Burke County's own South Mountains State Park has been named the state's '2017 Park of the Year' by the Division of Parks and recreation. The park was chosen for its exemplary contribution to the state parks mission of stewardship, public service, and education. It was specifically recognized for work that went above and beyond in fighting the Chestnut Knob fire in 2016. Fire-fighting efforts caused 97 park staff members to work over 3700 hours over the course of three weeks. The fire caused the park to be closed for two months. South Mountains State Park was established in 1975 with just over 5500 acres and has since grown to 20,871 acres to become the largest in the system.

A Rutherford County woman has been accused of passing a stolen check at a McDowell County convenience store. 47-year-old Celeste Marie Downing of Forest City was charged with obtaining property by false pretense. Reports with the McDowell County Sheriff's Office say Downing passed the check at Samir's on US 70 East in Nebo. An investigation showed the check had been stolen from Ross Skid Products in December.