Recent Articles

ZEBULON -- Joey Meneses drove in three, Ryan Gebhardt hit his first professional home run and Raymar Navarro struck out four over five innings in a spot start as the Carolina Mudcats defeated the Frederick Keys 4-1 at Five County Stadium on Monday afternoon in Zebulon in a Class A Carolina League baseball meeting.
Navarro (3-1, 3.91) allowed an unearned run in the fifth and scattered three hits while starting for the first time this season. He worked through the fifth and used 60 pitches (40 strikes) in the series tying victory.

(L to R) Haley Sheehan and Bruce Adams received the Sportsmanship Awards at the 2015-16 Bunn High School Athletic Awards ceremony. The seniors were also presented with Mike Lovin Scholarship Awards.

Bunn High School's Haley Sheehan will continue her distance running career at Louisburg College under veteran coach Jay Koloseus.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Combat Warriors Inc., Gene Pleasants and Wayne Farmer sponsored the annual Spring Turkey Hunt, which was held April 22- 24 in Franklin County.
Fourteen soldiers participated, arriving from Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune and the Navy Seal School in Virginia Beach.
The soldiers arrived Friday afternoon, some early enough for an evening hunt.

The Youngsville Heat continued its successful season on May 14-15 by winning the Top Gun Fifth Annual Battle For The Bats in Knightdale. The Heat won two bats, a team wagon and a paid berth to the summer and winter nationals, along with the winter world series. The club also received medals and a team plaque. Youngsville went 3-1 at the event, including a 19-8 decision over Wendell in the championship game of the prestigious event.

BUNN -- Bunn High School's baseball and soccer teams will be offered summer camps for children ages 6-12.
The baseball camp will be June 13-15 from 9 a.m.-noon. Cost is $60 per person.
The soccer camp is scheduled for June 20-23. Cost is $50 per person.
For more information on the baseball camp, contact BHS coach Chris Cullom at (919) 496-3975 ext. 300.

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash's Zack Foster will represent Nash County on the East Team at the annual North Carolina Coaches Association's East-West All-Star Football Game this summer.
The event will be held July 20 at Jamieson Stadium in Greensboro.
The East's complete roster is as follows:

The Cherry Hill Foundation will present its annual student concert in Inez at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12.
East Carolina Professor of Piano Dr. Keiko Sekino will introduce five of her most gifted students to the Cherry Hill audience. The students, who are in either the undergraduate or graduate programs at East Carolina, have displayed unusual talent and even at their young ages, have experience in teaching and performing while pursuing degrees at the Greenville university.

Three VGCC Paralegal program graduates are first to become state-certified
The Paralegal Technology program at Vance-Granville Community College can now boast a 100 percent passing rate on the state certification exam, after three of the program's first graduates recently became North Carolina Certified Paralegals.

It's perhaps the most bittersweet time of the year.
It's sweet because we'll all be watching and celebrating as several hundred Franklin County young people don their robes and collect their high school graduation diplomas, most on Saturday, June 11.
It's a time to celebrate the accomplishments of these young people and marvel at how far they have come and how much they have learned in the last 12 or 13 years.

In a year of unusual pre-election and election tussles, local voters have the responsibility to play their role between now and June 7 in a very important local race.
What is happening is virtually a "stealth" election that is flying under the radar of almost anyone except political junkies who pay closer attention to such details than average Americans.
Believe it or not, there is an election underway right now since early voting started recently and the actual election day is Tuesday, June 7.

f you've seen the same headlines I have the past few days, you'd think we were in the apocalypse.
• In Arizona, last week, a hiker died after getting stung more than 1,000 times.
And, over the weekend, five hikers were taken to the hospital after getting stung.
The weekend before, a man was stung 200 times in a Glendale neighborhood.

As I read the crosstabs in many political polls, one of the factors voters are often concerned about is whether or not a candidate cares about their interests.
Donald Trump is currently defending comments he made prior to the housing bubble bursting. Trump was cheerleading for the bottom to fall out of the housing market so he could swoop in and buy properties at bargain prices.
The fact that people lost their homes and jobs was irrelevant to him.

It is amazing how little children can add so much to this earth when they start being interested in the things that matter, in the things that bring us knowledge, and the things that make a difference in our lives.
We do not think about young ones making an impact in our lives. But when parents, grandparents, and schools do the right things to awaken a meaningful interest in our children, they can be the giants in society that Jupiter is in our space.

CHAPEL HILL -- Joshua Boone was presented with the 2016 Alston-Pleasants Scholarship for undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Josh, son of Gaye and Jerry Boone, is a resident of Zebulon and is Valedictorian of the 2016 senior class at Bunn High School where he was also a leader in organizing a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and a two-time all-conference selection in baseball.

SPRING HOPE - Funeral services for John "Boot Jack" Collins, 89, who died Tuesday, May 31, 2016, will be held Monday, June 6, at 1 p.m. in the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, with the Rev. Douglas Harris officiating. Burial will follow in the Haywood Church cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Falton "Punk" Leonard Jones, 83, of Louisburg, passed away suddenly on Sunday, May 29, 2016 at Hillside Nursing and Rehab in Wake Forest. She was a former lifelong resident of the White Level Community.

LOUISBURG - Jenifer McLeland Stearns, 44, of Louisburg passed away suddenly on Monday, May 30, 2016 at Wake Medical Center. Born July 19, 1971 in Fort Wayne, IN, but she loved living in Celino, OH.

LOUISBURG - Jack Earl Burnette, 89, of the Sandy Creek Community, died Thursday, May 26, 2016. He was a son of the late Willie Cleveland Burnette and Minnie Allen Burnette, native of Franklin County.

Evelyn Anne Thigpen Brown passed away Friday, May 27, 2016 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC. Anne was the eldest of seventeen grandchildren of her maternal grandparents, E.J. and Hettie Rose Pipkin, who settled in the Rhodes Friends Community of Wayne County in the late eighteen hundreds.

KITTRELL - Vereonia B. Cheek, 92, died Monday, May 30, 2016 at Louisburg Nursing Center in Louisburg. A funeral service will be held Saturday, June 4, at 12 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Louisburg. Burial will follow in the Haywood Baptist Church cemetery, Louisburg.

LOUISBURG - Doris Thompson Shearin, 96, died Sunday night, May 29, 2016 at her home. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, in the chapel of Strickland Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Saints Delight Baptist Church cemetery.