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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County leaders said holding on to an $800,000 check is simply a timing issue.
The comments, made during the Franklin County Board of Commissioners' May 4 meeting, were in response to allegations from Granville county leaders that Franklin County is not paying its regional partnership bills -- those related to the Kerr-Tar Hub project and funding for the Vance-Granville Community College system.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Education got off to an unusual and controversial start Monday night when an entire family that had signed up to speak was denied that opportunity.
The Tober family of Youngsville -- father Gary, mother Jennie and children Dean, Evie and Annabelle -- tried to address the school board about issues of harassment and bullying the family reportedly has been enduring but school board attorney Boyd Sturges stopped them, each individually, saying that such discussions could not be held in the public portion of the meeting.

Preservation North Carolina will host its 2026 Franklin County Ramble on Saturday, May 16, offering visitors a rare opportunity to tour some of the county's most significant historic homes, churches and landscapes.
Centered around Louisburg and surrounding communities, the day-long event is intended to celebrate the architectural and cultural history of one of North Carolina's oldest and most storied counties.

Franklin County volunteer extraordinaire Beverly Kegley received the North Carolina Governor's Medallion Award for Volunteer Service during a ceremony at the State Capitol on Tuesday with Gov. Josh Stein. County residents Kegley, farmer and food distribution advocate Joanie McPhetridge and Capt. Daniel Erb with the Franklin County Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol earned the Governor's Volunteer Service Award and were recognized earlier this month.

WILMINGTON -- A federal judge sentenced a 27-year-old Louisburg man to 21 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl that caused an overdose death in Franklin County, the US Attorney's Office announced this month.
Cordell Antonio Mendoza pled guilty to federal charges in February.
"The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has made addressing drug trafficking in our county a priority and this case and the results of it are proof that we can and will hold those individuals accountable for the tragedies they cause when dealing drugs that kill," Sheriff Kevin White is quoted as saying in a US Attorney's Office press release.

LOUISBURG -- After first expressing its opposition to Franklin County's efforts to tap Kerr Lake as a source of water, the Louisburg town council then pledged to work cooperatively with the county to develop a water supply entirely within the Tar River Basin.
The council first unanimously agreed to send a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls Kerr lake, saying the town is "strongly opposed to this request from Franklin County to divert water from the Roanoke River Basin to Franklin County."

Relayer Delphenia Livingston at this year's event at FHS

In the old days in the wild and woolly west, when law-abiding citizens caught a horse thief red-handed, they often tossed a rope over a sturdy limb and "strung up" the alleged thief.
That may not have gotten the horse back -- but it probably helped curtail future thefts.
These days, one can't help but wonder what those law-abiding Westerners would have done with a water thief?
To the relief of some Franklin County officials, we'll never find out.

I don't know if most people know this, but I got my start in journalism covering sports, first as a reporter, then as sports editor for North Carolina Central University's Campus Echo.
My first paying job was a choice between covering sports and covering news.
I picked news because covering sports was a guarantee that I'd work nights and weekends. So, what did I end up doing in news?!? You guessed it; working nights and weekends.

Dear editor: Trump's ill-conceived decision to make war upon Iran increasingly appears to have had one major consequence. It has elevated Iran to the status of a world power, while diminishing the influence of the United States.
Trump continues to bluster that he "holds all the cards." He may hold the cards, but Iran holds the Strait of Hormuz. There are 1,600 ships bottled up in the Strait. Iran also still holds their nuclear stockpiles. They have little incentive to relinquish either.

Dear editor, In response to Mr. Strickland's latest letter I have analyzed, equipped with a gas mask, Strickland's 35 screeds which he euphemistically calls "letters to the editor." Mind you, he has been able to bombard this space with 35 "letters" in a mere 13 months. Upon reviewing these I have compiled the following observations.
Apparently, it is no longer enough to criticize immigration enforcement or executive actions in plain English.

Dear editor: In The New York Times, Dave Marcus recently wrote "the end of climate change hoax." Matt Huber suggested that climate change is the most expensive hoax in history. This opinion is in The New York Times.
There have been trillions of dollars spent by government and industry to fight this situation which, in fact, might be a hoax. Think of how the world be far better if off we had been focused on maximizing the use of fossil fuels rather than pushing electric vehicles.

Dear editor: I believe I sent an opinion this past week regarding your newspaper weaponizing the liberal left that has followers who are ready to arm up, as our recently gunman at the journalist convention. I do not see it posted. Mr. Days says it exactly, some people read the vitriol from Mr. Strickland and amass it in their brains over days or weeks and then do some act of violence, like murder or attempted murder. We have seen it over and over again. The Democrat party has become known as the party of violence.

LOUISBURG - Bobby Brown Chamblee, 81, of Louisburg, died Monday afternoon, May 4, 2026.

Faye Mitchell Holton, age 82, died May 7, 2026.

ZEBULON, NC -- Joseph Richard Eicher, 86, of Zebulon, passed away Tuesday afternoon surrounded by his family.

Bunn, NC -- Kannie Lee Horton Perry, 94, of Bunn, NC, died at her home on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Raleigh, NC -- Funeral services for Phyllis Rosalyn Comfort, age 75, who died on Thursday, May 7, 2026, will be held on Saturday, May 16, at 11 a.m. from the Old Liberty Baptist Church in Louisburg, NC.

Franklinton, NC -- Vernon Homer Lowery, age 83, of Franklinton, North Carolina, died at his residence on Saturday afternoon, May 9, 2026. He was born on August 12, 1942, in Franklin County, to the late, Luther Cleveland Lowery Sr. and Letha Mae White Lowery.

LOUISBURG -- Vance Granville Community College leaders was preparing to send Franklin County a letter, urging them to increase funding for the Louisburg campus.
According to the Henderson Dispatch, College President Rachel Desmarais told the VGCC Board of Trustees' Executive Committee that the county's plan to provide $389,000 would only get them through two-thirds of the coming school year.

The popular, long-running educational Beef Tour has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, (rain or shine) with Franklin County serving as host county this year.
The tour is scheduled to begin at 7:30 - 8 a.m. with check-in at the first stop, NC Cooperative Extension, Franklin County Center, 103 S. Bickett Blvd, Louisburg (Ag Center).
The tour will carpool to three innovative beef cattle farms, both large and small, that are participating in the Southeastern US Regenerative Agriculture Project.

LOUISBURG -- Authorities continued to look for a suspect in a shooting incident.
Authorities responded to Marco's Mini Mart on N.C. 561 around 1 p.m. Monday to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound.
According to emergency management staff, the patient was taken to WakeMed for apparent non life-threatening injuries.
According to police scanner traffic via Broadcastify, witnesses said they heard shots from the store and there was evidence that someone left the scene in a hurry.

LOUISBURG -- The northbound lane of Bickett Boulevard was shut down for hours after a tanker overturned, spilling fertilizer along the roadway.
No injuries were reported during the accident, reported just after 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The driver, Leroy Thomas, was not charged in the incident.
According to witnesses, the truck was turning left onto Bickett Boulevard from N.C. 56 when the tanker portion of the vehicle began to lift and twist as it went through the intersection.