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KITTRELL -- Residents in a rural Vance County community that's a stones-throw from Franklin County have pushed back the vote on a proposed inert debris landfill they allege will be a detriment to the community and the environment.
The proposal has garnered the interest of those in Franklin County, too.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County school officials are gathering data, seeking the opinions of staff and parents and weighing the scientific evidence about the COVID-19 virus with an eye on a special Oct. 8 Board of Education meeting where difficult decisions may have to be made.
The county school system has been committed to operating under Plan C -- virtual learning only -- for this first nine weeks of the school year which ends Oct. 23 and the school board plans to evaluate the situation and decide if changes can be made.

LOUISBURG -- COVID-19 cases and, unfortunately, deaths, continue to rise in Franklin County.
But the news isn't all morbid, county health staff said this week.
As of press time, there were 1,191 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 33 deaths.

LOUISBURG -- Frank Poyer comes from a big family that spent a lot of time under one roof -- whether that was a home in the American Samoa, or under the umbrella of the military.
Because of his service and sacrifice, he and his wife will get to spend the next several years under a new, free roof.

LOUISBURG -- A 27-year-old man accused of choking his father to death was still in the hospital at the beginning of the week.
Authorities have charged Xavier Vishal Billups with an open count of murder.
The evening of Sept. 18, deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office's Special Response Team responded to reports that Billups was choking his father, Darren Hobgood, inside a residence at 26 William Perry Road.

BUNN -- Town commissioners agreed to open the wine and beer tap for everyone -- at least for all permitted establishments.
During the board's Sept. 15 meeting, commissioners adopted an ordinance that allows for early alcohol sales on Sunday.
The ordinance, commonly referred to as the brunch bill, allows for ABC permitted establishments to sell and serve alcohol beginning at 10 a.m., instead of noon.

Louisburg native and UNC pharmacy student Molly Boutwell

It was a welcome break from the heat and humidity we've all endured this summer but Mother Nature certainly threw us a bit of a surprise with an early taste of what Fall will be like when the remnants of Hurricane Sally blessed us with a good soaking last week.
The hurricane, which brought a deluge of rainfall with it when it visited Alabama and then worked its way across the South Eastern U.S., also brought markedly cooler temperatures with more than four inches of rainfall.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Franklin County is growing.
For the sake of this conversation, let's do one of two things:
• Forget, for a moment, how the county's apparent lack of water allocation could limit growth;
• Assume that Franklin County leadership will find the water resource and necessary funding to sustain and maintain growth now and down the line.

Dear editor: In regards to recent letters to The Franklin Times, I question why some individuals are so angry and volatile with their comments.
People are fundamentally different about their viewpoints for fundamentally different reasons.
Is that not why the United States is referred to as a "melting pot?"

Dear editor: I've always been told that there are two sides to every story.
There's a lady here in Louisburg that's seeking help, not only through prayers, but law enforcement. She's been lied on, set up, cars follow her and hold cell phones up in the air and out the window so she can see their phones. Home violation.

BUNN -- Despite some recent research, Bunn High School Athletic Director Chris Lewis can't remember the last time the Wildcats claimed the Wells Fargo Cup out of the Northern Carolina Conference.
"We have banners up for just about everything, but I haven't been able to find out when we won (the Cup),'' Lewis said. "So my guess is that it has been awhile.''

FRANKLINTON -- The Franklinton Red Rams were hoping a strong spring sports season would catapult them into a higher position in the Wells Fargo Cup standings out of the always-strong Class 3-A Big East Conference.
Franklinton had aspirations to compete for league supremacy in the likes of softball and track and field, among other sports.

RALEIGH -- Local legends Ricky Person Jr. (Franklin County) and Zonovan Knight (Nash County) came up big in the backfield for the North Carolina State University football team during last Saturday's 45-42 season-opening home victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Person, a junior who prepped at Heritage High School, paced the Wolfpack in rushing with 99 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 10 yards and threw a touchdown off a trick play.

RALEIGH -- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has designated Saturday, September 26, as a Youth Deer Hunting Day for 2020.
On this day, youths 17 and younger may use any legal weapon to hunt deer of either sex and are not required to be accompanied by an adult if they have completed a hunter education course.
The Youth Deer Hunting Day provisions apply to both private and public lands.

CHICAGO -- Hours before their home opener Sunday against the Giants, the Bears signed running back Tarik Cohen to a three-year contract extension through the 2023 season.
Cohen, a Franklin County native who prepped at Bunn High School, was in the final year of a four-year deal he inked with the Bears after they selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of North Carolina A&T.

On Dec. 5, 1928, the Main Building and West Wing at Louisburg College were practically destroyed by a devastating fire.
Sixty years later, almost to the day, another blaze tore through the very same space.
Al Peoples, a 27-year veteran and Captain in the Louisburg Fire Department, recalled that the alarm came in the early evening on Friday, Dec. 2, 1988.
"We could see the glow in the sky all the way out to Bickett Boulevard, and feared this was not going to be good."

Hundreds of millions of people across the globe rely on medications for their survival. In fact, the percentage of people using prescription medications may surprise people who work outside the health care industry.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics' National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-16, nearly 46 percent of the population of the United States used prescription drugs in 2015-16.

Patricia Dickerson, driver, and Helen Pender pick up items from the Louisburg Senior Center.

Sisters Dorothy Daniels (driver) and Annie Mitchell

Robert Baynard and wife Jessie Baynard

Franklin County Senior Services Department of Aging will host a Medicare Open Enrollment Drive-thru event, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 9:30 - 10 a.m. at the Louisburg Senior Center, 127 Shannon Village, Louisburg.
You must stay in your vehicle & wear a mask.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County administration announced the signing of a lease that will help alleviate some space issues.
Following a closed session in June, commissioners gave County Manager Angela Harris authority to negotiate a lease agreement with JMD Housing LLC to move some county offices into the old Walmart space at 279 S. Bickett Boulevard.
The agreement has the county leasing 35,000 square feet for $3.75 per square foot a month -- $10,937.50 per month.

LOUISBURG -- A traffic stop led a special unit of the sheriff's office to arrest a Selma man.
Harold Tew Corbett, 25, was charged Sept. 15 with possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver heroin, possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver methamphetamine, possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver MDA/MDMA, possession with intent to sell/deliver cocaine, maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for the sale of a controlled substance, possession of an altered firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.

LOUISBURG -- Members of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office's Community Action Team arrested a Raleigh man on drug charges.
Steven Lamont Sanders, 51, was charged Sept. 16 with two counts of trafficking cocaine.
The arrest came after the Franklin County Sheriffs Office Community Action Team (C.A.T) conducted a traffic stop on U.S. 1 near Franklinton.

LOUISBURG -- The Louisburg Town Council ploughed through a long agenda of relatively routine business items Monday night although it did make one decision that could lead to future residential growth in the town, adjusted pay rates in the police department and agreed to spend a chunk of federal money earmarked for COVID-19 relief.