The Metropolitan Transit Commission’s Red Line Task Force is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte, where members will get updates on the proposed rail project and on revisions to the draft business and finance plan, and discuss plans for new station in Charlotte and a relocated station in the Mount Mourne area, south of Mooresville. Read the full story

Davidson College’s Environmental Action Coalition will present “Greenstock,” an environmental festival on Saturday, March 31, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., outside Davidson College Alvarez College Union.

The festival will include music by Davidson students, food from the Healthy Home Market and Davidson College’s Food Cart, break out sessions with experts in different environmental areas, plus games and activities. Read the full story

HUNTERSVILLE - N.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Martin Newby will be the keynote speaker at the North Mecklenburg Republican Women’s dinner meeting Tuesday, April 10, at NorthStone Club, 15801 NorthStone Drive in Huntersville. All men and women are invited.

Elected in 2004, Justice Newby is seeking re-election in November 2012. Read the full story

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A group called the Davidson Think Tank has produced a one-hour video interview with officials involved in the Red Line Regional Rail Project. Members of the group interviewed Davidson Mayor John Woods, who chairs the Metropolitan Transit Commission’s Red Line Task Force, and Mark Briggs, a consultant to the NC Department of Transportation from engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff. Read the full story

Speakers addressed the crowd at Saturday's rally against Amendment One. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

“Do we, or do we not, treat people equally under the law?” the Rev. Amy Brooks asked a crowd of about 70 people Saturday on the Davidson Village Green. That’s a central question to opponents of the proposed Amendment One, which is up for a vote on the May primary ballot and would add a ban on gay marriage to the N.C. Constitution.

The Rev. Brooks, of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lake Norman, was speaking during a rally against the proposed amendment. She said the proposed amendment treats gays and lesbians unfairly and also could harm children and families.

UPDATED! Watch a video report from Saturday’s rally.
Read the full story

Students remember one of their own, on the W.A. Hough High spirit rock. (Christina Ritchie Rogers / CorneliusNews.net)

School Spirit Rocks bear different messages over the course of a school year. Sometimes, they wish happy birthdays, celebrate important sports wins, or announce school events. And sometimes, become memorials.

Students wrote individual messages to Jocelyn on the rock. (Christina Ritchie Rogers/ CorneliusNews.net)

Jocelyn Desmond

This week, as students at W.A. Hough High on Bailey Road in Cornelius try to make sense of a classmate’s death, the school’s spirit rock carries messages of love and remembrance of junior Jocelyn Albright Desmond, who died March 15.

In one message, a student also refers to other classmates who have died recently, saying, “God has some of his best angels up here now.”

Students’ messages on rock join many notes posted on the Web, including Facebook, remembering their 17-year-old classmate, who lived in Davidson.

Read below for info on how to submit your photo of the day. And see previous photos of the day, CLICK HERE Read the full story

The map shows exactly which properties would be in Special Assessment Districts. Click to view.

Updated 11:43 a.m.
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

One of the big unanswered questions about the Red Line Regional Rail Project has been which commercial properties would be included in “special assessment districts” that would be asked to help pay for the line. This week, project consultants finally unveiled a parcel-by-parcel map that clears up the picture, at RedLineRegionalRail.org/map/.

It’s a detailed map that uses a “yes-no-maybe” color scheme to show property owners if they will be asked to vote whether to voluntarily create the special districts. Those owners would pay an annual assessment of 75 cents per $100 of property value to help build the line, on the theory that they would benefit from the line’s presence. Read the full story

The Lake Norman Chamber will host a Focus Friday discussion this Friday morning, March 23, on the Red Line Regional Rail Project. Bill Thunberg, executive director of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission, and two property owners along the line – Bob McIntosh and Matt Gallagher – will be the featured speakers. Read the full story