Regional News

Kent had smoked crack cocaine for nearly 20 years.

Gaston County

The Piedmont Percussion Program will give its annual fall concert at 7 p.m. today in the SALT Block auditorium at the Arts and Science Center, 243 Third Ave. N.E., Hickory. The event is free and open to the public.

With their top six scorers returning from last year's squad, which went 19-10 and finished third in Conference Carolinas, it would seem that the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team is poised for a run at a conference title.

What do Ellen Ball and Clayton Joe Young of Hickory, Wyn Flo of Granite Falls, Courtney Long of Morganton, Robert Steadman of Hudson and Susan Taylor and Mark Tomczak of Old Fort have in common?

Belmont

If Karen Coffey's kids are moving slowly before school in the morning, the Belmont mom has to say only one thing: "If you don't hurry, we're not going to get to walk today."

Gaston voters shuffled the political deck in the county's cities and towns Tuesday, getting rid of some old faces, bringing in new ones and reinstalling a few former city officials.

Hickory and Catawba County will expand and upgrade a small sewer plant they own in the Sherrills Ford/Lake Norman area to handle growth and replace aging septic tanks.

Students from Hickory Public Schools, Catawba County Schools and Newton-Conover City Schools were recently selected by audition for All-County Band.