Public officials and officials involved in the Antiquity Heights project cut a ribbon Friday. (David Boraks photo)

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

State officials including House Speaker Thom Tillis, Sen. Jeff Tarte and the head of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency celebrated a grand opening Friday at Antiquity Heights, an complex of 94 affordable apartments that opened last summer. Read the full story

Members of Widen I-77 asked passersby on the Davidson Village Green Thursday to sign a petition against toll lanes on I-77. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

In meeting after meeting in recent months, state and local leaders have said plans are moving forward to widen I-77 north of Charlotte in the next few years by adding toll lanes. Just last week, state House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) told toll-lane opponents at the state capitol that the state’s plan to hire a private company to build and operate high-occupancy toll lanes is happening, and it’s the best option for widening the road soon.

Still, opponents in the Lake Norman area are fighting on, holding public meetings and trying to build a following. Last Thursday, several members of the group Widen I-77 were out on the Davidson Village Green asking passersby to sign an anti-toll petition. And this Wednesday, April 3, they’ll host another public meeting on the issue. Read the full story

Thom Tillis

The North Carolina General Assembly opened its 2013 session Wednesday in Raleigh with few surprises. House members re-elected Republican Rep. Thom Tillis of Cornelius as speaker; Senators chose the GOP’s Phil Berger of Eden as president pro tem. Both will serve for two years. Read the full story

A task force of citizens and town and county leaders was meeting for the first time Thursday to look at possible changes to the legislation governing property revaluations. N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) formed the working group in response to public outcry over Mecklenburg County’s 2011 property revaluation.

“This issue is important to my constituents in Mecklenburg County and other areas of the state,” Rep. Tillis said. “I have asked my staff to coordinate a working group on the issue to identify problems and determine if the legislature needs to take action.” Read the full story

Tillis

Starting next month, N.C. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis(R – Cornelius) will hold regular office hours at Cornelius Town Hall, during which citizens are invited to talk with him about any issues they would like to address.

“It’s an effort by Speaker Tillis to be open an accessible to his constituents in the 98th District,” a spokesperson for Rep. Tillis said. “He’s the speaker for the whole state, but he still represents the people in Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville.” Read the full story

To the Editor:
Last week, N.C. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) said he plans to vote for a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. As one of Tillis’s constituents, I very strongly disagree with this position.

Read the full story

State officials over the past year have been taking a look back at an unpleasant bit of our state’s past: a eugenics program that sterilized thousands of women in the mid-20th century. Gov. Beverly Perdue earlier this year created a task force to figure out how to compensate survivors. And just this week, House Speaker and state Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Cornelius) said lawmakers should approve legislation to pay victims. Read the full story

Bobby Barber of Cornelius quizzed the speaker about staff pay raises. (Christina Ritchie Rogers/CorneliusNews.net)

By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
CorneliusNews.net

Education, job creation and clean energy were hot topics during a public meeting with Rep. Thom Tillis (R) Tuesday night at Cornelius Town Hall. It was one of a series of meetings Tillis and other legislative leaders are holding around the state to tout their legislative achievements during the last session.

More than 200 people – primarily from Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville – turned out for the meeting, where Rep. Tillis gave an overview of the legislature’s work during the long session. He and other legislators with him – Bill Brawley (R-Matthews), Mike Hager (R-Rutherfordton), Pat Hurley (R-Asheboro), Fred Steen (R-Landis), Linda Johnson (R-Kannapolis), Shirley Randleman (R-Wilkesboro) and John Torbett (R-Stanley) – then took questions from the audience.

The crowd was mostly friendly, but some speakers did not avoid asking tough questions. Read the full story