Recent Articles

It has happened again.
U.S. 401 just south of Louisburg has claimed another life -- bringing the horrifying total on that stretch of highway to about 25 or 26!
It should not have happened.
Most of these deaths might have been avoided if the highway had been upgraded to four lanes as promised a long time ago.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Funeral services for Ella Mae Smith Strickland, age 71, who died on Friday, May 3, 2024, were held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2024 from the Cedar Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Castalia with Pastor Sylvester White officiating. Burial will follow in the Cedar Rock Church Cemetery.

RALEIGH, NC--Ann Gale Hall Maske, 81, of Raleigh, passed away early Monday morning at Hillside Nursing and Rehab in Wake Forest.

CONCORD, NC -- Joseph Hartwell Overton died unexpectedly on April 30, 2024 in Concord, NC at the age of 85.

Hartwell is survived by wife, Betty Ayscue Overton; children Joy Safrit (Jon) of Kannapolis, NC; Melody Dahllof (Barry) of Bear, DE; Derek (Heather) of Palm Coast, FL; grandchildren Noah, Gabi and Caleb Dahllof and Ethan and Aubrey Overton. He was preceded in death by his father Rev. Jobe Overton, mother Catherine Yeargin Overton and brother Colin Overton.

LOUISBURG -- Animal Services Director Lynn Bowling plans to ask commissioners for money for spay and neuter programs, and adjust adoption fees in an effort to better control the county's animal population.
She also noted that the percentage of euthanized animals compared to the number of intakes is trending in the right direction.
Still, during the Animal Services Advisory Board's April 29 meeting, animal welfare advocates continued to criticize her shelter operations and leadership.

A TIME FOR FUN ... AND MEMORIES. The participants in the annual Relay for Life, held last Friday evening at Terrell Lane Middle School, had fun, raised money to fight cancer and recalled those who lives have been lost to the dreaded disease. In the photo above, the Survivors' Walk begins with a warning that Cancer won't win because of the determination and enthusiasm of Relay participants. Carrying the banner is Haley Connors and Susette McConnell.

LOUISBURG -- A skydiving student was recovering from injuries sustained in a hard landing this past weekend.
According to county staff and published reports, the parachutist was skydiving at Skydive Raleigh on N.C. 56 -- between Louisburg and Franklinton -- when his canopy did not fully open on Saturday at about 4:20 p.m.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners agreed to look at helping a community group turn an historic school into a community center.
But, they stayed short of providing funding or officially committing to help.
The Copeland-Perry School was built in the 1880s, serving African American students as a Rosenwald school -- one of a number of African American schools across the South built through the philanthropic efforts of Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck.

Blake Holden, 18 months old from Franklinton

LOUISBURG -- During the Golden Anniversary Club (GAC) reunion festivities recently there was a dedication ceremony for the new historical marker installed on campus of Louisburg College to commemorate the home of former college president Rev. Franklin Swindell Love, 1917-1920.
In the early 1970s, the Love House was used by the college for overflow student housing. Attending the reunion were six of the 13 alums from the Class of 1971 who lived in the "Love House" while attending Louisburg College and were the catalyst for the historical marker project.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Town police are looking for suspects they allege stole a cache of weapons from a gun shop.
According to authorities, Youngsville police officers responded to a burglary at the Youngsville Gun Club & Range at 132 Franklin Park Avenue at around 1:15 a.m. on May 1.
When officers arrived, they discovered a forklift was used to pull the front entrance door away from the building, authorities said in a press release.

If you've read this column often enough, you probably know about me and my history with government meetings: There had been too often too many times when I was the only soul in the audience during many a government meeting.
And, way too often, those meetings proved to be a race to see who could have the shortest meeting.
Without hyperbole, I can tell you that in my history here with The Times, I was five minutes late to a certain government meeting.

ROCKY MOUNT -- A rare bit of uncertainty was in the air last Wednesday at the annual Big East Conference Track and Field Championships -- at least where the boys final team standings were concerned.
Four schools -- Rocky Mount, defending title holder Northern Nash, Southern Nash and Nash Central -- felt like they had a collective chance to claim the boys crown if a few events played out their way.

WELDON -- Captain Obvious paid a visit to the Chockoyotte Country Club last Wednesday to offer an answer to the least suspenseful question in the Big East Conference's spring sports schedule.
And what would be 'Which team will win the league boys golf title?' -- as if there was ever any doubt.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Four things needed to occur in the final week of the regular season for Northern Nash and Bunn to share the Big East Conference baseball championship -- and they all did.
NN and BHS both needed to sweep their two-game series -- the Knights against Southern Nash and the Wildcats versus Roanoke Rapids.
Bunn got the job done in convincing fashion, roaring past the Yellow Jackets by a combined score of 15-3.

BUNN -- There have been a myriad of good girls soccer players in the Big East Conference through the years, but not as many that could be classified as 'great' or 'elite'.
Southern Nash's Charlotte Benson is definitely one of those latter performers -- and the senior has proven that fact again and again throughout her brilliant four-year career for the Ladybirds.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The story wasn't that the Southern Nash Ladybirds continued their half-decade dominance of the Big East Conference softball standings this spring -- that is hardly breaking news.
But how the Ladybirds rolled through the league in such a spectacular fashion might have been the most impressive chapter of SN's recent fast-pitch history -- and that's certainly saying something.

CREEDMOOR - South Granville picked up a tough 4-3 win at home over the Louisburg Warriors last Friday to improve to 16-2 overall and wrap up Northern Lakes Athletic Conference play at 12-0 -- the first undefeated season in league action for a Viking baseball team since 2008.
Louisburg, under the direction of head coach Casey Bolton, is now 8-8 overall and 5-5 in the NLAC, with two games looming this week against Granville Central to close out the regular season.

ZEBULON -- The Carolina Mudcats collected 11 hits as they captured the series lidlifter from the Columbia Fireflies 8-3 on Tuesday night at historic Five County Stadium, which is located in Zebulon.
Carolina (16-6) jumped out early as Daniel Guilarte tripled to open the bottom of the first and scored one batter later to open the scoring.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners said they needed to hear more before fully committing to build a dog park in Pilot that could cost as much as $100,000.
And, at least one commissioner said the park might be a bigger fiscal bite than they want to take.

LOUISBURG -- Designers of the county's new radio system said it could be ready to go live next June.
Ken Steere with Williams Communications, the Florida-based company that Franklin County hired in 2022 to bolster its emergency radio system, told commissioners that the system should be ready for use in 2025.

Franklin County held its annual Relay for Life event Friday evening at Terrell Lane Middle School beginning with a kickoff survivor lap. Carrying the banners were Dwight Williams Jr., Carmen Moore, Madison Williams and Carsen Moore.

Pam Gurganus, Marion Carter and Abbie Carter carry the banner during the Luminary service and memorial walk.