MOORESVILLE - Welcome Home Veterans Living Military Museum at Richard’s Coffee Shop will celebrate the long-awaited grand opening of its new, permanent home on North Main Street this Thursday to Saturday, May 17-19, during Armed Forces Day Weekend and Mooresville’s Race City Festival. The weekend kicks off with a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony Thursday morning. Read the full story

To the editor:

Last week’s announcement at the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce that Carolinas HealthCare System plans to build a 66-bed behavioral health hospital in Davidson was welcome. While it could be argued the former site in Huntersville was appropriate given the dramatic increase in the population of that area, the new site, with its easy access to both I-77 and I-85, may prove to be more accessible for our region. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson police officer Melvin Waller hasn’t been bicycling regularly in recent years, but recently he found a cause that inspired him to get back to it. The 37-year-old officer and about 65 other riders, including colleagues from area police departments, are in the midst of a grueling 4-day, 500-mile ride from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., to honor officers who have died in the line of duty.

The Bike to DC ride includes officers ranging from hard-core cyclists to new and returning riders with a passion, including Officer Waller. The 5-year Davidson police veteran is riding in part to honor the memory of Mark Swaney, who died on Christmas Day 1997 in an exchange of gunfire that also killed a suspect on Davidson’s West Side.

The ride as a whole has been dubbed “500 Miles for Fred,” in memory of the late CMPD officer Fred Thornton, who died Feb. 25, 2011. This year’s ride comes just before National Police Week, May 13-19.

Riders left from Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department headquarters on Wednesday morning. They’ll arrive in Washington on Saturday. On Sunday, they’ll join a candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial, where Officer Thornton’s name will be added.

Davidson’s Waller plans to take a rubbing from the memorial of Mark Swaney’s name.

Officer Waller said he was motivated to join the ride by the desire to honor fallen officers like Thornton and Swaney. “We’re giving blood, sweat and tears to remember officers fallen in the line of duty,” officer Waller said Thursday night, after a 118-mile ride from Asheboro to South Boston, Va.

Officer Waller was an “avid rider” about 10 years ago, but hasn’t spent a lot of time on a bike recently, he said. So he’s been training for the past three months with the help of John Finney, of Davidson’s Spirited Cyclist bicycle shop, which also has donated supplies for the Ride to DC. Mr. Finney also is along on the ride. (He’s from a law enforcement family: His dad is a retired state trooper.)

Riders have collected sponsorships to help pay for the cost of the ride, overnight stays and support. A portion of the money raised also will go to the Charlotte’s Finest Legacy Foundation, which provides scholarships for law enforcement students.

Officer Waller has raised more than $1,000 from local businesses and individual sponsors, and he’s still raising money as he rides.

“I just want to bring awareness to the sacrifice we give as police officers, and to the danger we go into every day,” Officer Waller said. “I’m in a lot of pain, but at the same time, those officers who lost their lives have sacrificed a lot more than what I’m sacrificing right now.”

WANT TO HELP?

To donate to the Ride to DC, click on the “donate” button on the web, at http://www.tricharlotte.com/images/policebikeride/howyoucanhelp.htm. Mention Officer Melvin Waller. Or make a check payable to Charlotte’s Finest Legacy Foundation with Officer Waller’s name in the memo line. Mail it to:

Bike to DC
c/o Ron Horton
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 E. Trade St
Charlotte, NC 28202-2940

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – Residents, businesspeople and local officials this week got a closeup look at several versions of a proposal to build high-occupancy toll lanes on I-77 to help relieve rush-hour congestion north of Charlotte.

At workshops in Cornelius Wednesday and Charlotte Thursday, NC Department of Transportation officials and consultants showed maps of the planned route and drawings of what toll lanes might look like. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Carolinas HealthCare System said Wednesday it will build a $36 million, 66-bed mental health hospital on part of the former Davidson East site, off N.C. 73 east of Davidson, to fill what it says is a need for behavioral health care in the Lake Norman region. Read the full story

WHAT ARE HOT LANES? High Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes are limited-access managed lanes that allow free use for eligible carpoolers, transit riders, and motorcyclists while allowing previously ineligible non-HOV drivers to buy back into the lane for a fee. The number of cars using these lanes can be controlled by varying the fee to encourage free-flowing traffic in the HOT lanes at all times, even during rush hour (i.e. morning and evening). The price would be higher during peak periods when demand is greater and lower during less congested times. If a motorist does not want to pay the toll, they can still use the general purpose lanes at no cost. The project will not remove any existing general purpose lanes. SOURCE: MUMPO

State Department of Transportation officials and regional planners will hold public information workshops in Cornelius Wednesday and in Charlotte Thursday on a proposal to convert High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-77 north of Charlotte into High Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes. The workshop will look at four scenarios for the change, which would raise money to help pay for widening of the heavily congested stretch of interstate.

The first workshop runs Wednesday, May 9, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cornelius Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave., Cornelius. The second will be Thursday, May 10, 4-7 p.m., at the N.C. DOT’s Traffic Management Center, 2327 Tipton Drive, off Statesville Avenue, Charlotte. Read the full story

Davidson and Charlotte businesses this month are helping to fund research and support for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in a series of fundraising days. The awareness month is providing support to the four-year-old A Giving Spirit Foundation, which helps fund research and provides support to families facing the disease. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

John Baker didn’t seek out his career change, it came to him. After a 2010 downsizing at the media distributor where he worked, he decided to turn his taste for beer into a business: Davidson Beverage Co.

The specialty wine and craft beer store opens this week in South Main Square, 442 S. Main St. in Davidson. Mr. Baker has taken over the former MasterWorks School of the Arts space. (MasterWorks moved to a smaller space nearby.) Read the full story