Recent Articles

LOUISBURG -- Proponents of less restrictive voting regulations claimed victory two weeks ago when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a decision that struck down the state's new voter laws -- including one that limited early voting and another that required that voters present photo ID to cast a ballot.
This week, local advocates planned to wage their own fight against what they allege are restrictive voting policies, expecting to present a plan to the state Board of Elections that would expand the number of locations offered for the first week of early voting.

RALEIGH -- An aspiring Franklin County teacher and a Franklinton man were killed in separate weekend accidents, two of nine fatalities the State Highway Patrol reported over the Labor Day Weekend.
Castalia resident Amy Walker died in a single-vehicle wreck on Monday morning, a day before her first day with students as a student teacher at Laurel Mill Elementary.

Bunn High School's Alexis McPhail

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies are investigating an early morning stabbing.
According to authorities, Iesha Mathias and Gregory Bolden were involved in an argument inside their Dupree Drive home the morning of Sept. 6 when Mathias stabbed Bolden.
According to authorities, children were in the home, but they were not in danger and were not believed to be in the area where the stabbing took place.

Franklin County sheriff's deputies are probing allegations of rape.
Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief of Staff Terry Wright said a woman reported to authorities on Sept. 4 that she was driving along U.S. 1-A in Franklinton they day before when she picked up a man who was flagging down cars for a ride.
The woman was going to give the man a ride, authorities said, when, instead, they wound up at an abandoned residence on Wilder Road.

The Cherry Hill Concert Series opens its fall season with a performance by the Poinsett Piano Trio at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18. The group will play in the Cherry Hill plantation house in Inez and afterwards will visit with patrons at a reception in the dining room of the historic property.
After having performed together with great success for several years in other chamber combinations, David Gross, Deirdre Hutton, and Christopher Hutton founded the Poinsett Piano Trio in 2008.

A Louisburg area couple who police allege abused a month-old baby is slated to appear in court next week.
Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief of Staff Terry Wright said a hospital alerted authorities to the potential of child abuse.
Authorities allege the incident occurred between May 5 and June 5.
Investigators, on Sept. 1, arrested Dequarius Johnson, 20, and Victoria Benson, 17, both of N.C. 39, with felony intentional child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.

The Franklin County Firefighters Association will host a 9/11 ceremony this Thursday, (today).
The event marks the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed thousands, bringing down the World Trade Center towers in New York, crashing a plane into the Pentagon and forced another plane crash in Pennsylvania.
The event is set to remember those who died during the attack, as well as first responders and law enforcement who responded, as well as first-responders and law enforcement who work around the world and here in Franklin County.

FRANKLINTON -- Despite possessing a wealth of talent, Tyreese Williams has needed to be patient while sharing the load in the backfield for the Franklinton Red Rams over the past three campaigns.
But Williams, now a senior, is making the most of his opportunity to be the featured back in the Red Rams' offense.

LOUISBURG -- Midway through the opening set, and with her club trailing by nine points, Louisburg High School volleyball coach Erica Wammock called time-out.
She had seen enough.
Franklinton invaded LHS in fired-up fashion last Wednesday as the clubs continued their long-time spike rivalry.
The Lady Rams came out with a spark and controlled the early proceedings before Wammock tried to push the momentum in the other direction with her play stoppage.

BUNN -- During its nearly two-decade existence, Bunn High School's boys soccer program has gained a reputation of being an offense-first group that has produced plenty of high-level scoring sensations.
That tradition might sway a bit this fall as the Wildcats have flashed plenty of defense through four contests.
Bunn has allowed just one goal and has recorded three shutouts, the latest of which was a 3-0 home decision last Wednesday against the Rocky Mount Gryphons.

ZEBULON - Enderson Franco completed his second career complete-game shutout in a 5-0 game-one victory and the Carolina Mudcats walked off 3-2 with back-to-back bases-loaded walks in game two while completing a doubleheader sweep against the Dash at Five County Stadium on Sunday night in a Class A Carolina League diamond twinbill.
The doubleheader sweep was Carolina's second of the season and came in their Carolina League-high 14th twinbill of the year.

