Updated 4:30pm
There was no disagreement in the N.C. House of Representatives  Wednesday: Mecklenburg County needs to correct its flawed 2011 property revaluation.  In a unanimous (116-0) afternoon vote, legislators approved House Bill 200, which requires the county to re-do its most recent assessments.
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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

A worker drives over the completed Piedmont Natural Gas pipeline Friday evening. We talked to the driver, who said workers were blowing off gas from the new pipeline. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Updated 9:03pm
A loud roaring noise, which some residents described as sounding like a jet engine, was heard in the Lake Norman area Friday afternoon and evening, followed by the smell of gas from Cornelius to Davidson to Mount Mourne. The odor of gas prompted more than two dozen 911 calls in Davidson and Cornelius between 5 and 8:30pm, as well as calls in the south Iredell area. Read the full story

The long-planned commercial phase of the Antiquity Cornelius development in downtown Cornelius is about to get a big kick-start, with the construction of a grocery story and two other retail buildings near the neighborhood entrance on NC 115. See the full story on CorneliusNews.net.

MI-Connection’s contribution to debt payments is on the rise, while town contributions are falling. (SOURCE: MI-Connection)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

MI-Connection Communications System’s board of directors on Thursday approved a 2013-14 budget that foresees a smaller loss, and higher revenues. More important for system owners Davidson and Mooresville, the Lake Norman-area cable network is asking the towns for less money next year, and contributing more toward the system’s debt payments. 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»

Click for a PDF of the budget summary

MI-Connection Communications System, the local cable and high-speed network owned by the towns of Davidson and Mooresville, will hold a public hearing on its 2013-14 budget Thursday night in Davidson. The proposed budget projects  8.7 percent growth in revenues and expense growth of less than half that.

The system will continue to  lose money, according to a budget summary provided by the company. But the subsidy needed  from Davidson and Cornelius is expected to be 10 percent less than this year’s.

The meeting of the system’s board of directors begins at 6:30pm at Davidson Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. Read the full story

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