Steve Ohnesorge

Across the mountains people seemed excited about the prospect of winter paying a visit.

A domestic situation escalated into violence early Tuesday, says Avery County Sheriff Kevin Frye. When it ended, a woman was dead and her husband was calling 911 to say he did it.

She is especially pained by the fact her little brother and sister were caught up in the events of that night in June and died as well.

It is believed that the three bodies found burned in the bed of the truck are those of 38-year-old Maria Calderon and her boyfriend and friend, Jose Carlos Mendez and Luis Fernando Sanchez.

Several accidents were reported on Interstate 40 at the height of the rain just before 5. Most were cleared up quickly though one accident had the eastbound lanes shut down at mile marker 110 for a time.

The drought is not over but recent rainfall is making life a little easier on some farms.

The warm weather in September and for much of October has kept leaves on the trees and led to a late Fall color season that could stretch into November.

The man arrested for killing Shelby Police Officer Tim Brackeen in 2016 pleaded guilty to the murder in court on Tuesday.

Cool mornings have kick started some leaf color change and experts say that will accelerate in the coming weeks.

Gary Duckworth says it’s been decades since his pastures have been this dry. “There’s just nothing for the cattle to eat, nothing,” he said on Monday.

Investigators on Tuesday declared the fire “suspicious” in nature but stopped short of saying it was arson. They have, however, canvassed the neighborhood looking for information and to see if anyone had surveillance video that might indicate who was in the area.

A helicopter with a 27-foot saw assembly, hanging 90 feet below the chopper itself, was called in. Treeline Helicopters of Virginia have been doing that kind of work for years.

Jury selection is underway for a man accused of killing a Shelby police officer three years ago.

The heat and dry weather lately now has the early soybean crop ready for harvest a couple of weeks early. In a cloud of dust on Thursday, the combines started doing just that.

Lately they have been blamed for food thefts from campgrounds and missing equipment, too.

City of Hickory officials broke ground on the long-awaited City Walk Project and quickly headed to downtown to cut the ribbon on the six-month long Union Square redevelopment project.

Drought conditions hit a peak just as the fall fire season began then and now experts are warning that could happen again this year.

Deputies were called out to Pete Brittian Road just after 8 a.m. when a homeowner said their house was being broken into, with them inside.

Max Martinez’s day started out not so good but ended on a high note. He was traveling with his family from Asheville to the Raleigh area in his pickup loaded with tools for his construction business.

Doctors, according to court paperwork, determined that the child died as a result of “Shaking Baby Syndrome” where brain injuries result.

Cooper and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster spoke at the retreat about cooperation and collaboration to help the business growth in the Charlotte region.

On Tuesday night, they placed 2,977 flags in the pattern of the number 9/11. One flag for each victim of that day.

A missing man, who prompted a multi-agency search when an abandoned car was found Monday night in Burke County, has been located after he reportedly spent two nights in a shed.

A man who authorities describe as “dangerous” escaped from a secure ward at Broughton State mental Hospital in Morganton last month after getting help from a woman who worked there, say police.

The storm did leave water in the streets and tore off the roof of the local car wash and knocked down a few trees. Some homes lost shingles and siding, but that was the extent of damage.

A storm surge of four to seven feet is possible as the hurricane moves just offshore in the next two days.

In addition to the traffic issues, officials are working on the potential trash problem as well.

City officials say crews are working day and night to complete the project and they are so confident they will, that a concert has been scheduled on the site for Sept. 6.

Surveillance video shows the suspect tripping and the officer taking him down as he tried to get up, hitting him several times.

The Avery County Sheriff’s Office is searching Linville for the whereabouts of a Sasquatch...statue.