Police are investigating the theft of thousands of dollars worth of copper tubing from Service Plumbing of Charlotte on Northline Drive this week.  Meanwhile, two men that robbed a Cornelius Rite Aid at gunpoint Jan. 23 now are suspects in a string of other armed robberies, according to a report in the Statesville Record and Landmark this week. Also, more copper wiring was stolen from homes under construction, two people had firearms stolen, a woman sustained minor injuries when a vehicle hit her bicycle. Read below for details of these and other recent incidents. Read the full story

Nikko'Las Pinkney

Margretha Pinkney is on a mission to make sure we all have proper smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms in our homes. It’s a mission motivated by tragedy: Last October, she lost her 9-year-old son Nikko’Las in a fire at their Huntersville home.

The old house on Holbrooks Road wasn’t properly protected: It lacked a carbon monoxide alarm, she said, and “if it had a smoke alarm, it was so badly damaged by the fire they couldn’t identify it.” Read the full story

The Cornelius-Lemly firefighters stand in front of the customized truck. Left to right: Chip Sellers, Paul Cooper, Ashton Chaney, Jim Barbee, John Lang, Robert Amadeo and kneeling, David Chaney. (Chief Jim Barbee photo)

The Iredell County Firefighter’s Association’s pink fire truck will be featured on the Velocity Channel tonight at 9 p.m. The retired truck was upfitted this winter as a teaching tool, to raise awareness of breast cancer and support cancer research. Read the full story

The Lake Norman Flotilla 26-01 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Morningside Marina will offer free vessel safety checks Saturday, May 12, on the lake in Troutman. Read the full story

The Cornelius and Charlotte Fire Departments will be conducting dive rescue training May 9, 10 and 11 at the old rock quarry at Blue Stone Harbor. The majority of the operations will be in the water near the large rock face, and will be out of the way of the boat slips.

All training will be during the day and will be underwater. Residents may notice fire trucks parked on Harken Drive as well as the fireboat operating in the marina. The fireboat will be moored overnight at its old location at the end of the first finger for the week.

Boaters may use the marina as usual.

A car and its passenger ended up in Lake Norman Wednesday, after it rolled backwards over a sea wall. The driver, who got out of the car to get something from the house, told police she must have forgotten to put the car in park. Meanwhile, a woman suffered multiple rib fractures and a bruised lung after she tried to stop her car from rolling down her driveway. Police say she was dragged about 20 feet, and the car was still in drive when they found it in the roadway. Also this week, police received reports of two different vehicle thefts, and two men reported their boat batteries stolen from the Blue Stone Harbor docks. Also, someone stole $1,500 in copper wiring from a house under construction. Read below for details of these and other incidents. Read the full story

Two men charged with murder in the April 11 shooting death of a 20-year-old man at a North Main Street house are due back in court July 5, when prosecutors will reveal whether they plan to seek the death penalty. Read the full story

One or possibly two cars were involved in a minor wreck just north of the Griffith Street bridge over I-77 around 11:15 Thursday morning (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

A pair of wrecks on I-77 northbound on either side of Exit 30 was slowing traffic around midday Thursday. Neither accident appeared serious. Read the full story