Workers lay fresh asphalt at the intersection of N.C. 115 and Catawba Avenue in downtown Cornelius this week. (David Boraks photo)

Workers this week are building new turn lanes and reconfiguring the intersection of N.C. 115 and Catawba Avenue in Cornelius as they move closer to completion of the Catawba extension. But Cornelius officials say it could late March or early April before the extension is open for traffic across the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks and into the Antiquity Cornelius development. Read the full story

Will the mascot for William A. Hough High be the Huskies, the Hornets or the Wolves?  Those are the three choices offered for a public vote on the school’s new website.

The website was updated to include both mascot and colors options the day after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education upheld its decision to keep the Hough name for the new high school under construction on Bailey Road, set to open in August.  (See our related coverage, “Hough name stays put on new high school“.) Read the full story

Dr. Bill Hough holds a sign showing his support of the school named for his father.

CHARLOTTE – Members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education listened impassively Tuesday night to a parade of speakers on the matter of whether to keep the name of William A. Hough for the new high school under construction on Bailey Road in Cornelius.  The board accepted petitions, heard of a resolution by the Cornelius Board of Commissioners, and then took less than five minutes to vote 7-2 against an attempt to change the one-month-old school name.
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NOTE: Rhonda Lennon of Huntersville, the newly-elected representative for District 1 on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, was sworn-in Tuesday at the Government Center in Charlotte. Her installation ceremony preceded a school board meeting at which she introduced a motion (defeated 7-2) to rescind a prior board vote to name the new high school in Cornelius for William A. Hough (click here to read our coverage). She then joined the minority in an unsuccessful (also defeated 7-2) motion to delay changes to the Myers Park High International Baccalaureate program.

Following is a written version of her remarks at the end of the meeting: Read the full story

Louise McKay

Louise Virginia Wilson McKay, 78, of Mooresville, formerly of Charlotte, died Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 at Genesis Healthcare. A funeral is planned Thursday. Read the full story

Cameron Regnard Stewart

Davidson police are seeking help finding a 19-year-old Davidson man who is wanted on a variety of domestic abuse and other charges. Cameron Regnard Stewart is free on $8,100 bond, and is believed to be in the Davidson or Cornelius area.

Davidson police Detective Steve Ingram said Mr. Stewart has a history of violence, and is considered dangerous. “We’re really trying to get this guy into custody. It’s getting volatile,” Mr. Ingram said Monday. Read the full story

Jorge Cruz

NOTE: Davidson resident Gloria Lawing has provided these thoughts about the death of Davidson resident Jorge Fiscal Cruz, who died Nov. 26 of injuries suffered when he was hit by a car Nov. 18. She is helping to raise a memorial fund. Details at the end of the article.

BY GLORIA LAWING

They come in droves, crossing the Arizona Desert or the Rio Grande at night, hoping and praying for survival, for the slightest chance at their share of the American Dream. They come to build a home in their country and to allow their children to study, providing for better opportunities than they themselves received, forced to leave school after sixth grade in order to work and raise younger siblings.

The plan is simple: Arrive in the country, work a few years, and wire almost all of their money home. Life is not easy for these immigrant men. Many times their bosses rent homes that house eight men or more. They work together in restaurants without even a lunch break, go home together, and occasionally are given days off – sometimes after working two or three consecutive weeks. These days off are the only times that they have to go to the Mexican grocery stores in order to send money orders home. But what happens when things don’t go according to plan?
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Jorge Cruz

Jorge Fiscal Cruz, of San Andres Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico, died Nov. 26, 2009,  of injuries suffered when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle on North Main Street in Cornelius Nov. 18. He was on his way to the Mexican grocery store to send money home to his family.

Read more about the life and death of Jorge Cruz in a commentary by family friend and translator Gloria Lawing of Davidson, CLICK HERE>

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