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LOUISBURG -- The state fined Franklin County $1,000 and issued a notice of warning, alleging staff mishandled cats and broke state law when it needlessly jumped the gun to euthanize a dog.
The employment status of the shelter's director remains a mystery and an assistant county manager has been tasked with running the department in her stead.
And, at the county's prompt, the state will conduct a Facility Program review in an effort to correct the violations and address allegations of mishandling animals.

LOUISBURG -- Prior to acknowledging a state probe into its animal shelter, Franklin County management announced a new hire and an expanding program to, among other things, bolster pet adoptions.
The county's current budget includes $50,000 to put toward its goal of spaying and neutering all adoptable animals in the shelter.
Also, county commissioners set the value of the voucher to cover the full cost of altering animals at participating veterinary clinics.

LOUISBURG -- The impacts from Tropical Storm Debby were expected to hit North Carolina late Wednesday, bringing with it between five and nine inches of rain ... plus damaging winds.
What does that mean for Franklin County?
"You can expect trees to fall and power lines to fail and flooding to occur," Franklin County Emergency Management Director Nicholas Thorpe said in a message to residents.

LOUISBURG -- The equine industry has a $2.9 billion impact on North Carolina's economy, according to the North Carolina Horse Council.
For the 28th year, the Franklin County Cooperative Extension's Regional Horse Farm Tour sought to bring attention to that fact, taking more than 100 equine enthusiasts on a trek to a variety of horse farms.
"I personally thought it was one of the best tours yet ... with both live demonstrations and educational talks at all the stops," said tour organizer and Cooperative Extension Agent Martha Mobley.

RALEIGH -- The state Court of Appeals upheld a Franklin County superior court judge's ruling in a wrongful death -- keeping a $40 million judgement on the books.
Susan Renee Chappell, 51, was killed in a Sept. 18, 2020 head-on collision on U.S. 401 -- three miles south of Louisburg, not far from the county's airport.
According to the State Highway Patrol and court documents, Chappell was heading north on the two-lane highway that evening when the driver of a vehicle heading south was attempting to make a pass in a no-passing zone when he crashed into Chappell.

LOUISBURG -- Franklin County will look toward an old hand to guide its tax office, at least temporarily.
Marian Cascone was sworn in as the county's tax administrator in February 2022, replacing Dan Williams, who retired.
Cascone resigned her position in Franklin County and her last day was Aug. 2.
She was announced as Nash County's new tax administrator on Monday night, replacing the retiring Doris Sumner.

Albany Thomas-Hopper and Charlena Lee

Some of you may find this a little surprising. Or, maybe even shocking.
I know I did.
But when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seems to provide a sliver of hope to solving Franklin County's long-standing water shortage, it would be wise to jump on it.

To varying results, Franklin County officials have limited public comments during its twice-a-month Board of Commissioners meetings.
But that doesn't mean the public has been any less committed to presenting county commissioners with their viewpoints, or public desires ... or both.
Monday was the case in point.

Dear editor:
It has come to my attention that, once again, Franklin County Animal Control has come under fire. No surprise to me as one who has run Animal Control in the past.

Dear editor:
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the recent developments in Franklin County that have raised questions about transparency and public access to government proceedings. There are three significant issues that deserve immediate attention and scrutiny.

Louisburg, NC-- Christa Sara Coley, 28, of Louisburg, died July 30, 2024 at Maria Parham Health in Henderson, NC. Christa was born on September 21, 1995 to Anthony Dean Coley and Margaret Ayscue Tharrington.

West End, NC--Della Kay Dennis, 64, of West End passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 4th, 2024 after a short but courageous battle with cancer.

HENDERSON, NC--Geneva Elizabeth Woodlief Harris, 88, of Henderson, died on Monday, August 5, 2024 at Duke University Medical Center in Durham.

Raleigh, NC--Norman Ray Hicks, 64, of Raleigh, formerly of Louisburg, died August 2, 2024.

BUNN -- Safe to say that Morgan (Pearce) LaRoque has spent her entire life around the Bunn High School volleyball program -- and don't look for that trend to change any time soon.
LaRoque's mother, Jamie Richardson, was BHS' head spike coach in the early-1990s, and it helped having a slew of teenage girls available to babysit during the Ladycats' matches.

NASH COUNTY -- Southern Nash has been the long-time queens of the Big East Conference girls golf standings, but the Ladybirds had a stiff challenge last fall in the form of an upstart Nash Central program.
Ironically, Central is coached by Todd Brewer, who guided the Ladybirds to success before moving over teach and coach at NCHS -- and that's when Scott Collie took over at SN and continued the program's consistent greatness.

FRANKLINTON -- Maybe it's not a prerequisite, but it never hurts to have experience and knowledge of a school when become its Athletic Director.
And Franklinton certainly found someone with those intangibles this summer when Ryan Vick was named as FHS' new AD.
Vick replaces Joseph Cobb, who will concentrate on his other duties as an Assistant Principal at Franklinton High.

LOUISBURG -- Young and feisty -- that will be the theme of the 2024 Louisburg High School volleyball squad.
The Lady Warriors, who boast one of the area's most tradition-rich spike programs, will hope to make an impact in the Northern Lakes Athletic Conference with a group that will feature just four seniors -- and several varsity newcomers are expected to earn significant playing time as the campaign progresses.
Last year, Louisburg went 14-10 overall and tied for second place in the NLAC behind powerhouse Carrboro en route to qualifying for the Class 2-A State Playoffs.

ZEBULON -- The Carolina Mudcats swept a suspended game doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium, beating the visiting Charleston RiverDogs 10-5 in game one and walked off with a 4-3 win in eight innings in the finale in Minor League baseball action.

Cucumbers are a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes squash and melons.
There are two types of cucumbers that can be grown. There are slicing cucumbers and pickling cucumbers. They can be grown in a variety of shapes and sizes, from 1-inch long to greenhouse varieties that can reach 20 inches or longer.
Cucumbers are a summer crop and are very sensitive to cold. The seed will not germinate until the soil temperature reaches at least 60 degrees.

Silvia Kramar put on a horse-riding demonstration.

Andrea Wright takes an opportunity for an up-close visit with a horse at Tami Taft's Three Dog Farm during the tour.

Horses graze in wide open spaces at Martin Manor.

BUNN -- Town commissioners approved changes to a zoning district on Monday that better defines how residential and commercial development will fit together.
They also agreed to adopt an ordinance that will more safely move traffic through town.
And they approved improvements to a business that's intended to mitigate flooding damage.
The town's planning staff had proposed changes to the town's Village Mixed Use district to better define densities and setbacks in the district.

LOUISBURG -- One person died following a a head-on collision on Tuesday afternoon.
According to scanner traffic and emergency management authorities, the crash occurred on Trinity Church Road near Moulton Road.
At least five people were transported via ambulance to area hospitals.
Emergency helicopter crews could not fly on Tuesday because of the weather.

Sgt. Dylan Moore, center, hands out backpacks to Brielle Lynch and Arielle Williams.

Recently retired but never far from the job Louisburg Police Officer Shari Brinkley hands out goodies to, from left, Kady Santiago, Javier Blandin, Imelda Cervantes, Asiel Moxthe and Aremy Santiago in the background.