Independent local coverage for Catawba County, Hickory, Newton, and Conover.
Latest local news
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Capital Automotive Group buys Cloninger Ford of Hickory and Morganton
Capital Automotive Group of Raleigh says it has acquired Cloninger Ford of Hickory and Cloninger Ford of Morganton.
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Commissioner candidates open League forum at Newton library
The League of Women Voters of Catawba Valley hosted Catawba County commissioner candidates Thursday at the Newton library. Catawba First News counted about 60 people, the publisher’s count, not an official headcount.
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League of Women Voters sets Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 candidate forums in Newton
The League of Women Voters of Catawba Valley says every candidate for county commissioner and the Catawba County Schools board is scheduled for public forums Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 at the main library in Newton.
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County hires Virginia Annable as communications and marketing director
Catawba County has hired Virginia Annable, a longtime local journalist and editor, as communications and marketing director in the County Manager’s Office. She starts Oct. 19.
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Catawba County notices warn Social Security numbers, health data may have been exposed in 2025 cyber incident
Letters dated Sept. 15 say names, Social Security numbers, medical and health insurance details, and ID numbers may have been exposed when someone got into county computer systems between Sept. 12 and 19, 2025. The county has a toll-free line for questions: 866-898-7846.
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Commissioners award $1.5M livestock education facility bid, $917K landfill expansion engineering
NEWTON — Catawba County commissioners used their Sept. 21 consent agenda to move two capital projects forward: a livestock education building bid just over $1.5 million, and nearly $918,000 in engineering work for the next cell at the Blackburn landfill. The Board of Commissioners met at the Justice Center, called the session to order at…
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County posts draft Unified Development Ordinance overhaul; Planning Board and commissioners still to vote
NEWTON — Catawba County has published a draft rewrite of its Unified Development Ordinance — the rulebook that governs zoning, subdivisions, development standards, and floodplain rules in county-regulated areas — and is moving that draft toward Planning Board and Board of Commissioners review. A Sept. 11 county news post says the update process began in…
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Flagship Healthcare buys Graystone Eye’s Hickory medical campus in company’s largest single-asset deal
HICKORY — Charlotte-based Flagship Healthcare Properties says it has bought the medical office building and ambulatory surgery center anchored by Graystone Eye on Century Place Southeast — the largest single-asset purchase, by price, in the history of its private REIT. In a Sept. 14 company announcement, Flagship said the Class A campus at 2424 Century…
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Burke County posts Project Ice Bear incentives for unidentified manufacturer
MORGANTON — Burke County has put a formal public-hearing notice on the books for an economic development package aimed at an unidentified manufacturer code-named Project Ice Bear.
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Ernest Health plans freestanding rehab hospital in Hickory as part of six-site North Carolina push
HICKORY — A national rehabilitation hospital operator says Hickory is one of six North Carolina markets where it has already locked down land for freestanding inpatient rehab hospitals — its first footprint in the state.
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Newton’s Corriher apartments move into construction on former implement block
NEWTON — Downtown Newton’s long-planned mixed-use project on the old Corriher Implement Co. block is moving into construction, bringing roughly 100 apartments and a restaurant anchor one block west of Courthouse Square. The project is called The Corriher, named for the farm-equipment supplier that once occupied the site at Ashe Avenue and A Street. Development…
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Commissioners terminate Wanzl incentives after company misses jobs and investment marks
Catawba County commissioners unanimously terminated a December 2023 economic development agreement with Wanzl North America after the company missed investment and job targets. Vice Chair Austin Allran made the motion. The county paid $0 under the deal.
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Jackson seeks separate Duke rate class so data centers pay their share
AG Jeff Jackson asks the Utilities Commission for a separate Duke Energy rate class for data centers and other large loads, so households are not left paying for AI-era megawatts.
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Census: 2025 median household income hits series high as official poverty nears a historic low
Census: 2025 real median household income hits $87,460, highest since 1967. Official poverty falls to 10.2% — near a series low, with child and Hispanic rates at historic lows.
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AI-native robots are coming for the factory floor — and Catawba is already building the plants
Cheaper AI-native industrial robots and a tight labor market are pushing U.S. factories to automate — including in Catawba County, where fiber, cable, and industrial reuse projects already define the next manufacturing map.
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Former Kroehler plant in Conover draws Forsite industrial redevelopment
Forsite Development is marketing the former Kroehler Furniture plant in Conover for industrial reuse after a reported $12 million purchase.
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Hickory PD launches Flock license-plate camera transparency portal
Hickory Police said it launched a Flock Safety transparency portal showing ALPR retention, sharing, queries, camera counts, alerts, and policy summaries.
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Hickory City Council meets tonight on annexing Catawba River education-center land
Hickory City Council meets tonight on a voluntary annexation of about 24 acres for the planned Catawba River Environmental Education Center, plus related CREEC grant and survey items.
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North Carolina cracks the top 10 for innovation capacity
North Carolina ranks ninth nationally for innovation capacity in the 2026 Tracking Innovation report — its first top-10 finish — with Catawba County’s fiber and tech projects part of the “every region” story.
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Prysmian breaks ground on $1B Claremont expansion
Prysmian broke ground Sept. 10 on its more than $1 billion Claremont campus expansion — 385 jobs, new glass capacity, and a 2030 buildout target.
