Area News

Alexander County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hefner announced Tuesday, November 1, along with County Sheriff Chris Bowman, the receipt of a state grant to help fund school resource officers (SROs) at the district’s elementary schools. Currently, the district receives funding for one officer that splits time between Hiddenite and Stony Point elementary schools. The goal…

In Alexander County Superior Court this week, one of three defendants was sentenced in the grisly 2019 shooting deaths of Chad Lee Kennedy, age 38, and Mark Jefferson “Jeff” Furey, age 57. Defendants in the case are Adam Thomas Morgan, Robert Bryan Hoover, and Brandy Lynn Miller. Adam Thomas Morgan, then age 20 (now 24)…

On Wednesday, November 2, 2022, Carol Henry Maloney, III, age 41 of Grover, NC, was arrested and charged with five counts of Statutory Rape and five counts of Sexual Activity by a Substitute Parent.  Maloney was arrested in Cleveland County and transported to the Alexander County Detention Center, where he was placed under a $400,000…

Ms. Savanna Herman, of Taylorsville, is a sixth grade teacher at West Wilkes Middle School. She was recently named Wilkes County Schools 2022-2023 Beginning Teacher of the Year and she will compete for the NCCAT Beginning Teacher of the Year award. She is shown with Wilkes County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Westley Wood. Savanna is…

Alexander County Schools announces Wittenburg Elementary School principal Ashley Weber is moving to a coaching position with the state to focus on early literacy. Weber has been with Wittenburg since June of 2021. The Department of Public Instruction position is one North Carolina has put in place in each county to help with early reading…

Stony Point Volunteer Fire Department held their Fifteenth Annual Cruise-In and 65 Years of Service at the department on Saturday, October 8, 2022. After being unable to hold the Cruise-In due to Covid-19, there was a wonderful showcase of cars, trucks and motorcycles that were welcomed and filled the department’s parking lot. In lieu of…

By ANGELA FARR KING The energy at Hiddenite Elementary School was electric on Friday, October 21. The students and staff were decked out in mostly black and gold, which are the favorite colors of their principal, Mrs. Amy Daigle, due to her love of Appalachian State University. Alexander County Schools has been celebrating and honoring…

(updated October 24, 2022) On Monday, October 17, 2022, during a jury trial in Alexander County Superior Court before Judge Marvin Pope, former Taylorsville resident Larry D. Holland was found not guilty on two counts of Felony Indecent Liberties With A Child. Holland was represented by attorney Robert Campbell, while Assistant District Attorney Regina Mahoney…

Early Voting Numbers for Oct. 20, 2022, the first day of early voting in Alexander County, are as follows, according to Patrick Wike, Alexander County Board of Elections Director: • Ballots Cast at Alexander Senior Center: 438 • Ballots cast at Bethlehem Community Fire/Rescue Dept.: 345 • Ballots Cast at Hiddenite Fire Dept.: 152 •…

By MICHAEL HARRISON For Krystiyan Rudenko [not her real name], the Russian invasion of Ukraine is more than world news, or even world history. It is her story, and now, forever a part of her history. Living in Kiev, the daughter of a Baptist minister, the future became ominous for Krystiyan, as it did for…