COVID Relief Available

Most NC families with children received an automatic 335-dollar COVID-19 relief payment last fall to help with virtual schooling and childcare costs.

Eligible families who did not receive those funds have another chance to apply through May 31^st 2021.

The 335-dollar payments are for individuals with a dependent child who was 16 or younger at the end of 2019.

For those who did not file a 2019 state tax return because gross income for the year did not exceed the state’s filing requirements for their filing status may still be eligible for the payment if applied for by May 31^st.

If you have already received the grant, you are not eligible to re-apply.

The State Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging families who have not already done so to take action before the deadline.

Go to ncdor.gov/extracredit for details and to apply.

Chase

A vehicle chase through three counties Wednesday evening leads to a wreck and to the arrest of a Burke County man.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m., Lincoln County officers attempted to stop a car that had been reported as stolen from Caldwell County.

As a deputy pulled in behind the car, reports say the driver accelerated leading officers into Cleveland and Burke Counties.

Deputies lost sight of the vehicle on Pine Ridge Drive in Burke and began a search of the area.

Authorities later discovered the vehicle’s driver had fled on foot after leaving the car on Pine Mountain Drive.

A resident of the area reportedly told lawmen a man had walked out of the woods and offered to pay for a ride out of the area.

Deputies shortly thereafter found the man hiding underneath a bridge and took him into custody.

The suspect identified as 34-year-old Stephen Brett Dellinger of George Hildebran School Road was charged with fleeing to elude arrest, possession of a stolen vehicle, and driving while license revoked.

He was also served with outstanding warrants from Catawba County for failure to appear on shoplifting and larceny charges.

Dellinger was jailed in Lincoln County under a 19-thousand dollar secured bond.

The Burke County Sheriff’s Office assisted Lincoln authorities in the incident.

Knife Dispute

A domestic dispute in McDowell County Wednesday results in weapon charges for a Marion man.

Just before 11 pm, deputies were called to the dispute on Hankins Road involving 28-year-old Jacob Channing Cable and a 70-year-old man.

Reports say Cable brandished a knife and cut the man on the chest causing minor injuries.

Additionally, Cable broke a door and windows in the home.

He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, injury to real property, and second-degree trespassing.

City Walk Bridge

The second set of wooden arches for Hickory’s City Walk pedestrian bridge is scheduled to be installed this weekend.

The work will close NC 127 between First Avenue Southeast and First Avenue Northeast from 6 am Saturday through 6 am next Monday.

Detours will be clearly marked and motorists are urged to use Fourth Street and the one-way pairs to navigate around the closure.

For information about the City Walk project, visit craftinghickory.com.