100 years of history by Carol Pelosi In the 1900’s, the early years of the 20th Century, Benjamin Thomas Hicks was building the houses for the Royall Cotton Mill’s “operatives.” Each four-room house with four interior fireplaces housed two families. He probably also built the school for the mill children in 1907, just as he helped build several of the homes along Faculty Avenue.  In the 1930s, remembered as a very old man, he was the lead carpenter for the several barns and buildings, including the massive dairy barn, at John Sprunt Hill’s 1,750-acre showplace farm on Falls of the Neuse Road. At the time it was called Forest Hill Farm and later, in 1939 or 1940, the name was changed to Wakefield Farm.  Ed

Eight suspects have been arrested as part of a multi-jurisdictional undercover sting operation targeting child sex predators and human traffickers. Planned and executed by the Wake Forest Police Department (WFPD) and Wake County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), the November 12-15 joint operation involved undercover officers and agents posing as juveniles and traffickers. The suspects solicited the agents for sex or some other purpose, and meetings were set up at various locations throughout Wake Forest where they were taken into custody.  Please note that there were no Wake Forest residents. The eight suspects identified and arrested are: Police officials say one of the reasons child sex crimes and human trafficking are on the rise is because predators now have access to their victims via home computers and cell

GT\ The Wake Forest Police Department will “serve” area residents in an entirely different way Thursday, Nov. 21, during the “Tip a Cop for Special Olympics” fundraiser. Several officers will be “working” at the Wake Forest Texas Roadhouse, 11440 Capital Boulevard., from 3 to10 p.m. assisting restaurant staff by clearing tables, delivering beverage orders, nd more! At the end of the day, all the tips the officers receive for their efforts will go to Special Olympics of North Carolina to support the athletes who participate in the organization’s year-round sports, health, and fitness programs. This marks the 16th consecutive year the WFPD has participated in the Tip a Cop fundraiser. During that time, the department has raised over $25,000 for Special Olympics. For more information,

Beginning Monday, Dec. 2, a contractor working on behalf of the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will close a portion of Ligon Mill Road between Burlington Mills Road and South Main Street/US 1A. The closure is necessary to allow crews to realign Ligon Mill Road from the existing bridge that spans Smith Creek to the new replacement bridge. A signed detour will be in place directing motorists to and from South Main Street/US 1A to Capital Boulevard/US 1 to Burlington Mills Road. Weather permitting, the road is scheduled to reopen in late December. Built in 1967 to span Smith Creek, the existing bridge needed to be replaced due to the deterioration of some bridge components that could no longer be addressed by maintenance. It was