COMMUNITY NEWS

LOUISBURG -- A Bunn High School teacher and coach has been suspended with pay and is scheduled to appear in court next month on charges of driving while impaired.
According to court records, State Highway Patrol Trooper J. Parra-Guzman arrested Andre Dwayne Davis on Sept. 6 in the area of N.C. 98 and U.S. 401 -- a few miles from his Kent Street home.

LOUISBURG --Louisburg police tag-teamed with local law enforcement to arrest a trio of suspects on gun and drug charges.
Louisburg officers, along with Franklin County sheriff's deputies and Wake Forest police officers executed search warrants at 707 Kenmore Avenue and 302 Mineral Springs Road on Sept. 5 -- arresting three people.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County authorities ended a seven-hour standoff without incident or injury.
Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of shots being fired inside a home on Twin Creek Drive before 6 p.m. on Sept. 8.
According to reports, a person at the house was firing shots inside the home.
Sheriff Kevin White posted on social media that shots were fired at arriving deputies. No injuries were reported.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners agreed to move forward with a Midwestern lender in their efforts to finance a new judicial complex.
A 2019 facilities review and space assessment revealed, among other things, the need for more and better judicial space.
As a result, Oakley Collier Architects presented commissioners with a number of options to expand courthouse space -- ultimately settling on a plan to renovate the current Hamilton Hobgood Courthouse Annex and build a 55,000-square-foot, three-story building immediately behind it.

LOUISBURG -- The Louisburg Town Council, meeting in a special session Tuesday night, created a downtown social district and approved a new pool hall on East Nash Street that was given permission to also sell beer.
The council also gave permission for Walmart to allow food trucks in its parking lot.
All those actions came after the council held four public hearings during which no one from the public addressed any of the issues.

FRANKLINTON -- When Franklinton Police Officer Phyllis Johnson arrived on scene, a stopped car on the road was occupied one time.
By the time she left, it was occupied two times.
Using a combination of military and Bunn CERT first responder training, Johnson helped deliver a baby boy on the side of U.S. 1 the afternoon of Sept. 8.
She received a commendation from the town during its meeting Tuesday night.

FRANKLINTON -- Commissioners approved a special use permit that will allow a mechanic to open friendly, neighborhood auto shop that he calls his retirement plan.
Tuesday night's decision came despite concerns about the impact of the commercial development on surrounding residential neighborhoods.
Patti Danfora petitioned the town for a special use permit, which would allow her to use a 2.15 acre lot -- just behind her 5050 N.C. 56, front facing lot -- to develop an auto repair shop.