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The Paper Media, 110 South Sterling St, Morganton, NC (2025)

11/17/2025

The Valdese Tigers 5-7s and 8-9s and East Burke Royals 10-12s each finished as undefeated Burke County 2025 football champions!

Read more about each teams' title game win this past Saturday at Patton HS at the link below...

For three local youth football teams, dream seasons came to fruition on Nov. 15 at Patton High School on the Burke County Recreation Department league’s championship Saturday.

11/17/2025

The last few months have been quiet on the subject, but the City of Morganton has not dropped discussion on parking improvements in downtown. Equipment needed to implement the new system has recently arrived, and the Morganton City Council may debate new parking zones and repercussions for not paying tickets as soon as the December meeting.

According to Sharon Jablonski, director of cultural and creative development, the hardware for T2 Systems, the new parking management system, arrived just over a week ago. The equipment, she said, was ordered in August after the city council voted to approve the new system.

Jablonski had originally planned for an October implementation, but with the late arrival, that goal wasn’t able to be met. But residents will soon hear about changes to parking, with new areas for merchants and new areas for customers. There will also be a recommendation for how to handle unpaid parking tickets, and what fines are appropriate for the offense.

In order to implement the new parking system, the additional changes will need to be voted on before moving forward. Jablonski said she’s hopeful that the item will be on the city council’s December agenda, but that could change. Following any council approval, Jablonski said that the 30 days after will be a warning phase.

Currently, Jablonski said she is working on getting the newly-hired parking officer prepared through training with the new system.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/4494bf

Equipment needed to implement the new system has recently arrived, allowing the Morganton City Council to move forward with discussion on new parking zones and fines.

11/17/2025

Congrats to all those named to the All-Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference soccer squad!

Also attached at the link below...
-EB’s Brinkley, Baker commit to colleges
-Icard archery team wins season opener

The Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference on Nov. 15 announced its boys soccer all-conference team, which was highlighted locally by Patton winning two of the league’s five individual awards.

11/17/2025

After more than 25 years on the force, Morganton Department of Public Safety (MDPS) Capt. Josiah Brown stepped out of his emptied office for the final time on Wednesday.

While colleagues stopped by to wave and drop off small gifts, Brown grinned from ear to ear, reflecting warmly on the multi-decade career.

“I wanted to make a difference in the community,” Brown said. “I just wanted to help people.”

Aside from military background in his family, Brown didn’t inherit generations of law enforcement experience from the family tree. His father and brother were both cooks.

In turn, he originally worked as a chef for five years at J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center in Morganton before deciding to devote himself to public service with the MDPS.

When Brown first joined, he went through law enforcement training on scholarship from the department. He considered that support a commitment toward his professional career — one that he wanted to validate through dedicated work.

“I’ve worked with some of these people for a long time,” Brown said. “Although I’ll see them, it won’t be the same. I’ll still see friends and whatnot, but it’ll be the people — not just here, but in the community that I deal with all the time and at the department. It’ll be the people [that I miss].”

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/96326c

After more than 25 years on the force, Morganton Department of Public Safety (MDPS) Capt. Josiah Brown stepped out of his emptied office for the final time on Wednesday.

11/16/2025

The Western Piedmont Symphony will take audiences on a musical journey through Italy’s art and culture when it presents Masterworks: Italian Inspirations on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at P.E. Monroe Auditorium on the Lenoir-Rhyne University campus in Hickory.

Under the direction of Music Director Matthew Troy, the performance features guest artist Ashley Hall-Tighe, an internationally recognized trumpet soloist known for her expressive artistry and acclaimed performances from the Sydney Opera House to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

The program opens with Arvo Pärt’s “If Bach Had Been a Beekeeper” and Bach’s “Air on the G String”. Hall-Tighe will join the orchestra for Sammartini’s Recorder Concerto (arranged for trumpet) and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. The concert concludes with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.”

Troy described the concert as a celebration of “centuries of musical brilliance and Italy’s radiant artistic spirit,” blending classical elegance with the joy of Italian-inspired composition.

Before the main performance, audiences can attend Behind the Music, a free pre-concert talk with Troy from 6:30-6:50 p.m. in P.E. Monroe Auditorium.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/df201c

Western Piedmont Symphony’s Masterworks: Italian Inspirations concert on Nov. 22 will bring the warmth and brilliance of Italy to Hickory, featuring trumpet soloist Ashley Hall-Tighe and a program blending Baroque

11/16/2025

World War II veteran and Salem native Weldon Brittain was doubly honored on Veterans Day as Burke County Veterans Services Officer Molly Eller presented him a Quilt of Honor after several hundred people sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

The Burke County Veterans Day event, held at the Morganton Elks Lodge on Tuesday, was attended by about 200 veterans and civilians. During the event, 98-year-old Brittain’s recent birthday and service to his country were celebrated.

Eighty years ago, 18-year-old Brittain was drafted into the Army for World War II, said speaker and Navy veteran Tad Eliott. Brittain served for two years and earned two stripes as a technical grade five.

Brittain’s father died when he was four, Eliott said. Brittain and his family first weathered the Great Depression, and then World War II.

At 16 years old, Brittain dropped out of school and began driving a truck, something that would later determine his place in the Army. Eliott said Brittain was stationed in Italy, driving a large mail truck for the Military Postal Service. Later, Brittain was transferred to a processing center near Naples where undeliverable packages were patched up and forwarded.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/0f0f17

The Burke County’s Veterans Day event, held at the Morganton Elks Lodge on Tuesday, was attended by about 200 veterans and civilians.

11/15/2025

Students dusted off their dictionaries and leveled up their lexicons for the Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) Spelling Bee this week, enduring more than an hour of letter-by-letter battles of wit.

