Looking back: The Top 10 stories of 2023 in Burke County

It’s a time-honored tradition in the newspaper business on the last day of publication before the beginning of a new year to take a look back at the Top 10 stories of the year coming to its close.

As you will find on today’s front page, and continuing on pages 4A and 5A, we have selected our Top 10 stories for our first 11 months of publication. (Our first edition hit the streets on Saturday, Feb. 4.)

We acknowledge, of course, that it can be difficult to judge the “historical” value and community impact of news stories so soon after they are published. 

The criteria our news staff used in picking our Top 10 stories of the year were pretty simple:

• How much did the events or situation which the story covered impact our community?

• How did you, our readers, respond to the story in terms of readership and in feedback to our staff?

• And finally, how much time and effort did we invest in a story to make sure we covered it comprehensively, fairly, and in the best interests of our community?

Here then are our picks for the Top 10 stories of 2023:

1. The Homeless Situation in Morganton

Senior Reporter Marty Queen really sunk his teeth into this story, devoting nearly a month to explaining the hows and whys of just how big a problem homelessness is and exploring potential solutions to the issue. Community response was overwhelmingly positive.

2. The Sinkhole at the Morganton Post Office

Even before The Paper was launched in February, we heard more talk, more complaints, and more frustration about the sinkhole than about any other issue. We chose to focus on the unresponsiveness of the Post Office and we maintained that focus week after week.

Repairs began in the early autumn and by Thanksgiving the sinkhole was but a memory.

3. The Launch of The Paper

Although The Paper printed its first edition on Feb. 4, the genesis of the dream for a weekly newspaper that focused exclusively on Burke County, its people, its issues, and its stories, blossomed in Publisher Allen VanNoppen’s mind some two decades earlier.

That dream moved close to reality in late 2022 as staff was hired, office space acquired, arrangements made for printing, and basic priorities and focus were finalized. Thank you, Burke County, for the support you have given us.

4. The Valdese Election

Nov. 7 saw the culmination of a bitter and divisive municipal election campaign in Valdese and the election of three new council members – Glenn Harvey, Heather Ward, and Gary Ogle. The trio vowed to bring changes to town government and before they were even sworn in Town Manager Seth Eckard had effectively resigned.

How the new council members will be able to honor their pledge to lower property taxes in Valdese while maintaining existing services will be a big story we’ll be following in 2024.

5. Confederate Monument and Flags

Second only to the sinkhole in terms of community comment before The Paper even launched was the Confederate monument standing so prominently in the very heart of downtown Morganton.

Every member of our news staff was involved in explaining the history of the monument, the legal issues that made its removal unlikely, the story behind the Confederate flags along I-40, and the impact of the monument on downtown businesses.

6. The Impact of Fentanyl

Senior Reporter Marty Queen again tackled a tough and multi-faceted issue. The sale and use of fentanyl in the county is not just a problem for law enforcement. It presents a host of challenges to health care and to social services as well.

7. Brian Epley brings new direction

Brian Epley brought more than a new face to the office of county manager in February – he brought a new vision that focused on economic development, industrial growth, and a new era of cooperation between county commissioners and the board of education.

8. New Campus for Industrial Commons

The Industrial Commons is quite the success story in Burke County with its emphasis on job training and on building new worker cooperatives to help replace the many furniture and textile jobs lost over the past three decades.

That success story took on new dimensions over the course of 2023 with the announcement that TIC will be building a new $46 million campus in Morganton on the site of an old Drexel Furniture Plant.

9. New Cancer Center Opens

Cancer care in Burke County took a huge step forward last summer when UNC Health Blue Ridge opened a $38 million cancer center on the hospital’s Valdese campus.

The center is housed in a new 34,272-square-foot addition to the hospital. It features new Linear Accelerators, infusion therapy, CT Simulator, Superficial X-ray equipment, radiation and chemotherapy exam rooms, consultation area, and private and open treatment spaces.

10. N.C. School of Science and Math Morganton 1st Anniversary

The summer of 2023 marked the completion of the first year for students at the N.C. School of Science and Math’s Morganton campus.

The school opened its doors to 150 juniors from around the state in the autumn of 2022. In the autumn of 2023, the school welcomed another 150 juniors, meaning that the school is now teaching, housing, and feeding about 300 students.

That’s our Top 10 picks. If your picks would be different, feel free to give our Editor Bill Poteat a call at 828-445-8595. And thank you for the opportunity you have given us to be your local newspaper.