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KITTRELL--Graveside services for Jasper Coleman "Bill" Kearney, 72, who died Sunday, Aug. 9, will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m. at Concord Missionary Church cemetery in Kittrell, with the Rev. Larry Person officiating.

LOUISBURG--Funeral services for Minister Annie Delois Keith Smith, 74, who died Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, will be held Friday, Aug. 14, at 12 p.m. in the Richardson Funeral Home chapel in Louisburg, with the Rev. Russell Miles officiating. Burial will follow in the Perry's Missionary Church cemetery.

RALEIGH--Bobby Ray Finch, 76, of Raleigh, passed away in Raleigh, Friday, August 07, 2020. He was born June 29, 1944 in Franklin County, a son of the late James Thomas Finch Sr, and Lillie Mae (Debnam) Finch. Along with his parents, Bobby was predeceased by his siblings: JT, Theodore, Billy, Doris, Walter, Willard Gray, Russel, Jack, Stacy, Brenda and Daniel.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County emergency communications staff said they will test out VIPER service.
The announcement came after the board committed more than $215,000 toward improving and maintaining the county's emergency radio system.
And it came after Epsom's assistant fire chief criticized the system and suggested the county go to the VIPER system for the far north fire department.

A couple of cranes and some workmen quickly removed the base of the Confederate Monument on Louisburg's North Main Street last Friday morning. The base, along with the Confederate soldier's statue that was removed from it several days ago, are in storage and will be re-erected in Oakwood Cemetery near the graves of Confederate veterans. The cornerstone buried inside the monument was recovered but most of the items inside it were described as "mush" after the metal box leaked and filled with water.

LOUISBURG -- The Louisburg Town Council unanimously approved a new contract to sell water to Franklin County in a brief special called meeting on Tuesday.
Town Administrator Jonathan Franklin called the new agreement a "win-win" for both the town and the county.
Under the terms of the new contract, the town will furnish the county a minimum of 500,000 gallons of water per day at a minimum monthly charge of $52,510, and a maximum of 650,000 gallons per day.

FRANKLINTON -- As Franklinton leaders were selecting the town's next commissioner, residents were calling upon officials to reinstate its former police chief.
During the board's July 21 meeting, John Green tendered his letter of resignation, informing commissioners that he planned to retire on Sept. 1.
The next day, Town Manager Gregory Bethea met with Green and Green's retirement became effective immediately.

LOUISBURG -- About a dozen folks gathered at the Franklin County Courthouse this past weekend for a protest and march.
The Black Lives Matter event was billed as a peaceful protest march and proceeded as such.
"... I hope this isn't the last time that we can gather together as a community," said one of the organizers, Shakira Braswell, who along with Kristae Johnson put on the event.

Facebook Live talk show host Jaleesa Small

YOUNGSVILLE -- COVID-19 has kept the Youngsville Museum of History closed, but work behind the scenes has continued to bolster the facility.
And, its operators are hoping that others can help freshen up its inventory.
The museum has been closed for about six months, but their advisory board and volunteers have been responsible for some changes and some milestones have been reached, including:

Chief Culinary Specialist Arthur Johnson (right) from Louisburg, who is assigned to amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), speaks at morning quarters in the hangar bay. America, flagship of America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to maintain security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension of Franklin County has face coverings/masks and 8 oz. bottles of hand sanitizer for farmers and their workers.
If you are in need of these items, call the Extension office, 919-496-3344 to make an appointment to pick up these items.
What you need to provide when you call:

After sitting in the center of Louisburg's North Main Street for a little more than a century, the controversial Confederate Monument has been taken down and plans are to re-erect the monument in nearby Oakwood Cemetery. The monument featured a bronze likeness of a lone Confederate soldier atop a large granite base inscribed with the dates of the Civil War.

LOUISBURG -- Authorities arrested a Greenville man they allege took part in a biker gang fight before leading police on a high speed chase.
Just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, authorities said they responded to a call of a fight in front of the Fiesta Mexicana in the Retail Way shopping center on N.C. 56.
As officers arrived, they located suspects involved in the fight between the Murphy Express gas station and Zaxby's.

LOUISBURG -- Officers arrested a second man in connection with a Tuesday night shooting.
Shortly after officers found Patrick Lynch suffering from a gunshot wound, they arrested Altoires Jovante Gentry as he tried to flee the scene -- the In & Out convenience store at the corner of S. Main Street and Bunn Road in Louisburg.

Many of us cringed last week when the Franklin County Board of Education voted to begin schools virtually later this month -- and many of those cringes came from school board members who voted for that decision.
One board member even quipped that "not everyone is going to agree with this decision" and she is absolutely right about that.

I went into Monday night's Franklin County Board of Commissioner's meeting prepared to brace -- not for the tropical storm that was heading our way, but for the crush of community feedback I expected.
That's because, at the conclusion of the board's July 6 meeting, commissioners agreed to invite representatives from all of the county's emergency radio system end users to take part in their Aug. 3 meeting --

EDITOR'S NOTE: A letter to the editor in last week's edition contained incorrect information that made it through the editing process but must be corrected.
The letter stated that a number of letters to the editor published in this and other newspapers were encouraged by Louisburg College art professor Will Hinton.

Dear editor:
Many times in its almost 250-year history, Louisburg College has faced threats to its place in this town and county.
Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War 2, a disastrous fire in 1928 which destroyed much of Main Building and a possible move to Rocky Mount...

Dear editor:
According to the Preamble to the United States Constitution, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

(Family Features) COVID-19 may have begun as a physical health crisis, but like their parents, children, teens and college students (or young adults) are likely to experience stress and anxiety caused by disruptions to school, work and life. In fact, a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 45% of adults felt the pandemic has impacted their mental health.

Mixed messages still prevail regarding bullying. While it is addressed as a problem that shouldn't be tolerated, some people still think that bullying is a part of growing up. But down playing bullying can have lasting consequences.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that one out of five children are bullied.