The Franklin News Post - News from Rocky Mount, Virginia

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The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013

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Economics, finance course to be required for graduation

By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer

Basic economic and financial literacy skills are needed to survive financially in a normal economy, and especially in the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

These include the knowledge and ability to balance a checkbook; pay off credit card balances each month; create a budget and stick to it; open an account in a financial institution; and complete a loan application.

But recent national surveys show that many high school seniors are graduating with a much lower basic financial literacy than older generations.

In Franklin County schools
Obama's address will be aired live

By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer

President Barack Obama's back-to-school address will be aired live in Franklin County schools this year.

Obama's talk to students nationwide will be on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Superintendent Charles Lackey said Obama's address will be shown in Franklin County schools on Sept. 14, the day he gives it.

Lackey said he expects about 75 to 80 percent of students will hear the speech on Sept. 14.

But up to 20 percent of students might not hear it until the next day because the schools will not alter the curriculum and lessons on Sept. 14 for Obama's address, he said.

Fundraiser nets $4,300 for infant with rare cancer

By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer

A total of $4,300 was raised for 9-month-old Carter Beckner at an event Saturday at the Crossroads Ruritan Club.

Nearly $1,900 was raised by a benefit softball tournament earlier this month. Approximately $5,900 has been donated to the child who is being treated from Neuroblastoma. The disease is a cancerous tumor that develops from nerve tissue in infants and children.

His parents, Jesse Beckner and Candice Setney of Ferrum, said their son is receiving chemotherapy every three weeks at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Council must fill Dillon's seat by Sept. 26

By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer

Rocky Mount Town Council must fill the vacancy on council created by the death of Vice Mayor Posey Dillon by Sept. 26.

The town charter requires town council to fill vacancies within 60 days. Dillon died July 26 in a traffic accident involving a fire truck.

Council has held one closed session to discuss the vacancy, and it will meet again Sept. 13.

Several names of potential replacements for Dillon have been mentioned, but council members have not made a decision.

Committee proposes to keep May election for town council

By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer

A Rocky Mount Charter Review Committee agreed Monday that town council elections should continue to be held in May instead of being moved to November.

The panel, which includes four council members, said it sees no reason to move the council elections to coincide with the general election in November.

When Vice Mayor Gregg Walker, who is chairman of the committee, asked if the members saw any need to recommend a charter change to move the town elections, all members agreed that no change is needed.

Relay for Life donations top $94,000

By CHARLES BOOTHE - Staff Writer

A wrap-up meeting for this year's Franklin County Relay for Life was held last week, and members of teams were told that the grand total for money raised for the event was $94,000.

Despite the heat of June 25 and 26, the county came together to raise the money that will be used for cancer research and programs to assist cancer patients and their families.

Organizers said corporate sponsors and in-kind sponsors that provided donations, services and equipment helped make the event possible.

Teams of volunteers raise money for Relay, and the annual overnight event is held in June of each year.

BRI to host Southern Draft Animal Days

Noted rural lifestyle author and philosopher Wendell Berry to lecture

The Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College will host the Southern Draft Animal Days on Sept.17 and 18. The event will also feature a presentation from Wendell Berry, a leading national voice on sustainable living and the rural lifestyle.

The Southern Draft Animal Days will showcase the way horses can be used in modern agriculture in place of tractors and other motor-dependent machinery.

"Anything you can attach to a tractor, you can hitch to a draft animal such as a horse, mule or yoke of oxen, often with better results," said event organizer Jason Rutledge.

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