Recent Articles

LOUISBURG -- A Youngsville man was sentenced to spend between 48 and 63 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of killing his eight-week-old daughter.
Ricky Barlow Weese Jr., will get credit for the 2,813 days he's already spent in jail awaiting trail after he was charged in 2017 with second degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious physical injury.
The May 31 decision came at the end of week-and-a-half long trial that saw doctors testify that Alexa Weese suffered broken ribs, a broken lower leg, a ruptured spleen and a fractured skull -- which proved to be fatal and was not accidental.

LOUISBURG -- Town management presented council members with a $16.3 million total budget last week that gives employees a raise and keeps the tax and utility rates stagnant, but doesn't include much expansion.
If the board wants to include more employees, capital outlay and resources, it'll come at a cost, Town Manager Sean Medlin told the council during a budget session retreat on May 30.

RODEO. Tania and Justice Chesney were all smiles during Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Games of the Special Olympics of North Carolina at Reynolds Coliseum. "Rodeo" was the theme for the event, inspiring the cowboy hats. Twenty-four Franklin County competitors qualified for the State Games and competed in Wake County.

LOUISBURG -- The Louisburg Economic Development Commission switched direction Monday evening as members chastised both town and county leadership for not addressing the growing needs of a increasing population.
The meeting got off on the wrong foot when neither the mayor nor any members of the town council attended the meeting despite a specific invitation from the EDC as a way to spark a dialogue.

What felt like thousands of folks packed the parking lot of Youngsville's newest ABC store during a ribbon-cutting and grand opening on May 31. The festivities included a lottery ticket to purchase a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 YR, a rare bottle that could run you $1,000. The 101 Tarboro Road location is the town's second store, including the one in the Youngsville Crossing shopping center on U.S. 1.

LOUISBURG -- A roomful of folks told county commissioners to spend more money up front on school facilities, build an aquatics center and lower utility rates for its most modest users.
At the conclusion of the public hearing on the 2025-26 proposed budget, though, county commissioners sat silent.
They have until June 30 to adopt a budget and they have one more regularly scheduled meeting -- June 16 -- prior to that deadline.

Patricia and Charles Etheridge, Army veteran

RALEIGH -- Franklin County sent its largest contingent of athletes to the Special Olympics of North Carolina's Summer Games -- making up nearly 15 percent of the track and field events.
Twenty-two athletes competed in track and field events during the three days of festivities that began in Wake County on May 30 -- which featured 179 track athletes.

Above, Nathan Gupton shows off the medal he won during the Mini Javelin competition at the Special Olympics of North Carolina's Summer Games, along with Franklin County Special Olympics Coach and Special Olympics North Carolina Volunteer of the Year Danielle Dietz.

I hope you're not drinking a hot or cold cup of morning Joe ... or taking that first good sip of OJ, because a spit take might be on the menu ...
I actually agree with Commissioner Michael Schriver.
During our most recent meeting of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, our governing board took some actions for which folks took great exception.
You can read about them in Gary's column above, or elsewhere in your edition of The Franklin Times.

Dear editor: On May 19, 2025, Scott Pelley of CBS gave the Commencement address at Wake Forest University. He implied that the current administration was guilty of suppressing free speech, as they have the audacity to question the national news media. CBS News and the "60 Minutes" program have come under scrutiny for numerous mistakes and outright dishonest reports in recent years. Maybe Pelley forgot.

LOUISBURG -- The Terrell Lane Middle School Tornadoes captured its first conference tournament title, besting Cedar Creek in a rubber match between the softball squads.
Terrell Lane and the Jaguars squared off on May 19 -- the third tussle between the MAC-10 squads who split in the regular season.
But this was for the conference title.

BUNN -- The Bunn High School girls' wrestling team secured their second consecutive Big East Conference championship, underscoring their dominance in the league.
Individual wrestlers have also shined, particularly Alma Morales, who is the first woman from Franklin County to commit to college for wrestling -- signing with Hiram College in Ohio.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners agreed to reduce their meeting schedule and update their social media policy without any discussion or public feedback.
Commissioners Mark Speed and Harry Foy tried to get the items pulled from the board's consent agenda and delayed for debate -- but the remaining members, Commissioners David Bunn, Michael Schriver, Roxanne Bragg, Logan Davis and Stuart May, refused.

LOUISBURG -- National breast cancer advocate, medical tattoo artist, nurse, and founder of Pink Ink Tattoo, Tara Williamson, has announced the release of her debut book, "Finding My Gift, Through My Breast Cancer Journey."
A raw, heartfelt, and ultimately empowering memoir, the book sheds light on the emotional, physical, and spiritual path of a breast cancer survivor who transformed her pain into purpose.

From left, veterans Percy Anderson Jr., Earl Mann, Preston Green, George Terry and Charlie Green admire the bricks on display at Franklinton Veterans Park. Folks can purchase bricks to remember fallen soldiers to be part of the memorial park. The Army and Navy veterans reflected upon the display following American Legion Post 52's Memorial Day service.

Don't know about you but I really hated to see May fade quietly into history.
It was a beautiful month weather wise, lots of cool days, relatively low humidity and most of us missed the serious storms that the weather prognosticators were predicting.
The first day of summer, officially, arrives in two weeks -- and who knows what it will bring. But the safe money is "betting" on much, much warmer weather and a return to humidity levels that you'll notice!

LOUISBURG, NC -- Services for Arturo Zamora, age 71, who died on Friday, April 18, 2025, were held on Sunday, April 27, 2025 at 1 p.m. from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel, Louisburg, NC. Burial followed in the Cemetery on the Hill, Louisburg, NC.

FRANKLINTON, NC -- Mildred Day, 76, of Franklinton was born in Franklinton, North Carolina on October 15, 1948, the second child of the late Ira and Catherine Day. She passed away on May 19, 2025.

LOUISBURG, NC -- William Wesley Young, 62, of Louisburg, passed away on May 14, 2025 at Granville Medical Center in Oxford, NC. Wesley was born on August 18, 1962 to Patricia Collins and the late Wesley Arlington Young. In addition to his father, Wesley was preceded in death by his daughter, Robyn Forbes.

WAKE FOREST, NC -- Leland Caudill Kennedy died May 10, 2025.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Heidi Nolting Sturges was born in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada on December 6th, 1958 and died at home in Louisburg, North Carolina on May 19th, 2025. She was with her husband and her sisters.

My sweet wife, Sandi sadly passed away on June 02, 2025 at the age of 60 at her home. She was a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, and friend. Sandi was full of life, laughter, generosity and grace.