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LOUISBURG -- Three days after county management updated commissioners on EMS activities, and three years to the day after he started working for the county, Emergency Medical Services Director Jim Gusler resigned, effective immediately.
It was not clear if the matters were related.
Seeking insight into Gusler's tenure and the nature of his departure, county management would only confirm his resignation.

BUNN -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested a Youngsville man alleged to have embezzled money from the recreation organization he claims to have resurrected.
Deputies arrested Jamie Earl Murray, charging him with two counts of felony embezzlement.
According to an Oct. 3 arrest warrant, investigators allege that on two occasions, Murray took money from Bunn Youth Recreation League/Southern Franklin Youth Association for his own personal use -- totaling $4,050.68.

Above, the mill made a fantastic photographic backdrop for cyclists who either passed by or stopped to visit the site last Friday.

BUNN -- A good speech usually starts with a good joke and current NC Chamber general counsel and former principal agriculture advisor to the president Ray Starling had two for the audience at last week's Franklin County Cooperative Extension Agency's Farm-City Luncheon -- a cornerstone of the department's annual effort to strengthen the ties between the farming and urban community.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County's top administrator took home the regional advisory council's top honor last month.
Franklin County Manager Kim Denton earned the KerrTar Regional Council of Governments' Outstanding County Manager Award because of her focus and drive, members said.

Bunn HS football player Tucker Mitchell

There's not much doubt left, is there?
Mother Nature has cleared most of it with chilly nighttime temperatures and beautiful sunny, but still, cool days.
Yep, it's obviously Fall and most likely October with picture-perfect days without much rainfall even though we could use a good, long shower.
All that's left now is to get outside and enjoy the weather, especially if these cool nights have reduced the chigger population to bearable levels.

Unless Wake County invaded Franklin County between the time I wrote this column and the time you read this, our incumbent and prospective Louisburg candidates should be featured on Page 9 of this edition of The Franklin Times.
It comes on the heels of last week's edition, which featured Franklinton candidates.
And, it comes a week before we'll round out our candidate features with a combination of Bunn and Youngsville.

FRANKLINTON -- Back in August, who would have thought that last Thursday's matchup between Franklinton and Northern Nash would be the Game of the Year in the Big East Conference volleyball standings?
Certainly, it was anticipated that Franklinton -- the defending Big East regular season and tournament title -- would once again be in the mix for league supremacy with a deep and skilled veteran lineup.

RED OAK -- One of the biggest boys soccer thrillers in the Big East Conference came last month, when Bunn rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Northern Nash in a key league showdown.
The sequel came Monday at the NNHS Boys Soccer Complex, and the two defensive-minded teams put on an expected offensive show -- at least for the first half of action.

BUNN -- Southern Nash has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches at the running back position the past three decades, but members of the Firebirds' coaching staff wondered before the season if a player of that lofty caliber was on the roster in 2023 -- or if a rare by-committee approach would need to be utilized out of SN's legendary double-wing formation.

WAKE FOREST -- The Big East Conference's girls golf squads returned to Brevofield Golf Links last Wednesday -- where the same all-season-long result awaited.
Southern Nash, coached by veteran skipper Scott Collie, has swept the team standings at every Big East event in 2023 -- and last Wednesday's 9-hole match was no different.

Franklinton's Mikayla Taborn delivers a kill for the Lady Rams during last Thursday's victory over Northern Nash.

The U.S. Air Force Heritage Brass Quintet will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 21, in the Seby B. Jones Performing Arts Center on the Louisburg College Campus. Representing Air Force members serving across the globe, Heritage Brass showcases the service's excellence and precision in every performance throughout the eastern seaboard, from South Carolina to Maine.

Author Art Chansky will discuss "Game Changers: Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era that Transformed a Southern College Town," at Louisburg College, Thursday, Oct. 19, part of the Tar River Center for History and Culture series. Drawn together by college basketball in a time of momentous change, Dean Smith and Charlie Scott helped transform a university, a community, and the racial landscape of sports in the South.

LOUISBURG -- A few kindergarten and first-grade students at Royal Elementary School could have the opportunity to enroll in a "dual language" Spanish/English program next fall if the Board of Education decides next month to move ahead with the idea.
The school board heard an outline of the proposed dual language approach on Monday night from Jake Henry, chief operating officer of Participate Leaning, a company that has already partnered with 436 schools in 68 districts in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Louisburg College recently dedicated its "green room" in honor of Craig Eller, a longtime professor of English and Dean of Students.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies are awaiting the extradition of a Youngsville man accused of kidnapping his mother.
According to investigators with the Franklin County sheriff's office, the woman went to Denton's house in southern Franklin County to take him grocery shopping around 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Name:
Kimberly (Kim) Baker
Age: 31
Occupation:
Project manager in clinical research
Marital status:
Unmarried but in a long term relationship

Name:
Dalita L. Woods
Age: 40
Occupation: Teacher
Marital status: single

Name: Natalie
Famiglietti Peterson
Age: 57
Occupation:
Optical Assistant
Marital status: Divorced

Name:
Mark K Russell
Age: 43
Occupation: Fleet Program Manager / Pilot
Marital status: Married

Name:
Bobby L. Dickerson
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired State Employee, currently part time contract worker for State Government.
Marital status: Married

Name:
Phillip "Doc" Stover
Age: 73
Occupation: Physician
Marital status: Married

Cooperative Extension Director Charles Mitchell, right, presented the Ag Volunteer of the Year Award to Jason and Natalie Farmer, who operate Wester Farms.

Charles Mitchell, right, presented the Friends of Extension Award to Irene and Steve Mitchell, whose Mitchell Farms has served as the host of the luncheon on several occasions, as well as hosted other agricultural events.