Recent Articles

Winners of the 2016 FCAC Writers Guild Carolina Prize for Writing were announced recently at the guild's launch party for their fourth issue of County Lines: A Literary Journal.
RJ "Bob" McCarthy was named winner for prose and read his short story "Honor."
McCarthy is a member of the Franklin County Arts Council. He lives in Henderson with his wife Susan and is author of three published novels.

LOUISBURG -- The time-tested cliche' about throwing out the records during rivalry games couldn't have been more appropriate during last Friday's Franklin County girls basketball grudge match between Franklinton and Louisburg.
Franklinton, under 41-year skipper Lester Wilder, entered the showdown at Louisburg College's Taylor Center with a winless mark -- while the Lady Warriors came in with a perfect record.

LOUISBURG -- Continuity has not been a keyword for the Bunn High School wrestling program since its inception in the late 1990s.
Several outstanding wrestlers have made their way through the program, but the Wildcats have been plagued by what seems like an endless carousel of coaches through the years.
Some of those coaches were strong, but they all eventually moved on, leaving the program to start over once again.

LOUISBURG -- Numbers usually add up to success for the Louisburg High School wrestling program -- a trend that veteran head coach Courtney Tart hopes will continue during the 2016-17 mat campaign.
Louisburg has boasted some strong individual performers in recent years, but has struggled with filling a full roster -- a fact that has hampered the Warriors during duals competition.

STANHOPE -- Bunn picked up its first girls basketball victory of the season last Friday -- and avenged an earlier loss in the process.
The Ladycats had fallen to Southern Nash last month's regular season opener for both clubs, but returned the favor last Friday night with a 30-24 triumph at the SNHS Gymnasium.
Selena Cooke and Makayla Strickland topped the Ladycats with 14 points apiece, while Joy McLeod offered two points.

BUNN -- David Weathersby encountered a daunting building task when he accepted the job two years ago as the head football coach at Bartlett-Yancey High School.
At a school not known for its football prowess, Weathersby brought a measure of respectability to the program, winning 10 games over the two-season span -- a mark that tied the school's best consecutive-campaign stretch since the 1960s.

GREENVILLE -- The Kerr-Vance Academy varsity girls basketball team traveled to Greenville last Friday evening to face conference foe the Oakwood school.
The game proved tightly contested throughout the first half with Oakwood leading after the first period 11-8, but Kerr-Vance taking a 19-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The third period would be Kerr-Vance's undoing, with the Spartans only mustering two points under wilting pressure from the Oakwood defense.

LOUISBURG -- Looking at it from the periphery, Louisburg High School's decision to stage its home basketball games at Taylor Center seems to be a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Fans have better access to the contests at the larger venue and won't be turned away at the gate.
Players have an opportunity to compete at a collegiate venue.

ZEBULON -- The Carolina Mudcats of the Class A Carolina League are offering several ticket packages for the upcoming 2017 baseball season at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.
Options include full-season, half-season and quarter-season ticket plans, along with Muddy's Unreal Deal, which makes for an excellent holiday gift or stocking stuffer.

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg College, coached by Blake Herring, will kick off its 2017 baseball schedule on Feb. 11 with a home twinbill against Patrick Henry Community College.
LC's complete ledger is as follows, with home events listed in CAPS:

LOUISBURG -- Louisburg College wrapped up the pre-holiday portion of its women's basketball schedule with an unbeaten record following a pair of victories last weekend in Maryland.
Last Friday, Louisburg, now 12-0, was an 81-41 winner at Anne Arundel as Jasmine Covington poured in 20 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has announced the pairings for this weekend's state championship football games.
Here is the complete schedule:

Louisburg High School's Shyann Collier (center) tries to reel in a loose ball during last Friday's contest against Franklinton at Taylor Center on the Louisburg College campus.

Louisburg High School's James Perry (left) attempts to reach for a hold as part of Tuesday night's non-conference tri-match at the LHS Gymnasium.

(L to R) Franklinton's Branson Capps and Louisburg's Jonathan Ward joust for a rebound during last Friday's basketball contest.

Louisburg High School's Summer Phillips (center) is fouled during last Friday night's girls basketball contest against the Franklinton Lady Rams.

Bunn's Chaz Brooks registers a pinfall Tuesday against a Northern Vance mat opponent.

Obviously, religious themes were popular in the annual Christmas parade in Bunn.

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church entered a l-o-n-g float

NO SNOW, NO PROBLEM. Although the weather was chilly, there wasn't enough of the white stuff for Santa to use his sleigh last Saturday for the Bunn Christmas parade. But that didn't pose much of a problem for the Jolly Old Gent from the North Pole. He just perched his sleigh on a wagon -- and greeted all the children as he rode through town.

I was leaving the Person Place last Thursday night, headed down Main Street toward downtown when I saw something that gave me a glimmer of hope.
And, trust me, hope is something that's been in mighty short supply after the brutal election season!
Anyway, about the time I got to the United Methodist Church, I looked ahead and the sight was stunning.
As far as you could see -- and you could see for several blocks -- the town's Christmas lights were visible.

The old adage that "if you want something done right, do it yourself" may hold special meaning around Franklin County these days.
As virtually everyone knows, the state's crime lab is either suspect or in the process of being rebuilt after years of neglect and confusion.
In any case, virtually everyone agrees that it is drastically underfunded (which won't improve under this legislature!) and the backlog of cases is somewhere between troubling and inexcusable, depending on your perspective.

By itself, the USA Today headline makes you sick: "4 million Americans could be drinking toxic water and would never know?"
And that's just reading it. Imagine if you lived in one of the places where this could happen.
Unfortunately, that is the reality for far too many people.
According to the story, USA TODAY Network journalists spent the entire year reviewing millions of records from the Environmental Protection Agency and all 50 states, visiting small communities across the country and interviewing more than 120 people stuck using untested or lead-tainted tap water.

Governator Pat McCrory finally admitted to his own political termination and conceded to Governor-elect Roy Cooper.
This provided one of the few bright spots for North Carolinians from November's elections. It is important to view it as a beginning; there is still much work to be done!
Analysts say the major factor leading to the McCrory loss was a backlash over HB2.