Recent Articles

Louisburg High School's Ethan Young (right) slides safely into home plate during Monday evening's non-conference road setback against the Franklinton Red Rams.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Listed are the final results for the annual The Franklin Times Basketball Tournament Bracket Pool:

ZEBULON -- The Atlanta Braves have officially set the initial Carolina Mudcats' opening night travel roster for 2016 season. The Mudcats travel roster features the number one overall draft pick from the 2015 Major League Baseball draft in INF Dansby Swanson and Atlanta's 2014 first round selection in OF Braxton Davidson.
The roster also includes returning Mudcats players OF Sean Godfrey, OF Keith Curcio, C Joseph Odom, INF Reed Harper and INF Joey Meneses.
In all, the opening night roster consists of nine returning Mudcats from the 2015 season, including eight players up from Class A Rome.

Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama recently celebrated its 2015 Annual Awards Banquet. The theme was "Leaving a Legacy." Chief Master Sergeant Eric W. Benken of the Air Force #12 was the guest speaker.
AIC Charisma Alice Doyle, a 2014 graduate of Louisburg High School, was awarded Airman of the Quarter for July 1 - Sept. 30, 2015; Airman of the Quarter for Oct. 1- Dec. 31, 2015; Airman of the Year, and Airman of the Barnes Center.

KITTRELL - Funeral services for Eunice Finch White, 82, who died Monday, April 4, 2016, will be held Friday, April 8, at 2 p.m. at Richardson Funeral Home chapel in Louisburg, with the Rev. Angela Brown-White officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Delight UCC Church cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Funeral services for Harvey Brandon, 87, who died Friday, April 1, 2016, will be held Friday, April 8, at 11 a.m. at Pine Chapel Baptist Church in Hollister. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Funeral services for Charles "Charlie Boy" Perry, 68, who died Saturday, April 2, 2016, will be held Saturday, April 9, at 11 a.m. at Richardson Funeral Home in Louisburg, with the Rev. Quincy Hall officiating. Burial will follow in the Cemetery on the Hill.

WASHINGTON, DC-Funeral services for Beatrice "Bea" Brown, 80, of Washington, D.C., formerly of Hollister, who died Saturday, April 2, 2016, will be held Thursday, April 7, at 12 p.m. at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Hollister. Burial will follow in Pleasant Grove Church cemetery.

LOUISBURG - Daniel "Danny" Kent Thomas, 56, of Louisburg died Tuesday, March 29, 2016.

LOUISBURG - James B. "Noon" Cramer, 59, Louisburg, N.C., formerly of Seward, Pa., went to be with the Lord March 31, 2016 in North Carolina.

LOUISBURG - Juanita Best Nash, 84, daughter of the late J.T. and Lucy Pernell Best, died Friday, April 1, 2016. Funeral service was at 3 p.m. Monday, April 4, at White Level Baptist Church. Burial followed in Lancaster Memorial Park.

Stop Violence vigil planned

Bunn area man arrested for Zebulon shooting

WILSON - Luke M. Moore, 74, of Wilson, formerly of Louisburg, died Wednesday, March 30, 2016.

LOUISBURG - Elsie Coggins Tharrington, 89, of Louisburg, passed away Friday morning.

LOUISBURG -- A group focused on bolstering community activities awarded a handful of education grants.
Diane Fleming, mini-grants education chair for the Franklin County Community Foundation, announced the recipients this week.
"These grants are important to our local schools and community as a whole," Fleming said. "This is an excellent opportunity for our teachers to get funding for their classroom projects."

On December 14, 1930, the Brooklyn Eagle magazine carried a full-page article describing the remarkable career of Fannie Yarborough Bickett, a native of Franklin County and the widow of Gov. Thomas Walter Bickett (1869-1921).
Noting that she was currently serving as the president of the North Carolina Railroad Company -- the first woman to hold that position and the only one in the United States then serving as head of a railroad -- the author outlined her devotion to a variety of charitable causes.

LOUISBURG -- Authorities continued their manhunt this week for a suspect in a triple homicide that happened Saturday of Easter weekend.
Criminal files, court records and police reports reveal a pattern of assaults, shootings and robberies dogging Darius Revel Robinson going back to 2009.
On Saturday, March 26, Franklin County sheriff's deputies responded to 119 Harris Road to find Shemare Malik Harris, 18, of LaGrange, and Keisha Livingston, 36, of the home, dead from gunshot wounds.

LOUISBURG -- The United Way of Franklin County is sprouting, board members say.
They are actively searching for a new executive director and have brought in five new board members, while saying goodbye to a former program and the executive director who forged it.
Last week, Kathy Harrelson, executive director of Feeding Franklin, announced the newly created nonprofit effort had garnered its own 501(c)(3) designation and was readying for business in Youngsville.

LOUISBURG -- Last week at the Boys and Girls Club, class was in session.
But so was recess.
The two converged on a makeshift tennis court at the Louisburg campus of the local North Central North Carolina Chapter.
For nearly a week, Cyrus Richardson, a Franklin Academy student and tennis player, spent about two hours a day with kids, teaching them tennis as a senior class community service project.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Town commissioners agreed to pursue financing for a new town hall and committing themselves to a 5-cents tax increase beginning in the next fiscal year.
More than a year ago, a leaky roof forced town staff to look at repairs, said Town Administrator Bill Tatum, and the consensus was that the building wasn't worth repair.
New digs were needed.

Youngsville resident Arianna Christensen

Sandra Shearin, owner of South Shore Realty at Lake Gaston, presents Associate Broker Mike Gupton, a lifetime resident of Louisburg, with an award for once again being the Top Producer in Closed Sales Volume at South Shore Realty. In 2015, Mike reached an exceptional $15.4 million in sales volume. That marks the 11th consecutive year he has achieved such an honor. He was also the Top Producing Agent in the Roanoke Valley/Lake Gaston Multiple Listing Service for the Lake Gaston area for 2015.

Well, at least I'm not the only one who was bumfuzzled at the polls during our recent election. At least I showed up with a valid ID and was allowed to cast a ballot, even though the process left me feeling irritated at my own state.
That's better than what happened to our own senior U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, who loves to go on television and explain how he's a major protector of state secrets and is keeping us safe by working behind the scenes in private.

Has anyone looked around lately?
It would appear that the not-yet-official "state flower" of North Carolina is in full bloom.
No, it's not the early blooming plums, pears or even the ornamental peach and cherry trees that have been making such a showing.
And it's not the daffodils, crocuses or assorted other springtime bulbs that emerge from the chilly ground to be a precursor of sunny, warmer days to come.