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FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Early voting began on Wednesday, giving voters a nearly three-week headstart on the Nov. 6 election, getting a chance to cast ballots for races, ranging from county commissioners to the General Assembly to the sheriff's office to superior court judgeships.
Franklin County's Board of Elections opted to extend early voting hours, said Elections Director Lisa Goswick.

If Hurricane Florence and tropical storm Michael have left you stir crazy and looking for a reason to get outside besides yard work, then this weekend is for you.
Louisburg is hosting a two-day event downtown that is the perfect antidote to "cabin fever," including music, food, fellowship, a peek back into history, historical craft demonstrations and even a debate between actors portraying two giants of American history.

FRANKLINTON -- When you approach town from the north or south along U.S. 1, signs will let you know that Franklinton is the hometown of Fred, Jim and Henry Bibby -- brothers who made their marks on courts and fields from B.F. Person-Albion, to Fayetteville State, to the legendary courts of UCLA and Madison Square Gardens, to the mounds of Major League Baseball.

LOUISBURG -- After inspection schedules forced a delay, Maria Parham Franklin opened the doors to its emergency room patients this past Monday.
Maria Parham, part of Duke Lifepoint Healthcare, planned to open on Oct. 8, but required state inspections hadn't been completed.
They were done in time to open on Oct. 15, though.

FRANKLINTON -- Essentially, from sunrise to sunset, Franklinton park was a wall-to-wall ball of activity -- from kickball games, to volleyball matches to cornhole and concession stands.
And while bright skies provided a pristine backdrop for last Saturday's competitions, it also focused light on the real reason for the fun -- raising money to help a little girl and her family battle cancer.

Louisburg's Ella Mae Williams

Just before we went to press last week, a "ceremonial ground breaking" was scheduled for Section C of U.S. 401 construction.
At that time, about all we knew was that it would be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Now we know that it will be held at the Tobacco Receiving Station in the Triangle North Franklin Business Park near the county airport.

Several days ago, a small dog sensed something was very wrong in a Franklin County household and began barking his head off.
That may not be unusual -- but it almost certainly saved three human lives -- and the dog's as well.
It also calls attention to house fires, something we often fail to take as seriously as we should.

Early voting began on Wednesday, giving people a head start on the Nov. 6 election.
And, according to multiple news reports, voters can count Facebook as a resource to help make their decisions.
You can't see me typing out this column, but I bet you can imagine my tongue was firmly in my cheeks as I typed out that last paragraph.

When the votes are cast, in less than 30 days, politicians will again feel the love, or lack thereof, from the American people. Yes, it is election time again.
Are you all excited anticipating the prospects of a better day coming?
Soon there will be a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage was a campaign slogan from 1928.

FRANKLINTON --Carolyn Lomax Willis, 72, died Tuesday evening, Oct. 16, 2018. A funeral mass will be held 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church. Burial will follow in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the mass.

BUNN -- Few football fates are as heartbreaking as losing on the last play of the game.
But that's what the Bunn Wildcats experienced Monday in an important Northern Carolina Conference make-up showdown with unbeaten Granville Central at the BHS Football Field.

WILSON -- ''Keep Fighting!!!''
Given the fact that Franklinton was facing what appeared to be a hopeless 28-point deficit in the second half, those words from first-year football coach Jimmy Williams might have sounded a bit desperate and hollow -- though only to those unfamiliar with the deep respect that Williams has earned from his players (and vice versa) in such a short period of time.

LOUISBURG -- It was easy to wonder about Louisburg High School's potential volleyball fortunes this fall after the Lady Warriors fell to Falls Lake Academy in the regular season opener.
But LHS hasn't lost since, including a rematch victory over FLA -- a club the Lady Warriors could very well meet again in the Class 1-A State Playoffs.

FRANKLINTON -- Two years running, and nobody seems capable of stopping the Franklinton Lady Rams in the Big East Conference standings.
No matter what time of day it is.
Last Saturday in a make-up match, Franklinton hosted Southern Nash for a lunchtime regular season finale -- certainly a rare weekend afternoon time for a conference spike contest.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Franklinton High School will have a representative at this weekend's Class 3-A East Regional Girls Tennis Championships.
That's because No. 2 Singles standout Grace Cottrell earned a spot with a strong performance at last week's Big East Conference Tournament on the campus of North Carolina Wesleyan College.

