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YOUNGSVILLE -- As is tradition, one of Youngsville's newest officers has started a community policing effort.
Officer Andrew Tietz has created a program that takes some of the hassle out of making sure troublemakers can't legally set foot on a property.
Business and property owners can fill out a form, appointing officers as agents, giving them the authority to trespass troublemakers if the property owner or manager is not available.

Yoli Uvalle and Randal Holmes take a moment to pose in front of the Christmas tree during Louisburg's Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in December. Residents looking to dispose of their Christmas trees can take them to Franklin County's main solid waste transfer station at 5 Landfill Road, Franklinton -- not the convenience center sites.

LOUISBURG -- Just more than half a dozen murder cases continue to wind their way through the court system.
Last week, Resident Superior Court Judge John Dunlow held a status conference on the county's pending murder cases.
Four of them were disposed.
However, at least seven remain pending, but the courts got a better sense of how they're proceeding.

LOUISBURG -- The State Highway Patrol continues to investigate a single-vehicle wreck that killed a Creedmoor man and critically injured a Louisburg woman two days before Christmas.
The State Highway Patrol said 19-year-old Uzias Cid-Sanchez died in the Dec. 23 wreck.
According to authorities, 19-year-old Sadie Alfaro was traveling at about 100 mph, heading south on U.S. 401 near E.F. Cottrell Road at about 9:30 p.m. when she ran off the road to the right.

Franklin County Schools has begun development of Blueprint 2030, the district's strategic plan for the next five years.
This work is already underway and will continue over the next several months, with the goal of obtaining Board of Education approval for the draft plan in late spring and beginning implementation in fall 2025.

YOUNGSVILLE -- The town, again, received a clean bill of wealth from auditors, continuing a trend of growing fiscal strength and no financial issues.
"This will be short and sweet," Lee Grissom, an auditor with S. Preston Douglass and Associates told town officials and staff during their Dec. 12 meeting, noting that the town's audit process didn't bring up any hiccups.
"... I am happy to report there were no finding this year and we also issued an unmodified opinion, which used to be referred to as a clean opinion ...

FRANKLINTON -- Franklinton received its second straight "clean" audit, representing a continuing strong financial position and move away from State Department of Treasury oversight.
The state Treasurer's office placed Franklinton on its Unit Assistance List in October 2022 because the town had not timely filed its 2020 audit.
At the time, there were also concerns about a low fund balance.

Larry Foster at Vets Day Breakfast at Louisburg Senior Center

Here's hoping you and yours had a happy, safe and very Merry Christmas this year.
It was really no surprise, but we missed out on a white Christmas again but all around Franklin County the holiday decorations, especially the lights, more than made up for the missing cold white stuff that can make travel so difficult and dangerous.
By now, Santa is back at the North Pole, probably with his feet up in front of a roaring fire and sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

The gag about Dec. 26 through New Year's Day is that it's nebulous -- no one knows what day it is, what time it is or whether or not they have to work.
For us, here at The Times, it's a time of rushed deadlines and time travel.
That's because we normally go to press on Wednesdays, but when Christmas and New Year's are on Wednesday, holiday/post office schedules dictate we go to press on Monday.

Dear editor: I read your December 19, 2024 front page article entitled "An Off-Stream Reservoir" with great interest.
I also attended that meeting and want to congratulate the Town of Louisburg, and their leadership, for taking a realistic look into their long-term water needs and future solutions.

Youngsville leaders, from left, Commissioners Corey Pursche, Scott Brame (with youngest son, Drew), Cat Redd and Joe Johnson, and Mayor Fonzie Flowers (with oldest son, Landon) are festive for the Christmas parade.

The Wake Pumping truck was a festive sight at Franklinton's Christmas Parade.

Santa is always the star of the show.

Yessi Martinez and Sofia Salas waved to the crowd from the Salas Construction Group float during Franklinton's nighttime Christmas parade.

As always, the Helping Hand Mission Marching Band out of Raleigh was a crowd favorite during Franklinton's annual Christmas parade, the county's only nighttime parade.

Abigail Grace Shaeffer, 17 of Granville County is the winner of this year's James D. Speed Achievement Scholarship which is presented to a junior beef exhibitor, age 14 to 18, in the Junior Market Steer and/or Junior Beef Heifer competition at the NC State Fair. She is the daughter of Greg and April Shaeffer. The Franklin County Cattlemen's Association honored the late State Sen. Speed by establishing the academic scholarship in his memory.

LOUISBURG -- A community organization designed to help folks in emergencies is offering help to the helpers.
Bunn CERT is facilitating an Emergency Medical Responder course for folks who are interested.
"This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to get their foot in the door to become a medical provider," said Scott Strickland with Bunn Cert.
The January course is being sponsored by Vance-Granville Community College and is free.

RALEIGH -- Christmas came early for Ladaryenne Smith of Franklinton after a $5 scratch-off purchased on Christmas Eve delivered a present of $150,000.
"I saw a zero, then I saw another zero, then another zero," he recalled. "It was just crazy."
Smith bought his lucky Holiday Cash 50X ticket from Dabney Pit Stop on Dabney Drive in Henderson.
He scratched the ticket in his car and couldn't believe what he saw.

Oldcastle Lawn and Garden hosted its annual Toy Drive, providing presents to be distributed to children through the Franklin County Department of Social Services. The company collected toys from the start of November through Dec. 5.

FRANKLINTON -- It wasn't Christmas, but two businessmen did put a gift under the town's Christmas tree.
Steven Hayes and Dave Harney of Trinity Group Investments LLC gave the town a new striping machine.
The machines, which are most commonly used to mark parking spaces, can retail for $6,100 and up.
Hayes and Harney gave it to the town for free.

LOUISBURG -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners are looking to expand their footprint with two property purchases.
The board's next regularly scheduled meeting is Jan. 6 and two property purchases are on the agenda.
First, the board is set to consider spending as much as $2.6 million to buy the Walgreens building on 1.49 acres at 3422 U.S. 1 in Franklinton.
The board is also expected to consider purchasing 127.88 acres at 2035 E and F Road in Louisburg at a price tag of $1.5 million.