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RALEIGH -- The Town and Country Stingrays fought hard but suffered their first loss of the 2023 summer swim season on July 13 on the road against the Stonecreek Tsunamis.
The Stingrays had several strong finishes and posted 115 points overall, but were unable to come away with the victory.

FRANKLINTON -- Following a strong run last spring with the girls program, Bri Folds will take over as the boys soccer coach at Franklinton High School this month -- and she will undertake an immediate challenge.
The Red Rams lost several key standouts from last year's club, which went 13-9 overall to go with an 8-6 record in the competitive Big East Conference.

ZEBULON -- Jace Avina drove in three runs while collecting three hits, Luke Adams scored twice and Jadher Areinamo drove in two runs on two hits, but the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers scored 17 runs and totaled 19 hits while defeating the homestanding Carolina Mudcats 17-7 on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium.
The loss put an end to Carolina's five-game winning streak, but the Mudcats still took the series five games to one.

LOUISBURG -- The filing period concluded last week, promising a handful of municipal races, including one for mayor of Franklinton.
Commissioner John Allers filed for the mayor's seat, meaning he and Incumbent Mayor Art Wright will battle for the post in November.
Wright was elected mayor in 2015, after serving several terms as commissioner going back to 2001.
Allers was elected to his first commissioner's term in 2009.

Franklinton legend Nick Tabron

FRANKLINTON, NC--Katherine Ray Davis, 85, of Franklinton died Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at her home. She was born September 23, 1937 to the late David and Ruby Ray. She was also preceded in death by a son, Durwood Davis Jr.

YOUNGSVILLE, NC--Peggy Jeffreys Hedrick, 85, of Youngsville, died Tuesday night, July 25, 2023, at home.

Franklinton, NC--Julia Ann Tisdale Lawrence, 76, of Franklinton, NC died July 24, 2023. Julia was born on February 14, 1947 to the Ann Pearl Tisdale. In addition to her birth mother, Julia is predeceased by her mom, Mary Louise Tisdale; and her son, Jay Nowell.

LOUISBURG, NC--William Floyd "Billy" Griffin III, 59, of Peletier, formerly of Louisburg, died July 20, 2023. He was born on December 11, 1963 to the late William F. Jr. and Joyce Eagles Griffin. In addition to his parents, Billy was preceded in death by his brother, Richard Griffin.

FORT WASHINGTON, MD--Phillip Eugene "Gene" Pender, age 78, formerly of Franklinton, NC, died July 15, 2023, at Fort Washington Health & Rehabilitation, Fort Washington, Maryland.

Youngsville, NC--Memorial services for Phillip Anthony "Lou" Lee Sr. age 58, who died on Sunday, July 23, 2023, will be held 1 p.m., Tuesday, August 1, from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg.

William Lloyd "Bill" Morrison, 83, of Louisburg, passed away early Saturday morning, July 22, 2023.

WILLOW SPRING -- Ellen Roseline Stone Brown, 88, of Willow Spring, passed away Saturday morning, July 22, 2023 surrounded by her family.

Youngsville, NC--Funeral services for Rose Mary Foster, age 65, who died on Sunday, July 23, 2023, will be held 1 p.m., Sunday, July 30, from the Mitchner's Grove Baptist Church in Franklinton with Pastor Melvin Jackson officiating. Burial will follow in the Mitchner's Grove Church Cemetery.

Nashville, NC--Funeral Services for Bernetta L. Ghist, age 59, who died on Thursday, July 20, 2023 will be held 1 p.m., Thursday, July 27, from the Galatia AME Church in Nashville, NC with Rev. Howard Johnson, eulogist and Rev. Cathy Kearney, officiating. Burial will follow in the Jones Family Cemetery.

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg Falls, the embattled $110-million-plus mixed use development planned for the south end of Louisburg was rescued Monday night when the developer's "hybrid" plans for the project got a unanimous "yes" vote from the council.
Louisburg Falls, which will likely be the largest single development in Franklin County history, ran into a snag when the town council denied the necessary rezoning for the project on a 4-to-3 vote in May.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County has filed a lawsuit to expedite plans to procure a vacated industrial building.
In September, commissioners agreed to purchase 5 acres and the accompanying office and warehouse space at 424 T. Kemp Road, with plans to, among other things, renovate the property to house facilities maintenance staff and equipment.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Youngsville made history last week, swearing in its first town manager.
Since 2019, the town's administrators have held the powers and authority of a manager, however, it wasn't until the General Assembly approved the town's new charter in July that the title was officially conveyed and those powers and authorities were codified in the town's charter.

FRANKLINTON -- Town officials adopted a plan that state economic development staff believes can help small businesses weather shocks to commerce, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center's Rural Planning Program developed the Community Economic Recovery and Resiliency Initiative [CERRI] to help local governments recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic and build local economies that are more resilient to future crises.

LOUISBURG -- A superior court judge ruled that no errors were made when a Sanford man was sentenced to life in prison for robbing a high stakes poker game.
The attorney for Walter Eugene Spinks plans to appeal the matter.
In April 2014, a jury found Spinks guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for his role in the 2009 incident.

LOUISBURG -- The filing period for municipal posts ends on Friday.
In Bunn, seats held by Nicole Brantley and Audrey Hartsfield, who is filling the unexpired term of Mack Jones, are up for grabs.
At press time, Brantley had filed for re-election.

LOUISBURG -- A new process for building plan reviews is aimed at expediting plan approval.
In an effort to provide exemplary public service and enhance customer service, the Franklin County Planning and Inspections Department has created an Expedited Residential Plan Review process to facilitate the building permit review process for residents for residential additions, renovations and accessory structures - like decks, pools, garages and sheds.

Yes, fellow Franklin Countians, it is hot outside -- or should we say excessively warm since hot is what they have in the Southwest?
Remember those beautiful, warm days of springtime with humidity in the very comfortable range?
Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did because they are gone -- and it's likely going to be October before we have another run of days like that!
But be thankful we're not in the American Southwest where temperatures are reaching levels, almost daily, that seem difficult, if not impossible, to believe, let alone survive.

When county commissioners met on July 10, social activist Beverly Kegley brought two synergistic pieces of information to Franklin County officials.
Kegley, a member of the Franklin County Interfaith Council and no stranger to town and county leadership first reminded the board that a loose, grass-roots effort to save the Louisburg Theater continues to push forward.
In fact, members of the Save the Louisburg Theater were slated to meet with Preservation NC to look into the possibility of saving the theater.
Let me interject, here.