General News

We feed them in our backyards, thrill to their springtime calls and watch with wonder as they flock in the fall. But for scientists, the birds of the Piedmont Carolinas also serve as messengers of the health of the region and as evidence of changes in the landscape. Now, for the first time, a mostly […]

With the arrival of fall, one of the most abundant wildflowers around is the yellow goldenrod. It is also one of the favorite hunting grounds of the unique crab spider (Misumena vatia), sometimes called the goldenrod crab spider. Although crab spiders occur all across the world, Misumena vatia is a Holarctic species, meaning it is […]

As the Chicago Cubs began their historic run in the major league baseball playoffs, I realized I had built my own field of dreams this season – a backyard pollinator garden at my house in Charlotte – and the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds had come. After clearing a tangle of invasive plants last winter – […]

Richard Fry, featured speaker at Charlotte Data Day 2015, asserted that Millenials (born 1981-96) are the most diverse and best educated generation but also face a tougher economy at the start of their careers than previous generations. Fry, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, spoke October 7 at the third annual Charlotte Data […]

The following is an edited version of a talk I gave Sept. 23 to a gathering of folks concerned about changes in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood. The event was organized by the group Plaza Midwood Shows Up in cooperation with the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association and the Charlotte section of the American Institute of Architects. […]

While gathering apples from my grandmother’s tree, or picking up persimmons early in the season, we had to deal with a pesky little insect – the yellow jacket. They had a colonial home in a stump near our persimmon tree. Fortunately, only once have I encountered a yellow jacket nest while walking in the woods. […]

[highlightrule] “We mourn the small stores lost and the neighborhood neutered, even as we recognize that cities depend for their future on new ways of selling and buying and living. Cities often produce whatever the next wave of social change is going to be, and then violently reject it for altering the nature of the […]

A higher proportion of middle school students who participated in STEM activities sponsored by a public-private partnership passed eighth- and ninth-grade Common Core math and science exams. Participants also averaged fewer days absent from school in 2013-14 than their counterparts at the school, in the school district and statewide. [highlight] Download a summary of the […]

Research by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute for United Way of Central Carolinas has found that almost 90 percent of at-risk Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students who took part in programs from 14 local United Way-funded agencies over three or more years graduated from high school. The research also found that at-risk students served by UWCC-funded agencies […]

Charlotte isn’t unique in the country in wanting to create more mixed-use development. As in many cities, leaders in Charlotte see advantages to encouraging the kinds of neighborhoods where homes, stores and workplaces are close to each other. It’s a more efficient use of land, can reduce infrastructure costs and traffic congestion, and can make […]