Morganton Filing

Filing for the City of Morganton council seats will begin at Noon July 26^th.

Open seats up for election are in District 3, currently held by incumbent Chris Hawkins; and in District 4 presently held by incumbent Wendy Cato.

Filing will end at Noon August 13^th.

Hickory FD Scam

Phone scammers are attempting to solicit funds on the behalf of the Hickory Fire Department.

A news release states Hickory Fire ‘is not and does not’ solicit funds for fire safety programs.

The release further states the only fundraiser Hickory Fire participates in each year is the Christmas Bikes for Tykes program through the Catawba County Christmas Bureau and Salvation Army.

Department officials have recently received questions regarding a telephone campaign fundraiser to allegedly benefit Hickory Fire.

Citizens are urged to check the validity of any solicitation related to the Hickory Fire department by calling 323-7420.

Shelby Theft

A man is accused of stealing a car and crashing into a Shelby mall in a robbery attempt Tuesday.

Shelby Police reports say Travis Tuder stole an Audi from a Cleveland County car lot, drove to the mall, and crashed through the glass door entrance.

Video surveillance, reports say, show the suspect getting out of the car, and immediately getting back inside the vehicle to ram through another entrance at Kay Jewelers.

Cameras again showed Tuder breaking glass cases, and getting back into the car and leaving with more than 100-thousand dollars worth of merchandise.

Authorities stopped Tuder in the stolen vehicle following the incident near the mall.

Reports say Tuder confessed to the crime.

He was jailed without bond.