Recent Articles

LOUISBURG--Geraldine Wood, 79, of Louisburg died Saturday, May 14, 2016, at Louisburg Manor. She was born on May 19, 1936 to the late Mattie and Ernest Wood. In addition to her parents, Geraldine was preceded in death by her brother, James Wood.

Early June Moss, 55, of 1375 Pete Smith Road died friday, May 13, 2016 at his residence in Franklin County. He was born in Granville County to the late Early Moss and Elizabeth Alston Moss.

Funeral Services for Paralee Allen Daniels, age 88, who died on May 15, 2016 will be held on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 1 p.m. from the South Main Street Baptist Church. Burial will follow in the Manasseh Church Cemetery. Rev. David Rosby officiating.

LITTLETON, NC-Funeral services for Nelson "Nell" Person, Sr., age 95, who died on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. from the Pine Chapel Baptist Church in Hollister, with Rev. Wilson Battle, officiating. Burial will be in the Pine Chapel Church Cemetery.

HOLLISTER, NC-Funeral services for Burwell R. Hedgepeth, age 73, who died on Thursday May 12, 2016 will be held on Tuesday, May 7, 2016 at 2 p.m. from the White Rock Baptist Church in Hollister, with Pastor Alonzo West, officiating. Burial will follow in the Old White Rock Church Cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Timothy Leonard Lewis, 63, of Louisburg, died Thursday at his home.

LOUISBURG--Frances "Tiny" Finch Vassar, 82, died at her home on May 10, 2016, surrounded by her loving family. She was actively involved with the ministry of South Main Baptist Chapel, Wake Forest, NC for almost 32 years, along with her husband, Pastor Gary Vassar. Together, the two of them founded the church in 1984. A woman of strong Christian faith, Frances witnessed regularly and led many souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.

LOUISBURG - Louis Melvin Smith, Sr., 66, of the Red Bud Community, died Thursday morning.

FRANKLINTON -- Wilbert Williams, 62, died Sunday, May 8, 2016, at Hock Family Pavilion in Durham. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, at New Beginning Church in Franklinton. Interment will follow in the Popes Chapel United Church of Christ cemetery.

FRANKLINTON -- Authorities located an inmate on Tuesday morning after he walked away from a work detail the day before.
Samuel A. Johnson, 52, was assigned to work at the county's animal control shelter as part of the jail's trustee program -- which allows non-violent offenders to perform various duties in and around the jail and animal control with limited oversight.
Johnson was supposed to be helping two other inmates clean out kennels and perform other duties at the shelter, but shelter staff realized he was missing just after 8 a.m. on Monday and called the sheriff's office.

KITTRELL -- Archie Samuel Roberson, 66, died Tuesday, May 10, 2016. Services will be held at a later date.

LOUISBURG--Bill Fuller of Louisburg passed away with his family by his side on Wednesday evening, May 11, 2016 at his home after a two-year courageous battle with cancer. He was preceded in death by his loving parents, Mr. George Fuller and Mrs. Frances Fuller. He was also preceded in death by all of his siblings, The Honorable George Fuller, Mr. Bobby Fuller and Ms. Bertha Ann Fuller.

LOUISBURG -- A hearing has been scheduled that, if plaintiffs are successful, would require operators of an assisted living facility to immediately bolster its staffing levels.
Attorneys filed a class action lawsuit in Franklin County court last month alleging that staffing levels at Franklin Manor Assisted Living Center in Youngsville violate general statutes regarding such facilities.

Two school-level administrators were hired by the Franklin County Board of Education Monday night.
Bart Elliott was named principal of Cedar Creek Middle School. He has been serving as interim principal since February when Principal Dr. Laverne Daniels moved to Bunn High School.
The board also named Katie Renze-Beer as the new assistant principal at Edward Best Elementary school, a position currently occupied by Stephanie Brooks, who was named interim principal of EBES for the 2016-17 school year last month.

It's not often that a Wi-Fi controlled robot zips around a Franklin County Board of Education meeting, but it happened this week, courtesy of a robotics club that was showing off its creation. Students Marco Nekoula and Amanda Beck demonstrated "Frank" and were assisted by their advisors, Elaine Webb, Career Development coordinator (CTE), and Sondra Ayscue, lead instructional technology facilitator. The students said they hope to continue their exploration of robots next year and said that if they can find the funding, they hope to add hydraulics to the vehicle which will be entered in a multi-school competition.

FRANKLINTON -- Town commissioners whittled away about $88,000 in budget requests during its first work session to devise a spending plan for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Their goal is to either cut another $44,000 in expenses or find equivalences in revenue so they can avoid filling the gap with higher taxes or dipping into the town's savings account.

Four major personnel changes were among many staffing items approved by the Franklin County Board of Education Monday night and included a top-level administrator and two principals.
Approved was the retirement resignation of Tommy Piper, who has been assistant superintendent for auxiliary services. He is leaving after a long career in the county school system -- and was recently elected to the Franklin County Board of Education, a position he will assume in December.

The Franklin County Board of Education recognized Sgt. Kyle Horton for his life-saving actions last month. According to authorities, Horton was helping a fellow deputy with departing bus riders and those in the carpool line at Edward Best Elementary School when school staff advised officers that a second-grade student was seen running in the area, headed toward the playground. The student, though, made a u-turn and ran toward the front of the school near the buses, ignoring a bus driver's attempt to get him to stop.

LOUISBURG -- When Lorenzo Charles slammed home Dereck Whittenburg's 30-foot heave in the final seconds to win the 1983 NCAA basketball championship, anyone with a good memory, Youtube or ESPN remembers an epic celebration, punctuated by Coach Jimmy Valvano sprinting around the court, looking for someone to hug.
What many might not remember is that the school could not afford to send the entire team to Washington, D.C. to meet the president -- what has become a ritual trip for a national championship team.

Strawberry lovers Ann Perdue and Kennedy Wyatt

Cooperative Extension Director Charles Mitchell, left, hands Wyatt McGhee some homemade strawberry ice cream during the annual Strawberry Festival this past Friday. The festival is the official opening of the county's farmers' market in Louisburg. For more information about the market, call (919) 496-3344 or visit https://franklin.ces.ncsu.edu.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested three men following a money lending rendezvous that turned into a robbery.
According to authorities, a 23-year-old man planned to meet up with an acquaintance in the Dollar General parking lot on U.S. 401 the afternoon of May 6 to lend him money.
But when James Johnson, 22, of Franklinton, Travis Jones, 24, of Bunn, and a 15-year-old arrived, they robbed the victim at gunpoint, instead.

First, a little unsolicited advice for our very own governor, Patrick McCrory -- and it comes tempered with a fair amount of experience.
"Governor, when you find yourself deep in a hole ... for cryin' out loud, stop digging!"
Of course, that advice comes after McCrory's ill-advised appearance on a Sunday morning TV program where he doubled down on his support of House Bill 2.
And, it's tempered by the knowledge that McCrory is using our hard-earned tax dollars to pursue a lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department challenging exactly what the Justice Department does best, explain and interpret the U.S. Constitution.

It's alive, it's alive!
Amazingly, after a long "sleep" brought on by budget slashing, staff cuts and reorganization by leaders who don't care much for the environment, the state of North Carolina has begun to shake off its doldrums and, belatedly, do its job.
That's not good news for Franklin County in the short term.