Bicyclists on the Southeast Greenway. (Hans Diessel photo)

By MARY KIM FOLDS

I love the greenway. A run or walk on it with my dog is part of my daily routine and I am so grateful for that. The natural beauty and peace and quiet are so rejuvenating no matter the weather. I enjoy seeing the familiar faces who share my routine as well as the robins, blue birds, hawks, deer, …whatever might cross my path.

Most days I have a lovely experience. Some days, however, I have encounters that make me wonder if we are all using our best judgment on the trail. In particular, I have concerns about people with dogs and cyclists.

Also today, a Letter to the Editor
“Is someone poisoning the squirrels?” See PETS & ANIMALS»

Read the full story

It’s Small Business Week and we’re asking for your help. Our goal here is to reflect our community, inform our community and to build community. As a locally-owned small business, we can’t do that without your patronage. Just like the shops and restaurants on Main Street, we need your support. Help keep DavidsonNews.net sustainable by becoming a voluntary paying subscriber today. Read the full story

Did you know DavidsonNews.net is a locally-owned small business? Just like the shops and restaurants on Main Street, we need your support to stay in business.

Over the past year, our readership has grown an astounding 25 percent, stretching from Davidson to Charlotte to Mooresville. But our supporters have diminished.

Help keep DavidsonNews.net sustainable by becoming a voluntary paying subscriber today. Some of our readers are now choosing to make monthly payments, as with the other publications they subscribe to. You can do that by setting up recurring payments with your bank, or by using our online payment system. http://davidsonnews.net/support-us/  If you have questions about supporting us or you’d like to chat, email me at editor@davidsonnews.net.

ADVERTISE WITH US

Meanwhile, if you’re a local business, chances are I, my family, our staff and our readers are right in your sweet spot. Please consider supporting us and giving your own business a shot in the arm by becoming an advertiser on this local-owned and operated website. We reach your customers, and the money you spend with us pays local salaries and winds up back in the community.

We’ll be rolling out a new advertising program soon that will transform our offering – making it easier and more affordable to reach your most likely customers. To find out more, visit davidsonnews.net/advertise or contact Lyndsay, ads@davidsonnews.net.

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

Mary Hill Gaston Flagler

My momma would not buy me white go-go boots in the fifth grade. She said they were a fad that would fade. Of course she was right – about that, and so much else.

As Mother’s Day approaches on May 13, here’s a tribute to the perfect mom for me: Mary Hill Gaston Flagler of Gastonia. Read the full story

"La, la, la" (Anna Prushinski photo)

I had a dream that Dodger was running free in Richardson Stadium at Davidson College, which is against the rules. I was crawling across the rubbery track, doing a breathlessly dreamy slo-mo “fail” at getting to him. He dashed merrily about the artificial turf field, paying no mind to the authoritative benchmarks of the gridiron, nor to me. La, la, la! he went, happy. “Doooddggerrr!” I went, unhappy.

Rather than burden ourselves here with tortured interpretations, I posit the dream as archetype: Spirited soul instinctively running free, gleefully heedless (happy) of the synthetic culture of benchmarks we construct with our increasingly compulsive content manipulation and the resultant aggravation of inbred psycho-social neuroses (unhappy). Read the full story

To the North Mecklenburg Community:

On May 8, we will have an opportunity to vote on an amendment to the North Carolina state constitution. As proposed, Amendment 1 says: “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized by this state.”

There are many objections to Amendment 1. Legal scholars believe that, if passed, the amendment would create significant harm to hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, including stripping them of healthcare benefits and legal protections against domestic violence. Read the full story

Our “PaddySmack” columnist, 14-year-old Paddy Millen, is filling in while Brenda Barger takes a week off from Around Davidson. Last week he interviewed Davidson Elementary School’s new principal, Dana Jarrett, who started the job on March 1. The following are excerpts from this interview.

Paddy Millen:  Where did you grow up and what was your elementary school experience like?

Read the full story