International students played a bit of American football.  More photos below. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Every year Davidson College invites residents to become host families for foreign students, helping them adjust to life here and providing support far from home. As another school year gets into full swing, the International Host Family Program gathered a crowd at the college’s Lake Campus on Lake Norman to celebrate. Read the full story

Carolinas HealthCare System Behavioral Health-Davidson has received its largest gift ever, a $3 million donation from Charlotte’s Levine family to help pay for future growth, programming, training and research. CHS said it will re-name the hospital as the Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center, in honor of the late daughter of Sandra and Leon Levine.

The $36 million hospital opened in April, off NC 73 in east Davidson. The Levine’s gift was announced Tuesday at a CHS board meeting in Charlotte.

Read the full story about the gift in HEALTH & FITNESS»

Audience members signed petitions to Governor Pat McCrory requesting the cancellation of the Widening project (Jonathan Cox/DavidsonNews.net)

Widen I-77 organizer Kurt Naas explains concerns about unnecessary spending on tolling infrastructure (Jonathan Cox/DavidsonNews.net)

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net/CorneliusNews.net

MOORESVILLE – Leaders of Widen I-77, the citizen activist group lobbying against proposed high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on I-77, urged supporters Tuesday night to petition Gov. Pat McCrory to cancel the project.

In a meeting at Charles Mack Citizens Center, organizer Kurt Naas gave a presentation titled “I-77 Tolls: What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us”  to a crowd of about 100 people. Naas outlined the group’s concerns about potentially high tolls, unnecessary spending on tolling infrastructure, and continued congestion on the busy thoroughfare.

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Davidson Historical Society’s next program will be “The History that Binds Us: The Kirkpatrick Family Connection” on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 4pm at Davidson Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. Read the full story

CONCORD – Amazon.com reportedly plans to open a distribution center in an industrial building under construction near Concord Regional Airport, the Charlotte Business Journal reported Tuesday. Read the full story

The Sea Scouts, a more than 100-year-old arm of Boy Scouts of America, are forming a new Ship (comparable to a Boy Scout troop) on Lake Norman. Introductory meetings are planned Wednesday, Sept. 10, and Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Peninsula Yacht Club in Cornelius. Meanwhile, Peninsula Yacht Club is laying plans for its annual Peninsula Cup Regatta Sept. 19-21. And Lake Norman Sail & Power Squadron plans

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Davidson’s Town Board will hold a two-day retreat this Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 10-11, to review proposed revisions in the town planning ordinance. The board also is scheduled to discuss the issue at its meeting Tuesday night. Read the full story

The pedestrian walkway down the center of the DDI at Poplar Tent Road (Jonathan Cox/CorneliusNews.net)

By JONATHAN COX
CorneliusNews.net

CONCORD –  North Carolina’s first functional diverging diamond interchange is now open on the Poplar Tent Road overpass over I-85, putting drivers on the opposite side of the road as they enter, exit and cross the interstate.  Davis Diggs, NC Department of Transportation’s resident engineer, said Monday that drivers have adjusted quickly to the new pattern, despite concerns that its design might cause confusion.  The interchange is one of four that have been under construction in the Charlotte area and provides a glimpse at how traffic will flow once the NCDOT’s $6 million reconstruction project is completed at Exit 28 in Cornelius.

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