Recent Articles

SPRING HOPE -- A multiple-agency investigation into the death of an 18-year-old Spring Hope man continues as his family plans funeral arrangements.
Amir Keyshawn Hinnant was reported missing to the Wilson Police Department on Feb. 24, according to a copy of the missing person's report, which said he had been last seen at 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at a home in the 600 block of Vance Street East. A social media post said his family had not seen him since some time earlier. Hinnant's white car was also gone.

STANHOPE -- Most dynasties are eventually docked in port, but the Viking Ship that is the Southern Nash softball program continues to seamlessly sail through the overmatched Big East Conference.
The Ladybirds, under the astute steering of veteran captain Scott Collie, have conquered or shared the past five Big East regular season crowns to go with three straight conference tournament championships.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Perhaps the least suspenseful Big East Conference Championship race during the 2022-23 campaign was in boys golf, where Roanoke Rapids was the wire-to-wire winner -- and in overpowering fashion.
Not much has changed in the league's boys golf scene this spring as the Jackets appear poised to repeat their crown without hardly a threat from any of its Big East opponents.

STANHOPE -- Louisburg has displayed some dramatic early improvement in the 2023-24 girls soccer season, but taking on former Big East Conference foe Southern Nash provided an entirely different -- and daunting -- challenge.
LHS has sped up its rebuilding process with a pair of victories to date as part of its solid start. Southern, however, is at one of its highest levels in the history of its program, as evidenced by its strong showing last Thursday at home against the Lady Warriors.

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg High School's first winter season in the Northern Lakes Athletic Conference was a wildly successful -- both in the league and beyond.
The Warriors' boys and girls basketball teams both excelled in the NLAC while qualifying for the Class 2-A State Playoffs, while the wrestling and swimming squads featured performers who were sharp in conference action before excelling on the regional and state levels.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Which team will win the Class 2-A portion of the Big East Conference baseball standings is anyone's guess at this point -- but it shouldn't take long for the cloudy picture to become much clearer.
That's because the early season will feature showdowns between the trio of contenders -- Nash Central, Bunn and Roanoke Rapids.
Judging by the early returns, these clubs are evenly matched, and they will be playing each other soon in some extremely important contests in the coming weeks.

Bunn Middle School Girls' Basketball Team (1st place Championship Winners)

Left to right: Adilyn Sessoms, Cedaya Jones, Dalicia (DW) Williams, Ty'yanna Rayner, Chloe Arnold, Nylah Mitchell, J'Naya Kearney, Taliyah Trader, Makayla Richardson, Head Coach Craig Adams Sr.

Terrell Lane Middle School Boys' Basketball Team (1st place Championship Winners)

Left to right, back row: Elijah Faulkner, Coach Lynch, Reagan Nowell, Darren Carey, John Anselmo, Caiden Allen, Cameron Collier, Micheal McLean, Coach Greene; front row: Jadiel Sosa, Kamauri Mills, Jacob Sheldon, Jazion Sutton, Jeremiah Closs, Jaquarius Collins, Josue Sosa, Jayden Blacknall, Ramzi Chapman

Youngsville's Fonzie Flowers, Lucy Garcia and Cat Redd

Wake Forest, NC--Funeral services for Peggy Ann Person, age 69, who died on Sunday, March 17, 2024, will be held 2 p.m., Friday, March 22, from the New Life Outreach Ministry in Franklinton, NC with Pastor Martha Hodge, officiating. Burial will follow in the Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Evelyn Rowe Strickland, 87, of Louisburg, passed away on Thursday morning at Maria Parham Hospital in Henderson.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Nellie Stone Freeman, 91, of Louisburg, passed away peacefully on March 18, 2024 surrounded by her loving family.

FRANKLINTON -- One of the greatest girls basketball seasons in Franklinton High School girls basketball history is complete -- but the best may still be to come for the Lady Rams.
That's because FHS will return three starters and several key bench standouts from this year's club, which went 25-2 while advancing to the third round of the Class 3-A State Playoffs.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The 2022-23 Big East Conference boys basketball season proved to be a three-way dance as Northern Nash, Franklinton and Rocky Mount competed fiercely for league supremacy -- and both NN and FHS would eventually qualify for the Elite Eight of the Class 3-A State Playoffs.
But Northern Nash went stag in the Big East this winter -- and that certainly didn't bother the Fighting Knights and their loyal followers.

BUNN -- Town commissioners approved a text amendment that clears the way for Franklin County to build an emergency radio tower at Bunn High.
The new site is still expected to put the county's radio system overhaul behind schedule, but it ends the stalemate between county and Bunn leaders about the tower's location.
"... This is critical, of course, to life-saving emergency services," said County Manager Kim Denton, who attended Monday night's planning board meeting, prior to action taken by town commissioners on Tuesday.

LOUISBURG -- Gov. Roy Cooper's 'The Year of Public Schools' tour took him to Louisburg Elementary School on Tuesday morning.
He wants those who hear his call to fully fund public education to take it to the General Assembly for action.
"Let's go forth and let's continue to build coalitions across our state of people who are going to tell the Legislature that we have to do better," Cooper said to parents, educators, town and county leaders who listened to his message inside the school's library.

LOUISBURG -- The much-anticipated Franklin County property tax revaluation forms began arriving with a thud this week -- and the concerns began almost immediately.
According to the tax office, all real property has been appraised according to North Carolina state law -- and the new value is supposed to represent the true market value of the property.

LOUISBURG -- By consent agenda, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved the first expenditure of lawsuit proceeds intended to curb the opioid epidemic.
Consent agenda items do not require discussion and no board member pulled the item aside for details during the board's March 4 meeting. Commissioners Michael Schriver and Danny Pearce were not in attendance, but the consent agenda, including the opioid settlement expenditures, were approved by unanimous decision.

LOUISBURG -- A new athletic opportunity -- 7 on 7 girls flag football -- will be available soon at Louisburg Magnet High School following a unanimous action by the Board of Education Monday night during a meeting when it was learned that the district may have a chance to get out from under U.S. Justice Department restrictions that have been in place since the late 1960s.
LMHS Athletic Director Erica Wammock brought the flag football idea to the school board, noting that it is backed by both USAF Football and the Carolina Panthers.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Youngsville has many projects coming down the pike, the most significant of which is a bypass around downtown.
If taxpayers are committed to that congestion-alleviating solution, as well as big-ticket items for public works, parks and recreation and the police department, they'll have to support a tax increase above revenue neutral, officials and staff said.
"... We all know it's going to cost, including everybody sitting around this table," Mayor Fonzie Flowers said during the board's budget work session on March. 8.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Besides kicking around the big-ticket item of funding a bypass, town officials and management talked about a number of capital projects that will impact their bottom line.
During a March 8 budget work session, Town Manager Nathan Page and department heads for law enforcement, public works, parks and recreation, and others presented commissioners wit a variety of projects they'd like to see funded.

Wrestling legend Moses Iraton

Music critic and journalist David Menconi will be on the campus of Louisgurg College on Thursday, March 21 to discuss North Carolina's substantial role in popular music.
The 2019 Piedmont Laureate, Menconi is a journalist and author in Raleigh.
He spent 34 years writing for daily newspapers, 28 of those years at the Raleigh News & Observer. Before that, he spent five years at the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera.

Violinist Eric McCracken and pianist Robert Buxton will present a program of classical music at Cherry Hill at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17.
The duo will perform works by Fritz Kreisler, J.S. Bach, Mozart, W.G. Still, and Cesar Franck.
McCracken is a recent retiree from the North Carolina Symphony which he joined in 1975.
He made several solo appearances with the symphony and was assistant concertmaster for one season.