The Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce will take a look at the economic benefits of a planned behavioral health hospital in Davidson at the next Focus Friday issues forum this Friday morning. The forum runs from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 22, at the Lake Norman Chamber, 19900 W. Catawba Ave., Cornelius. Read the full story

Carolinas HealthCare System has pushed back the date of a planned community meeting on its proposed behavioral health hospital off N.C. 73 in east Davidson. The meeting is now scheduled Thursday, June 28, at 7 p.m. at River Run Country Club in Davidson. Read the full story

Davidson firefighters helped remove a large tree limb that fell on wires on North Main Street May 15. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Firefighters responded to a several alarm malfunctions over the past week, as well as an oven fire on Pine Road and a two-vehicle collision on I-77. Emergency workers helped clear a large tree limb that was blocking North Main Street, and a kitten was rescued from a storm drain on Kiser Corner Lane in Summer’s Walk. The kitten was left with Davidson Police. Read the full story

Davidson police are investigating several residential thefts over the past two weeks, one in which a $300 chainsaw was taken from Meadowbrook Lane home where a suspicious person had been seen earlier. In River Run, two newly-installed 25 MPH signs were missing. Meanwhile, a Summers Walk man found that someone had used his Social Security number to file taxes this year. And a woman told police her  personal information had been used to open a Dish Network account in February.  Details on these incidents (along with a tally of the week’s arrests, citations, and traffic enforcement) may be found below. Read the full story

There are home decor shops and there are landscaping businesses. And then there are businesses like the one Brandon and Amy Morris of Cornelius opened last fall, called The Elements 4 Life Home & Outdoor Living. The new retail store on Davidson-Concord Road, across from the Bradford Store, offers both outdoor design items and gifts, and is a showroom for the couple’s 8-year-old business MINT Landscaping, for Morris Irrigation Nature & Turf. They’re having a grand opening this Saturday. Read our Small Biz Spotlight in REAL ESTATE & HOME»

Updated Friday, March 16, 3:45 p.m.

Davidson Police investigated two cases of vandalism over the past week, at the Wells Fargo and the Homewood Suites. Huntersville police are seeking a suspect in an attempted sex assault Tuesday. A vehicle was broken into in the Summer’s Walk neighborhood, and an unknown suspect stole about $1,000 worth of goods from the Harris Teeter. Details on these incidents and more (along with a tally of the week’s arrests, citations, and traffic enforcement) may be found below. Read the full story

Heather Birch

Davidson has hired Heather Birch as town clerk and human resources coordinator. She starts Feb. 27, and comes to Davidson from Oak Ridge, N.C., where she has been the town clerk since December 2010.

She replaces Lillian Smith, who announced in January she was leaving.

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Police are investigating a variety of incidents this week, including one in which a woman reportedly made repeated harassing phone calls to a man over two days. Last Thursday on Davidosn-Concord Road (N.C. 73), a Davidson driver going 55 mph struck a deer. And a Cornelius woman’s unoccupied GMC rolled out of its parking space at The Brickhouse Tavern and struck a nearby unoccupied Pontiac. No injuries were reported, but the Pontiac had to be towed. Details on these incidents along with a tally of the week’s arrests, citations, and traffic enforcement may be found below. Read the full story