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LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners said they would need more information before they'd consider joining a lawsuit that lays the blame for the opioid crisis at the feet of manufacturers and distributors of the drug.
Attorneys George Daniel and Neal Ellis, representing a consortium of law firms, informed commissioners on Monday night that they are representing governmental entities across the country, seeking to recover from the drug industry monies that governments have spent to combat the opioid epidemic -- namely expenses spent on emergency services, law enforcement and other social service needs that have been impacted by the weight of the problem.

And the town of Louisburg has a spruced-up downtown amphitheater (photographed here at dusk to show the lights) that will be the venue for 2018's Third Friday Nights on the Tar events. The event features a concert, food trucks and entertainment for kids. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 20, and the Castaways are to begin playing about 6 p.m. The event is free of charge and is this event marks the beginning of the second year of the popular event.

LOUISBURG -- Two more changes are coming to downtown Louisburg, one designed to decrease traffic and the other which may help bring more people to activities in downtown.
The town and the North Carolina Department of Transportation have agreed that all truck traffic that is merely going through downtown be banned. The signs banning large trucks with three or more axles have already gone up.

LOUISBURG -- After a year of polling vendors, potential customers, stakeholders and others, staff with an agribusiness center at the University of Mount Olive have concluded that it would be feasible to build a new farmers market in the Youngsville area.
Sandy Maddox, director of the Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center and an assistant professor of agriculture education at Mount Olive, and Edward Olive, associate director for the Agribusiness Center, presented those findings to county commissioners and visitors during a special called meeting on Monday afternoon.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners recognized a Governor's Medallion Award winner before navigating an agenda that saw them move forward with plans that could bolster sewer service, bring a new tenant to the airport and chart parks and recreation services into the future.
First, Cooperative Extension Director Charles Mitchell presented Jim Grove -- a winner of one of the state's top awards for volunteer service.

BUNN -- Town commissioners are considering some pay raises, as long at it doesn't put their tax rate out of whack.
Commissioners and staff met last week during a session, poring over proposed revenues and expenses for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
For the most part, Police Chief Joe King wants to keep his spending status quo, but he did ask commissioners to consider raising pay for his part-time officers and the town's school resource officer.

Louisburg's James Anderson

"I'll check with my team about that."
"Let me ask my team."
"I'll have my team research that and get back to you."
Although it's not entirely clear who Mark Zuckerberg's team members are, it's a safe bet they are going to be a busy bunch.

What sounded like a good idea -- and probably was just that -- was presented to the Franklin County Board of Education last Monday night.
But, benefits aside, it puts the focus on an on-going problem in our classrooms that must be confronted and solved sooner rather than later.
The idea was simple. A non-profit will recruit teachers from around the world and bring them to the United States on five-year Visas to work in American classrooms and learn a bit about our educational system.

It's fair to say that the most highly contested race in Franklin County will be between Sheriff Kent Winstead and challenger, Jerry Jones.
Their battle for the most ballots won't take place until the fall, though.
But that doesn't mean there won't be some interesting contests to decide this spring, as early voting starts today, April 19.

Dear editor: I read the article in The Franklin Times, with interest, concerning the debate over the Confederate Monument. It appears that members of the Louisburg Town Council were not as receptive as college students. I had no idea that when I invited the Louisburg College instructor to further embarrass himself, that he would take it seriously.

LOUISBURG - Owen Roden Edwards, 86, of Louisburg, died Monday afternoon, April 16, 2018 at his home. A graveside memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today, Thursday, April 19, at Trinity United Methodist Church cemetery.

FRANKLINTON--Funeral services for R. Leon Bumpers, 68, who died Sunday, April 15, 2018, will be held Saturday, April 21, at 2 p.m. at Faith Missionary Church in Louisburg, with Pastor K. G. Hall officiating. Burial will follow in the Faith Missionary cemetery.

BUNN -- Few pitchers in recent Bunn High School baseball history can match Malakai Morrow's penchant for clutch big-game performances -- and he added to his legacy Tuesday in the Wildcats' most important regular season game to date.
With first place in the Northern Carolina Conference at stake -- and perennial power and rival South Granville visiting in the opposing dugout -- Morrow helped the Wildcats secure a tough 4-3 decision over the Vikings at the BHS Baseball Field.

RED OAK - With only two victories on the season, the Northern Nash girls soccer squad entered Monday's home non-league meeting with Bunn with the hope of gaining a much-needed triumph.
But Bunn junior forward Rachel Alford had other ideas.

CREEDMOOR -- Some things never seem to change, such as South Granville's perennial place at or near the top of the Northern Carolina Conference softball standings.
For their league opponents, there was the hope that the Lady Vikings might encounter a rare rebuilding stage this spring following the graduation of long-time pitching superstar Miranda Watkins from last year's state runner-up squad.

LOUISBURG -- Few performers in recent softball history at Louisburg College have impacted the program quite the way Monica Pepe has -- both on and off the field.
Known for her all-around playing excellence to go with her unfazed demeanor, Pepe has achieved a myriad of accomplishments in her two seasons at LC -- and she isn't done yet.

FRANKLINTON -- Only 32 student-athletes from across the state were honored last weekend with 'Heart of a Champion' awards from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
And Franklinton senior Richard Lopez-Hernandez was one of the select few athletes to receive the award.

WILMINGTON, DEL. -- Ryan Aguilar went 3-for-3 with a two-run triple, Carlos Belonis went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Trey Supak pitched through 5.0 scoreless innings with six strikeouts as the Carolina Mudcats earned a series-tying 7-4 victory versus the host Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium in A Clasa A Carolina League baseball thriller.

WILSON -- Franklinton High School's golf team currently stands in third place in the Big East Conference cumulative team standings following Monday's latest 18-hole event at Happy Valley Golf Club in Wilson County.
Fike is in first place overall with 1,378 strokes, followed by Wilson Hunt at 1,465.

