The hospital’s charter makes Caldwell Memorial Hospital a nonprofit, so it seeks to have a marginally positive revenue stream to be reinvested back into the hospital. CMH had always been independent and fiercely protective of that status, but hospital officials began to consider whether it could remain independent and still keep that positive revenue stream.
“With a new era of health care, it’s making it more difficult for a free-standing hospital to survive, said Parker Williamson, chairman of the CMH Board of Directors. “We made that determination while we were a strong hospital. The trends of consolidation had been very clear five to six years ago.”
Water and sewer rates will increase by 2.4 percent. That would push the cost of 3,000 gallons of water from $19.95 to $20.45 for an in-town customer. The base charge for sewer services would rise by 35 cents to $12.20.
Electricity rates will rise by 4.7 percent. That jump is the direct result of a 5.2 percent increase levied on the town utility by its power supplier.
Students stole two panther statues from the Hibriten softball field on April 27, according to a Lenoir police report. The statues – which had a total value of $700, according to the report – have since been returned, said Libby Brown, community services director for Caldwell County Schools.
Vandalism also occurred at South Caldwell High School, but that incident wasn’t investigated by police or by the Caldwell County Sherriff’s Office, and Brown declined to comment on the specifics of the incident.
Police say four teenagers, two wearing ski masks and one armed with an assault rifle, forced their way into 72-year-old man's house to rob him Monday, but the man scared them away with shots from his own handgun.
An outdoors group is working to turn an abandoned portion of railroad into a trail that eventually could extend to Morganton and other outlying areas as part of a historic route stretching across the region.
The longstanding plan by Caldwell County Pathways resurfaced at a Caldwell Railroad Commission meeting on Thursday, when a representative reported it is has made progress in seeking legal assistance before converting the decommissioned part of the railroad into a walking and cycling path.
The South Caldwell softball team saw its season come to an end after dropping a 5-2 decision to Olympic in the second round of the 4A state playoffs on Tuesday in Charlotte.
The second-seeded South Caldwell Spartans claimed an 8-2 victory over arch-rival Hibriten in the first round of the Northwestern 3A/4A Conference baseball tournament on Tuesday in Sawmills.
The South Caldwell golf team claimed the Northwestern 4A Conference championship after shooting a season total of 1,914. Hibriten earned second place in the 3A division with a total score of 1,906.
South Caldwell's Dylan Mathewson took home two conference championships in the 1600 Meter Run and the 3200 Meter Run at the Northwestern 3A/4A Conference championships on Thursday at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory.
The Spartans claimed a fourth place finish in both the boys' and girls' divisions, while the Hibriten boys earned third place and the girls finished seventh. The Panthers took home a total of five conference championships and South earned three.