Renata Crawley has been selected as the 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year for McDowell County Schools.

Crawley currently teaches Science and English Language Arts in 5th grade at West Marion Elementary. She was most recently a recipient of the prestigious Burroughs Wellcome Award for Science and Math Teachers. Also announced Friday, was Mary Ann Basney as the Secondary Teacher of the Year. She teaches 7th grade math at East Middle.

All of the 14 McDowell County School winners were honored Thursday night at the annual Teacher of the Year Celebration.

The longtime director of Hickory Parks and Recreation has announced his retirement.

Mack McLeod will retire on June 1st after more than 37 years with the City of Hickory.

McLeod began his career with the city as Assistant Recreation Director at the original Highland Recreation Center in 1982, and was appointed as Hickory's Parks and Recreation Director in 1998.

Applications are being accepted for the Hickory Fire Department's Citizens' Fire Academy.

The Fire Academy is an 8-week course offered to adults who either live or work in the City of Hickory.

Participants will learn about equipment, services, and duties of the Hickory Fire Department and how it serves the city.

The course meets on Thursday nights from 6:30-8:30, beginning September 5th, at Hickory Fire Station #7.

Applications can be found at www.HickoryNCgov or at any Hickory fire station. For additional information, call 323-7420.

A two-day manhunt for a Catawba County murder suspect came to an end Thursday afternoon in Transylvania County.

Just before 2 o’clock, Transylvania Sheriff’s deputies captured Joseph Wayne Barker in Rosmam.

Barker is accused of the shooting death of his 43-year-old wife Crystal Johnson Barker Tuesday night at their Vale residence.

A Catawba County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson reports their two teenage children were inside the house when the shooting occurred.

Barker reportedly led authorities on a manhunt following the incident, wrecking his vehicle early Wednesday morning near Rosman.

Multiple agencies assisted in the search – including Transylvania County authorities, the US Marshals Service, SBI, and the NC Highway Patrol.

During the month of April, a string of armed robberies has plagued Hickory businesses.

Hickory officers have responded to three separate incidents of armed robbery, believed to have been committed by the same suspect.

In each instance, the suspect enters the business, produces a handgun, demands money, and flees on foot after obtaining the money.

Businesses targeted include the Cubbard Express on 2^nd Street Northeast on April 2^nd, Speedway on North Center Street April 11^th, and Walgreens on North Center Street April 18^th.

The suspect in all three robberies is described as being a tall slender black male wearing a dark hoodie.

Hickory Police is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.

Anyone having information is encouraged to call Hickory Police at 328-5551.

A Marion man was airlifted following a motorcycle accident on Interstate-40 in Burke County Wednesday afternoon.

55-year-old Robert Alan Wells told Highway Patrol officials he got on the interstate headed west at Exit 94, but doesn’t remember what caused the mishap.

Reports say Wells was ejected from his bike more than 53 feet, landing in the eastbound lane.

He was initially taken to Carolinas Med Center Morganton, but later airlifted to Mission Hospital in Asheville.

Reportedly, no other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Burke EMS, West End Fire and Rescue, Burke REACT, and Nebo Fire assisted the state highway patrol on scene.

A McDowell County pair is arrested on the scene of an attempted truck theft.

32-year-old Kayla Michelle Crowder of Marion and 41-year-old James William Effler of Old Fort are each charged with two counts of injury to personal property and one count of larceny of a motor vehicle.

McDowell deputies responded to Old Glenwood Road March 26^th in reference to a disturbance.

They located Crowder and Effler on the scene of Richard Shoupe’s property.

Shoupe and other witnesses told officers the couple had been caught trying to steal Shoupe’s Ford truck.

Officers discovered the two had caused damage to the truck and to another piece of equipment.

The City of Morganton’s Community Appearance Advisory Commission announces there is a new tree at the corner of Collett Street and North King Street just in time for Arbor Day.

The commission requested that the sugar maple be planted in early spring.

The tree is dedicated to Bill Allman – a longtime member of the Community Appearance Advisory Commission.

Allman has served on countless other boards and commissions.

The City of Lenoir has received a 300-thousand dollar grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help clean up a blighted property in town.

The property sits at the corner of Virginia Street and College Avenue in Lenoir and contains remnants of an old furniture plant.

City Council has accepted the grant and has authorized the city’s matching funds of 250-thousand dollars in a meeting held today.

The 15-acre site was home to a furniture plant for more than 100 years.

City officials say the property is in a good location, but developers aren’t very interested given the uncertainty of its condition.

The funds will assist in site clean-up to prime it for re-development.

