Recent Articles

Hollister, NC -- Funeral services for Retha Mae Silver, age 85, who died on Saturday, February 1, 2025, will be held on Friday, February 7, at 2 p.m. from the Faith Baptist Church in Enfield with Rev. Bernard Silver officiating. Burial will follow in the Silver Hill Family Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON, NC -- Funeral services for Pidie Olivia Debnam, age 99, who died on Saturday, February 1, 2025 will be held on Saturday, February 8, at 2 p.m. from the First Baptist Church in Franklinton.

FRANKLINTON, NC -- Funeral services for Anthony "Jack" Kearney, age 61, who died on Monday, February 3, 2025, will be held on Saturday, February 8, at 11 a.m. from the Manasseh Chapel Baptist Church in Franklinton with Pastor Marcus Dunston officiating. Burial will follow in the Manasseh Chapel Church Cemetery.

FRANKLINTON, NC -- Richard Frederick Boes, 81, of Franklinton died January 28, 2025.

RALEIGH, NC -- Charles Edward Wilkerson, age 65, of Raleigh, was born on February 10, 1959 to the late Dorothy and John Wilkerson. He died January 26, 2025.

RALEIGH, NC -- Archibald Stuart Raynor (Stuart), 92, of Raleigh and formerly of Centerville passed away peacefully on February 1, 2025.

LOUISBURG, NC -- Cameron Clyde Daniels, 74, of Louisburg, passed away Wednesday morning.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County has yet to send out an invoice under its new public records request policy, but a former senator seeking a connection between the sheriff, the former lieutenant governor and a public relations firm in Florida is bracing for a bill.
When Franklin County commissioners met on Jan. 6, commissioners approved a fee schedule that allows the county to charge the actual cost of duplication for records, as well as a special service charge to fulfill public records requests.

Dalton Southerland of Louisburg received a 4.0 GPA for the recent Fall term at NC State University. It was Dalton's first term as a graduate student. He is working on his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

FETED. The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce handed out awards during its annual banquet on Jan. 21. Above, Chamber Executive Director Richard Veverka presented the Citizen of the Year Award to Rex Foster, left. Foster and other Northeast Franklin Revitalization members, including Melissa Hodges, right, have worked to bolster that part of the county.

The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce handed out awards during its annual banquet on Jan. 21. Above, Rustic Roots received the Chamber's Chairman's Award of Excellence. From left to right are Harmony Rogers, Margaret Vollmer, Jacqueline Boykin, Russ Vollmer, and Nancy and Omar Cruz.

YOUNGSVILLE -- An electrical wire and cable company is expanding its operations into a building at the US-1 North Commerce Center in Franklin County.
Southwire -- North America's leading manufacturer of wire and cables used in transmission and distribution of electricity -- is relocating to a new 170,000-square-foot facility to enable the company to increase production and provide continued employment for more than 200 current employees as part of the company's modernization strategy.

Essentially two years later, it's fair to say that the county commissioners support of its relatively new and re-established Animal Services Advisory Board has been a failure.
Let me provide some history for a bit of context.
Going back to January 2019, animal welfare advocates -- many of them representing animal rescue organizations -- urged county commissioners to support efforts and establish policies to improve conditions at the shelter they alleged were leading to too many animals being put down and not enough being adopted.

Dear editor: I have been so impressed with and thankful for the recent dedication of our town's public works department employees.
We had a major water main break on Justice Street the night it was 15 degrees. These workers were out in the water and extreme cold working all night until 8:30 a.m. the next morning.

Dear editor: I enjoyed the letter about our former President, Jimmy Carter. He was an honorable and decent individual. He also brought a large group of decent people to Washington.
Hamilton Jordan (pronounced "JER-don") was his Chief of Staff for a period. He authored a book about how Washington overwhelmed the Carter White House. There are a couple of books that would be a great read.

LOUISBURG -- A handful of death, assault and sexually-related cases were updated in court this week.
One of them was resolved.
• Authorities arrested George Lamont Perry in June of 2021, alleging the 28-year-old sold Luther Coley Jr. a derivative of fentanyl that led to the 31-year-old's overdose death.

FRANKLINTON -- Town officials approved a concept that outlines vehicle bypasses, pedestrian paths, local roadway connectors and other routes part of a comprehensive transportation plan.
Town Manager Zachary Steffey said the Franklinton Comprehensive Transportation Plan is a strategic guide for future investments in infrastructure and a guide for future growth and development in and around the town.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Tourism Development Authority got a fiscal picture of its past and present.
And, they also set up their future leadership -- but it was a bit cumbersome.
During Monday's special called meeting, the board elected its chair and vice chair, but it didn't occur without dialogue and debate.

LOUISBURG -- In a whole lot less time than it takes to get through Youngsville rush hour traffic, Franklin County commissioners bolstered the town's ongoing efforts to speed up its bypass.
In early September, Youngsville officials, management and residents appeared before county commissioners, asking them to step up and help the town speed up a bypass that the State Department of Transportation has pencilled in for 2050.

Louisburg resident Ozell Mangum

Louisburg native and author Audrey Wiltshire will appear at Louisburg College.
Wiltshire is an author of short stories and has written and self-published two books: "A Glimpse of Miss Janie" details stories of memories of her grandmother, while "It's Not About You...It's About Me", is her journal from the last three months of her mother's life prior to transition.
Wiltshire is also a playwright, photographer and musician.

Reading a Page 1 story in last week's edition sent me on a troubling journey down memory lane -- and then prompted a little research to flesh out some important issues.
Reading the story about a large solar farm proposed for Franklin County revealed that some folks are concerned about the environmental impact of such a facility.
But as I've written in the past, I grew up in the coal fields of Eastern Ohio and am familiar with "the rest of the story" regarding electrical generation.

Enfield, NC -- Funeral services for Ricky "Donnell" Mills, age 68, who died on Monday, January 20, 2025, will be held on Friday, January 31, at 2 p.m. from the Faith Baptist Church in Enfield with Rev. Bobby Rudd officiating. Burial will follow in the Silver Hill Family Cemetery.