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LOUISBURG -- After listening to pleas from educators and school employees, Franklin County Commissioners approved a budget that calls for no tax increase and fully funded the board of education's request.
It left out some new vehicles, delayed start dates for some employees, dropped three new positions, cut some health department services and pulled money from the county's savings account to do it.

LOUISBURG -- The long-awaited Louisburg High School athletic complex appears to have taken a giant step toward reality after construction bids were opened last Thursday afternoon and after the school district's 2019-20 budget was approved.
"We're very, very, very close," said Dr. Larry Webb, chief of auxiliary services, who has predicted that if construction can begin no later than Aug. 1, there can be "cleats on the field" by the fall of 2020.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County commissioners filed away a program that would have required residents to have a decal to dump their trash.
During a work session in May, Solid Waste Director Brian Haynesworth presented commissioners the plan that, according to county staff, has had a long gestation period.

FRANKLINTON -- Franklinton plans to buy a new town hall, but the maneuver is not expected to cripple the town's bottom line officials say.
Earlier this year, officials and staff talked about relocating town hall to the old First Citizen Bank building at the corner of North Main and Vine streets.
That move, staff said, could help the town accomplish about three goals:

Former LC assistant baseball coach Sean Fleming

Good News. In only a couple more weeks -- June 21 to be exact -- summer will arrive and we'll all be able to enjoy the sunshine and warm-trending-to-hot weather.
Oh, wait.
With temperatures in the low to upper 90s through the latter part of May, summertime weather has already arrived and, combined with a lack of rain, has pretty much baked all of Franklin County.

Well, that was entirely predictable. Scripted even!
The Franklin County commissioners adopted a no-tax-increase budget Monday night -- after a preliminary budget was floated that required a significant tax increase, an idea that had the aerodynamic characteristics of a lead balloon.

By no means is the Google Alerts I have set up through my email account the most comprehensive way of scanning news media about issues and matters affecting Franklin County, but it is, indeed, a necessity.
When news accounts containing the key words of Bunn, Franklinton, Franklin County, Louisburg or Youngsville come up, I get an email alert which pulls up the story so I'll know if -- other than through my usual sources -- I'm missing some significant happening in Franklin County.

LOUISBURG - Percy Gray "P.G." Murphy, Jr., 88, of Louisburg, passed away Tuesday morning.

CARY--Naomi Lee Holmes Teasley, 73, died Friday, May 31, 2019 at her residence. Funeral service will be held Friday, June 7, at 3 p.m. at Kinches Chapel Christian Church in Franklinton. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

BUNN -- Melanie Lovin has not been one to play favorites during her storied tenure as the head softball coach at Bunn High School.
From the last person on the bench to the star player, Lovin tries to treat everyone the same -- but even she admits having a soft spot for ultimate team player Emily Bell.

BUNN -- Multi-tasking is a necessity for any college student, let alone one who is trying to look toward a successful future while still concentrating on lofty present-day responsibilities.
Such has been the last few weeks for Bunn High School alum Spencer Brickhouse, who is now a junior standout for the East Carolina University Baseball Team.

FRANKLINTON -- If the interest was mutual, it was almost a given that Franklinton High School volleyball standout Jericka Brodie would attend Winston-Salem State University.
After all, Brodie's parents both graduated from Winston-Salem State and have great memories of their time in Forsyth County.

LOUISBURG -- When watching Seth Johnson play shortstop, one intangible always intrigued Louisburg College baseball coach Blake Herring.
"I used to watch Seth make that throw from the hole and say to myself what a strong arm he had,'' Herring said. "It was pretty easy to notice.''

WENDELL -- After a 20-year hiatus, American Legion baseball has returned to Franklin County.
It's been since the late-1990s that Post 105 fielded a team that competed against star squads from across the region -- mainly playing its home games at Louisburg College's Frazier Field.

ZEBULON -- Dylan File pitched through eight scoreless frames with five strikeouts and Payton Henry provided all of the offense needed after driving in two with a two-out run scoring double in the first inning as the Carolina Mudcats blanked the visiting Frederick Keys 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium in Class A Carolina League baseball action.

ROCKY MOUNT -- The Harrison Family YMCA is launching a new Youth Basketball Program this summer, titled Summer Slammers, for ages kindergarten through sixth grade.
This is based off of the grade level just completed.
Registration is open now for the season beginning July 18.

BUNN -- Reliable.
That's the best word to describe the exploits of Quentin Perry during his past two seasons with the tradition-rich Bunn High School football program.
Whenever the Wildcats would need a yard or two, they would inevitably call upon Perry, a running/back wingback who always seemed to be able to pick up that yardage when needed.

GREENVILLE -- Host East Carolina University completed its journey through the elimination bracket Monday night, rolling past No. 3 seed Campbell 12-3 to win the NCAA Greenville Baseball Regional before a sellout crowd of 5,206 inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates will travel to face No. 7 national seed Louisville in the super regional round this coming weekend.

GREENVILLE -- The East Carolina University trio of Jake Agnos, Spencer Brickhouse and Bryant Packard were all selected on the second day of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Agnos and Packard's picks marked the first time in program history that two players were Top 5 round selections in the same year in program history.

Many people believe public welfare is a relatively new phenomenon, but poor relief actually dates to the early years of North Carolina's statehood. Wardens of the poor, who could make cash payments to indigents, and "poorhouses" were authorized in the late 18th century, but many poorhouses built then or later were inadequate.

THIRD FRIDAY EVENT. The featured Artist for the 3rd Friday with The Artist in June is Clina Polloni, the 2017 Franklin County Artist of the Year. Polloni was born and raised in Chile. After graduating from the University of Chile in 1972, she moved to Raleigh. Her colorful oil paintings are inspired by her love for people, animals and nature, expressing her art through the canvas in oil painting. Her subjects are landscapes, floral, still life and seascape.

Two Franklinton High School teachers earned grants from CenturyLink with the goal of equipping students to succeed in today's digital economy.
The CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation's 2018-2019 Teachers and Technology grant program awarded $4,981.53 to Tommy Kemp and $2,600 to Sean Bachand. The program distributes grants of up to $5,000 per project on behalf of pre-K through 12th grade teachers who have developed plans to innovatively implement technology in their classrooms.

The Student Aid Office of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has awarded the 91st Alston-Pleasants Scholars Fund merit scholarship for UNC undergraduate studies to Hope Crute.
Hope is a member of the graduating class in a combined Franklin County Early College High School and Vance-Granville Community College five-year academic program, which will entitle her to advanced placement by the University.

LOUISBURG -- The state's budget doesn't include funds to expand Medicaid, but proponents of the move held vigils across the state on Wednesday in a "hail mary" effort to change the mind of legislators.
Many of them were expected to gather on the Franklin County Courthouse steps.

The Youngsville Woman's Club is once again hosting a Youngsville High School Reunion for all classes.
The event will be held at Hill Ridge Farms on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 4-9 p.m.
Guests are invited to bring lawn chairs. Picnic tables will be provided.
A picnic supper of barbecue and fried chicken and desserts will be served at 5 p.m.