A motorcyclist in Marion is found with a gun and methamphetamine.

39-year-old Roy Holmes Hendley the third of Beaman Road was charged by McDowell officers with meth possession and carrying a concealed weapon.

Hendley was pulled over, reports say, for not having a tag.

A search of Hendley and his belongings turned up a handgun and a small amount of meth.

After firing in the direction of police officers, a Taylorsville man has been arrested.

49-year-old Robert Anthony Watts is charged with two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official and four counts of misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Officers responded to the Watts residence after receiving reports of a dispute between neighbors.

Reports say authorities knocked on the door whenever a shot was fired in their direction.

Watts reportedly came outside the home, armed with a rifle, and ordered lawmen to leave his property.

A news release states he also made threats to kill the officers.

According to reports, Watts eventually put his weapon down after initially refusing to; but grabbed the gun again as officers entered the house to apprehend him.

No injuries were reported.

He was transported to the Alexander County Detention Center and placed under a 500-thousand dollar secured bond.

The investigation continues and more charges are pending.

A tornado was confirmed to have touched down Friday afternoon in Alexander County near Hiddenite.

The National Weather Service damage survey team confirmed Saturday, that the path of the tornado was short, but the estimated maximum wind speed was 90 mph.

The wind was strong enough to peel part of a metal roof off a barn and loft the metal pieces some distance. Other damage was limited to trees.

The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authoritity approved grant requests on Friday, including two in the existing building category in Burke and McDowell Counties.

A $312,000 grant in Burke County will support the expansion of a building occupied by Marves Industries, a manufacturer of non-woven fabrics, accoustical materials, felt and composite materials. The company plans to add 10,000 square feet to the facility, while creating 25 jobs and investing more than 1.8 million dollars in this projcet.

In McDowell County, a $150,000 grant will support the renovation of a 343,000-square-foot building occupied by Buechel Stone, a fabricator of natural stones for the commerical and residential markets. The project is expected to create 12 jobs with an investment of almost 1.4 million dollars by the company.

The State Department of Public Safety is advising citizens to prepare for hurricane season, which begins June 1st.

Steps that you can take to prepare your family, home and business include:

* Create an emergency communication plan with your family.

* Build an emergency kit for home, work and in the car.

* Check your insurance coverage.

* Know your community's evacuation plan.

* Stay informed about current conditions.

* Download an emergency weather app on your phone and purchase a weather radio.

* Keep inportant documents in a weatherproof container to take with you.

Go to ReadyNC.org for more information.

A Burke County pair is hit with drug charges following an April 5^th arrest.

State probation and parole officers were conducting an investigation on Smawley Street when officers spotted a suspect vehicle.

Officers approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, 33-year-old Kyle Blackburn Brown of 2200 US 70 Wesr Morganton.

28-year-old Crystal Marie Hughes of 2309 US 70 West Morganton was a passenger in the car.

A news release states Brown was currently on probation in Burke.

Probation officers with assistance from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office narcotics detectives searched Brown’s vehicle and located multiple controlled substances.

Brown was then arrested for felony possession of heroin and meth; and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hughes was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia as well.

Brown was issued a 25-thousand dollar secured bond; while Hughes is secured at 1-thousand.

Brown’s court date is set for April 29^th; Hughes is May 1^st.

Both were jailed at the Burke Catawba District Confinement Facility.

An exceptional children teacher at Freedom High School has been named Burke County Public Schools teacher of the year for 2019.

Meghan Welty received the award and is in her seventh year of teaching and her fourth year at Freedom High.

At Freedom, Welty co-chairs the Exceptional Children Department and is on the leadership team and school improvement team.

Her peers voted her teacher of the year in 2017 also.

The Board of Education will recognize Welty and all school-level teachers of the year at the May 13^th meeting.

Welty is now eligible for the regional teacher of the year.

Just after 12 am Thursday, Hickory Police were called to Walgreens at 2915 North Center Street to a reported armed robbery.

Reports say the suspect entered the store, displayed a handgun, and demanded money.

After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect reportedly fled on foot.

He is described as being a tall, slender black male who was wearing a black hoodie, black shoes and a red bandana.

Anyone having information about this morning’s incident should call Hickory Police at 328-5551.

The investigation continues.

McDowell authorities discover fugitives and drugs during a traffic stop.

39-year-old Taniese Eleanor Wallace of Burnsville was charged with possession of meth, and also served with outstanding warrants for trafficking in meth, possession of meth and possession with intent to sell and deliver meth.

Wallace was reportedly a passenger inside a vehicle stopped by officers for not having a tag.