Following several sets of slumped shoulders, hung heads, and even a few tears, Table Rock Middle School seventh grader Riley Street took home the trophy with the word “aeronautics.”

“I’m kind of excited,” Riley said, holding the shiny trophy with both hands. “But also, a little relieved after that, because this is the third time I’ve been up on that stage.”

According to Riley’s parents, she’s an avid reader and a determined competitor.

“This is the third time she’s made it to the county,” Riley’s father, J.D. Street, said, holding a bouquet of flowers that BCPS Superintendent Mike Swan presented to the winner’s parents on stage. “She finally knocked it out this time.”

“She said, ‘Third time’s the charm,’” Riley’s mother, Britt Street, said. “She was right.”

Each competitor brought their own unique style to the nerve-racking act of spelling in front of a crowd, approaching the two height-adjusted microphones and often choosing the one they had to bend down to.

Burke County Public Schools

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/d90a6b

Students dusted off their dictionaries and leveled up their lexicons for the Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) Spelling Bee this week, enduring more than an hour of letter-by-letter battles of

11/15/2025

NCSSM-Morganton is generally known more for its academics than its athletics.

Likewise, Burke County high schools are more known for their basketball than their tennis or cross country.

But this fall, a group of five extraordinary senior female Dragons’ student-athletes — along with the aid of some large, skilled junior classes — helped change both of those stereotypes.

The NCSSM-Morganton girls cross country team claimed the school’s first team state title at the NCHSAA 1A championship meet on Oct. 31 at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, following up both their West Regional title (from Oct. 25 in Tryon) and Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conference title (Oct. 8 in Mount Holly) in grand fashion.

And just one day later, some 40 miles to the east, the NCSSM-Morganton girls tennis team on Nov. 1 finished an unbeaten, dream season as it won the NCHSAA 1A dual-team state championship at the Burlington Tennis Center.

NCSSM-Morganton

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/772854

NCSSM-Morganton is generally known more for its academics than its athletics. Likewise, Burke County high schools are more known for their basketball than their tennis or cross country. But this

11/15/2025

Recovery officials from NC Gov. Josh Stein’s office walked the River Village flood-scarred corridor Thursday, surveying collapsed banks and missing boardwalk, and assuring local leaders that with fresh funding and a fast-tracked rebuild, the quiet riverfront should feel less abandoned by spring.

Matt Calabria, director, and Emily Gangi, chief deputy director, with the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, took a tour of Morganton’s most Helene-devastated areas Thursday afternoon from Catawba Meadows Park to River Village.

The goal of the office is to advocate for accelerated Helene recovery, which Calabria said includes playing matchmaker when it comes to grants, and working closely with North Carolina-based FEMA officials.

The boardwalk replacement is close to a third of the way funded by $1 million from the Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program (SmBIZ). City officials received notification in July from the North Carolina Department of Commerce that they would receive the funding.

SmBIZ is a $55 million fund that’s designed to rebuild damaged infrastructure that small businesses rely on to thrive. The boardwalk was an obvious choice as businesses in River Village are missing the foot traffic that the Catawba River Greenway boardwalk connector previously provided.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/0d0856

Leaders from the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina paid a visit to Morganton Thursday afternoon.

11/15/2025

The decade-long playoff drought is over.

Thanks to a historic night from senior quarterback Kaden Davis and another stingy defensive effort, the host Freedom football team claimed its first playoff victory since 2015 in blowout fashion, 40-6, over Central Cabarrus on Friday night.

Read more about the Patriots' victory here!

The decade-long playoff drought is over.

11/14/2025

There’s a new Dean of Education in town, and he has his eyes set on developing a national model in deaf education.

Dr. Jordan Wright began his position at the North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) on Monday. NCSD Superintendent Dr. Kristin Todd said she’s been trying to get him to work at the school for years — including as superintendent before she took the job.

“It’s really important for our students to see deaf leadership,” Todd said. “And obviously, his expertise, his educational background, and his PhD in Deaf Education. I know his heart as well.”

Wright, who became deaf at the age of four, earned his PhD at Gallaudet University, an iconic institute specifically designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located in Washington, D.C. After visiting family in the Charlotte area, he fell in love with North Carolina and decided to make the move.

He brings several years of professorial and research experience from Gallaudet University, Lamar University, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. In his research, Wright studied deaf accessibility in health care and education, citing the same limitations across both.

North Carolina School for the Deaf

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/d3852d

There’s a new Dean of Education in town, and he has his eyes set on developing a national model in deaf education.

11/14/2025

After a plethora of calls pertaining to overdoses, drugs, and general criminal activity, Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman decided to switch tactics in curbing crime on U.S. 64.

Taking the civil route, Hinceman worked with Alcohol Law Enforcement special agents to deem the location a “nuisance property.”

Generally, a nuisance property refers to a location where the local government has repeatedly serviced the grounds in some way, resulting in a rising cost that eventually becomes a lien against the property after enough calls.

In a criminal capacity, a nuisance property is described in Chapter 19 of the North Carolina General Statutes, which includes drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other “repeated acts which create and constitute a breach of the peace.”

According to Burke County Clerk of Superior Court Crystal Carpenter, nuisance cases are normally filed in civil court by the county or the city.

“Sometimes [the county will] file a lien because they’ve had to go in and mow the grass, clean up the property — whatever,” Carpenter said. “But if it gets to the point like it’s a lot bigger problem with old junk cars or stuff that has to be hauled away, [they] file a lawsuit in Superior Court. They’ll put a judgment against the homeowner, and either they get it cleaned up, they get a judgment, and/or both.”

Burke County Sheriff's Office

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/4bfe9e

After a plethora of calls pertaining to overdoses, drugs, and general criminal activity, Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman decided to switch tactics in curbing crime on U.S. 64.

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Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	8:30am - 12pm