Hundreds of art enthusiasts turned out at the Mint Hill Arts gallery crawl last Friday night to look at the work of area photographers. Mint Hill Times photographer Jim Young had several photos at the event; he also took many photos for the newspaper. Continue reading »
Independence High School will have two reunions this year. The Class of 1979 will hold its 30th reunion on May 16, 7:00 pm – Midnight at the Charlotte Marriott Executive Park near Tyvola and Interstate 77. The Big I class of 1989 will meet Saturday, September 19 at 7:00 pm – Midnight at the Renaissance Charlotte South Park. For more info on these and other high school reunions go to reunionteam.com.
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The Student Council at Independence High School collected money from students and staff in order to buy stuffed Teddy Bears for children staying in the hospital on Valentine’s Day. They collected over $700, enough to make 75 teddy bears at Build-A-Bear Workshop at Concord Mills Mall. Cody Cannaday’s mother donated an additional 400 small bears!
The students went to Concord Mills to “Build-A-Bear Workshop” after school on February 12. Then, on the 13th they went to Levine Children’s Hospital to deliver them. Continue reading »
Rep. Sue Myrick did not vote for the stimulus package which will be signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama.
“We’re in a recession, and the American people are hurting. I had hoped that Congress could come together, not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans, to find solutions that will truly stimulate the economy. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.
We’re slated to spend almost $4 trillion this year alone. That’s almost $1 trillion for TARP; $1 trillion, including debt, for the stimulus; $1.5 trillion for yet another bank rescue plan; and a half a trillion dollars for an FY 2009 omnibus bill. Where is this money coming from? Foreign countries? We can’t rely on other nations to keep buying our debt. The only way I can see us being able to even begin to pay for this is raising taxes, and that will never jolt the economy out of a recession. I voted against the plan, but for the sake of the country, I hope it works.”
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Nate Charest, defensive back and wide receiver for Butler, is starting to get looks from Division 1 schools. Duke, Clemson, South Carolina, NC State and East Carolina have shown interest. Illinois is also a possibility. Charest’s brother, Jacob, plays quarterback for Illinois.
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Mint Hill Arts will have a gallery reception tonight to kick off the exhibition, “The view through the lens: a photographic journey.” The event takes place at the gallery in The Grace Building and lasts from 7-9 pm. In the above picture, Mint Hill Arts volunteers make last minute adjustments before tonight’s gallery crawl
CMS is examining all possibilities in trying to locate positions that can be cut to meet the expected shortfall in funds for 2009-2010. Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman said they are trying to keep the cuts away from the classroom, but he might not have a choice.
“Once you get into the $50 million to $100 million range, there really is no place else to go,” Dr. Gorman told the Board.”
At Independence High School, Judy Kidd, who is the president of the North Carolina Classroom Teacher’s Association, as well as a teacher at the Big I, worries that the cuts in security could be too deep. Under the proposed cuts, high schools would lose as many as five security officers.
“It’s a safety and security issue,” Kidd said. “We can’t get proper supervision and safety with the numbers we have now.”
The CMS press release: Continue reading »
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Former Independence baseball star Evan Taylor was named South Atlantic Conference player of the week. Taylor is batting .520 (13-of-25) with three home runs and 13 runs batted in after two weeks of the season and has led Lenoir-Rhyne to a 4-3 start to the year.
Kathryn Colberg of Mint Hill earned the distinction of Faculty Honors for fall semester 2008 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Undergraduate students earning a 4.00 academic average for the semester gain the distinction of Faculty Honors at Georgia Tech.
In the February 6 “Carolina Cash 5” drawing, Harold Dillon of Matthews matched all five numbers drawn to win the $83,302 top prize. This ticket was sold at Matthew’s Shell on East Independence Boulevard in. Other area winners: Betty Sheridan of Charlotte won $20,000 at the Circle K at 7905 South Boulevard; Michael Norman of Charlotte won $5,000 in the “$130 Million Blockbuster” instant scratch off.
Think that the lottery is all about luck? Think again.
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Not in our backyard. That is US Representative Sue Myrick’s (NC-09) message to Congress. She introduced a bill this week to stop prisoners from Guantanamo Bay from being sent to North Carolina. It does this by prohibiting federal funds from being used to transport detainees to, and housing them within, the state.
“This legislation sends a clear message that we don’t want enemy combatants and terrorists housed in our backyard,” Rep. Myrick said. Continue reading »
KnowledgePoints Learning Center Matthews has awarded Bobby Walker a full scholarship for the Spring 2009 semester. The scholarship, one of three awarded this school year, guarantees the Independence High School tenth-grader free testing and the center’s 40 hour tutoring program – a $1,760 value – at no cost.
The main argument that members of the most influential education associations of North Carolina have against lifting the state mandated cap on the number of charter schools is that some of them under-perform. Never mind that despite the under-performance of many public schools, there is not a cap on public schools. This is the basis of an opinion piece by Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation. Continue reading »
