What an exciting ACC basketball tournament weekend.  Hope all our readers have joined the 40 million others and filled out brackets for March Madness.  First games begin today.  Final four?  Perhaps a vote for Carolina or Duke?  Won’t the next few weeks be fun as we watch the games on our laptops, iPods or televisions?

Between games, it’s important to take a few minutes to check DavidsonNews.net for all our local news and Around Davidson twice a week for special notes on your neighbors. (And now we have CorneliusNews.net, too!)  Today we share travel news to Cancun, Mexico, with the Molineks and to Louisville, Ky., with Cole Rasenberger and his environmental team.  There is also an item about an award for Libby Appel’s granddaughter and another Noteworthy Note about books. Read the full story

Town Manager Leamon Brice (right) and town planning manager Lauren Blackburn discuss drive-throughs. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Should Davidson allow drive-up windows at restaurants and shops? The Town Board on Tuesday put that topic on the table for a lively discussion that was part history and part debate over what kind of town Davidson wants to be.

Davidson Town Manager Leamon Brice told the board developers have asked recently whether the town might change its rules to allow drive-throughs. Proposals could be on the way for the Exit 30 area or for yet-to-be designed projects on the horizon in the N.C. 73 area east of town.

LISTEN to an audio replay of the discussion below. Read the full story

Tuesday’s town board agenda came out Friday, and among the more intriguing items scheduled is a discussion on drive-through windows at businesses. Town officials say they called for the discussion because new proposals could be on the way soon from developers that could challenge the current ban on drive-throughs. Read the story and join the discussion on this issue in Real Estate & Home, CLICK HERE>

A chart presented to the city council shows rates rising (left side) for 94% of users, and falling for those who use more water (right). Click image to download a presentation given to the council.

The Charlotte City Council on Monday approved Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities’ proposed overhaul of local water and sewer rates. The vote raises rates for most residential water customers, and lowers them for the biggest users.

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By BRADY SHEA

Did you know that we throw out more than 20 billion plastic water bottles each year in the U.S.? Twenty billion!!! We throw out more plastic water bottles than the number that would wrap around the moon. We use more than 80 billion aluminum soda cans every year. To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years. On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year.
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Steve Marsh found this crocus blooming Tuesday near his Mooresville home. (Steve Marsh photo)

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

Sunset as seen from the Davidson College senior apartments Tuesday night. (Rosy Harvey photo)

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

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Davidson College’s Environmental Action Coalition hosted the 7th annual Green Ball Friday night, Feb. 18, at the college’s Lilly Family Gallery. About 150 people contra-danced the night away and bid on items in a silent auction. The event raised a few thousand dollars for Davidson Lands Conservancy, a non-profit land trust that works to protect natural, open space in the Town of Davidson.

Suns of the Full Moon provided the music.

More about Davidson Lands Conservancy on its website, www.davidsonlands.org.

- Thanks to Rodney Graham for the video.