Recent Articles

RALEIGH -- The State Attorney General's Office is suing a Franklinton photography company for three quarters of a million dollars after receiving 166 complaints from allegedly defrauded clients.
Holly Christina Scott Ayscue, Christopher Owen Ayscue and their Holly Christina Photography business have not yet responded to the lawsuit.
"This photographer left engaged couples and newlyweds stranded without a wedding photographer, without refunds, and without memories from one of the most important days of their lives," Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in a press release issued last week.

LOUISBURG -- A half a dozen suspects arrested on child sex abuse charges are slated to next appear in court today.
Franklin County sheriff's deputies and agents with the State Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants last week, arresting Cody Dale Blasiman, James Edward Onofrio, Jairo Rangel Flores, Salvador Joseph Galaviz II, William Erik Manning, and Daniel Joe Mabe.
According to available arrest reports, the suspects are from Youngsville, Franklinton and Louisburg.

LOUISBURG -- Races for the school board were set and a long-time incumbent solidified his party's nomination for a county commission seat during Tuesday night's primary.
Election results become official next week.
Incumbent School Board members in District 1, District 5 and at-large District 7 all made the top two slots to move on to the general election in November, but newcomers Scott Graham (1,066), Jonathan Vanderford (827) and Jennifer Paylor (4,024) all took top-vote honors...

LOUISBURG -- One person was killed in a wreck that shut down U.S. 401, and another person was injured in a separate wreck that cut power to 450 Duke Energy customers, while shutting down N.C. 39.
Both accidents happened within an hour of each other on Monday.
According to the State Highway Patrol, Fermin Rodriguez, 61, of Apex, was traveling south on U.S. 401 near Bennett Perry Road when he attempted to pass a vehicle at about 3 p.m.

LOUISBURG -- More than 100 Franklin County residents took a hands-on approach to lifesaving.
About four years ago, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, in partnership with EMS agencies and other first responding communities across the state, began a trial called RACE CARS, RAndomized Cluster Evaluation of Cardiac ARrest Systems.
Essentially, partners focused on three intervention goals:

Introduction
This is the third and final installment of a three-part series pertaining to Dr. Peter S. Foster, a beloved country doctor whose antebellum home, Oak Grove, located near Ingleside, has been lovingly maintained by the family since its construction. The current owners are Bill and the late Aileen Harris, who were generous in sharing their knowledge of the Foster family and their homeplace.

Janet Taylor, Dr. Al Sayles, Tasha Hatten, Jayne Kearney, Paige Sayles, Ken McGhee & Sheila Allers

LOUISBURG -- Authorities in Wake and Franklin County arrested a Lake Royale man on child sex charges.
The State Bureau of Investigation arrested Mikah Douglas Brondyke on March 3, alleging a Holly Springs Police Department sting netted the former Wake County teacher and youth pastor.
His wife, Chloe Brondyke, faces drug charges. According to the SBI, Chloe Brondyke is an assistant principal with Wake County Public Schools.

Sometimes rules are just made to be broken.
Take for example the example in last week's edition, a story about a Franklinton police officer, Lauren Matthews, who rushed outside her assigned patrol area and saved a life.
In a textbook sense, she might have been technically wrong for doing so -- but dedication to serving others and certainly saving a life, in this instance, made far more sense in the real world than following a textbook rule.

Election results ALWAYS confound me.
And, no, I'm not talking about the results, for the most part -- even though they sometimes confound me, too.
What I'm really talking about are the voter turnout results.
So, lets start with some recency bias.
According to the State Board of Elections, there were 56,122 registered voters in Franklin County on election day, Tuesday.

Dear editor: Who is my neighbor? When Jesus was asked this question in Luke, he answered, as he so often does in the synoptic gospels, by telling a story.
A man was robbed, beaten, and left injured by the side of the road. When a priest came along, he hurried past the half-dead man. A second traveler, a man responsible for assisting the worship service in the synagogue, likewise passed him by.
Then a Samaritan approached. The Samaritans were a different ethnicity from the Jewish inhabitants of the region.

Dear editor: "Discernment is not a matter of telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right." ~ Anonymous
Discerning right vs. "almost right" is today's dilemma for Americans when it comes to politics of the immigration debate. This issue is awash in "almost right" propaganda. Leaving out context, making absolute statements, changing and leaving out wording, and then wrapping these "almost right" statements in emotional and hyperbolic rhetoric is a favorite tactic.

HENDERSON -- The Henderson Family YMCA Board of Directors has named David W. Caudle Jr. as chief executive officer.
The post was made effective Feb. 1.
Caudle previously served as Chief Operations Officer at the Henderson Family YMCA from January to September, and was appointed Interim CEO on Oct. 1.
He brings more than 19 years of YMCA experience, having served in leadership roles at the Foundation YMCA in Wilson and the YMCA of the Sandhills in Fayetteville.

Dear editor: I have lived on Tanglewood Drive in Louisburg for over 30 years. Last year the residents of this neighborhood received notification from the Town of Louisburg that there is a request for rezoning a parcel of land on Sandalwood Drive and Tanglewood Drive to accommodate 68 townhouse apartments.
This area is already congested. There is the hotel, Advance Community Health, Duke Health, UNC Cardiology, Kids' Corner Day Care, the Farm Bureau office, the overwhelmed DMV office, Hazelwood Apartments, many single-family homes and this is right behind the Shannon Village Shopping Center.

After these fifth grade students at Louisburg Elementary School were assigned to research and prepare a project for Black History Month, they were given the opportunity to present it to the Louisburg Town Council at its February meeting. The students are (left to right) Evelyn Bocanegra Vazquez, Radu Veranjac, Aaron Fajardo Turrubiartes and Marley Austin. Their teacher (and Council member) Dalita Woods said the students "worked really hard researching, reciting and creating these amazing projects.

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg College announced this week its next college president.
Richard Campbell will succeed Dr. Gary Brown.
"I am deeply humbled to be named the 29th President of Louisburg College," Campbell said in a press release.
"This institution holds a remarkable legacy of transforming lives through education grounded in faith, community, and opportunity," he said.

Nashville, NC -- Funeral services for Carolyn Westry Morgan, age 74, who died on Friday, February 27, 2026, will be held on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. from the Union Hill Baptist Church in Nashville, NC with Rev. Xavier Harrison, officiating.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for Rhonda R. Jones, age 41, who died on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 will be held on Thursday, March 5, at 1 p.m. from the Lifeline Outreach Ministry in Louisburg.

Rocky Mt., NC -- Funeral services for Lealer M. Perry, age 97, who died on Tuesday, February 27, 2026, will be held Monday, March 9, at 12 p.m. from the Perry's Missionary Baptist Church, Centerville. Burial will follow in the Perry's Missionary Baptist Church cemetery.

Nashville, NC -- Funeral services for Stephen J. Harper, age 36, who died on Monday, March 2, 2026, will be held privately.

BEAUFORT, NC -- Charles "Charlie" Holmes, 79, passed away on February 25, 2026, in Beaufort, North Carolina. Born on January 20, 1947, in Louisburg, North Carolina, Charlie was the beloved son of the late Graham and Mary Charles Alford Holmes.

RALEIGH, NC -- Judy Gaynelle Finch Eason, 91, of Raleigh, died Wednesday evening, February 25, 2026, in Raleigh.

Wake Forest, NC -- Leigh Brown Melvin, age 55, died March 1, 2026.