Community
I-77 fight widens as Cooper issues demand to Cintra
By Dave Vieser. Cintra and the NCDOT might have won a couple of battles in January—the WidenI-77 lawsuit and the Charlotte City Council vote—but the war seems to be escalating in Lake Norman, with what amounts to freedom fighters among citizens and business leaders. Indeed, WidenI-77 founder Kurt Naas, a Cornelius resident, broke the news that […]
Motorsports mogul inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame
Feb. 3. Bruton Smith has been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The motorsports legend and father of the Charlotte Motor Speedway also organized the Sonic Automotive Group, a nationwide chain of dealerships. An innovator and dynamic business leader, Smith founded Speedway Motorsports, Inc. by consolidating his motorsports holdings in December 1994, and in […]
Aquesta Bank will open Wilmington branch
Feb. 2. Cornelius-based Aquesta Bank will open a full service bank branch in Wilmington, proof, perhaps, that the Aquesta name and logo translates well to an upscale, waterfont-oriented marketplace. Aquesta Financial Holdings officials said they “recently finalized the purchase of a soon-to-be full-service bank branch” in Wilmington. While no other details were immediately available, the […]
Zombie craze could bite into cable
By Erica Batten. A giant cable TV battle is playing out right in our own backyard as Mooresville-based MI-Connection, like dozens of locally-owned providers nationwide, negotiates with AMC Networks for renewal of their network carriage agreement. Small cable companies are crying foul when it comes to proposed fees, saying AMC Networks, which includes AMC, WE-TV and […]
Cintra’s parent firm built Canadian bridge which buckled
Jan. 25. By Dave Vieser. A newly constructed two-lane bridge in northern Ontario, Canada, which split apart on January 10, was designed and built, in part, by Ferrovial, which owns Cintra, the company building the I-77 toll lanes. The damage to the Nipigon River Bridge, which carries traffic using the Trans Canadian Highway, was extensive […]
CRTPO vote galvanized LKN opposition to tolls
Jan. 22. You might call it Pyrrhic victory, one that causes as much harm to the winner as it does to those who appear to have been defeated. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization did just as expected last night, voting 50-12, based on a weighted voting system, to approve the concept of managed lanes […]
Speculative building: Some winners, some not so much
By Marty Price. Concord Mayor Scott Padgett sees the boom in speculative building as a sign of a strengthening economy that will lead to more jobs in Concord as well as Cabarrus County. “We went from needing speculative buildings to now having more than 1 million square feet of buildings ready with more being built,” he […]
Craft brewing has come to Concord
By Marty Price. The craft beer industry, with breweries large and small operating in most of the major cities across the nation, has started another trend. Smaller towns and municipalities are changing their zoning laws to encourage them. Concord became one of the most recent when they made a text amendment to their Unified Development Ordinance […]
LKN Chamber gala spoke volumes
There was a big turnout—200 people—for the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce annual gala Friday night at The Peninsula Club. What the attendees heard and saw was an apparently unified business organization ready to do battle with Gov. Pat McCrory and the Charlotte Chamber. RELATED: Powerpoint presentation on the Lake Norman Chamber’s 2015 awards Plenty happened Friday night: Outgoing […]
Bradford, Tarte: Tolls hurting McCrory; chamber honors anti-toll forces
Jan. 15. By Dave Vieser. Two prominent state Republican legislators from Cornelius said that anger over Gov. Pat McCrory handling of the I-77 toll lane issue could impact his re-election this fall. NC Sen. Jeff Tarte and NC Rep. John Bradford made their comments at Business Today’s Newsmakers Breakfast at The Peninsula Club on Thursday. And, in […]
