Recent Articles

LOUISBURG -- Leave no doubt.
That was the theme for Louisburg College softball coach Eric Lee heading into last Friday's key Region X rematch at Pitt Community College in Winterville.
One week earlier, the Lady Hurricanes had swept Pitt at home, meaning they needed to win just one contest during the reunion twinbill in order to claim the Region X East Division regular season championship.

BUNN -- Some players might have sulked through the year after their prep football career came to an abrupt end due to a serious injury.
But that isn't in Scott Casagrande's makeup. Instead, the Bunn High School senior became an impromptu volunteer coach for the Wildcats after suffering a torn ACL in the second week of the 2021 campaign.

ZEBULON -- The Milwaukee Brewers have announced the initial roster for the Carolina Mudcats in advance of the 2021 season opener.
The new roster features several of Milwaukee's top-rated prospects and native North Carolinians, including Raleigh's Noah Campbell, Creedmoor's Justin Bullock and Goldsboro's Ashton McGee.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Royster "Junior" Thorne Harris, Jr., 86, of Louisburg transitioned peacefully into eternal rest on Friday, April 17, 2020 at Brian Center in Durham. He was born August 22, 1933 to the late Royster T. and Alice Hunt Harris.

LOUISBURG, NC - Thomas Earl Morgan, 76, of Louisburg, died Monday morning, May 3, 2021.

YOUNGSVILLE, NC- Harry Victor "Shorty" Bullock, 75, of Youngsville, died Monday, May 3, 2021 at his home.

LOUISBURG - Danny Ray Sikes, 73, of Louisburg, died at his home, "Molehill Mountain Farm", in Franklin County, NC, April 30, 2021.

LOUISBURG, NC-- Graveside services for Willis Ray Cooke, age 70 who died on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, was held on Monday, May 3, at 2 p.m. from the Cooke Family Cemetery in Louisburg, NC.

FRANKLINTON, NC-- Memorial services for Mark A. Litton, age 59, who died on Friday, April 30, 2021, will be held on Saturday, May 8, at 11 a.m. from the Plank Chapel United Methodist Church in Kittrell, NC. Dr. Carolyn Roy, officiating.

LOUISBURG, NC - Annie Wester Gupton, 86, of Louisburg, died Wednesday evening, April 28, 2021 at her home.

ZEBULON, NC -- Charles Gray Mullen, 85, passed away Sunday, May 2, 2021. He was born February 28, 1936 in Franklin County to the late Ollie Vance Mullen and Clellie Powell Mullen. Charles was a retired truck driver and farmer.

ZEBULON, NC -- Raymond Rudell Alford, Jr., age 94, passed away Friday, April 30, 2021 at his home.

LOUISBURG, NC-- Pattie Moore Strawbridge, 88, of Louisburg, passed away Tuesday night, April 27, 2021.

TRUE SIGN OF SPRING. Yes, the trees are greening up again, the lawn needs mowed, the yellow pollen has come (and mostly gone) and there are flowers in bloom -- but the real sign of spring in the country is when it's time for the sheep to be shorn of their winter fleece! That's happening around the county these days as evidenced here where Stuart Matthews gets this critter ready for the hot and humid weather that's coming fast.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners is set to update its Unified Development Ordinance, a document that will rezone nearly half of the county's 36,000 properties.
Planning staff, though, said the change will not be earth shattering.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners met in closed session for the second time in two weeks.
And, for the second time, they took no action following more than an hour-long meeting.
But, for the first time, they confirmed the reason for the secret session: the county's emergency radio system, which has been plagued by issues ever since it went online in 2012.

LOUISBURG -- After a brief meeting during which no Franklin County school officials were given an opportunity to speak last Thursday, the North Carolina Charter Schools Advisory Board recommended that Wake Preparatory Academy be allowed to open a school in Franklin County.
Wake Preparatory Academy first attempted to open in Wake Forest but officials there denied the plan. In late March, academy officials announced an effort to move to Franklin County.

LOUISBURG -- One Franklinton residential development got good news and another one, not so much.
Franklin County commissioners agreed to extend the time that Burlington Park developers have dibs on its water allocation.
A 50-lot development on Lane Store Road got the thumbs down from the county's Utilities Advisory Committee, though.

BUNN -- Town commissioners held off approving an ordinance amendment that some said might place too high a price on nuisance abatement.
During its April 12 meeting, the board held a public hearing and considered adopting a nuisance ordinance that would deem unlawful, among other things, tall grass, trash accumulation, unsecured chemicals and materials, burned out buildings and other unkempt structures.

Red Ram golfer Parker Smith

Sheep producer Scott Will, left, brings out one of about two dozen sheep that had their wool shorn by long-time shearer, Stuart Matthews, right.

After covering local government for decades -- literally -- I've discovered one thing that was never mentioned in News Reporting 101 during my college days.
What I've learned is that every reporter needs a good sense of smell!
Okay, maybe not as good as an English Setter or a German Shorthaired Pointer, but, by human standards, a sense of smell to realize that something isn't quite right.