LOUISBURG -- In its brief existence, the Louisburg College cross country program has developed into one of the nation's best on the junior college level -- and coaches at four-year schools have certainly taken notice.
That trend continued last week when a trio of Hurricanes' distance standouts inked deals to continue their running careers.

The Youngsville Phantoms Travel Baseball Team recently won the Spring Super NIT USSSA Beast of the East 8-Under Tournament in Charlotte. The Phantoms went 4-0 overall, including an impressive 11-0 decision over East Rowan in the championship game.

(L to R) Bunn's Alex Husinko and Northern Nash's Markela Avent joust for possession during Monday's girls soccer matchup in Red Oak.

Bunn High School's Casey Salter fouls off a pitch during the Ladycats' home softball contest Tuesday evening against long-time rival South Granville. The visitors from Creedmoor were 4-0 winners in the Northern Carolina Conference showdown.

Bunn High School's Kayla Sellars (left) tries to win possession of the ball during Monday evening's non-conference road soccer victory against the Northern Nash Lady Knights.

Bunn's Morgan Williamson (center) tries to avoid seven Northern Nash defenders during Monday evening's girls soccer showdown on the NNHS campus.

Malakai Morrow was the winning pitcher for the Bunn Wildcats during Tuesday's home victory against Northern Carolina Conference baseball rival South Granville.

The William C. Perry office building at 118 North Main Street in Louisburg is closely associated with the improvement of medical care in Franklin County following World War II.
It was built by a native of Louisburg who played a key role in medical affairs for more than twenty-five years.
William Clifton Perry, the son of Bennett Boddie and Kate Clifton Perry of Louisburg, was born on October 11, 1908.

Wake Electric is again offering the Bright Ideas education teacher grant program. Educators can submit an application for Bright Ideas grants of up to $3,000 for innovative, hands-on classroom projects that would not otherwise be funded. Educators can learn more and apply online at www.ncbrightideas.com. There are also more details on Wake Electric requirements and past grant recipients at www.wemc.com, "Community Programs."

FRANKLINTON -- Police arrested an elementary school teacher assistant accused of assaulting a student with disabilities.
Margaret Harris, 61, was arrested Monday and charged with assault on a handicapped person.
According to authorities, a Franklinton Elementary School employee alleged that on the morning of April 12, during school hours, they witnessed Harris hit a female student on the leg with a spoon.

ANNUAL GOOD FRIDAY EVENT. Dozens of people attended the Louisburg Tractor & Truck Kubota Field Day event recently. In addition to a chance to look at all the latest equipment, photo above, there also was an inflatable slide for children to enjoy, food, a radio live remote and prizes.
In the photo above, Stephanie Wilkes (left) and Tessa Egan help customers with registration for door prizes. During the day-long event, Kubota representatives were on hand to answer questions and help customers select the right piece of equipment.

YOUNGSVILLE -- Youngsville lived up to its namesake last week as young people dominated the board's meeting.
First, teenager Logan Harrison approached town leaders about creating, essentially, a youth advisory council for the town.
Later in the April 12 meeting, Mayor Fonzie Flowers recognized Corey Hilderhoff, a senior at Franklin Academy, who organized a 5K Color Run that benefited Feeding Franklin -- an organization that coordinates and provides food for those in need.

LOUISBURG -- The Tar River Festival, since 1991, has been the event for which Franklin County residents and visitors gathered for fun, food and festivities.
The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce decided this year that it will be no more.
At the same time, the Chamber board also decided not to sponsor the annual county Christmas Parade that has been held in Louisburg for years -- although the town of Louisburg stepped up almost immediately and announced it will handle the parade and that it will continue as usual this year.

TEAMWORK. Above, Stephen Beckstrand applies the club logo to a room.

Everyone knows their dog won't bite -- and prefers to just lay around on the porch, in the shade or, if the weather is chilly, maybe a warm, sunny spot.
It's a family pet -- well, maybe it barks a little but surely wouldn't bite.
But many mail carriers know that's not always true -- and some learned that the hard way!

LOUISBURG -- Sheriff's deputies arrested a man on eight felony drug charges.
George Pugh, 60, of Park Road, was charged with three counts of selling and delivering a Schedule II Controlled Substance, three counts of selling and delivering a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, and two counts of maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of selling controlled substances.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested a Durham man on child sex charges.
On April 9, deputies charged Oswald Miles Jr., 28, with one count of felony statutory sexual offense with a child, and one count of indecent liberties with a child.
He was placed in the Franklin County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

LOUISBURG -- Sheriff's deputies arrested a Franklin County man on sex charges.
On April 5, Ricky Leon Williams Jr. was charged with one count of felony second degree forcible sexual offense and one count of misdemeanor sexual battery.
The 31-year-old was placed in the Franklin County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

LOUISBURG -- The board of advisors of the Franklin County Community Foundation is currently accepting grant applications for projects funded from its community grantmaking fund, according to Al Wheless, board president.
Funds are available for nonprofit organizations that serve general charitable needs in Franklin County. Applications are now available online.

FRANKLINTON -- By split decision, Franklinton commissioners approved a special use permit that would bring a new business downtown.
Ryshann Veerasammy plans to operate a game room at 18 N. Main Street -- directly across from Franklinton Middle School -- called the Lit Lounge.
The lounge, Veersammy told commissioners, will give students and others a place where they can meet and play video games and converse.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Phi Zeta chapter Amicette youth group interviewed Porcha Brooks, Vance County tax administrator, recently. Mrs. Brooks gave an overview of her career choices that led to overseeing the Tax Administration office. Amicettes learned about listing real and personal property, assessments, collection of taxes, and property tax relief programs.