Plans are announced for a mixed-use development in Downtown Hickory. City Council approved Tuesday, a $19 million upscale six-story complex, being constructed by One North Center,LLC. This multi-family dwelling will offer ground-level commercial space for retail, restaurant and business tenants along with secure underground parking.The development will be located at the intersection of Main Avenue Northwest and North Center Street.

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The State Highway Patrol will hold a graduation ceremony for the 148th Basic Patrol School Saturday morning at 10, at Colonial Baptist Church on Tryon Road in Cary. Among the graduates are McDowell County resident Garrett Metcalf, who will be assigned to the Burke Station and Bryson Bowman of Caldwell County, assigned to the Gaston Station. The graduates completed 27 weeks of training.

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Enrollment at Western Carolina has hit a record, with more than 12,000 students this fall. This marks the eighth time out of the past nine years that the number of students at WCU has risen. The increase, in part, is due to growth in distance education and graduate student populations and a surge of returning undergraduates.

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An investigation continues into a fatal two-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle. Just after 10:30 Tuesday morning, Asheville Police responded to 511 Smokey Park Highway, where the wreck occurred involving a Yamaha motorcyle and a Toyota Scion. 47-year-old Jimmy Robert Jensen of Mars Hill, the motorcyle operator, died at Mission Hospital. An initial investigation indicates that Jensen was traveling west on the highway when he struck the Scion. Anyone with information is asked to call 252-1110 or CrimeStoppers at 255-5050.

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Work on a bridge replacement in Alexander County can begin as early as mid-September. NCDOT recently awarded a $560,000 contract to R.E.Burns and Sons of Statesville to replace a bridge on Herman Road. Bridge work should wrap up by September 2020, with vegetation and landscaping work to continue into March 2021. Both approaches to the bridge washed out during heavy storms in early June.

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