Cornelius-Lemley Fire and Rescue responded to 51 calls for service over the past week, including two bomb threats, a clothes dryer fire, and large paint spill following a pin-in traffic accident. More information about these and others below, along with a tally of this week’s medical calls. Read the full story

The new Hawk’s Nest playground at JV Washam as seen from above. The shot was taken from a Cornelius-Lemley Volunteer Fire Department ladder. (TSS Photography)

By ANNE VARI
CorneliusNews.net

On Tuesday, March 26, JV Washam Elementary school held a dedication ceremony acknowledging the completion of the Hawk’s Nest Playground and Outdoor Learning Center. The playground was the final piece of a multi-phase, $120,000 project the school started in 2011. Read the full story

Rain fell on a baseball field at Westmoreland Athletic Complex last week. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

Sen. Jeff Tarte

The Cornelius Parks, Arts, Recreation, and Culture Committee will hold a public hearing at its meeting Thursday, March 7, on a proposal to name a field at the Westmoreland Athletic Complex after former mayor Jeff Tarte. Read the full story

The cast of “The Maltese Falcon” rehearsed Wednesday night. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

The Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius is making a name for itself with innovative theatrical events of a brand not usually seen on other area stages – one-man shows, dark dramas and comedies, student plays and works by local playwrights. This weekend, Marla Brown and company are at it again, hosting a three-night live radio play of the detective classic “The Maltese Falcon” and a multigenerational literary reading on Sunday. Read the full story

The Cornelius Town Board on Monday voted 5-0 to annex Legacy Cornelius, a development of 168 condos and 77 townhouses off Westmoreland Road. At the meeting, commissioners also approved new rules governing fences, garden walls and retaining walls, and they approved contracts for design work on Phase 2 of Robbins Park and for the proposed Caldwell Station Greenway. See more in REAL ESTATE & HOME»

Thanksgiving week was relatively quiet around Cornelius, with a few minor accidents, two wrecks caused by deer leaping out from the side of the road, and one report of a woman who cashed a bogus $753 check at the First Community Bank. Meanwhile, someone side-swiped the drive-up ATM at the Wells Fargo Bank on West Catawba, triggering an alarm Saturday afternoon. Read those and other police reports below. Read the full story

Cornelius seems to be in the midst of a small boom in construction of condos and multi-family housing. Planners will host a pair of simultaneous community meetings at Town Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to unveil plans for two proposed apartment complexes off West Catawba Avenue. The projects will fill vacant lots where developments have long been planned, and join other apartments already under construction around town. In REAL ESTATE & HOME.

Elaine Howard talks to Cornelius police officer J.L. Agnew about a large oak that fell in a storm Friday at property she owns on Washam Potts Road. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

A thunderstorm with winds as high as 50 to 60 miles per hour blew through Cornelius around 6 p.m. Friday, toppling trees and sending big limbs crashing to the ground. Minor damage was reported around town, and residents reported that a tree at one point blocked Statesville Road. Read the full story