Philadelphia, PA -- Funeral services for Henry Wadsworth Battle, Jr., age 84, who died on Saturday, February 7, 2026, were held on Sunday, February 22, at 12 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, NC.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for John D. Wright, age 88, who died on Sunday, February 15, 2026, will be held on Monday, February 23, at 1 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, NC with Rev. Stanley Hicks, officiating.

Jasper Enid Drake, lovingly known as Coach Drake, age 96, peacefully entered into eternal rest February 4, 2026, surrounded by love, prayer and song.

Hollister, NC -- Funeral services for Curtis Richardson, age 85, who died on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, will be held on Tuesday, February 24, at 1 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg. Burial will follow in the Richardson Family Cemetery.

LOUISBURG -- Just more than 2 percent of registered voters had cast an early ballot in Franklin County by press time.
According to the State Board of Elections, 1,220 voters had cast an early ballot by press time -- Wednesday morning.
At last check, there were 56,165 registered voters in the county.
Up until Feb. 28, those voters have a chance to cast an early ballot in the primary. Election day is March 3.

Oak Grove, once the home of Dr. Peter Stapleton Foster, as it looks today

Dr. Peter Stapleton Foster (September 18, 1823 -- October 20, 1898), the builder of Oak Grove, came of age in the 1840s, at the beginning of a period of prosperity and progressivism in North Carolina and in the Warren and Franklin County area, where his extended family members owned large plantations, enslaved numerous people of African descent and purchased or built impressive homes.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County officials decided they and the community need a closer look at what an agreement between the county, Lake Royale and the Franklin County sheriff's office will look like.
Last month, the board authorized County Manager Ryan Preble to finalize an agreement whereby Lake Royale would pay money to support Franklin County Sheriff's Office law enforcement operations within the Lake.

FRANKLINTON -- Town commissioners denied a rezoning request that could have allowed a multi-family dwelling within a single-family home neighborhood.
Raleigh resident Thomas Keenan petitioned the board to rezone 16 S. Hillsborough Street from the Residential Single-Family Medium zoning district (RSM) to Mixed-Use.
With that change and an approved special use permit, Keenan would have been able to build a four-unit townhouse on the .2812 acre property.

Reginald Eli Hedgepeth

HENDERSON -- The Golden LEAF Foundation gave Vance-Granville Community College three quarters of a million dollars to help build a new Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Applied Technology (CAMAT).
The project will strengthen workforce training programs aligned with regional industry needs and expand access to high-wage career pathways.
Golden LEAF's Board of Directors announced the award during its February board meeting.

FRANKLINTON -- Police arrested a man on child sex charges.
Rene Sabillion Cardona was arrested Feb. 11 and was charged with indecent liberties with a child and simple assault.
According to the arrest report, the assault on the victim, under the age of 16, occurred on Feb. 11.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Since October, two communities have been helping fight the battle against hunger and food insecurity in Franklin County.
They're recruiting more into their ranks.
PORCH Communities is a grassroots organization, where each month, folks can leave non perishable food on their porch for pickup.
Volunteers then take that food and deliver it to a local food pantry.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Police are investigating a handful of vehicle break ins at an apartment complex.
Five residents in the 600, 800 and 900 units of Hampton Village -- between N.C. 96 and U.S. 1-A -- reported thefts from their vehicles the morning of Jan. 17.
Suspects, authorities said, are alleged to have stolen loose change and nominal personal items.
The vehicles were unlocked, investigators said, and the thefts appear to be an isolated crime of opportunity.

LOUISBURG -- Police arrested a Spring Hope man on drug charges.
Louisburg Police Officer J.D. Justice arrested Tyree Montrel Person on the evening of Feb. 17, charging him with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
The arrest report does not indicate the amount of the drug.
But, it noted that Person possessed paraphernalia, including cut drinking straws and empty heroin bindle wrappers necessary to sell the product.

There's a hint of yellow in some of the first daffodils peeking out after the ice and snow.
There are a number of flat-bed trucks hauling mulch to anxious gardeners somewhere.
And the weather prognosticators are saying it's highly unlikely another Arctic blast is going to frost our socks this year.
All that can mean only one thing -- and while officially spring is a month away -- maybe the worst of winter is over and before long Mother Nature will begin reawakening.

There are two things that happened at last week's end that left me ill at ease.
A woman, apparently minding her own business, was leaving the grocery store and walking to her car when a Wake Forest man confronted her.
According to authorities and court documents, Anthony Howard Hall brutally assaulted the woman, kicking an punching her -- continuing to do so as she lay unconscious on the ground.
Full disclosure: It's the same grocery store I've gone to, at least twice a week, since I moved to Youngsville in 2018.

Dear editor: I must once again write in order to dispel misleading letters to the editor utilizing Progressive propaganda. Progressive propaganda relies on the construction of selectively chosen "facts" lacking context, thereby detaching it from reality. It seeks to train its audience to act first and reflect later. It asks the audience to replace true discernment with urgency, emotion, or moral pressure. When one allows emotions to overshadow reason, facts, consistency and rational thought become irrelevant.

Dear editor: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was only 39 years old when he was hanged by the Nazis at Flossenburg concentration camp, just two weeks before the U.S. Army flung open the gates.
Bonhoeffer, a theologian and ethicist, was critical of his fellow Christians in Germany for embracing Hitler and Nazism.
While in prison, he began developing his theory of stupidity, in an effort to explain how Nazism could take hold in a country famous for its literature, philosophy, and rationalism.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A weekend arrest in Wake Forest ended a two-town, one-man crime spree that began with a surprise attack in Youngsville.
Then, authorities put to rest any claims that Anthony Howard Hall's actions were part of criminal enterprise to terrorize women.
"None of the investigatory details suggest it was orchestrated by a group," said Youngsville Police Chief Greg Whitley, noting that the suspect and the woman did not know each other.

David Lydell "Dale" Malone, 66, passed away on February 10, 2026, while serving his community with the White Level Fire Department. Dale was born on February 13, 1959, to the late Willie and Annie Collins Malone. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Eddie C. Malone.

Louisburg, NC --Carolyn Sue Walker, 80, died February 12, 2026 at Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Franklinton, NC -- Gladys Alford Hight, 97, of Franklinton, died February 12, 2026.

BUNN, NC -- Edith Jewell Bailey, age 103, of Bunn, NC, died the morning of February 11, 2026.

Jewell was born on November 16, 1922, to the late Clyde Blythe Mullen and Bertha Brewer Mullen. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thurston Bailey, and her siblings, O'Deyne Mullen, Ann Mullen Williams, Bertha Mullen Kearney and Maurice Mullen.

ZEBULON, NC -- Mattie Pearce Whitley, 95, of Zebulon, died Friday morning, February 13, 2026, at Wake Med.

Born February 26, 1930, Mattie was the daughter of the late Joe and Florence Perry Pearce. She was preceded in death by her, husband, Joe Whitley; daughter, Janet Phelan; two grandchildren; brother, Joe Lee Pearce; sisters, Helen Leonard, Mary Wilson, and Florine Johnson.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for Early "Bay" Thomas, age 87, who died on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 12 p.m. from the Old Liberty Baptist Church in Louisburg, NC.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for Harris "Truman" Hedgepeth, age 80, who died on Friday, February 13, 2026, will be held on Sunday, February 22, at 3 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, NC.

Nashville, NC -- Funeral services for Jeanetta Alston, age 82, who died on Saturday, February 14, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 5 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, NC. She was born March 5, 1943.

Kittrell, NC -- Funeral services for Melvin L. White Jr., age 62, who died on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 2 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, NC with Rev. Angie Brown, officiating.