Reports say she was wanted as part of a raid on a house on Hicks Chapel Loop in February where she and 45-year-old Steven Milam were charged with having 400 grams of meth and 18 grams of marijuana.

While taking Wallace into custody, deputies found 1-point-5 grams of meth on the suspect.

Another passenger on the car, 35-year-old Barry Lee Sanders Junior of Marion was wanted for breaking, entering, and larceny and was taken into custody.

Sanders allegedly stole vehicle parts valued at 39-hundred dollars from a garage on US 221 North in Marion last January.

Alexander County authorities arrest five people in separate residential raids over the weekend.

A sheriff’s office release says the home of 61-year-old Gary Lynn Combs of Stony Point was raided by deputies and parole officers in a joint operation Friday.

Combs is reportedly on active probation for DWI; an is now charged with two counts of probation violation and keeping a disorderly house.

He received a secured bond of 11-thousand-500 dollars.

25-year-old Chelsy Lynn Combs was arrested during the raid as well.

She is charged with possession of a Schedule-two controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

She was issued a 15-thousand dollar secured bond.

A third person at the home, 22-year-old Tiffany Amber Deel of Statesville was also arrested and charged with resisting arrest, misdemeanor assault on an officer and possession of a Schedule-six controlled substance.

She received a 15-thousand dollar secured bond.

Meanwhile, a second home in the Wittenburg community occupied by 54-year-old Perry Randall Miller was searched.

Miller was on active probation for armed robbery; and now faces several additional felony charges.

He’s held without bond due to this being his third set of felony charges since going on probation.

51-year-old Lisa Whiteside Miller was arrested and charged with firearm possession and drug offenses.

She is being held in lieu of a 50-thousand dollar secured bond.

Hickory law enforcement officials report a third man has been charged in connection with a US 321 restaurant shooting on March 2^nd

Reports say 26-year-old Jalen Tremain Crowell of Hickory was charged with one felony count of discharging a firearm into occupied property at the Waffle House.

Crowell was issued a 5-thousand dollar bond.

Trevin Ali Brown and Phalen Devon Izard both of Hickory were each previously charged in connection with the incident – discharging a firearm into occupied property and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Police reports show Brown was also charged with misdemeanor probation violation.

Investigating complaints of possible drug activity, Burke County narcotic detectives have arrested a Valdese man.

31-year-old Daniel Joseph Chapman of 2929 Shell Lane has been charged with possession of a schedule-two substance.

A news release states detectives located and seized methamphetamine at Chapman’s residence.

Chapman is being held at the Burke Catawba District Confinement Facility under a three-thousand dollar secured bond.

He has a district court date scheduled for Wednesday April 17^th.

Hickory Police investigate a shooting, where a teenage boy died and a 3-year-old boy was hospitalized.

Officers responded Thursday night to the 900 block of 1st Street SW. Both the 16-year-old and 3-year-old were transported to Frye Regional, where the teenager, Devin O'Dariess Lee died from his injuries. The younger boy was being treated for non-life threatening injuries after being struck by shrapnel.

The suspect in the shooting, 17-year-old Zamare Nadja Davidson of Hickory, died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a residence in Burke County. A second suspect, 20-year-old Jonathan Tyler Laxton of Conover, was taken into custody in Burke County and charged with 1 Count of Accessory After the Fact. The incident appears to be the result of a dispute between Davidson and Lee.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Hickory Police at 328-5551.

North Carolina Forest Service Rangers have charged 38-year-old Barry Scott McCoyle of Lytle Mountain Road, with 14 counts of setting fire to woodlands, brush lands and grasslands in the Marion, P.G. and Sugar Hill areas over the past 4 years. McDowell deputies and State Probation officers conducted a search of McCoyles’s residence Tuesday night, and located 20 grams of meth, a handgun and 40 explosive blasting caps. Also assisting in the case were members of the McDowell County Fire Marshal’s Office, SBI, U.S.Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and U.S.Forest Service. Anyone having information concerning roadside fires in McDowell County should call Fire Marshal Craig Walker at 652-4000.

Hickory Police are looking for a suspect from an armed robbery Thursday night, at the Speedway convenience store at 4431 North Center Street.

Police responded just after 10:45, and discovered that the suspect had entered the store, displayed a handgun and demanded money. The suspect left the store after receiving an  undisclosed amount of money.

The suspect description is, a slender-build black male, wearing a black hoodie, black pants, gloves and a mask.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Hickory Police at 328-5551.

High school students are at risk of becoming addicted to nicotine – that according to the state’s department of health and human services following an analysis of vaping devices confiscated from students at seven schools in various parts of NC.

