Area businesses will be helping to raise awareness and money during May for Davidson-based A Giving Spirit Foundation, which provides financial assistance to mothers in the region who are suffering from debilitating diseases or other unforeseen health challenges. Special events at local restaurants and shops begin Wednesday, May 1.  Read the full story

The North Carolina Governor’s Schools began 50 years ago and is now the oldest statewide summer residential program for academically or intellectually gifted students. It’s an honor to be invited— and this year, 26 students from 12 Charlotte Mecklenburg public high schools have been asked to attend the 2013 summer session, including several from Hough and North Mecklenburg.  See a list below, as well as news about Beginner’s Day Thursday at Davidson Elementary. Read the full story

Weather couldn’t keep local canines and their owners from frolicking at the 2013 Bark in the Park Top Dog Festival on Saturday, April 27, at Historic Rural Hill in Huntersville. Thousands of visitors came for a variety of activities, from live music to demonstrations to dog contests.  Our photographer Gayle Shomer was there to record the scene. See her photo gallery in PETS & ANIMALS»

The atmosphere at W.A. Hough High School in Cornelius remained unsettled Tuesday, after recent bomb hoaxes and the arrest of two students. On Tuesday morning, rumors of another threat led to another lockdown at the school, though no danger was found. Read the full story

A delivery truck delivered about 300 grass carp into Lake Norman last Tuesday, April 24. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

MOORESVILLE – Officials from Duke Energy, the the Lake Norman Marine Commission and the state of North Carolina gathered at the Davidson College Lake Campus in Mooresville one morning last week for a fish release. Not game fish, but “grass carp,” which the state has been using for more than a decade to control the growth of invasive hydrilla on Lake Norman.

Ron Shoultz is executive director of the marine commission, and a 15-year resident and boater. We asked him a few questions as we awaited the arrival of a tractor-trailer from Arkansas, carrying tanks of the large grey fish.

Listen to an audio version of this interview below. Read the full story

The Davidson Committee on Aging will host a symposium titled “Home for a Lifetime” on Saturday, May 18, focusing on tactics for “universal design” – ways to adapt homes for changes that come with aging.

The symposium runs from 1 to 5pm May 18, at Davidson Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. Read the full story

The 2013 Parade Charlotte home tour wraps up this weekend, with open houses Friday through Sunday at homes across the Charlotte region, including Mooresville, Huntersville, the Summers Walk and Bailey Springs neighborhoods in Davidson, and the Antiquity Cornelius and Robbins Park neighborhoods in Cornelius. We have a pair of posts today:

First, “Robin’s Picks” columnist Robbie Gibson offers her take on the event, in THE GUIDE»

Also, there’s a bit more about the houses and neighborhoods on the tour and links in REAL ESTATE & HOME»

State Sen. Jeff Tarte (R-Cornelius) will offer a legislative update at the next Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce Focus Friday issues session Friday, April 26. The meeting starts at 8:30am in the Chamber’s Randy Marion Board Room, 19900 W. Catawba Ave., Cornelius.

Focus Friday is sponsored by DavidsonNews.net and CorneliusNews.net.

Tarte is expected to touch on issues ranging from I-77 widening to tax reform. He’ll also discuss the local bill he recently introduced to give lake towns the right to enforce ordinances on Lake Norman. Read the full story