Recent Articles

HENDERSON -- The Franklin-Granville-Vance Partnership for Children has tabbed a Vance County man for its top leadership post.
FGV Smart Start Inc. announced that Dr. Tony Cozart will lead the organization, which designs and provides programs and services for families and children in Franklin, Granville, and Vance counties.
Cozart is a retired educator with over 32 years in the local public school systems.

Caroline Victoria Bethea and Christopher Neal Murphy were married on Sept. 24, 2016 at Louisburg United Methodist Church in Louisburg, with the Rev. Michael Safley officiating.
The bride is the daughter of Victor and Meloni Bethea of Louisburg.
The groom is son of Lori Neal Murphy of Castalia and the late Clyde Murphy Jr. He is the grandson of Clyde and Faye Murphy.

CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has announced its game times and sites for the state football championship games.
Here is a complete gridiron schedule:
• Class 1-A -- Dec. 17 at 11:05 a.m. at Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill
• Class 1-AA -- Dec. 16 at 7:35 p.m. at Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

FRANKLINTON - James Franklin Burchette, 78, died Friday, Nov. 25, 2016 at his home. The family will receive friends Saturday, Dec. 3, at 1:15 p.m. at Unity Baptist Church in Franklinton, where a memorial service will follow at 2 p.m., with the Rev. Bradley Johnson and the Rev. David Averette officiating.

RALEIGH - Funeral services for Bernard Christopher "B. J." Jordan, 50, who died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, will be held Friday, Dec. 2, at 12 p.m. in the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg. Burial will follow in the M. H. Jones Cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Mary Helen Radford Griffin, 91, died Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016. The family will receive friends Wednesday, Nov. 30, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Lancaster Funeral and Cremation Services, 804 N. Bickett Blvd., Louisburg. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Wood Baptist Church, with the Rev. Burwell Stark officiating. Burial will follow in the King-Dennis Family Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON - James Howard Conyers, 87, died Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 at Duke Regional Hospital. Funeral service was held at Popes Chapel Christian Church on Monday, Nov. 28, with the Rev. Don Ward officiating. Burial was private.

KITTRELL - Funeral services for Leandrew "Lee" Alston, 76, who died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, will be held Saturday, Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. at Concord Baptist Church in Kittrell. Burial will follow in the Concord Church cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Joseph Wesley "J.W." Ellington, 90, of Louisburg passed away on November 26, 2016. He was born in Franklin County on January 17, 1926 to the late Joseph Wellons and Norma Ethel Kearney Ellington. J.W. served his country in the Navy during WWII and the Korean War. J.W. was an outdoorsman, who loved to fish, hunt, and enjoyed his garden. He took exceptional care of his parents as they aged and that is true of how he cared for his entire family.

LOUISBURG - Sheral Annette Frazier, 64, of Louisburg, passed away Sunday night.

LOUISBURG - Jerry Lee Riggan, 62, of Louisburg, passed away on Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at his home. He was born on January 15, 1954, in Portsmouth, Virginia, the son of William H. Riggan, Jr. of Warren County, NC and Earis Marie Coppedge of Franklin County, NC. He was a preceded in death by his father and an infant brother, Robert Jackson Riggan.

CASTALIA - Gloria Owens VanFleet Davis, 95, died Wednesday morning, Nov. 23, 2016. A funeral service will be held 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, at White Level Baptist Church. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

FRANKLINTON - Funeral services for Eula Mae "Bae" Williams Cannady, 67, who died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016, will be held Thursday, Dec. 1, at 1 p.m. in the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, with the Rev. Gertrude Jones officiating.

BUNN -- Bunn had hoped for a climactic ending to David Howle's glorious 25-year career as the school's head football coach -- but it wasn't meant to be.
Instead, the Wildcats were edged 15-7 by Northside-Jacksonville on Friday at home in the second round of the Class 2-AA State Playoffs in a defensive-minded contest.
Bunn capped its campaign at 11-2, and it will be the final season for Howle, who has already announced his retirement. Northside, now 10-3, advances into a third-round matchup next Friday on the road against powerhouse Clinton.

LOUISBURG - Funeral services for Lillie "Bam Bam" Epps, 73, who died Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, were held Saturday, Nov. 19, at Haywood Baptist Church in Louisburg, with Pastor Douglas Harris officiating. Burial followed in the Hargrove family cemetery.

LOUISBURG -- Each year, the United Way supports education in Franklin County Schools through the organization's teacher grants program.
The program encourages classroom teachers and school faculty to apply for up to $1,500 to support innovative classroom projects or school-wide programs that will impact student learning in positive and engaging ways.
For the 2016-17 school year, Franklin County Schools in partnership with the United Way of Franklin County is pleased to announce that 13 FCS teachers will be receiving more than $12,000 in funding this year.

Mionnie's Place, located in downtown Louisburg, 203 Court St., recently held its grand opening and ribbon cutting sponsored by the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. Open since Oct. 24, Mionnie's is a nutrition club offering a healthy alternative to fast food. The healthy meal and snack options include protein smoothies, green tea, aloe water, protein bars, soy nuts and more. In addition, Mionnie's offers free community workouts including a cardio drumming program and fit camp.

HENDERSON -- The Vance-Granville Community Band will perform traditional Christmas fare as well as light classical and contemporary favorites during its ninth annual holiday concert on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center in Henderson.
The band is led by Louisburg resident Brian Miller.
This will be the first time that the Community Band has held a concert at the 1,000-seat venue, which opened earlier this year and is located at 201 Breckenridge Street in downtown Henderson. Admission is free.

RALEIGH -- The State Board of Elections met through the weekend, trying to figure out a way to bring the Nov. 8 election to a conclusion amid protests filed in half of the state's 100 counties.
The only real conclusion they made was that they'd meet again Tuesday (Nov. 22) in an attempt to provide counties with legal guidance on how to handle allegations of voter fraud, including allegations of dead voters and votes cast by active felons.

LOUISBURG -- When most folks see a few pieces of split and well-dried red maple and a couple of pieces of dried red spruce, they're probably thinking firewood!
But Louisburg's Mike Anderson sees a violin. Or, a fiddle.
If the pieces are a little larger, perhaps a cello.
Snuggled into a corner of Anderson's Oak Drive backyard is a small, stand-alone workshop where he handcrafts violins or fiddles, smaller pocket fiddles and, a couple of times, a cello.

Christmas celebrations will begin in earnest next week.
First up is Franklinton, which will host its Christmas Parade -- the county's only nighttime event -- at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1.
The town of Youngsville will host a day of festivities on Dec. 3, beginning with the Youngsville Rescue Auxiliary Breakfast from 7-9:30 a.m.
The parade will follow at 10 a.m.

LOUISBURG -- If Black Friday sales, the relentless pressure of finding just the right gift and the hectic holiday season is about to become too much, one event may be the antidote.
A 19th Century Christmas Open House is planned at the historic Person Place home on the corner of the Louisburg College campus at 605 N. Main Street.
Slated to run from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, the event is a quiet alternative to the hectic 21st Century Christmas.

Louisburg resident Ozell Mangum

FRANKLINTON -- Life can get in the way, even for the closest of family and friends.
Three years ago, the men of the Green and Cooke families sought to rectify that and started meeting, figuring out a way they could get together more often to hang out and catch up -- eventually sowing the seeds for a once-a-year getaway for the group.
"We'd get together and we'd hang out and laugh and joke and enjoy time together," said Tim Green, president of the group, which became the Green-Cooke Men's Group.