Recent Articles

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- The annual North Carolina Coaches Association's East-West All-Star Basketball Games will certainly have a Big East Conference feel to it this summer -- and for good reason.
In the boys contest, Northern Nash veteran head coach Henry Drake will in charge of the East squad, which will featured Knights' senior standouts Izeal Mallory and Randall King.

FRANKLIN COUNTY -- Living up to expectations -- and even exceeding them -- is the most a high school coach can ask for from his or her club, regardless of the sport.
And Southern Nash softball coach Scott Collie couldn't have asked for more from his Ladybirds squad during a historic 2024 campaign.
Southern Nash went 22-1 overall and didn't lose until a heartbreaker versus Dixon in the third round of the Class 3-A State Playoffs.

GREENSBORO -- Talk about coming through in the clutch when it mattered the most -- that's the story of Cannon Parrish's just-completed season as a discus ace for the Bunn High School boys track and field squad.
After winning the Big East Conference and Class 2-A Mideast Regional crowns in the event, Parrish, a junior, earned a fourth-place finish -- and a prestigious spot on the medals stand -- at last Friday's Class 2-A State Track and Field Championships at historic Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

KINSTON -- The Carolina Mudcats dropped a pair of games to the homestanding Down East Wood Ducks by scores of 3-2 and 7-2 on Sunday at Grainger Stadium in minor league baseball action.
In the first game, Carolina (23-13) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth thanks to a Yhoswar Garcia groundout, scoring Juan Baez.

Louisburg, NC--Carolyn Southall Harrison, 83, of Louisburg died Friday, May 17, 2024. She was born to the late Clellan Wilbur and Josephine Strange Southall in Franklin County on April 2, 1941.

Franklinton, NC--Thomas Winston Dickerson, Sr., 85, of Franklinton died May 19, 2024.

Raleigh, NC--Funeral services for Linda Faye Dunston, age 58, who died on Friday, May 17, 2024, will be held 1 p.m., Saturday, May 25 from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg with Rev. Sheila Alston officiating. Burial will follow in the Dunston Family Cemetery.

Louisburg, NC--Memorial services for Veraldine "Vera" Ward, age 82, who died on Sunday, May 19, 2024, will be held 1 p.m., Friday, May 24, from the Richardson Funeral Home Chapel in Louisburg with Bishop Ralphel Holloman officiating.

HENDERSON, NC--Joyce Perdue Collins Lassiter, 90, of Henderson, died Friday morning, May 17, 2024.

Louisburg, NC--Funeral services for Joyce "Meak" Alston, age 65, who died on Friday, May 17, 2024, will be held 2 p.m., Sunday, May 26, from the Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Castalia with Rev. Anthony Alston officiating. Burial will follow in the Hickory Grove Church Cemetery.

Abilene, TX--David Levone Mangum, age 72, passed away on May 12, 2024, in Abilene, Texas. A visitation was 5 - 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, 2024, at Elmwood Funeral Home, 5750 Hwy 277 South. The funeral service was 9:30 a.m., Friday, May 17, 2024 in the Elmwood Funeral Home's Chapel. Interment followed in Texas State Veterans Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON -- A utility worker was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning as crews worked to restore power.
According to authorities and witnesses, a utility truck believed to be involved with Duke Energy Progress rolled over on Green Hill Road near Shady Lane -- west of Franklinton.
According to Franklin County Emergency Services, the incident involved "a complicated extrication of the driver."

GREENVILLE -- Good officers are known for going the distance to get their man.
In, this case, it was a boy.
Last week, Louisburg Officer Hector Cruz and Capt. Travis Lincoln drove down east to Greenville to lift the spirits of a Tarboro kid with an affinity for police.
"He's just a child," Cruz said, "and if something like this will lift his spirits, I wanted to do it."

LOUISBURG -- After spending about a half hour listening to eight persons -- six of them from outside Franklin County -- argue for the retention of certified school librarians, Franklin County Schools Superintendent Rhonda Schuhler responded by redirecting their concerns to both the North Carolina General Assembly and the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, citing the declining and often uncertain support for traditional public schools.
Earlier this year, the local school system decided to move its certified librarians to classrooms as teachers and replace them with instructional assistants.

Carolina Piedmont Writers Guild has announced the 2024 Carolina Prize for Writing Contest winners.
The contest is divided into two categories: prose and poetry. Winners were named in each category. In addition, the guild sponsored a cover art competition with the winning entry being used as the cover for County Lines: A Literary Journal.

DETAILS DISCUSSED. Tentative plans for the much-discussed Depot Hill warehouse project were unveiled this week during an event held at the Karl Pernell Safety Center. In the photo above, Mayor Christopher Neal and local resident Charla Ellis discuss how the public events portion of the building will eventually look. The drawing above depicts the proposed council meeting room.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion!
The takeaway was that some meetings should never happen and should never be allowed to happen ever again.
What was belatedly and incorrectly billed as a "joint" meeting between the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and the county's Board of Education happened May 7 -- and the repercussions of that meeting will be felt for years, and in a bad way.

Joel Fan, acclaimed Steinway Artist, will perform at Cherry Hill beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 19 with a program featuring works of Frederick Chopin.
Fan has performed over 40 different concertos with orchestras worldwide including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Odessa Philharmonic, and London Sinfonietta.

MONROE -- Save the best for last. We have all heard it. We have all said it. But how many of us have actually saved the best for last?
William Dement, a senior at Louisburg Magnet High School, did just that at the NCHSAA Class 2-A Boys State Golf Championship.
Where Dement's final high school finish goes down in the annals of Louisburg's golf history is right at the top.

BUNN -- The most memorable season in recent Bunn High School boys tennis history is now complete -- but it won't soon be forgotten.
The Wildcats enjoyed a true renaissance campaign on the court this spring, winning the Class 2-A portion of the Big East Conference while claiming a first-round victory over Princeton in the Class 2-A State Playoffs -- a first for the program in recent memory.

STANHOPE -- Fortunes changed quickly in the parity-filled Big East Conference girls soccer standings this spring -- a trend that continued into the Class 3-A State Playoffs.
Southern Nash, the defending Big East champion, found itself in contention for league supremacy heading into the final few weeks before losses to Northern Nash and Roanoke Rapids sent the Ladybirds backward in the standings.

FRANKLINTON -- Ask any long-time track and field observer about the greatest girls distance runner in Franklin County history, and the discussion usually begins and ends with one name -- Tria Metzler.
The funny thing is that, since Metzler's star-studded career ended in 2006, nobody has even dared to compare another runner to her -- and for good reason.

BUNN -- Before this season, the elite-level Boys Discus 150-Foot Club at Bunn High School was an exclusive fraternity of two -- State Champion Dexter Epps in 2005 and Jackson Leggett in 2017.
But another member has joined the list this spring as BHS junior Cannon Parrish is taking out the area's top competition in the event -- and looking for a strong finish at this Friday's Class 2-A State Track and Field Championships at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.