Recent Articles

LOUISBURG, NC -- Funeral services for Rachel Foster Yarborough, age 105, who died on Sunday, February 27, 2022, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 6, 2022 from the First Baptist Church in Louisburg with Rev. Kenneth L. Alexander, Sr., officiating. Burial will follow in the Cedar Street Cemetery.

Elizabeth Diane Arnold Tilton, 74, of Louisburg passed away on February 25, 2022. She was born on June 15, 1947 to the late Troy and Pearl Pendleton Arnold. In addition to her parents, Diane was predeceased by siblings, Raymond, Pete, Ann, Foots, Dan , and Cliff.

LOUISBURG, NC--James McKnight, 88, of Louisburg passed away on February 26, 2022. He was born on March 23, 1933 to the late Nathaniel and Frances Perry McKnight. In addition to his parents, James was predeceased by his wife of 45 years, Clova Terry McKnight.

LOUISBURG, NC-- William Daniel Smith, 74, of Louisburg passed away on February 25, 2022. He was born on August 22, 1947 to the late Edward Hendricks and Helen Cooley Smith. In addition to his parents, Danny was predeceased by his sisters, Elaine Widner and Christine Perry.

FRANKLINTON, NC-- Harry Andrew Cumming, Jr., 81, of Franklinton passed away on February 23, 2022. He was born in Framingham, MA on August 26, 1940 to the late Harry, Sr. and Ruth Collins Cummings. In addition to his parents, Harry was predeceased by daughters, Christa Jean Adams, and Laurel Ann Sabella; brothers, Thomas Cummings and John Cummings; and his sister, Barbara Bryant.

FRANKLINTON, NC-- Anita Jean Frye Dry, 82, of Franklinton died Sunday, February 27, 2022. She was born on January 5, 1940, the daughter of the late George F. and Sarah Schronce Frye. In addition to her parents, Anita was predeceased by her husband, Victor Johnson Dry; a grandson, and her brothers, Melvin Franklin Frye and Bobby Eugene Schronce.

FRANKLINTON, NC-- Tony Harris, age 51, of Franklinton, died February 21, 2022.

LOUISBURG, NC-- Funeral services for Gladys Jean Bullock, age 75, who died on Thursday, February 24, 2022, will be held 2 p.m., Friday, March 4, 2022 from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg with Rev. Ronald Clifton officiating. Burial will follow in the Mary Helen Jones Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON, NC-- Elonza Lynch "Lil Man", 80, of Franklinton died February 20, 2022. He was born to the late Ollie and Elnora Lynch on May 3, 1941.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Funeral services for Ernest Wilson "Buster" Harris, Jr., age 61, who died on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, 2022 from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg. Burial will follow in the Mary Helen Jones Cemetery.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County management terminated its medical director -- 30 minutes before sending out a press release that questioned damning allegations she made about the county's emergency services department.
Dr. Stiehl said her termination was retaliation for her comments and the press release was an attempt place a "creative spin" on objective information she and former Emergency Services Director Hendrix Valenzuela repeatedly presented to County Manager Kim Denton.

LOUISBURG -- The town council approved one of the largest single annexations in town history Monday night, handled a wide variety of routine business items and then, after a nearly 90-minute secret session, emerged to tighten council's control of town business in moves some observers said appeared to be an effort to put pressure on town Administrator Jonathan Franklin.

LOUISBURG -- The town council gave final approval to the annexation of Green Hill Subdivision, formerly Green Hill Country Club, on Monday night making it one of the largest residential annexations in town history.
The 62.2 acre subdivision will eventually include up to 151 homes that will be built in three phases of about 50 homes each and each phase will take about 15 months to complete.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A set of construction projects that will solidify infrastructure, beautify roads and improve modality are set to start this spring.
All told, the town has secured more than $4 million in funds to:
• Resurface Main Street, improve the aesthetics of the corridor and make traffic crossing safer;

LOUISBURG -- Students in Franklin County Schools were in class this week -- and, for the first time in months, not required to wear masks to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Prior to Monday, students, staff and school visitors had been required to wear masks all day, with exemptions for lunch and some sports.
Students still have the option of wearing masks if they choose.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners approved a voting map that satisfied a legal challenge.
Earlier this month, Youngsville resident Doug Berger filed a lawsuit in superior court alleging that commissioners approved election maps in November that were unfair to voters in District 5.

Louisburg High School coach Chris Baker

The filing period for the May primary and fall general election starts today, Feb. 24.
Filing initially began on Dec. 6, but challenges to newly drawn election districts halted the process and pushed back the spring primary.
At press time, the primary election was slated to take place on May 17.

FRANKLINTON -- Two Franklinton police officers were presented with plaques for service that went above and beyond.
And, another officer was recognized for getting some dangerous suspects off the street.
Police Chief James Davis and the department brought those items to the public's attention during the town's Feb. 15 meeting.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies are looking for a suspect who shot into an occupied vehicle.
No injuries were reported.
According to authorities, someone was driving past Hayes Auto in the 1500 block of U.S. 401 at about 5 p.m. on Feb. 12 when they told authorities that someone traveling in the opposite direction had a "rifle" hanging outside the driver's window.

Time to cross your fingers, hope for the best and be ready to cope with the worst, if it comes to that.
In a matter of a few weeks, we have gone with coping with COVID by relying on the science to relying on political science to tell us the virus is gone.
Instead of relying on the expertise and advice of those who have spent their lifetimes studying viruses and how to cope with them, we are now going to rely on advice from politicians, some of whom, unless I miss my guess, can't tell a virus from a gerbil.

If you've attended as many government meetings as I have in my lifetime, you've heard of the term: Public/private partnership.
During the most recent meeting of the Franklinton Board of Commissioners, it was noted twice.
One is a bit of a gamble that you might have read about in last week's edition of the paper.
The other? Well, here it is.

Dear editor:
I hope all is well. I want to submit something to the newspaper regarding recent reports about a decrease in COVID-19 testing and infection rates in our county and across the country.