Five additional filings reported Tuesday at the Burke County Board of Elections Office:
Board of Education - Western District - Herbert McDowell
Town of Drexel Alderman - Richard McCall
Town of Glen Alpine Mayor - Danny Warlick
Town of Hildebran Mayor - Virginia "Jennie" Cook
Town of Valdese Council Ward 1 - Gary Delp
Filing continues through Noon Friday July 21st.

A Catawba County man is sentenced to 20 years on child pornography charges. The announcement was made Tuesday by Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S.Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 25-year-old Nathan Matthew Jennings-Townsend of Newton was sentenced in U.S.District Court in Statesville to 240 months in prison. He also was ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

A motorcylist was killed Tuesday near Lake Tahoma in McDowell County. According to News 13, the accident occurred about noon when the motorcylist on Highway 80 crossed the center line in a blind curve and hit a pickup, causing the motorcylist to be pinned underneath the truck. WLOS reported that the motorcylist died at the scene.

The State Bureau of Investigation has learned that the SBI's main phone number 919-662-4500, is being used in a scam asking for money. The public should know that the SBI would never solicit money from a private citizen, according to a news release from the SBI. "Unfortunately there is no way to prevent spoofing of a phone number," said SBI Assistant Director Chris Laws who oversees the agency's Information Technology section. "In the event you receive such a call, simply hang up."