Nicotine- the addictive drug found in cigarettes- was present in 85-percent of e-cigarette and vaping devices analyzed.

Health officials report youth are not always aware that the vaping devices contain nicotine.

One study from 2018 indicates that 11-point-5 percent of teens in the 8^th through 12^th grade perceive they are only vaping flavors without nicotine.

From 2011 to 2017, e-cigarette use by high school students increased nearly 900-percent; and 400-percent among middle school students.

Officials voice concern over the growing use of nicotine by school-age children because human brain development continues until the age of 25; while nicotine can hamper brain development, attention, learning and memory.

Vaping products are not scheduled to be fully regulated by the FDA until August 2022.

Quit-line-NC is the state’s tobacco cessation program which helps people quit e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.

For free help to quit, call 1-800-Quit-Now.

A Hickory man stabbed himself last Thursday while police officers were searching his residence.

Hickory Police had reportedly executed a search warrant at the Arrowhead Drive residence of 29-year-old Vincent Paul Deritis.

Authorities say at some point Deritis gained access to a knife and stabbed himself in the chest.

He has been charged with felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Deritis was transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center for his injury.

He was arrested Sunday after being discharged from the hospital.

Deritis was issued a 50-thousand dollar bond.

In anticipation of spring break and prom season, the Highway Patrol is conducting Operation Drive 

to Live, an annual campaign to reduce collisions involving teen drivers. This week, troopers are 

stepping up their enforcement in and around school zones between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.each day. This 

year, the State Highway Patrol is focusing on distracted driving, one of the leading causes of teen-

related crashes.

District 13 has been awarded  first place in Best Overall Division Wildflower program by NCDOT.

The Wildflower Awards were given to beds that bloomed in 2018. Division 13 includes the counties of Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Yancey, Buncombe and Madison.

The awards, sponsored by The Garden Club of North Carolina, recognize the efforts of NCDOT staff who carry out North Carolina's wildflower program, and enhance the overall appearance and environmental quality of the state's highways.

The District Attorney's Office has a new Web site and Facebook page.

The Web site, BurkeCaldwellCatawbaDA.com, provides information and links to resources for the community and victims.

The Facebook page, BurkeCaldwellCatawbaDA, will be regularly updated with local events and information that will help the public engage with the local law enforcement community, according to a news release from the DA's Office.

A former Catawba County Superior Court Judge was arrested Saturday at an Asheville hotel – charged with a sex offense with a child.

64-year-old Daniel Ray Green Junior of Hickory is charged with one felony count of first-degree statutory sex offense with a child under 15, and one misdemeanor count each of giving fortified spirits to a person under 21, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, and disseminating obscene material to a minor – that according to a statement released by the Asheville Police Department.

Reports state Asheville Police responded to a report of sexual assault of a juvenile at Baymont Inn where Green, a Hickory-based attorney, was taken into custody.

The juvenile is reportedly an acquaintance of Green’s.

A man is apprehended in Lenoir after allegedly stealing truck parts from a Morganton auto dealership.

Morganton Public Safety responded to Everett Chevrolet early last Thursday where they discovered a 2019 Chevrolet truck missing its wheels and tires.

Caldwell County authorities recognized the suspect vehicle from video surveillance as one belonging to Michael Leroy Whisenant.

Reports say Whisenant was located at Walmart in Lenoir with the stolen wheels and tires mounted to his truck.

Upon further investigation, Morganton officers were able to link Whisenant’s vehicle to a prior larceny at Cloninger Ford on Jamestown Road March 13^th.

Whisenant has been charged with felony larceny of motor vehicle parts, felony possession of stolen property, and damage to property.

He is being held in the Burke Catawba Detention Facility under a 25-thousand dollar secured bond.

A McDowell traffic stop results in numerous drug offenses for two Marion men.

Just after 2 am March 8^th, officers stopped a Ford truck at the Pilot truck stop for traffic violations.

39-year-old Rodrigo Valdez was driving, while 32-year-old William Zachary Willis was the passenger.

Both were charged with trafficking and possession of meth, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, and marijuana possession.

A search of the vehicle turned up a handgun, a sawed-off shotgun, 200 grams of meth, 40 grams of marijuana and cash.

A man died after being shot in Shelby Saturday.

Shelby Police reports 35-year-old Tyrand Santrell Hopper was found on West Circle Drive suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Hopper was transported to Atrium Health Cleveland where he later died from his injuries.

No arrests have been made; an investigation continues.

Should you have information regarding the incident, contact Shelby Police at 704-484-6845 or Crimestoppers at 704-481-TIPS.