Recent Articles

LOUISBURG -- Another of the county's advisory boards got a reprieve, at least temporarily.
In February, commissioners were set to shut down four advisory boards, arguing that they said were either no longer meeting, performing a public service or needed to be revamped.

Eager Easter Egg hunter Jackson West

The American Legion Post 52 of Franklinton held its annual Awards Banquet on Sunday, March 22, to honor community servants of the Police, Fire Department, and EMS as well as community volunteers and Legion Family members that deserve special recognition. Also celebrated was the Legion's 107th Birthday.

Through a partnership with Celebration Church in Raleigh, the Franklin County Interfaith Council was able to provide 4,000 pounds of frozen chicken to 10 food pantries in the area. Above, Floyd Vick and the Rev. Stanley Dunston load chickens onto a truck bound for St. Paul Presbyterian Church and their distribution effort.

Above, the Pastor Chris Fair with Trinity United Methodist Church loads chicken into a vehicle bound for Sowing Seeds, one of the county's growing food pantries serving Franklinton and beyond.

LOUISBURG -- A Youngsville man is slated to appear in court on charges that he assaulted officers and tried to use a gun on them when they were making a domestic violence arrest.
One of the deputies involved -- Taylor Lucas -- survived a point-blank shooting just before Christmas last year.
According to an arrest warrant and court documents, Deputies Lucas, Christopher McLawhorn and Keegan Clark attempted to arrest Jason Lee Freeman after he assaulted and threatened his child's mother on March 16.

WARRENTON -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is hosting a community engagement meeting today to address Franklin County's request to pull more water from Kerr Lake.
According to the Corps, Franklin County is petitioning for more water because it anticipates a shortage of available water supply for the next 50 years.
In light of its long-term water concerns, Franklin County, in recent years, has taken a number of steps, including:

LOUISBURG -- The State Highway Patrol is investigating a Tuesday evening wreck that proved fatal.
Specific details about the wreck were not available before press time, but staff at the highway patrol confirmed the wreck resulted in a fatality.
According to Franklin County Emergency Management, the single-vehicle wreck happened after 6 p.m. in the area of N.C. 39 and Strickland Way.
Two occupants were in the vehicle, authorities said, and one was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ask any avid gardener or farmer and you're going to quickly learn that finding the proper place to plant -- the right amount of sunlight, proper drainage, well-prepared soil -- is essential to ensuring a good harvest.
I suspect much the same is true with housing developments, although the requirements are quite different.
Simply having a demonstrated need for a particular type of housing isn't enough. You still have to locate the right place -- and ensure such factors as adequate access and utility availability.

It's always amazing to me how there can be such incredible failures to communicate.
In my experience, though, such failure more often has to do with an unwillingness, rather than an honest-to-goodness oversight.
Maybe I'm wrong, here, but we'll see.
If you've kept up with your Franklin Times, you would know that, going back to January, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners have had a potential agreement with Lake Royale on their consent agenda.

Dear editor: The third No Kings national day of action is taking place this Saturday, March 28. You can add your own patriotic voice to defend democracy at the protest event right here in Louisburg.
From 1 until 3 p.m., you can join hundreds of others uniting to resist tyranny on Bickett Boulevard in front of the Sheetz convenience station.
Almost 300 people came out for the previous No Kings event last October, adding Franklin County's voice to the 7 million who participated nationwide.

Dear editor: In a recent letter titled, "America has money for war, not its citizens," Mr. Strickland once again vents his spleen on the President and what he calls "evangelical religious fanatics" (ERFs). I get he is upset but I'm not sure who upsets him more, Trump or the ERFs. He seems to blame ERFs as solely responsible for voting in the "rogue" Trump, who has single-handedly started an "illegal" war with Iran. Strickland thinks, among other things, Trump's moral failures of three marriages and a vulgar instance of locker-room banter caused him to fall short of the criteria normally required of a good Sunday school teacher.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Fred Keller's service to the community has been in boardrooms, the background and behind the scenes.
But, when Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce brass Richie Veverka and Kim Kaid presented him with its Citizen of the Year Award, it was Keller who was front and center.
"It was a big surprise," Keller said following the festivities. "I certainly didn't expect it.

LOUISBURG -- The threat of inclement weather prompted Franklin County commissioners to postpone their meeting until next week.
It's the third time officials moved their March meeting date. Moving Monday's meeting to March 23 is the only one that came with a public explanation.
"Due to anticipated weather expected to arrive in Franklin County this afternoon and evening and out of an abundance of caution, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for ... March 16 ... has been canceled and is rescheduled for ... March 23 ...," a Monday morning notice from County Clerk Kristen King stated.

THE SEASON BEGINS. Baseball in all its variations is synonymous with spring -- and recently the Miracle League marked the beginning of the season -- and it looked like fun. In the photo above Kamal Mane prepares to swing at a pitch from Merrill Pettis while Tassie McGannon serves as catcher.

LOUISBURG -- A superior court judge dismissed a $1 million lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the town of Bunn took advantage of her disabled mother.
But, if Karen Meekins can find an attorney to take up her mother's case, a lawsuit on the merits could still be filed.
Meekins, who lives in New York and serves as power of attorney for her mother, Brenda Elaine Jones, filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Superior Court in October, alleging the town regularly overbilled Jones for water and sewer and repeatedly disconnected her service without adequate or lawful notice.

YOUNGSVILLLE -- Town commissioners got their first look at nearly $700,000 in requests, as department heads outlined their staffing and equipment needs for the upcoming fiscal year.
Town Manager Will Doerfer presented the board with $30 million in potential capital needs over the next five fiscal years.
On March 13, the board and its staff met in a work session, kicking off their budget preparation season.

YOUNGSVILLLE -- Town officials agreed to pull nearly $900,000 from its savings account to take its next steps into turning the Youngsville bypass into reality.
Last month, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization agreed to award the town $9.3 million in Locally Administered Program Project funds to build one of four segments of the proposed bypass.
That award was based on 30 percent of design work detailing a new straightening of Cedar Creek Road -- roughly from north of where Cedar Creek intersects with Conifer Lane going south to a new intersection with Tarboro Road.

American Legion Post 105 celebrated the birthday of veteran Joe Balogh, who turns 105 today