Opening Day. Perhaps the two most magical words in the English language. For a diehard baseball fan (look for my picture beside the definition in Webster’s) is more exciting than Christmas, more …

A stabbing, stinging pain in my right hip awakened me from a sound sleep Monday morning.  I hadn’t injured it. I just slept on it for too long, compressing the nerves, muscle, and bone, into a …

In the long ago summer of 1980, both the late Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr. and his younger sister Eunice Worth Ervin were guests at a luncheon political gathering at Morganton’s Holiday Inn, which at that …

The Rev. John Conrad is the Worship Leader at Mount Home Baptist Church in Morganton. Conrad and his wife, Donna, moved to Burke County in January of 2021 to serve at Mount Home. He grew up outside …

It was called the ‘Sunshine Protection Act'; a bill introduced in 2022 that would have made Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent. Unanimously approved in the Senate, the bill, however, did not pass …

This week's column marks one year since I started my job at The Paper. In this year, many things have changed in my life. From getting accepted to NCSSM, being put on city committees, and winning a …

I was planning on writing a totally different article this week. During my research for this other column, I stumbled upon vouchers. If you read my columns, you probably know that I am not a voucher …

Sometimes, a fella just needs to recharge. I’d been feeling that need for nearly two months, since being felled by COVID for the second time just after the first of the year and returning to work …

TO THE EDITOR: Last week I shared my thoughts on how the cyber attack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of United Health Group, should not have had any affect on a close-knit community like Burke …

TO THE EDITOR: Chances are you don’t remember Chuck Liddy. But chances are if you lived in Burke County in the late 1970s or early 1980s you have one of his photographs tucked away in a scrapbook. …

TO THE EDITOR: We lost a great friend and photographer yesterday. I met Chuck Liddy in 1979. I was already at The News Herald in Morganton, working as a staff photographer, 20 years old and full of …

“ You can teach an old dog new tricks if the old dog wants to learn. ” – Tip O'Neill Valdese came out of an intensive election with a new Town Council majority, in which the entire council …

On the one hand, the results of a comprehensive housing needs assessment presented to the Burke County Commissioners last week were mighty depressing. On the other hand, however, the assessment …

  The future looks bright for Draughn High School senior Maddie Crouch. A gifted athlete on the softball diamond, the Wildcat shortstop will be patrolling the infield at Southern Wesleyan …

“It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.” — J. R. R. Tolkien Una Reep has had a full, interesting life. And don’t get her started on Burke County:  “My people are from here, the …

“This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens presents this Nation with increased opportunities: the opportunity to draw upon their skill and sagacity. It is not enough …

TO THE EDITOR: What is happening to my hometown? Tennis courts donated to the town for recreation; then sold for a fraction of the tax value. When I complained about the courts being sold, I was told …

It was right about this time a year ago when I saw the dadgumdest thing. I was walking in the alley between The Paper’s downtown Morganton office and Wells Fargo on my way to work.  As I …

Hello again, Burke County! As I said in my last column, I hope my name becomes familiar to you as The Paper has agreed to let me keep writing! Only the future will tell if this was a smart decision …

TO THE EDITOR: The Valdese ABC Board is a quasi-governmental body composed of a three-member board of local business leaders who are tasked with oversight and ensuring compliance of the ABC store’s …

Burke County’s reputation as a conservative county just got turned up a notch. If Tuesday’s Republican primary election results are a prime indicator – and we believe they are – Burke County …

Join us for a musical journey as Andrew Finn Magill presents Connections between Irish, Scottish, and Appalachian Fiddling, today, Mar. 9, at 2 p.m. at the Morganton Public Library. Magill is an …

For the last several months, I’ve been pondering the age-old question “Do our pets go to heaven when they die?” My precious cat Lucy is nearing the end of her more than 19-year life because of …

Bruce Ervin is one persistent fella. That is a fact that can be verified by anyone who has worked with him – or against him – on any of a host of community issues in which he has been engaged …

I was reading a review of the movie, "Napoleon," in the New Yorker magazine and admiringly noticed the dramatic illustration accompanying it. Around the same time a friend, Jan Brinkley, mentioned …