COMMUNITY NEWS

LOUISBURG -- The municipal filing period ended at noon Friday with a crowded field for Louisburg mayor, the Franklinton Board of Commissioners and some other town boards.
In Louisburg, incumbent council members Boyd Sturges and Christopher Neal have filed for the mayor's seat, a post that's up for grabs after incumbent Mayor Karl Pernell opted not to seek re-election.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Town commissioners agreed to contract with a Wake Forest company to complete its long-awaited downtown improvement project.
The three-part project will be a total go when Franklin County signs off on its portion of the project, a water/sewer upgrade, to be done in tandem.
County commissioners are expected to take up the matter during its Aug. 2 meeting.

WAKE FOREST -- A Youngsville man is slated to appear in court next month on charges of child sex crimes and kidnapping.
Wake Forest Police arrested 63-year-old Raymond Leonard Mancini on July 17, a day after they allege he assaulted an 11-year-old girl in a Walmart on S. Main Street.
Officers responded to the store just before 10 p.m.

BUNN -- The town's planning board recommended a zoning change that would pave the way for a potential Hardee's restaurant.
Boddie Noell Enterprises has petitioned the town to change a 1.72-acre lot at the southwest corner of Main Street and Warren Avenue from Downtown Commercial to Highway Commercial.

BUNN HIGH GRAD NOW CHIEF. Patrick Lamont Crudup has just achieved the rank of Division Chief of the Asheville Fire Department, making him the highest ranking African American in the history of the Asheville Fire Department. Along with achieving this title, Chief Crudup is a proud father of three daughters, Brianna, Kali and Zion, a step-son DeRodra and a doting grandfather to Jett.