COVID Update

More than 150 new COVID-19 cases in a single day in Burke County as reported by public health officials.

153 cases since Thursday to be exact, with more than 13-hundred cases reported to be active.

Burke’s total cases number 13-thousand-671, with 41 residents remaining hospitalized.

In McDowell County, officials there reported 104 new cases Friday and two additional virus related deaths.

McDowell’s total stands at 7-thousand-319, while 729 are in quarantine.

Governor Cooper spoke Thursday afternoon regarding the state’s current response to COVID-19.

Cooper says the vaccines continue to do their job by stopping most of the severe illness and death; as they remain the best tool to end this pandemic.

The governor went on to address those who are unsure about getting the vaccine to ‘get off social media and get on the phone with your doctor’.

Cooper has also signed an executive order making it easier to get monoclonal antibody treatment by increasing treatment sites.

By preventing COVID-positive patients from developing more severe illness, Governor Cooper says we can save lives and take some of the strain off our hospitals.

Caldwell Drug Arrest

A drug bust in Granite Falls leads to the arrest of five people last week.

A news release from the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office says the alleged nuisance residence that supplied heroin and fentanyl to residents of Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba counties was raided by the Caldwell County SWAT and ICE units on Wednesday.

A search warrant was executed at the home located at 1030 Fence Street.

40-year-old Jarvis McCullough, 24-year-old Michael Davis, 35-year-old Jessica McMahon, and 19-year-old Mikaela Hefner; all four who lived at the home were taken into custody.

All four were each charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin, and maintaining a dwelling to keep and store a controlled substance.

Each was jailed in the Caldwell County detention center under a 30-thousand dollar secured bond.

Another individual not living at the residence, 31-year-old John Gerst was also arrested.

He was charged with possession of heroin and maintaining a vehicle to keep and store a controlled substance.

Gerst was jailed under a 10-thousand dollar secured bond.

Reports say agents searched the Granite Falls home and vehicles on the property and seized 4 grams of heroin and an estimated 8-thousand dollars in currency.

9/11 Anniversary

Saturday marked the 20^th anniversary of the terrorist attack that forever changed our country and the world.

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed, 400 were police officers and firefighters, in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in NYC, at the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and in a plane crash near Shanksville, PA.

 

Passengers aboard United Flight 93, heard about the previous airplane attacks and attempted to retake control of the plane from hijackers. As a result, the hijackers dilberately crashed the plane in a Pennsylvania field instead of at their unknown target.

 

On any given workday, up to 50,000 employees worked in the WTC twin towers, and an additional 40,000 passed through the complex.

18 people were rescued alive from the rubble of the World Trade Center site.

The attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 resulted in the largest loss of life by a foreign attack on American soil.

Fatal Crash

A Clemmons man was killed Thursday afternoon on Interstate-40 in Burke County as he reportedly crashed into a stopped tractor-trailer.

Around 12:30, the State Highway Patrol and emergency officials were called to the accident scene on I-40 west near mile marker 102.

34-year-old Marcus Deal was driving a 2008 Saturn when reports say he left the travel lanes to the right and collided with the tractor trailer that was stopped on the shoulder because of mechanical issues.

Deal died at the scene, and was the only occupant inside the vehicle.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol.