Mecklenburg County taxpayers will experience the lowest county tax rate in eight years if the Board of County Commissioners adopts the FY13 budget recommended by County Manager Harry Jones. Under Jones’ funding proposal, the county tax rate would decrease by 2.44 cents to 79.22 cents for every $100 of valued property. As a result, owners of a property with an assessed valuation of $200,000 would see a $49 annual reduction in their county tax bill. “The FY13 Recommended Budget does not attempt to restore all of what was cut over recent years; it does not accommodate all funding requests,” Jones

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Providence High School has been recently designated as a PASCH Schule for its German studies program. It is the first high school in North Carolina to receive this distinction. The PASCH, which stands for the “Schools: Partners for the Future,” is an initiative of the Federal Foreign Office. The aim of PASCH is to create and strengthen a global network of 1,500 partner schools with special links to Germany. The program is designed to awaken and maintain student’s interest and enthusiasm for modern-day Germany and the German language. Through the N.C. Standards of the Common Core, teachers are preparing students

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The Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC) today announced the opening of its new donor center in Hickory, marking its fifth location in the region. Located in the Valley Corners Shopping Center at 2217 Hwy 70 SE, the new Hickory Center is open three days per week – Sundays through Tuesdays– with some evening appointments. Hours of operation are: Sundays 7:30AM-5:00PM and Mondays 10:00AM-8:00PM. Tuesday hours will alternated weekly between an early and late schedule on an ongoing basis: 7:30AM-5:00PM (5/15) and 10:00AM-8:00PM (5/22). Donors can donate both whole blood and platelets at the Hickory location, which will serve

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Mother Nature makes some of the cutest and cuddliest babies around – and she has a large brood! From fuzzy furballs to itsy bitsy and creepy crawly, young wildlife come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Join Charlotte Nature Museum for the May Creature Feature event, Nature’s Babies,Saturday, May 19, from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Spring means lots of new animal babies and we’re wild about meeting some of the season’s recent arrivals. Did you know that young Madagascar hissing cockroaches are called nymphs, and that a baby fish can be called a fingerling? There will be opportunities to

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For providing car-racing fans with delicious and cruelty-free vegan “fuel” at tracks across the country and helping to make sure that they get the green flag from their doctor at their next physical, Speedway Motorsports, which is based at Charlotte Motor Speedway, has won a High Octane Award from PETA. The company will receive a framed certificate and be featured on PETA’s award-winning website PETA.org. “Compassionate and health-conscious racing fans who take advantage of Speedway Motorsports’ vegan options can help make sure that they’ll be around for many more races to come,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, who is

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An ambitious recycling initiative is now underway at ReVenture Park in Charlotte. Crews are pulling out 180,000 pounds of metal – including stainless steel and copper – from this once abandoned textile dye manufacturing facility. Instead of going to waste, these metals will be put back to use in traditional and non-traditional ways – all of which are detailed below. The visionaries behind ReVenture Park plan to recover an estimated 1.5 million pounds of metal from 15 shuttered industrial buildings located on the 667-acre site. “We are working diligently to ensure as much of it is sold and put back

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Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton has presented to the Mayor and City Council his budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2013 and for the City’s five-year Capital Investment Plan. His proposal includes a total $1.97 billion FY2013 budget that maintains core operating needs and invests in capital projects necessary for a growing community. In 2011, Charlotte added 8,500 new jobs with almost $700 million in investments. Local building permits totaled 3,975 from January 2012 to March 2012 compared to 3,170 for the same period last year, a 25% increase. Unemployment in Charlotte also dropped from 10% in July 2011 to 8.5%

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Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association reports that the number of closings for April 2012 (2,170) increased 15.3 percent compared to April 2011, when closings totaled 1,882. Both the average and median sales price showed positive increases for a third consecutive month. The average sales price in April 2012 ($214,779) was up by 5.6 percent compared to the same period last year ($203,442), and the median sales price ($159,995), the best measure of trends over a period of time, showed prices up by 4.6 percent compared to April 2011 when the median sales price was $153,000. The average list price in April

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It is officially crunch time; a time when students must review academic material from the entire school year in preparation for End-of-Grade (EOGs) and End-of-Course (EOCs) tests. Teachers are preparing students with classroom studies, but there are some extra tips parents can take to give their children a helping hand. Fahnie Shaw, an instructor for Parent University’s Preparing for EOGs courses, said she realizes this time of year can be stressful for children. She said it is important for the family to remember that the purpose of the tests are to show what the student has mastered and to help

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Pennsylvania rock band, Halestorm, will become a part of Food Lion Speed Street’s history book when the group performs on the Miller Lite stage, located near the corner of South Tryon Street and East Stonewall Street, on May 25 at 9:30 p.m. Founders of Halestorm, siblings Arejay and Elizabeth “Izzy” Hale began writing and performing in 1997 at the age of 10 and 13 years old, respectively. In 2005, the band, inclusive of guitarist Joe Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records and released albumOne and Done. Four years later, Halestorm distributed a self-titled

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