LATEST NEWS

A local World War II veteran is celebrating a major milestone on a somber day.

The Catawba County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to increase breakfast prices from $1.35 to $1.50 to cover food and labor costs. The increase will directly affect schools that do not fall under Community Eligibility Provision or Universal Free Breakfast. These schools include Bandys High, Challenger Early College, Fred...

Flavia Dietrich came before the Catawba County Schools Board of Education to share quotes from a text depicting incest, in which a father impregnates his daughter. She followed with a sexually explicit passage from the same book. Dietrich used quotes from Genesis 19:35 and Ezekiel 23:30 to demonstrate the importance...

The Catawba County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted the budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Monday, setting the tax rate at 39.85 cents per every $100 of value. That rate is slightly below the revenue neutral rate of 39.95 cents. A revenue neutral rate brings in the same amount of revenue as the previous year while also factoring in growth.

NEWTON — Eat, Drink and Be Local is an annual weeklong celebration of local food in Catawba County featuring cooking demonstrations at the farmers markets, farm tours, workshops, presentations and a farm feast at Raising Roots Farm. Buying local food helps to keep dollars in our community, preserves farmland...

A joint investigation by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office ended in the arrest of two people on Tuesday.

NEWTON — The Rotary Club of Newton Conover has again partnered with Little Mountain Kart Club to offer Racing for Rotary. The event will be held Saturday, June 10, at Little Mountain Kart track, 3521 N.C. 16 South in Maiden. Racing for Rotary is a family-friendly event that offers...

Burke, Catawba, Alexander and Caldwell counties are all under a red alert today for air quality. The alert was issued by the state Department of Environmental Quality and was in response to what the state says are rapidly rising levels of fine particle pollution attributed to smoke from active wildfires in Canada.

Instruction: For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. If on or near Lake Norman, get away from the water and move indoors or inside a vehicle. remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles from the parent thunderstorm. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not be caught on the water in a thunderstorm. Please report damaging winds, hail, or flooding to the National Weather Service by calling toll free, 1, 800, 2 6 7, 8 1 0 1, or by posting on our Facebook page, or Tweet it using hashtag nwsgsp. Your message should describe the event and the specific location where it occurred.

Instruction: If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. A strong thunderstorm has been detected by Doppler radar 5 miles northwest of Statesville, affecting areas of eastern Catawba, southeastern Alexander, and northwestern Iredell Counties until 8:30 PM EDT. The storm may cause wind gusts of up to 40 mph, which could result in fallen tree limbs and damage to unsecured outdoor objects. Pea-sized hail is also expected. Locations likely to be affected include Statesville, Stony Point, Claremont, Catawba, Lookout Shoals Lake, Lake Norman State Park, Lake Norman, Scotts, Oxford, and Bandys. The maximum hail size is predicted to be 0.25 inches, with a maximum wind gust of 40 mph.

Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Feed | Omny Studio. Three generations of the Harris family have served with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Department. Christian Harris, left, recently graduated from extensive Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) at Catawba Valley Community College. He is now employed as a deputy with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Department. Christian’s father, Rodney Harris, right, is a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office and serves as the department’s training co-coordinator. Ron L. Harris, center, is the father of Rodney and grandfather of Christian. Ron was sworn in as a special auxiliary deputy with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office in September of 1970 by then Sheriff T. Dale Johnson. Ron has continuously remained with the department as a reserve officer. On Sept. 29, Ron will have been associated with the sheriff’s office for 53 consecutive years. Currently he is on the inactive reserve list.

NEWTON — The Catawba County Library, in partnership with the Backpack Program and the Community Kitchen of The Corner Table, will provide weekly lunch-and-library sessions at 111 Herman Sipe Road in Conover, near Oak Grove Mobile Home Park. The Library to Go will offer books and resources as you enjoy a free, hot meal on-site. Everyone is welcome to attend.

NEWTON — The Catawba County Federation of Republican Men has invited Jeff Boldon, a Conover certified public accountant, to speak on the status of the Social Security System at its June 8 meeting. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., with an optional order-from-the-menu meal at 6 p.m., at...

Three people from Hickory face criminal charges after an early-morning traffic stop Tuesday, the Catawba County Sheriff's Office said.

ɴᴇᴡᴛᴏɴ, ɴ.ᴄ. – On Tuesday, May 30th, Narcotics Investigators with Burke and Catawba County Sheriff’s Offices arrested two people suspected of trafficking in narcotics. Narcotics seized during this investigation include 46.41 grams of fentanyl, 52.17 grams of methamphetamine, 13 grams...

NEWTON — Eastern Catawba Cooperative Christian Ministry Inc., a nonprofit crisis assistance ministry, announced that it was given the Agency Partner Award through Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. “Last year ECCCM gave out 1.7 million pounds of food,” said Executive Director Kristal Manning. “This number will only increase...

NEWTON — Members of 4-H from Catawba County recently participated in the NC Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program (WHEP) held at Pee Dee National Wildlife Reserve in Wadesboro. Catawba County team members were Selah and Uriah Sigmon and Nathaniel and Olivia Moritz. The team is coached by Emily Kanupp, 4-H...