The Paper Media

09/08/2026

Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) will spend about $923,000 of its own funds this year to extend state-mandated raises and bonuses to teachers and employees whose positions are not fully funded by the state.

Despite pressure on the district’s 2026-27 budget, it will not cause a deficit, said Financial Officer Keith Lawson.

“We were advised last year by the Office of State Budget Management to budget based on an anticipated 2.5% decrease in state funds based on their revenue projections,” Lawson said. “(But) revenues came well in excess of what they had anticipated.”

Lawson said because of this, the district had the funds to cover raises and bonuses for employees not funded by the state.

This does not include Superintendent Mike Swan. Swan’s contract with the Board of Education dictates his salary.

https://monkeylink.co/2e00e3

When North Carolina's $34 billion 2026-27 budget came into effect, it included state-mandated raises for teachers and staff within school districts.

09/08/2026

A shortage of foster homes in Burke County is leaving some children with nowhere to go at night but the offices of the Department of Social Services.

In early August, the county announced a partnership with Black Mountain Home for Children, Youth, and Families aimed at recruiting and training more foster families.

Burke County has only about 10 foster homes licensed through the county but about 220 children in foster care, according to Burke County Department of Social Services Director Korey Fisher-Wellman. The shortage means children are often placed across North Carolina and, sometimes, out of state.

In early August, the county announced a partnership with Black Mountain Home for Children, Youth, and Families aimed at recruiting and training more foster families.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/dd4acd

Approximately 220 children are currently in foster care in Burke County, with children often sleeping overnight within the Department of Social Services offices due to limited foster homes within the

09/07/2026

Beginning next year, developers rather than local governments will largely decide how much parking most commercial or residential developments need under a new North Carolina law.

Last month, Gov. Josh Stein signed the Parking Lot Reform and Modernization Act, or North Carolina House Bill 369, into law. It’s one that has gained support from both sides of the aisle and from both developers and environmental advocates. The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, but will not include coastal counties.

The law removes parking minimum requirements for developments and allows local governments to offer incentives, including tax breaks, to developers who add stormwater controls beyond those required by statute.

“This is a huge win for our river and for the environment by reducing unnecessary impervious surface and improving water quality,” Ryan Carter, policy director for the Catawba Riverkeeper, announced on social media when the bill passed.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/ac8628

A new North Carolina law will eliminate parking minimums while addressing stormwater runoff, bringing new flexibility for development and more environmental protections.

09/07/2026

Burke County health officials are providing preventive rabies treatment to people who attended a private event in Burke County near Hickory after three goats from a mobile petting zoo tested positive for the disease.

No human cases have been identified, but officials are still attempting to reach everyone who may have had contact with the animals.

According to Burke County Public Health, the petting zoo was present at a private event Aug. 9 on Miller Mills Road in the part of Hickory which extends into Burke County. BCPH declined to release other information about the event.

“This was the only known location where the mobile petting zoo visited within Burke County, and no cases of human rabies have been identified in Burke County,” said Burke County Public Health Educator Samantha Simmons.

Citing “privacy considerations,” Simmons said Burke County Public Health will not release the number of individuals who contacted the department or received treatment, but she said post-exposure rabies vaccination has been provided to individuals who reported attending the event.

Read the full article in the Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/323977

Burke County health officials are providing preventive rabies treatment to people who attended a private event in Burke County near Hickory after three goats from a mobile petting zoo tested

09/06/2026

For decades, College Pharmacy on Malcolm Boulevard in Rutherford College was a hub of community life in the small town.

In addition to friendly and efficient prescription service, the old-style pharmacy had a lunch counter in the back which not only dished up Southern-style breakfast and lunch but ice cream cones as well.

“It was a real gathering place,” said Mayor Yates Jensen. “Everybody went there and that ice cream was a real treat when I was a kid.”

Well, there may not be hot dogs or ice cream available, but the old pharmacy now stands on the cusp of again being a hub of community life as over the next few months it will transform into the Rutherford College YMCA.

Announcement of the expansion into Rutherford College was made last week by the YMCA of Catawba Valley, who said the new Y will be an unstaffed facility which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The YMCA of Catawba County is also the parent organization of The Phifer Family YMCA in Morganton that also provides 24/7 access to its members.

YMCA officials noted that Malcolm Boulevard is one of the most traveled traffic corridors in the region, with an estimated 13,000 people passing the new Y location each day.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/55e338

A new YMCA will open in Rutherford College in January in the site of the old College Pharmacy.

09/06/2026

Morganton artist Roberto Paganuzzi is spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours building a 9/11 memorial on the History Museum of Burke County lawn ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Read his story at thepaper.media.

09/06/2026

Burke County health officials are providing preventive rabies treatment after three goats from a mobile petting zoo tested positive. Officials are trying to identify people who may have been exposed at a private event near Hickory. Details at thepaper.media.

09/06/2026

Around 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, Adrian Anderson entered City Grind in Granite Falls, ordered a coffee, and slid into a booth to discuss what makes her tick.

She’s not a fan of the term “content creator,” but she still fits the description, making time for the interview just before heading over to Dead People’s Stuff Antiques & Emporium in Hudson to film.

The way Anderson — Instagram handle — sees it, she’s a storyteller, and her goal is to shed light on the positive stories of Appalachia.

“We’ve had a lot of hard times here in the Appalachian Mountains,” she said with a thick Southern drawl, her turquoise and silver jewelry glinting under the dim light in the back of the coffee shop. She wore a backward hat, a Willie Nelson T-shirt, and ripped jeans — a look that’s nearly trademark to her videos.

“With the production plants and stuff that we had (in Caldwell County), and furniture leaving, a lot of people look down and think that we’re just this horrible, depressing place. But there’s so much light here and so much good in the people. That’s why I like telling stories. … It provides a lot of people a sense of home, even people that moved away.”

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/ab9d1b

Around 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, Adrian Anderson entered City Grind in Granite Falls, ordered a coffee, and slid into a booth to discuss what makes her tick.She’s not a

09/06/2026

The former College Pharmacy in Rutherford College is getting a new life. A YMCA is coming to the Malcolm Boulevard property, bringing a new community use to a building that was once a local gathering place. Read more at thepaper.media.

09/05/2026

Thanks to a recent allocation of more than $13.3 million in disaster recovery funds from the state of North Carolina, Morganton could have 144 more affordable apartments by early 2029.

Alongside the N.C. Department of Commerce’s (NCDOC) Division of Community Revitalization and the N.C. Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA), Gov. Josh Stein awarded more than $69 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to 10 projects across Western North Carolina.

The allocation of funds, the governor said, laid the groundwork for 828 apartments across the region to “remain financially accessible to people living in the 828 area code for the next 30 years.”

Of those 10 projects, the 144-unit Leonhardt Landing, developed by Sari & Co. Real Estate Development, received $13,347,500 — which will serve as the first steppingstone toward fully funding the $37.5 million endeavor.

The project will be on the far east side of Morganton in the 1300 block of East Union Street, which also serves as U.S. 70 Business.

Read the full article in The Paper.

https://monkeylink.co/7871ce

Federal and state funding may pave the way for new affordable housing in Morganton.