Nick Cunard received the DAR (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution) Good Citizenship award from the Shocco Creek Chapter. Cunard was recognized during awards' day at the school, as well as the Region VI awards luncheon in Raleigh earlier this year. Presenting the award is Martha Hobgood, Shocco Creek Chapter member.

MARS HILL, NC--Scott Thomas Casagrande of Bunn and Keagan Walene Osika of Youngsville are among 332 Mars Hill University students named on the Honor Roll of the Academic Dean at the end of the spring 2023 semester. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must earn a grade-point average of 3.5 on a minimum of 12 semester hours, and carry no grade below a C.

LOUISBURG -- The town council's longest serving member, Emma Stewart, made a surprise announcement Monday night, saying she will not seek re-election this fall.
Stewart, who has served on the council for 30 years, said simply that "it's time for the younger generation to take over."
Stewart's announcement means that there will be at least one new person on the council following this fall's election.

LOUISBURG -- Almost a year after Franklin County officials bought an old theater property intended to make way for a judicial complex expansion, the heads of a nearly 400-strong social media group asked officials to save the art deco structure.
The Save The Louisburg Theater Facebook group was created on June 9 with the intent of saving the theater, located at 109 W. Nash Street. the group had 394 members at press time.

102-year-old retired Army Air Corp bomber pilot Joe Balogh was recognized for his service by David Webb, left, on behalf of Congressman Don Davis' office. Davis met Balogh during a visit where Balogh vividly recalled his service, his comrades and those who made sacrifices, including the ultimate one. Not wanting Balogh's story to die, Davis shared it on the floor of the Nation's Capital, making it part of the Congressional Record.

The Louisburg Town Council paused for a few minutes Monday night to honor two star Louisburg College athletes and their coach. Those honored were (from the left) softball Coach Eric Lee and two of his players, Brianna Tucker, player of the year, and Zoey Jones, pitcher of the year. This year's Louisburg College softball team had an overall record of 63 wins against just five loses -- including a perfect 38-0 conference record.