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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners and staff committed to addressing public input on a development.
During the public comments portion of the board's Jan. 5 meeting, (335) Gardenbrook Lane resident Benjamin Quinn questioned the board about a 123-unit mobile home development off nearby Ferrells Bridge Road.
He was particularly interested in six matters regarding the development that's near the Tar River:

LOUISBURG -- We Shall Overcome was more than the gospel sung during the NAACP's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Monday -- marking the 40th anniversary of the federal holiday.
It's "the theme," said the Rev. Dr. Eric Mansfield, who delivered the address inside St. Paul Presbyterian Church.
And, it's a message that needs to be delivered now, more than ever, he said.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- County agencies are coordinating safe passage for Buddhist monks as their Walk For Peace is slated to pass through Franklin County -- as early as next week.
Franklin County Emergency Management Director Nicholas Thorpe said authorities are anticipating the news-making group to arrive here on Jan. 26.
Thorpe said the county's emergency service partners -- the sheriff's office, Louisburg police, Franklin County EMS and public information staff -- are working with their colleagues in Raleigh and Rolesville to "coordinate escort plans and transfers as they enter and move through Franklin County."

FRANKLINTON -- Town commissioners cleared the way for a nearly 20-acre development that will eventually grow the town.
And, they amended downtown regulations to allow for digital signs when they met Tuesday night.
First, commissioners took a series of actions that will allow for the buildout of Maple Ridge Subdivision -- a 34-single family home and 86-townhome housing development at Lane Store and Cedar Creek roads that sits within the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

RALEIGH -- A Louisburg man was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for distributing child sex abuse material.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Jan. 13 that U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced William Justin Lewis to more than 17 years in federal prison for distributing the material online.
Lewis was charged with distributing child sexual abuse material and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Helen McKnight, who recently turned 100, at the MLK event in Louisburg

Br-r-r-r, if there were any doubts about what month and what season we're in, those should have been erased in recent days.
The good news is that all that white stuff -- as well as the ice that sometimes comes along with it -- have avoided us, unlike other parts of the country which have been really slicked up or buried in the snow.
But still ... do we really need this cold weather ... and if we do, is it necessary to have so much of it?

It's been habit that, at this time of year, I share my thoughts about the impacts of Dr. Martin Luther King's life, his death, his legacy and how communities in Franklin County choose to honor and reflect on those.
Two years ago, I noted how important it is that community groups in Franklinton and Louisburg both host services and celebrations of Dr. King's life and the holiday that offers the nation a chance to reflect on his impacts on civil rights, human rights and economic rights.

Dear editor: The subject of sanctuary cities is a major source of contention within American politics today. So-called Blue cities engage in policies mandating no cooperation with federal authorities in the enforcement of U.S. immigration law.
Cooperation has now metastasized to active interference resulting in the tragic fatal shooting of a woman by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting operations in Minneapolis.

Dear editor: "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee, observing the burgeoning Civil Rights movement in her American South, wrote in a private letter, "Christians were challenged for the first time to be Christians ... What was heart-breaking was to discover that people you loved -- friends, relatives, neighbors -- whom you assumed were civilized, harbored the most vicious feelings."
After ten years of watching my own neighbors and relatives, many of them professing evangelical Christians, wholeheartedly embrace the malignant morality of Donald Trump, I think I know exactly how she felt.

Dear editor: Just before New Years Day, David Griffin, a Nash County cattle farmer had 11 heifers stolen out of his pasture.
We all hear about crime and violence in the nation's large cities but not as much about crime in our rural communities. Farmers, construction companies and loggers are all extremely vulnerable to theft of equipment and livestock.

Franklinton, NC -- David Wilbur "Redbone" Prince, 71, of Franklinton died January 18, 2026. David was born on May 10, 1954 to the late Wilbur Bill and Doris Williams Prince. In addition to his parents, David was preceded in death by his first wife, Brenda Ray Prince.

Spring Hope, NC -- Donald Leonard Mundel, 89, of Spring Hope, passed away peacefully Monday morning, January 19, 2026, surrounded by his family at his home.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral Services for Harvey Lee Hartsfield Jr., age 77, who died on Monday, January 19, 2026, will be held on Friday, January 23, at 12:30 p.m. from the Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, Bunn, NC.

Mary Hudgins Keeter, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on January 19, 2026, at Bryan Health and Rehab in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. Born on July 3, 1926, in Halifax County, she lived a full and vibrant life of 99 years.

Littleton, NC -- Funeral Services for Nathaniel Bunn, age 73, who died on Sunday, January 18, 2026, will be held on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 1 p.m. from the Pine Chapel Baptist Church, Hollister, NC.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Emergency responders descended upon Wake Preparatory Academy near Youngsville, responding to a threat against the charter school.
School administrators switched to remote learning as a result of the Wednesday morning chaos.
"The safety of our students and staff is our top priority," the note to parents, guardians and interested parties stated.
"We will continue to work with law enforcement and will provide additional details and next steps as soon as more information becomes available."

KITTRELL -- A Franklin County man is slated to appear in court next week after deputies charged him with stabbing a woman.
Geoffrey Richard Hunt, 27, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury following the Jan. 16 evening incident.
According to published reports and court documents, deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call on Rising Sun Lane, in the Kittrell area of Franklin County.
They found a woman identified as Destiny Ladd suffering from a kitchen knife wound.

LOUISBURG -- Police arrested a Franklinton man on drug trafficking charges.
Antuann Lamont Green, 39, was charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine.
According to court documents, Franklin County sheriff's deputies allege Green possessed and transported up to 200 grams of cocaine, taking out an arrest warrant on Jan. 12.

Todd Land was the winner of the 2025 Franklin County Soybean Yield Contest, with a yield of 65 bushels per acre. The winner received a plaque and a $100 check. The yield contest is sponsored by Franklin County Cooperative Extension and the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

LOUISBURG -- The case against one man accused of trying to kill a Franklin County deputy, and the case against a Henderson murder accused of killing is friend were both continued in court.
Deputies arrested Jermaine Anthony Branch the evening of Dec. 18 after they allege he shot and tried to kill Dep. Lucas Taylor before fleeing from authorities.
Louisburg police arrested Talib N. Alexander in November 2024, after they allege he shot and killed 25-year-old Xavier Clifton of Bunn.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A Franklinton man is slated to appear in court next week on sexual assault charges.
Youngsville police, with assistance from the Raleigh Police Department, arrested Hector Gabriel Cardona the afternoon of Jan. 8.
He was charged with second degree forcible rape, second degree kidnapping, both felonies, and sexual battery and assault on a female, both misdemeanors.
He is being held without bond.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Cooperative Extension agency is urging cattle producers to be on the lookout for cownappers.
The extension agency sent out the alert earlier this month.
According to it, a regional cattle producer reported that cattle were stolen from a nearby farm. It was not reported when or where the theft reportedly occurred although one recent theft was reported in Nash County.

What better time is there to share God's love than Christmas, and that's what Community Cares was blessed to be able to do -- in nearly triple form!
Community Cares is a local group of caring individuals from Franklin County formed in 2023 to address food insecurity of students attending Franklin County Schools, with a priority to serve students identified as Homeless through the McKinney Vento Act.
With the vision that no child should be hungry for nutrition or hygiene needs to achieve their full academic and social potential, one goal of Community Cares is to provide supplemental food and hygiene products to students four times a year during extended breaks from the school calendar.