The town of Cornelius Parks, Arts, Recreation & Culture department will host its annual Cornelius Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 20, off West Catawba Ave.

The event, organized with the help of Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists, runs from 10 am to noon. Read the full story

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for the Lake Norman area and surrounding counties, in effect until 4am Friday. Read the full story

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday afternoon that it will delay until June 15 the planned budget-related closings of federal contract air traffic control towers. The closings were scheduled to take effect April 1 at 149 towers, including the one at Concord Regional Airport. Read the full story

A new $3 million performing arts center is a major focus of the campus expansion.

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

CONCORD – Cannon School has unveiled the largest fundraising campaign in its history, a $7 million drive to pay for new arts, athletics and middle school facilities. At a kick-off party at the Fillmore in Charlotte Saturday night, officials said they’ve already raised $5 million since the campaign’s “quiet phase” began last year. Read the full story

By TASNIM SHAMMA
WFAE

What’s an airport without a control tower? One that can expect to see a lot less traffic. As part of the sequestration cuts to the federal budget, the FAA has given the city of Concord official notice that it will end the contract that funds the tower program at Concord Regional Airport. Read the full story

Abigail Jennings, president of Lake Norman Realty Inc., received the Lake Norman Chamber’s Cashion Business Person of the Year award Thursday. From left: Shantae Brown, Debbie Monroe, Randolph Lewis, Abigail Jennings, Jane Getsinger, Celeste Colcord, and Denise Richards.

The Lake Norman Chamber has named Realtor Abigail Jennings as its Business Person of the Year. Ms. Jennings, president of Lake Norman Realty Inc., was honored at the chamber’s annual gala Thursday, Jan. 24, at Havana Banquet & Ballroom in Cornelius. Read the full story

Jocelyn Desmond

Jocelyn never expressed an interest in being a teacher, but she taught many people lessons they say they’ll never forget.

My daughter would have turned 18 on Jan. 27. I want to share with you the lessons and gifts that others felt she gave in life and in death. But, first, I want to share something I posted a while ago on her Facebook page, a place where many of us gather to remember her:

“It is evident when I read this page how much you are missed, Joc. How terribly big and gaping is the hole left in so many lives. I pray that these words of affection and longing to have you here read as a cautionary tale to anyone feeling alone and desperate enough to do what you did, Jocelyn. NOTHING is solved with suicide. It only spreads the pain around to everyone else. So, I hope no one touched by the love expressed here, and feeling alone in their own lives, romanticizes this or glamorizes it … because, we can all tell you, this grief isn’t pretty or glamorous. And anyone who feels alone should know that she sometimes felt that way, too. But she was wrong. She was only alone in her own mind. Because we all held her in our hearts. Always.”

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The owner of Concord Mills is planning a $10 million aquarium at the regional shopping mall off I-85. On Tuesday night, Cabarrus County commissioners approved economic development incentives up to $238,000 to help the project, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. Read the full story