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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County leaders said it will require a tax increase to fully fund the school system's budget request, which is $5.2 million more in operating funding than they got last year.
The bottom line, County Commission Chair Harry Foy and School Board member Tommy Piper said, is how will the county get down to an expense they can approve in the budget.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners tasked staff with creating a stakeholders group that could tackle water allocation issues.
For at least the past two meetings, Raleigh-based developer and Franklin County Home Builders Association member Dan Tingen has criticized the county's water allocation process, calling it ambiguous and detrimental to development.

CASTALIA -- When you go out to Hardly Farm, you won't find anyone who's not hard at work.
But, the second-, third- and fourth-generation folks running the former tobacco farm in the northeastern corner of Franklin County take plenty of pleasure in their work.
"... We're having fun," said Kim Gupton Stewart, who took over the 37.5-acre, northeastern Franklin County farm when her Dad, Bennie Ray Gupton, passed away in 2019.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners agreed to give home builders and others more time to respond to a hike in fees paid by new development.
In 2017, the General Assembly enacted a bill that requires governments and municipalities that collect fees that cover the impacts of new growth and development to prepare a written analysis to justify the amount charged.
In 2018, after developers balked at higher fees, the county set a fee of $1,350 for water and $1,950 for sewer for new developments.

LOUISBURG -- County commissioners agreed to spend up to $130,000 to build a dog park in Pilot.
During the board's April 15 meeting, Assistant County Manager Will Doerfer presented a preliminary proposal to build a dog park at the Pilot Lions Park, with a rough estimate of between $89,000 and $100,000.
At that meeting, Commissioner Danny Pearce successfully made a motion to move forward with plans to construct that park, starting no later than September.

Youngsville Town Manager Nathan Page

It has happened again.
U.S. 401 just south of Louisburg has claimed another life -- bringing the horrifying total on that stretch of highway to about 25 or 26!
It should not have happened.
Most of these deaths might have been avoided if the highway had been upgraded to four lanes as promised a long time ago.

Lights. Camera. Plenty of action.
Franklin County tested out its first attempt at livestreaming a meeting Tuesday night when they met "jointly" with the Franklin County Board of Education.
I'll let my story speak to the content of the meeting.
And, I suspect I'll let my boss, who is much better at these column things, expound on the nature of the meeting and what it accomplished in next week's edition
I just wanted to speak about the execution.

Dear editor:
As a retired Franklin County Librarian with 27 years' experience it has been difficult to witness the dismantling of libraries across the school district.
The superintendent and her administration decided that all school librarian positions will be cut, and if the libraries are to remain open, they will be operated by a teacher assistant or an office assistant.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Funeral services for Ella Mae Smith Strickland, age 71, who died on Friday, May 3, 2024, were held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2024 from the Cedar Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Castalia with Pastor Sylvester White officiating. Burial will follow in the Cedar Rock Church Cemetery.

RALEIGH, NC--Ann Gale Hall Maske, 81, of Raleigh, passed away early Monday morning at Hillside Nursing and Rehab in Wake Forest.

LOUISBURG -- Nobody in attendance seemed to know when the last time Bunn High School won a team match in the Class 2-A Boys Tennis State Playoffs.
And considering the fact that retired long-time skipper Allen White was there, it's a safe bet to say it's been awhile.
Not anymore, though, as the Wildcats broke the skein in grand fashion Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over Princeton in the opening round of the postseason.
The event was held at the Louisburg High School Courts due to poor conditions on the BHS campus.

LOUISBURG -- From May 3-5, the Louisburg College softball program hosted the NJCAA Region X Regional Tournament at Sheilah R. Cotten Field on the LC campus.
Louisburg College, which maintained the #1 ranking throughout the season, swept its way through the competition to play in the Championship game last Saturday.
The Lady Hurricanes played against the #3-ranked Bryant & Stratton College in the title showdown.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Between them, Nash Central and Bunn boast only five combined seniors, so the future definitely looks bright for both of the girls prep soccer programs in the always-strong Big East Conference.
But in the present, the Lady Bulldogs have an edge, as evidenced by their pair of decisions over the Ladycats this spring -- the latest of which came last Thursday at the NCHS Soccer Complex.

CHAPEL HILL -- Twenty miles south of Chapel Hill near Jordan Lake lies a difficult test created by University of North Carolina alum Davis Love III. The test is the game of golf, and the name of this particular test goes by The Preserve at Jordan Lake Golf Club. The par-72, 6,400-yard layout played host to the NCHSAA Class 2-A Mideast Regional on Monday.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Carolina Mudcats (19-7) opened their series against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (16-12) on Tuesday with a 4-1 victory in Fayetteville.
Mudcats starter, Manuel Rodriguez (W, 2-2), went seven strong innings only giving up 1 run and 3 hits.
The 7-inning performance is the deepest any Mudcats starter has gone in a game this season.

LOUISBURG -- One man died and another was taken to the hospital in serious condition following a head-on collision last week.
According to a report by Trooper T.A. Clayton, Junior Jose Berrios Luna was traveling north along U.S. 401 when the sport utility vehicle he was driving crossed the center line at about 8:45 p.m. on May 2.
He collided with a southbound Honda Accord driven by Kelvin Alston, 40, of Wendell.

LOUISBURG -- The State Highway Patrol is investigating a wreck caused by one of their own.
According to a report by Sgt. S.E. Fuller, Trooper T.A. Clayton was traveling north on Bickett Boulevard near the Tar River bridge when he failed to reduce speed and crashed into the back of a car at about 5:20 p.m. on May 1.