Charlotte’s Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology students took home top prizes in the web development and graphic design competitions at the North Carolina State Fair on Oct. 11. Students developed websites and graphics around the theme, “Discovering Local Foods.” The students’ work will be on display at the fair until Oct. 21. “This was a great way to show creativity and how websites can be dynamic” said senior Yosh Mori, who also won first place in 2011. “I had no idea there were millions of farms in North Carolina until I did the research to upload a map on

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Two powerful women’s advocacy groups are joining forces to provide a mentoring program for young women. The Women’s Inter-Cultural Exchange (WIE) and Vision 2020 say this collaboration will provide professional mentors through a statewide Mentoring Across Difference program that is built on WIE’s Mentoring Across Difference program created two years ago in Charlotte. This year’s collaborative program kicked-off in late September when 28 pairs of mentors and mentees from Johnson C. Smith University and Queens University of Charlotte met for the first time. Mentors and mentees will have the opportunity to attend six professional development workshops throughout the academic year

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The Davidson College Department of Theatre kicks off the 2012-13 season with the Mainstage production of A Month in the Country, Ivan Turgenev’s best known but rarely performed comedy. Assistant Professor of Theatre Mark Sutch directs a cast of eleven Davidson students and one community youngster in this tale of the subtle passions and manipulations of a family on a Russian countryestate in the 1840s. The wealthy and bored Natalya develops a crush on her son’s young tutor, sparking a bitingly funny love triangle with attendant unrequited passion, fragile relationships, and disillusions of domestic life. Turgenev presents a picture of

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In May 2011, five North Carolina colleges – Central Piedmont Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, Davidson County Community College, Martin Community College and Wake Technical Community College – began collaborating as part of a national effort to devise and share new approaches to help more young people obtain a degree, certificate or credential. At the time, the five schools shared a $500,000, 12-month planning grant to launch a five-year project in North Carolina. In recognition of the team’s progress to date, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded the participating colleges a two-year, $4.3 million Completion by Design

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Almost a thousand people with and without disabilities will take part in Walk With Me Charlotte, an annual fund raising event benefitting Easter Seals UCP (United Cerebral Palsy) North Carolina & Virginia on Saturday, October 20 at Freedom Park. The non-competitive 5K walk or run starts at 10:00 a.m. Check-in and festival activities begin at 9:00 a.m. and a complimentary lunch for all participants will follow the walk. Individuals and teams can register for Walk With Me Charlotte online at WalkWithMe.org/Charlotte. The registration fee is $25 per person. Walkers and runners are able to make a positive difference in the

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Davidson College is excited to announce the largest gift in its history: a $45 million grant from The Duke Endowment to transform the academic heart of its campus. Beginning in 2013 with a comprehensive construction/renovation plan for six academic buildings, and continuing with new opportunities for curricular expansion, Davidson is embarking – thanks to the generous investment of The Duke Endowment – on a 10-year plan to remake the model of liberal arts education. “Davidson graduates lead and serve in an increasingly interconnected, rapidly changing world,” explains Davidson College president Carol Quillen. “To stay ahead of these changes, we need

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Bednar Cosmetic Surgery of Charlotte is hosting a special event called “Toss the Ta Ta’s and Pink Margarita ta’s” to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on Friday, October 19, 2012 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at La Paz restaurant located at 1100 Metropolitan Avenue. Similar to the game of corn hole, except with silicone implants instead of bean bags, guests can pay $1 per toss with a 100 percent of the money raised going to the American Cancer Society in support of breast cancer research. Players who get three silicone implants in the hole

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Pop star B.o.B will headline the East Coast’s biggest Halloween celebration on Saturday night, October 27, as Kiss 95.1 presents the 2012 Grave Diggers Ball at Dixie’s Tavern in uptown Charlotte. Making an immediate impact on the charts, B.o.B’s debut single “Nothin’ on You” reached No. 1 in the country, his second single “Airplanes” peaking at No. 2., B.O.B’s single “Magic”, became his third consecutive top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. He was named the ninth Hottest MC in the Game of 2010 by MTV and on April 27, 2010 his debut album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of

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Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association reports that the number of closings for September 2012 (2,244) increased 14 percent compared to September 2011, when closings totaled 1,968. The average sales price in September 2012 ($206,051) was up 4.8 percent compared to the same period last year ($196,649), and the median sales price ($160,000) – the best measure of trends over a period of time – showed prices up 6.7 percent compared to September 2011 when the median sales price was $149,900. These indicators mark eight months of year-over-year price gains. The average list price in September 2012 ($247,110) increased 3.1 percent when

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The Mint Museum is partnering with two world-class restaurants who share space with Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts to offer visitors and tourists a brand-new, one-of-a-kind food and art experience. Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth and e2 emeril’s eatery are joining the Mint for “Taste of the Mint,” which will launch Tuesday, October 16, at 4 p.m. and will continue as a recurring program offered to both locals and visiting tour groups. “Guests are invited to become food and art connoisseurs for the day,” said Hillary Cooper, the Mint’s director of communications and media relations. “They

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