Davidson police investigated a truck-bicycle crash on East Rocky River Road, near Shearers Road, in 2010. (Richard Kirkman/DavidsonNews.net file photo)

A general legal information column written by two local attorneys.

The Third in Three articles on N.C. Traffic Laws

Crafting laws and ordinances to allow pedestrians, bicycles and drivers to co-exist safely is often a difficult balancing act. Davidson has always been a bike-friendly community that describes itself as “built for pedestrians and bike riders, not for the car.” The town now is drafting an Active Transportation Plan that recommends infrastructure improvements as well as more education about bike and pedestrian safety.  Cornelius has addressed bike and pedestrian accessibility in its Comprehensive Master Plan.  But what does North Carolina law say about bicycles? Read the full story

The four-year graduation rate for Charlotte Mecklenburg high school students reached 81 percent in 2012-13, up 4.6 percentage points from the year before. But the individual rate at eight schools fell, including W.A. Hough High School in Cornelius. The statistic tracks the percentage of entering 9th graders who graduated with their classes four years later. Read the full story

The N.C. Department of Transportation will temporarily close the exit ramp from I-85 South to N.C. 73 (Exit 55) in Concord at 9pm Wednesday, weather permitting.  Crews will replace a crash cushion that was damaged in an accident earlier Wednesday. The ramp should reopen by midnight.

Our Towns Habitat staff members joined new director Paul Robinson (sixth from left) and his family Saturday at the site of a 25th anniversary House that Love Built in Huntersville. That’s future homeowner Dominique Donaldson in the gray shirt. (Our Towns Habitat for Humanity photo)

Click to read more about the the anniversary house on the Our Towns Habitat site.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – Our Towns Habitat for Humanity has reached its $50,000 fundraising goal and this October will break ground on new house that will celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary, and help a local family. Organizers are calling it the “House that Love Built.”

The Cornelius-based housing group raised $52,021.27 by a July 31 deadline. An anonymous donor has agreed to pay a $25,000 match, enabling Our Towns Habitat to begin planning for an Oct. 5 “wall-raising” at the Huntersville home site. Read the full story

CORNELIUS – Interim county manager Bobbie Shields will tell Mecklenburg County Commissioners Tuesday night the county should hire an outside firm to re-do the flawed 2011 property revaluation, to comply with a state law requiring the do-over. In Cornelius Monday, Shields also said he hopes the commission can appoint a new assessor on Sept. 3 and pick a consultant for the new revaluation on Sept. 17, and that property reviews can begin the following day, Sept. 18. See the full story on CorneliusNews.net

U.S. Robert Pittenger (R-9th District) will hold the a series of town hall meetings this month in the district, which stretches from south Mecklenburg to Iredell County. The meetings will include two in the Lake Norman area, on Aug. 26 in Mooresville and Aug. 28 in Cornelius.

The meetings are open to the public. Here are details of the upcoming Pittenger town hall meetings: Read the full story

Updated Saturday, Aug. 3
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Whole Foods Market, a grocery chain specializing in natural and organic foods, said this week it plans to open a store in the Lake Norman area in 2014 or beyond. The news is creating a buzz among shoppers who already drive to the SouthPark store in Charlotte, or know Whole Foods from elsewhere. The big question is where? Read the full story

The two-day Barnstock music festival last week raised $7,500 for Davidson Fire Department and other local charities.

Last weekend’s Barnstock music festival in Huntersville attracted about 750 people over two days and raised $7,500 for the Davidson Fire Department, Cannon School and other local charities. But that may be the end of the line for the five-year-old festival: Organizers said this week it probably was the last.

“It has been a great run,” said Tony Brown of Davidson, whose son Miles has organized the annual events with the help of siblings Julia and Daniel. All three kids are getting older and moving on, he said, and the crowd has changed over the years. Read the full story