Recent Articles

WILMINGTON, NC--Keith Boyd, 37, died September 18, 2021 due to a motorcycle accident in Kure Beach, North Carolina. Keith was a resident of Wilmington, NC for 18 years. He was born and raised in Louisburg, NC.

FRANKLINTON, NC--Anthony Earl Radford, 67, of Franklinton, passed away on September 20, 2021. He was born in Franklin County on May 29, 1954 to the late Domas Radford and Lavern Griffin Stott . In addition to his parents, Earl was predeceased by his sister, Pamela Kearney.

HOLLISTER, NC-- Funeral services for MacDonald Richardson, age 71, who died on Sunday, September 19, 2021, will be held on Friday, September 24, at 2 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg with Rev. Robert Hedgepeth officiating. Burial will follow in the Richardson Family Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON, NC--Gerlinde Roth Beckham born June 19, 1935, died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on Sept. 17, 2021.

MAYSVILLE, NC -- Heather Kathleen Reed Schulz, with her husband Ingo K Schulz at her side, passed away peacefully at Onslow Memorial Hospital on the morning of September 15, 2021.

FRANKLINTON, NC--Larry Dean Mason, 80 of Franklinton, NC, went to be with his Lord, on Thursday September 16, 2021, at Wake Medical Center. The son of the late Herbert A. and Edith George Mason, he was born June 15, 1941 in Nantahala, Macon County, NC.

LOUISBURG, NC--Frances Ann Kline, 84, of Louisburg, died August 2, 2021. She was born in Franklin County, NC, a daughter of the late Charles Timberlake and Fannie Underhill Timberlake.

SPRING HOPE , NC--Billy Lewis Sanderford was born on February 22, 1948 and left this earthly life to join his heavenly father on September 15, 2021. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Billy was a devoted husband, father, and papa, he enjoyed time spent hunting and fishing with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. On weekends he always looked forward to cooking for all of his family and spending time in a rocking chair talking on the porch.

RALEIGH, NC--Michael Bert Gilliam, 66, of Raleigh, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday, September 13, 2021. He was born on December 5, 1954, a son of George Bert and Maxine (West) Gilliam. He was preceded in death by his father, and his in-laws, Joe and Mary Alice Denton.

Ranson "Rant" Person, 83, of Louisburg, NC, died Wednesday, September 8, 2021.

BURLINGTON, NC--Mrs. Mary Nelson Smithwick Hayes, 93 of Burlington, NC passed away on Thursday September 16, 2021 at Liberty Commons in Burlington.
A native of Louisburg, NC, she was the daughter of the late Robert Walter and Dorothy Johnson Smithwick.

LOUISBURG -- Students in Franklin County Schools will be wearing masks for at least another month as the county's COVID vaccination rate has stalled at 44 percent, far short of the estimated 70 percent health care experts say is needed to achieve herd immunity.
Even worse are two other metrics that officials are monitoring to determine when masking and social distancing requirements can be eased.

After getting off to a relatively slow start this year, enrollment in Franklin County School is now showing a modest, 10 student increase over last year.
On the 10th day of school -- the day official attendance totals are calculated, FCS recorded 7,921 students, up 10 students from the 7,911 recorded on the 10th day last year.

LOUISBURG -- There is soon coming a generation for whom the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will be a history lesson.
And, not forgetting the devastation of that day will not be enough, said members of the Franklin County Firefighters Association -- organizers of this past weekend's annual memorial service.

BUNN -- Town commissioners agreed to bring back a resolution that would provide for COVID-related sick leave to be paid from federal funds.
Town Clerk Pamela Perry said the matter was discussed during the last clerk's convention, noting that a lot of towns had adopted the modified way of handling sick leave.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A project that aims to transform downtown got the approvals it needed last month.
However, a desire to streamline the construction process means that work on the project will be delayed a few months.
Town officials and staff have been putting the pieces in place to resurface its streets, bolster its sidewalks, improve curbs and gutters, make more robust and efficient its street crossings and improve modality through downtown for the better part of a decade.

Peyton Woodlief of Franklinton makes sure that every last piece of the hog he spent all night cooking is utilized. Downtown Louisburg was the place to be for barbecue lovers last Saturday morning as the second BBQ in the Burg contest wrapped up -- and the air was filled with the aroma of cooking pork. Woodlief is working to open a restaurant soon in Franklinton, which he plans to call Peyton's Place Open Pit Cooked BBQ and Fried Chicken.

Louisburg's Luci May

For the last year and a half or so, lots of reporters have struggled to figure out how to cover and analyze this thing called a pandemic that has turned all our lives upside down.
Most of us weren't prepared, and that certainly includes me.

Most often, when commercial development is pitted against residential interests, concerns usually center around how such development will infringe upon people's quality of life.
It's usually a conversation that inflames passions on both sides.