COVID-19 UPDATE

New cases of COVID-19 in Burke County continue to be below 20, as public health officials reported 15 additional positives Friday.

Burke’s total is now at 9-thousand-495 cases; while 376 cases remain active, and 6 residents are hospitalized.

For those who check current statistics on the county’s website at burkenc.org/dashboard, local health officials will be doing some maintenance on the website causing numbers to fluctuate over the weekend.

The maintenance will clean up some of the data while eliminating duplicates to ensure accurate numbers.

Elsewhere, in McDowell County health officials report 10 new cases of COVID-19.

McDowell now has a total of 4-thousand-761 cases, and 117 still in quarantine.

Caldwell County reported 11 new cases Friday for a total of 8-thousand-759, with 17 people in the hospital.

Catawba County Sunday saw an increase of 22 cases of coronavirus for a current total of 17-thousand-251, with 20 patients hospitalized.

Sinkhole Repair

City of Morganton staff were to begin repairing a small part of the sinkhole near Sanford Drive last Friday.

The sinkhole first opened on property of the US post office and reportedly has continued to grow and now threatens infrastructure belonging to the city.

A news release states the repair is not the city’s responsibility; however the growing sinkhole is compromising a sewer main that runs beneath state-maintained Sanford Drive.

The post office, reports say, has informed the city that it will be months before they can repair the sinkhole on their property.

Friday’s repair is a preventive measure to keep the sinkhole from damaging the sewer main.

Morganton plans on requesting reimbursement for the cost of its repairs.

City officials say the necessary repairs are being made to ensure the water and sewer system can continue effectively serving city residents.

Alexander Sex Charges

An Alexander County man is charged with more than 50 counts of secret peeping and nine counts of indecent liberties in connection with an investigation that began last year.

32-year-old Michael Justin Childers was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home, after authorities seized three years of videos reportedly taken between 2016 and 2019.

A continued investigation led to numerous videos being located in Childers’ possession.

He is being held at the Alexander County Detention Center under a 1-point-25 million dollar secured bond.

Childers’ first appearance in court is today.

The investigation is continuing be the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office and Taylorsville Police.

Avery Shooting 

One man is dead after deputies said he attacked his mother and an elderly

neighbor in Avery County late Friday afternoon. Officers were called to

a Maple Street residence in Crossnore about 5:30 where they found a man

shot, a woman stabbed and another person badly beaten. Reports indicate

that an adult son had stabbed his mother, who was able to get away to

a neighbor’s home. The alleged assailant then attacked the neighbor. Other

neighbors intervened and the assailiant was shot and killed. Both the woman

and the elderly neighbor were taken to Cannon Memorial for treatment.

An investigation into the incident is continuing.

Severe Weather Week

Governor Cooper has declared this week as Severe Prepardness Week and

urges citizens to prepare and practice safety plans in case of severe weather.

Spring is the most active season for severe weather. A statewide tornado

drill will take place Wednesday morning at 9:30. Test messages will be

broadcast via the Emergency Alert System on radio and TV and on NOAA

weather radios.