Recent Articles

FRANKLINTON -- Police arrested a man on child sex charges.
Rene Sabillion Cardona was arrested Feb. 11 and was charged with indecent liberties with a child and simple assault.
According to the arrest report, the assault on the victim, under the age of 16, occurred on Feb. 11.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Since October, two communities have been helping fight the battle against hunger and food insecurity in Franklin County.
They're recruiting more into their ranks.
PORCH Communities is a grassroots organization, where each month, folks can leave non perishable food on their porch for pickup.
Volunteers then take that food and deliver it to a local food pantry.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Police are investigating a handful of vehicle break ins at an apartment complex.
Five residents in the 600, 800 and 900 units of Hampton Village -- between N.C. 96 and U.S. 1-A -- reported thefts from their vehicles the morning of Jan. 17.
Suspects, authorities said, are alleged to have stolen loose change and nominal personal items.
The vehicles were unlocked, investigators said, and the thefts appear to be an isolated crime of opportunity.

LOUISBURG -- Police arrested a Spring Hope man on drug charges.
Louisburg Police Officer J.D. Justice arrested Tyree Montrel Person on the evening of Feb. 17, charging him with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
The arrest report does not indicate the amount of the drug.
But, it noted that Person possessed paraphernalia, including cut drinking straws and empty heroin bindle wrappers necessary to sell the product.

There's a hint of yellow in some of the first daffodils peeking out after the ice and snow.
There are a number of flat-bed trucks hauling mulch to anxious gardeners somewhere.
And the weather prognosticators are saying it's highly unlikely another Arctic blast is going to frost our socks this year.
All that can mean only one thing -- and while officially spring is a month away -- maybe the worst of winter is over and before long Mother Nature will begin reawakening.

There are two things that happened at last week's end that left me ill at ease.
A woman, apparently minding her own business, was leaving the grocery store and walking to her car when a Wake Forest man confronted her.
According to authorities and court documents, Anthony Howard Hall brutally assaulted the woman, kicking an punching her -- continuing to do so as she lay unconscious on the ground.
Full disclosure: It's the same grocery store I've gone to, at least twice a week, since I moved to Youngsville in 2018.

Dear editor: I must once again write in order to dispel misleading letters to the editor utilizing Progressive propaganda. Progressive propaganda relies on the construction of selectively chosen "facts" lacking context, thereby detaching it from reality. It seeks to train its audience to act first and reflect later. It asks the audience to replace true discernment with urgency, emotion, or moral pressure. When one allows emotions to overshadow reason, facts, consistency and rational thought become irrelevant.

Dear editor: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was only 39 years old when he was hanged by the Nazis at Flossenburg concentration camp, just two weeks before the U.S. Army flung open the gates.
Bonhoeffer, a theologian and ethicist, was critical of his fellow Christians in Germany for embracing Hitler and Nazism.
While in prison, he began developing his theory of stupidity, in an effort to explain how Nazism could take hold in a country famous for its literature, philosophy, and rationalism.

YOUNGSVILLE -- A weekend arrest in Wake Forest ended a two-town, one-man crime spree that began with a surprise attack in Youngsville.
Then, authorities put to rest any claims that Anthony Howard Hall's actions were part of criminal enterprise to terrorize women.
"None of the investigatory details suggest it was orchestrated by a group," said Youngsville Police Chief Greg Whitley, noting that the suspect and the woman did not know each other.

David Lydell "Dale" Malone, 66, passed away on February 10, 2026, while serving his community with the White Level Fire Department. Dale was born on February 13, 1959, to the late Willie and Annie Collins Malone. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Eddie C. Malone.

Louisburg, NC --Carolyn Sue Walker, 80, died February 12, 2026 at Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Franklinton, NC -- Gladys Alford Hight, 97, of Franklinton, died February 12, 2026.

BUNN, NC -- Edith Jewell Bailey, age 103, of Bunn, NC, died the morning of February 11, 2026.

Jewell was born on November 16, 1922, to the late Clyde Blythe Mullen and Bertha Brewer Mullen. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thurston Bailey, and her siblings, O'Deyne Mullen, Ann Mullen Williams, Bertha Mullen Kearney and Maurice Mullen.

ZEBULON, NC -- Mattie Pearce Whitley, 95, of Zebulon, died Friday morning, February 13, 2026, at Wake Med.

Born February 26, 1930, Mattie was the daughter of the late Joe and Florence Perry Pearce. She was preceded in death by her, husband, Joe Whitley; daughter, Janet Phelan; two grandchildren; brother, Joe Lee Pearce; sisters, Helen Leonard, Mary Wilson, and Florine Johnson.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for Early "Bay" Thomas, age 87, who died on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 12 p.m. from the Old Liberty Baptist Church in Louisburg, NC.

Louisburg, NC -- Funeral services for Harris "Truman" Hedgepeth, age 80, who died on Friday, February 13, 2026, will be held on Sunday, February 22, at 3 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, NC.

Nashville, NC -- Funeral services for Jeanetta Alston, age 82, who died on Saturday, February 14, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 5 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, NC. She was born March 5, 1943.

Kittrell, NC -- Funeral services for Melvin L. White Jr., age 62, who died on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, will be held on Saturday, February 21, at 2 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg, NC with Rev. Angie Brown, officiating.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The State Highway Patrol is investigating two fatal accidents in as many days.
According to Trooper A.D. Adcock, Leslie Leonard was traveling along Duke Valentine Wynn Road, about half a mile west of the intersection of N.C. 561, when she ran off the road just after noon on Feb. 8.
The vehicle she was driving ran into a ditch, then hit a tree.

LOUISBURG -- Early voting starts today, giving folks a chance to get a jump start on the primary election.
Early voting runs from Feb. 12 through Feb. 28, including Saturday voting on Feb. 21 and Feb. 28, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on both those days.
Otherwise, early voting sites will be open from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The polls open on election day, March 3, from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning that developers of a nearly 1,000-acre property say will allow them to better take advantage of the landscape.
And, commissioners believe the decision allows them to guarantee more green space.
Durham-based engineers Thomas & Hutton petitioned Franklin County to rezone 990.78 acres on West River Road from Agricultural Residential to Residential-8.

LOUISBURG -- A charter member and "backbone" of the White Level Fire Department died while responding to a house fire Tuesday.
Dale Malone died following a medical emergency at the scene of a fire on Hickory Rock Road.
Malone would have been 67 this Friday.
"He was that person that you could always count on. He would always be there," said longtime firefighter Johnny Hight, who served as White Level's chief during some of Malone's service.

LOUISBURG -- Attending her first meeting as Superintendent of Franklin County Schools Dr. Nakia Hardy said she is "grateful to officially call this community home" and then thanked all of those who have helped with her transition.
That transition has been an unusual one for Franklin County. Shortly after taking the oath of office, she was greeted with an ice storm which was followed by a snow event, all accompanied by very cold temperatures -- and that made some of her first decisions to be about closing the schools to keep students and staff safe.