GREENSBORO -- There was great anticipation about the 2016 North Carolina A&T football season because many wanted to know what the Aggies follow-up act would look like coming off one of the best season's in program history.
The truth is, after the Aggies 62-0 drubbing of Division II Saint Augustine's last Saturday night at Aggie Stadium, that anticipation still exists.
The Falcons (0-1) were so overmatched it is hard to gauge whether there is an encore performance of 2015 coming in 2016.

Louisburg's Whitney Bolton was dominant last Wednesday evening against rival Franklinton.

ANNAPOLIS, MD. -- Louisburg College football coach Trevor Highfield considered it an honor when his Hurricanes were able to earn a prestigious date on the schedule for the United States Naval Academy junior varsity squad last Friday.
And that wasn't even considering the matchup.
Highfield was thrilled to be able to give his club the opportunity to tour the Naval Academy campus in Maryland and to experience what it is like to play at Navy's picturesque stadium.

LOUISBURG -- It hasn't taken long for Northern Nash's Dynamic Duo of Coleman Cherry and Stephen Whitehead to make an instant impact with the Louisburg College men's cross country program.
The freshmen standouts were exceptional for the Hurricanes during last Saturday's action at the Chick Fil-A Invitational, which was hosted by Catawba College in Salisbury.

HENDERSON -- For the second time this season, the Kerr-Vance Academy varsity soccer team defeated Crossroads Christian School last week, but Crossroads continued to show improvement, playing the Spartans tough throughout the game, which was claimed by a 3-0 margin by K-VA.
Christopher Steg opened the scoring for the Spartans on an assist from Drew Griggs about midway through the half.
While the Spartans had additional chances in the first half, a stern Crossroads defense and outstanding goalie play by Jackson Overby kept the game close for the 1-0 halftime Spartan lead.

Former Bunn High School legend Tarik Cohen is shown during last week's victory for North Carolina A&T over St. Augustine's. During the home decision, Cohen, a senior All-American, became the Aggies' all-time leading touchdown scorer.

BALTIMORE, MD. -- The score was tied after three quarters, but the host Mustangs of Stevenson University registered 14 unanswered points in the final period to pull away for a 42-28 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan College in last Friday's football season opener for both squads.
Stevenson (1-0) used two big plays in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
The first came with 9:15 to go when SU's Billy Lewis picked off his third pass of the game and returned it 38 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested a Louisburg area duo on drug charges.
Officers with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit served a search warrant at 755 Sutton Road on Sept. 2 and seized crack cocaine, marijuana and prescription medications.

Mark and Jill Czysz of Henderson announce the engagement of their daughter, Holly Anne Czysz to Kyle Patrick Green, the son of Pat Green of Louisburg and the late Tracy Thorne Green. The wedding will take place on Sept. 24, 2016 at The Boondocks in Youngsville.

HENDERSON -- Area middle school students, including those from Franklin County, recently had opportunities to practice their skills as both budding artists and scientists at Vance-Granville Community College's sixth annual Science Camp.
The theme of this year's camp, held this summer on the college's Main Campus in Vance County, was not just "STEM," but "STEAM," according to VGCC Science department chair Steve McGrady.

The Franklin County Nickels for Know-How Referendum will be held on Thursday, Nov. 1.
County Cooperative Extension Director Charles Mitchell said the polling location for this year in the county will be at the Agricultural Services Center in Louisburg, 103 South Bickett Boulevard in Louisburg.
Mitchell explained that the referendum is being held to let users and producers of feed or fertilizer decide if they wish to continue the self-assessment program.

It's a simple question, really?
In what universe does upgrading Bickett Boulevard from Nash Street to North Main Street achieve a higher priority than four-laning U.S. 401 from Royal to Louisburg?
Certainly, upgrading Bickett is a "nice" project that has been promised for many years. We even went through the grueling design-explanation phase a decade or so ago when it appeared construction was imminent -- and those meetings left few people happy.