When I was about 5 — sometime in the early 1970s — a tall, hair-covered, bipedal, ape-man walked across the TV screen and into my imagination.  He’s lived there, rent-free, ever since. …

To say that the deck is stacked against unaffiliated candidates in North Carolina is to engage in profound understatement. Consider: Joe Schmoe is an unemployed 30-something who has no higher …

For those interested, we are in the midst of the NFL playoffs and championship games. Except for the Only-On-Peacock fiasco, the games have been good viewing. I got a close-up glimpse of the …

A couple of months ago the staff at The Paper wrote an article about the proposed return of passenger rail service to Burke County and the enthusiastic support it has received from Burke residents. A …

I recently returned from Guatemala where I spent close to a month with my family and friends. NCSSM offers about a month-long Winter Break for students to relax and take time away from school to …

The Rev. Martin Luther King was cut down by a single shot from a high-powered rifle on the evening of Thursday, April 4, 1968 – just a few months short of 56 years ago. I was not quite 13 years old …

The bleak winter months of January and February can be dreary and boring, especially just after the frivolity and bustle of the holiday season. Why not choose a winter weekend and take a two- or …

The Valdese Hospital – a wonderful and essential facility not only for Valdese residents but for thousands of other residents in surrounding communities – is the most important benefit of …

My wife, bless her heart, is a glass-half-full kind of gal. Sandra is able to see the positive side of nearly every worrisome situation. Car breaks down? No worries — it needed a tuneup anyway. …

Just glancing at the numbers can make even an optimistic person despair: Only 10 counties out of the 100 in the state had more drug overdose deaths per capita than Burke in 2021, according to the …

TO THE EDITOR: Hear ye, Hear ye! All Burke County residents and N.C. citizens!! We are all being bullied and tricked to board the Mega Titanic. Say no! What is happening all around our state, and …

Susan Hadden has been music director with First Baptist Church of Morganton since the late summer of 2022. She is married to Tommy, who works as a Family Nurse Practitioner with a focus on Functional …

2023 was a very exciting year in economic development for Burke Development Inc.  It started with the much anticipated ground-breaking for Project “It’s About Time;” a 525,000 sq. ft. distribution center …

Social media is a hot topic. The past decade and a half has seen the rapid rise of social media’s influence and harmful side effects. Study after study has shown that social media can and often is …

The bright lights, the gifts, and the gaiety of Christmas now drop away in the rear-view mirror. Also in the past are the lassitude that marks the week between Christmas and New Year’s and the …

My family didn’t exactly have what Burl Ives would describe as a “Holly Jolly Christmas,” but the blessings were abundant, nonetheless. It all started first thing on Thanksgiving Day. My mom …

It’s January, and my Facebook feed is filled with lists my friends are assembling of “12 Books I Want to Read This Year.”  Maybe it’s because, as a journalist, I work with words all day, …

I have already written about my English class and my great teacher, Mr. Fossett, but as our new semester is set to begin, I should review some of my favorite works we have read so far. Required …

At a wedding recently, my husband and I reconnected with some old friends. When I say old, I mean from years ago, high school friends. We are not “old.” We are now middle-aged, late 50s and early …

They, those wise scoundrels, say that the best, most generous gift you can give is your time. Maybe. But I think that if the winner of the $842 million Powerball took the time to endorse his ticket …

When conversation in various circles throughout Burke County focuses on municipal and governmental senior leadership – council, manager, mayor – the topic often, ever-so-gently, turns to the …

No New Year’s resolutions for this old man as 2024 begins. Such resolutions are the stuff of folly, for no matter how well-intentioned the person making the sacred vows to eat better, exercise …

My mother has friends in southern Florida and for decades she has driven herself down there from Morganton for extended stays. 

What makes veterans different? Why do they remember their service days, years, decades, and life times later? Why do you meet a retired person in their 70’s who has held a job ...

On Thanksgiving, I wrote a column of gratitude for various parts of our school system, and now in the spirit of the holiday, I will write a wish list for New Year’s.  Textbooks are a staple of …