John Bradford, with Anna DeGrauw (fourth from left) and the other pages in Raleigh.

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net

Running notes between offices and arranging chairs in meeting rooms may not sound glamorous, but for students who work as legislative pages in Raleigh,  these jobs teach them about government while letting them rub elbows with the most powerful politicians in the state.  State Rep. John Bradford (R-Cornelius) has been traveling to public high schools around his 98th District, interviewing candidates for the page position. He said he plans to bring eight 10th-12th graders to Raleigh this year. Read the full story

Registered Democrats from Precinct 206 – those who vote at Davidson Town Hall – are invited to a Democratic Party precinct meeting on March 6. The meeting will take place at 6pm on the back deck at Summit Coffee, 128 S. Main St. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

In a pair of votes Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission approved a big shift in the way high-speed internet providers are regulated, and one ruling could have an effect on municipally owned services such as MI-Connection in the Lake Norman area. Read the full story

Sonia Sotomayor

Davidson College has moved the March 12 talk by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to a larger venue, to give more people on campus – and possibly off-campus – a chance to attend. Sotomayor’s Q&A-style conversation now will be at Belk Arena during the campus “Common Hour,” at 11:05am. Read the full story

Widen I-77 supporters milled around outside the Michael Waltrip Racing meeting room Thursday evening (Jonathan Cox/CorneliusNews.net(

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – The leaders of advocacy group Widen I-77 told supporters at meeting in Cornelius Thursday night they’ve raised $30,000 and are pushing their legal fight to halt the NC Department of Transportation’s plan for toll lanes on I-77 north of Charlotte. The groups planned to meet with a Charlotte judge Friday, and they’ve got other tactics in the works, including a visit to the state legislature in Raleigh. Read the full story

SGA president-elect Pablo Zevallos (left) and vice president Ben Callinder (Will Johnson photo)

By LINCOLN DAVIDSON
DavidsonNews.net

Running on a message of making the campus community stronger by focusing on student health, Pablo Zevallos, a junior political science major from New York City, won the SGA presidential election this week against fellow junior Wade Leach. Joining Zevallos at the helm of the SGA is fellow political science major Ben Callinder, who ran uncontested for vice president in a race that drew votes from roughly 46 percent of the student body. Read the full story

US Sen. Thom Tillis return to Cornelius Friday night to address a friendly crowd at the Lake Norman Chamber annual dinner. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) may be a United States Senator now, but he said Friday he hopes the position doesn’t change him too much. “I’m neither any more, nor any less senatorial today than I was the day I was elected,” he said, in a speech at the Peninsula Club that ranged from a discussion of federal energy policy to memories of youth baseball games in Cornelius.

Tillis was the keynote speaker at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala, an event that included the installation of new officers and recognition of volunteers and business leaders from around Lake Norman. Read the full story

Tom Ross

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net

It’s not the way he planned to leave, but Tom Ross will step down a year from now as president of University of North Carolina system. The UNC Board of Governors announced his resignation in a statement Friday morning, giving no reasons for his resignation. Read the full story