Walter Johnson Middle School Principal Dr.Brett Wilson has been named the 2016-2017 Principal of the Year. Burke County Public Schools Superintendent Larry Putnam announced Wilson as the Principal of the Year at the school on Tuesday. Putnam treated Wilson to lunch and the two returned to WJMS to find the entire student body outside in the front lawn waiting to congratulate Wilson wit the announcement. Having come from Hildebran Elementary late last year, Wilson is in his first year at Walter Johnson Middle. He is a former math teacher and has been in education since 2003. Wilson came to Burke County Public Schools in 2008 as a teacher before becoming an assistant principal. He earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from N.C.State as well as a master's of school administration and a doctorate in educational leadership from WCU. Wilson resides in Valdese with his wife and three children.

Working through the City of Morganton, the Historic Burke Foundation has been awarded a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $11,100 to repair the cedar shingle roof on the McDowell House at Quaker Meadows Plantation. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is a designated local landmark. The Historic Burke Foundation, Inc. will provide $3,514 in matching funds for the project.

A Caldwell County man is charged with Misdemeanor Larceny Political Sign Violation. According to a news release from the Burke County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Rutherford College Town Wednesday, in reference to a larceny of a political sign. Witnessess told the Sheriff's office that saw a male subject take and drive away with a Donald Trump for President Election political sign from the roadway at the Rutherford College Early Election Poll Site. After an investigation, a deputy was able to obtain a warrant for arrest for 21-year-old Caleb Thomas Eanes of Lenoir, who was taken into custody Saturday, without incident.