STANHOPE -- It hasn't taken long for Melanie Davis to put her imprint on the Southern Nash High School volleyball program.
Southern Nash has never been able to achieve consistent success on the court -- a trend Davis hoped to change when she arrived on campus three years ago, fresh off a softball career at Lander University.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Caleb Garcia of the Justice Community was recently promoted in rank in Kenny Buffaloe's Kyokushin Karate Class in Roanoke Rapids and his dojo/gym in Hollister.
This rank is recognized and endorsed by the International Kyokushin Karate Organization in Tokyo, Japan.

LOUISBURG -- J Stamey arrived in Franklin County in the mid-1990s when she attended Louisburg College as a member of the softball team.
And other than a brief two-year stint at Barton College, Stamey never left.
Stamey has served in a variety of capacities during her two decades in the county -- the latest of which was her dual role as the Town of Louisburg Parks and Recreation Director and the Louisburg High School head softball coach.

LOUISBURG -- Following a bye week, the Louisburg College Hurricanes will return to the gridiron Saturday for a home matchup against ASA Miami.
Kickoff will be at noon at Patterson Field on the campus of Louisburg High School. Tickets will be available at the gate.
The Hurricanes currently sport a 3-2 overall record after securing a 30-25 road decision at Jireh Prep on October 7 in Charlotte.

(L to R) Franklinton's Rebekah Smith and Jericka Brodie elevate for a block attempt during last Saturday's home volleyball meeting with the Southern Nash Ladybirds.

Granville Central's Brandon Peace brings in a reception as Bunn's Chase Corey defends during Monday's Northern Carolina Conference football game on the BHS campus.

This long pass to Lyeshon Parker was ruled an incomplete pass, but Parker hauled in the eventual game-winning touchdown on the very next play during Franklinton's road victory last Friday against Wilson Fike.

Although many in Northern Franklin County were still cleaning up in the wake of Tropical Storm Michael -- and some were still without electrical power -- those challenges didn't put too much of a damper on the second-annual Gold Sand Tractor Show to benefit the local fire department. In the photo above, little Taylor Smith strikes a confident pose aboard a tractor, a pose that perhaps a lot of local farmers felt like striking when Michael's high winds and heavy rains finally stopped, allowing them back in the fields. Taylor is six and looked like she was having fun checking out the vintage tractors and other farm equipment.

Saturday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m., Grammy Award winner Theo Peoples will bring the unforgettable sounds of Motown to Louisburg College JPAC.
In "A Temptations Revue," this show spans more than a decade of Temptations classics, with every one of these tunes among the most recognizable and culture-defining songs in pop music history: "My Girl," "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," "Get Ready," "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "Just My Imagination," "I Wish It Would Rain" and so many more.

The following personnel changes were made by the Franklin County Board of Education recently. The board:

YOUNGSVILLE -- The State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash -- the result of a high-speed chase that began in Wake Forest and ended outside of Youngsville.
According to Wake Forest authorities, police stopped the vehicle that Marcus Richardson was driving at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday because a check revealed the owner's driver's license had expired.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on Monday awarded bids that will outfit 41 new vehicles for the sheriff's office, animal control and emergency services.
The board also delayed a vote on a zoning request.

LOUISBURG -- It was a night of very routine business for the Louisburg Town Council on Monday with only two items on the unusually brief agenda.
First, the council agreed to make Jonathan Franklin, town administrator, the town's representative to the ElectriCities Board of Commissioners -- and named assistant administrator Ray Patterson as the alternate and town planner Tony King as the second alternate.

Full name: Carolyn J. Thompson
Age: 50
Occupation: Resident Superior Court Judge
Marital Status: Married

Full name: Cindy Lou King Sturges
Age: 47
Occupation: Attorney
Marital status: Married to Boyd Sturges

Full name: Mitchell Glenn Styers
Age: 48
Occupation: Attorney
Marital status: Married

Full name: Bobbie J. Richardson, House Democratic Minority Whip
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired educator
Marital status: Single

Full name: Lisa Stone Barnes
Age: 52
Occupation: Self-employed in agribusiness
Marital status: Married

Full name: Kent Winstead
Age: 52
Occupation: Sheriff
Marital status: Married

Full name: Jerry Wayne Jones
Age: 59
Occupation: Former Franklin County Sheriff and Agriculture services
Marital status: Married (Wife Peggy Wrenn Jones)