Recent Articles

Governator Pat McCrory may be on to something with HB2.
It could be another part of his vaunted, but as of yet, non-existent, Carolina Comeback.
North Carolina's unemployment rate is higher than the national average, but McCrory may have a solution: a massive state government hiring program for Potty Police.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Town staff are working to get loan documents to a state fiscal oversight group, moving another step toward entering a new town hall.
Last month, commissioners agreed to pursue $650,000 in financing to buy a 7,500-square-foot building on U.S. 1-A near the National Guard Armory and Youngsville Elementary School.
The agreement to pursue funding was with the understanding that paying off the debt on the loan would require the town to raise taxes as much as 5 cents per $100 of valuation -- a decision that would be made official with the adoption of the 2016-17 budget in either May or June.

The North Carolina Senior Democrats, an official auxiliary of the North Carolina Democratic Party, is having its 2016 Convention at the Marriott Crabtree Valley, 4500 Marriott Drive, across from Crabtree Valley Mall, on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30.
Activities start at noon Friday and continue until about 3 p.m. Saturday. The convention will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

FRANKLINTON -- Last Saturday served as Opening Day and the revival of Franklinton's Parks and Recreation baseball program as teams of children, ages 4-14, filled three fields at Franklinton Elementary School to play ball.
The renewal was a joint effort by the town's governing board, police department staff, parents, children and people and businesses who donated time, resources, equipment and money to get the program off the ground.

UPCOMING MARRIAGE. The Rev. Junious M. Debnam and his fiancee, Margaret, will have their wedding at St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, April 30, at 3 p.m. The Rev. Sheila D. Alston will be officiating. All members and friends are cordially invited to attend.

BUNN -- One big inning was all it took for the homestanding Bunn Wildcats to get past Franklinton last Thursday evening at the BHS Baseball Field.
Needing a victory to stay in a tie for first place in the Northern Carolina Conference, the Wildcats plated 10 runs in the bottom of the second stanza alone en route to defeating the Red Rams by a 13-3 margin.
Spencer Brickhouse, known more for his bat skills, earned the mound victory for the Wildcats.

A Franklinton first baseman goes to the ground to field a bunt during last Thursday evening's road baseball contest against the Bunn Wildcats.

BUNN -- A shutdown pitching performance and a single mad dash home was the perfect recipe for the Bunn Ladycats to break their recent skein against Northern Carolina Conference opponent South Granville, which also happens to be the defending Class 2-A State Champion.
After winning the NCC last spring, thanks in part to two victories over the Vikings, Bunn dropped a series to South Granville in the semifinals of the Class 2-A State Playoffs.

Bunn senior shortstop Stephanie Williams records a force play at second base.

FRANKLINTON -- Prep boys tennis appears to literally be in good hands in Franklin County these days as both Franklinton and Bunn are fielding competitive rosters in the always-tough Northern Carolina Conference.
Of course, tangling with powerhouses such as North Carolina School of Science and Math and Durham School of Arts can be a challenging proposition.
But FHS and Bunn have both been successful against some of their other rivals in the conference.

Noah Winstead returns the ball at No. 1 Singles for the Bunn Wildcats as part of last Thursday's road conference tennis matchup against the Franklinton Red Rams.

BUNN -- A standout Bunn High School quarterback going to Elon University to play wide receiver.
Doesn't it sound familiar?
Five years ago, Bunn's Andre Davis signed with Elon as a receiver instead of the signal-calling position he excelled at during his prep days.
Davis would end up lettering for three seasons for the Phoenix before finishing his gridiron career at Campbell University.

WILSON -- Franklinton High School took first place in the boys and second place in the girls team standings at Monday's track and field meet at Wilson Fike.
The Red Rams compiled 180 points, compared to 155 for second-place finisher C.B. Aycock.
Aycock was the girls winner at 142 points, with the Lady Rams racking up 117 markers.

BUNN -- Despite her easy-to-notice talents, finding Haley Jones on the soccer field hasn't always been an easy proposition during her four-year career at Bunn High School.
That's because Jones' versatility allowed Coach Charles Haley to use her at several different positions with equal success.
"There were some matches where Haley would be at every position on the field,'' Coach Haley said. "She was that good of an all-around player."

BUNN -- Josh Boone wasn't about to see the lights turned out on Bunn's chances to win the Northern Carolina Conference regular season baseball championship.
After a 20-minute delay when someone inadvertently turned off the lever that activated the lights at the BHS Baseball Field, Boone delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to propel the Wildcats to a 4-3 victory over defending state champion South Granville.
Bunn, with just one NCC setback, is now narrowly ahead of South Granville and Roanoke Rapids in the conference standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Myrtle Beach Pelicans held off another ninth inning rally while clinching a series victory with a 4-2 win against the Carolina Mudcats at TicketReturn.Com Field on Sunday night in Myrtle Beach.
Stephen Gaylor was 3-for-4 with a RBI in the loss for Carolina.
The Mudcats (7-11) outhit the Pelicans (10-8) in the game seven to three, but were just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

The Louisburg Volleyball Club Bombers Black 14-Under Team recently won the crown at the Carolina Regional State Championships. The two-day tournament was held in Asheville. Pictured are team members (back, l to r) Emma Hester, Chandler Parrish, Coach Aretha Battle, Kristen House and Dana Potter; (front, l to r) Cassie Edwards, Sarah Wood, Austin Hamlin, Maddie Wood and Diana Potter.

CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association's 2017-21 realignment plan is one step away from fruition -- and would feature a split superconference that would include Louisburg and Bunn.
The NCHSAA's third and final draft was presented last week and will be submitted for approval by the Board of Directors during a meeting on May 3-4 in Chapel Hill.
The leagues will remain the same for the 2016-17 calendar year before realignment begins in the Fall of 2017.

LOUISBURG -- The finale didn't go as planned, but first-year coach Michelle Carlson was thrilled with the progress her Louisburg College fast-pitch softball team made during its spring schedule.
Louisburg's campaign closed last week with a 1-2 record at the annual Region X Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Lady Hurricanes opened in style with a decision over the University of South Carolina-Sumter, but lost consecutive games to Spatanburg Methodist and USC-S to drop out of the double-elimination format.

BRONX, N.Y. - Funeral services for David Troy Long, 72, who died Thursday, April 21, 2016, will be held Monday, May 2, at 12 noon at Mitchell Baptist Church, Louisburg, with the Rev. Daniel Lilly officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

GASTONIA - Mary Frances McKnight, 51, of Gastonia died Monday, April 25, 2016 at Maria Parham Medical Center. A private memorial service will be held.
She was born to the late Clarence Robert and Frances Edwards McKnight.

ROCKY MOUNT--Funeral services for Charles Stanley Parker Jr., 67, who died Sunday, April 17, 2016, will be held Saturday, April 30, at 11 a.m. from the St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Rocky Mount, with Father George Greer officiating.

ROCKY MOUNT - Funeral services for Julius "Cussie" Perry, 84, who died Tuesday, April 19, 2016, will be held Saturday, Apri 30, at 1 p.m. at Word Tabernacle Church in Rocky Mount, with Bishop Nathan Perry officiating.