Recent Articles

NASHVILLE--Norman Lee Radford, Sr., 74, of Nashville departed this earthly life on Friday, May 31, 2019 at his home. Born on January 18, 1945 to the late Allen and Florence Radford. In addition to his parents, he was also preceded in death by his wife, Janet Brantley Radford.

FRANKLINTON--Shelby Jean Laughter, 82, of Franklinton left us to be with her Lord on Thursday, May 30, 2019. Born on June 21, 1936 to the late George Spurgeon and Annie Winborne Laughter. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her brothers, Kenneth, Curtis and George C. Laughter; sisters, Annie Louise Moss and Sally Laughter. Shelby attended Mary Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing and worked at John Umstead Hospital in Butner as an LPN until she retired and then became a Magistrate in Franklin County until she retired in 2004. She gave over 50 years of service to the state of North Carolina. She was a member of Union View Baptist Church as well as The NC Magistrates Association, and a former chief of the Franklinton Rescue EMS.

WENDELL--John Willie "JW" Scott, 78, died Saturday, May 25, 2019 at his home in Wendell. Services were Friday, May 31, at Old Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, Louisburg, with Pastor Michael Alston officiating. Interment was in the church cemetery.

LOUISBURG--Funeral services for William David "Bill" Rogers Jr., 61, who died Thursday, May 30, 2019, will be held Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. in the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, with Elder Paul Finley officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Hope Church cemetery in Spring Hope.

LOUISBURG--Funeral services for James Otis Harris, 78, who died Tuesday, May 28, 2019, will be held Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m. at Nelson Chapel Baptist Church in Louisburg with Pastor Micah Mason officiating. Burial will follow in the Nelson Chapel Church cemetery.

RALEIGH -- Bunn High school nabbed second place in a competition that's gaining traction across the state.
Bunn High School had two teams competing against 15 other teams, all from Wake County, proving to be the first team outside of Wake county to compete.
It was Bunn High's first year in the competition and Team One was rewarded for its second place finish.

LOUISBURG -- Next month, Franklin County plans to go live with radio system upgrades designed to address growth.
It's also expected to alleviate communication issues that sprung up when the county overhauled its entire system nearly seven years ago.
In the fall of 2012, Franklin County switched over to a roughly $11 million emergency radio system intended to address the county's notorious issue with radio dead spots experienced by first responders and law enforcement officers.

As a 14-year-old teenager, Carol Seal went on a mission trip to Arizona and discovered a great deal about herself. She also began a journey that shaped her life and the lives of countless others.
Last Thursday night, Carol Seal -- now Carol Forrest -- was named Franklin County's Teacher of the Year for 2019 during a dinner presentation at First Fruits Farm in the Margaret Community.

Teacher of the Year, Carol Forrest, (second from right) celebrates with part of her "team" at the school, including (left to right) Carrie Diaz, Ashley McRae, Rachel Smyth, Carrla Perry, and Renee Bell, along with student KaShaun Crudup-Johnson. Fellow teachers decorated Forrest's classroom after she was named TOY.

Fellow teachers at Long Mill Elementary School decorated Carol Forrest's class area after she was named the Franklin County School System's Teacher of the Year. Above, she is joined by students, from left, KaShaun Crudup-Johnson, Logan Ouber and Christina DeBuhr.

FRANKLINTON -- When billionaire Robert Smith pledged $40 million to wipe out student loans for every Morehouse graduate, he raised the bar for all commencement speakers who came behind him.
Since its inception nine years ago, the Franklin County Early College High School has raised the bar for its students, offering a high school diploma, college-transferable credits and the chance to earn associates degrees and professional certifications in five years -- for free.

LOUISBURG -- County commissioners will get their next in-depth look at the budget on Monday and, based on comments during the last budget session, the bottom line could look a bit different.
County Manager Angela Harris on May 20 presented commissioners with a budget that proposed to increase spending, raise the tax rate, hire more employees, lease more vehicles and raise some fees.

Softball fans AnnaGrace and Eric Lee

The Skin Spa of Louisburg recently held a ribbon cutting sponsored by the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. The business, located at 103 Market Street, is a full-service day spa, specializing in aesthetic skin care and massage therapy.

LOUISBURG -- A series of community meetings to gauge input on the county's future is slated to wrap up today.
Franklin County staff and planners with McGill Associates already held sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday where residents were allowed to ask questions and provide comments about how they'd like to see the county grow -- from its parks and recreation resources, to their plans to meet agricultural needs to bolstering the county's infrastructure.

LOUISBURG -- A man accused of initiating a domestic violence disturbance -- and was shot for his trouble -- got his bond reduced earlier this month.
But not as much as Willie Jiggetts wanted.
Jiggetts, 38, was arrested last June and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, communicating threats, first degree burglary, possession of a controlled substance, and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for storage of a controlled substance.

There is a standing joke among newspaper reporters who routinely cover government budgets that the only things that change from year-to-year are the names of the people involved.
The issues stay the same and, perhaps a comma gets moved or zero or two added, but the overall budget document stays relatively static.

First, a prediction: Over the next few weeks, your Franklin Times will feature dozens of photos and stories about local students and their scholastic accomplishments.
There will be stories and photos of scholarship award winners, stories of those who have achieved various academic and service honors and, of course, the annual graduation edition with photos of those local young people who have earned their high school diplomas and are off to make their mark on the world.

Before I decided to write this column, I knew what the response would be: Well, why don't you just learn to swim?!?
Well, I tried it once as a kid. It didn't go well, at all. I never tried again.
Because of that, I have a healthy appreciation and fear of water.

Dear editor:
As most already know, the opiate epidemic has been worsening, each year claiming more lives than the last. What is less known by the general public is the problem with Methamphetamines has been growing over the last several years as well.

Fire blight can be a devastating disease on trees and shrubs within the Roseaceae (Rose) family. This includes plants such as quince, cherry, pear, apple, and roses. All of these are susceptible to the bacterium Erwinia amylovora or fire blight.
Fire blight attacks the blossoms, leaves, shoots, branches, fruits, and roots of plants.

HENDERSON -- About 500 graduates, including a Youngsville resident who received the Academic Excellence Award, were honored at Vance-Granville Community College's 50th annual commencement exercises.
Dr. Rachel Desmarais, who became the seventh president of the community college earlier this year, served as the principal commencement speaker for the May 10 outdoor ceremony, held in front of the gazebo on the college's Main Campus.

BUNN -- Another year, another successful all-sports season for the Bunn High School athletic program.
That was the theme for last Thursday's annual BHS Athletic Awards Ceremony at the school's auditorium.
Bunn celebrated Northern Carolina Conference team championships in baseball and wrestling (for the first time in school history), along with several outstanding individual accomplishments.