Carney, in the middle of his second four-year term as Ward 4 representative on the six-member Mooresville board, was chosen to fill Forrester's seat Monday during a joint meeting of the Republican parties of Iredell, Lincoln and Gaston counties.
Forrester, of Gaston County, died Oct. 31 during his 11th term in the state senate. His current term representing the 41st District lasts until next November. Votes by the party representatives were weighted based on the voter registration statistics in the three counties and Carney won the election with overwhelming support, according to Iredell County Republican Party Chairman Jason Abernethy.
The 41st District includes all of Lincoln and parts of Gaston and Iredell, but more than 60 percent of Iredell voters live in the district, representing nearly half (47 percent) of the voters in the district.
Carney will assume the office in accordance with North Carolina law after submission of the vote to Gov. Bev Perdue.
In Mooresville, Carney is still a commissioner until he submits his resignation, according to Town Attorney Steve Gambill. Once he steps down from the board, Carney's replacement will be determined by a board vote.
If Carney opts to resign at the board's next meeting on Monday, Dec. 5, it will add to the changes already scheduled. Currently on the agenda are swearing-in ceremonies for new mayor Miles Atkins and newly elected commissioners Bobby Compton (at-large) and Eddie Dingler (Ward 1). They, along with Ward representatives Thurman Houston and Mac Herring and at-large commissioner Rhett Dusenbury, will select Carney's replacement.
Gambill says the person chosen to fill Carney's seat must be a resident of Ward 4, which includes the western portion of town including the Morrison Plantation subdivision. He also said there is no statutory timetable for the naming of the new commissioner. Carney's current term on the Mooresville board expires in 2013.
Davidson program offers civics basics
If you're interested in learning more about the inner workings of local government, the Town of Davidson has the class you need. Registration recently opened for 2012's Civics 101 class that will start in February.
The free program, celebrating its sixth anniversary, is open to Davidson residents and residents of Davidson's extra-territorial jurisdiction who are 18 and older. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss departmental functions and operations with town department heads, tour the fire and police departments, learn about town history from Davidson College's archivist, and take part in a personalized question-and-answer session with commissioners.
Classes held at Town Hall will begin Thursday, Feb. 2, and continue for nine consecutive weeks, excluding Feb. 23. Classes also include a Saturday field trip and graduation ceremony at the April 10 Davidson Town Board of Commissioners' meeting. Participants can sign up for day sessions from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. or the evening class from 6:30 to 8:30. Applications are available online and at Town Hall.
Participants should not expect nine weeks of lectures as classes will require participation in discussion and activities. Acceptance into the program is on a first-come, first-served basis and only 20 participants will be able to participate in each class. The day class will require a minimum of 15 participants. Residents selected must commit to attending all nine classes.
A number of Civics 101's graduates have gone on to enter community government service, including commissioners Laurie Venzon, Tim Dreffer and Connie Wessner; Design Review Board members Brunson Russum and Mike Kessler and Recreation Advisory Committee member Olivia Bearden.
For more information about the program, contact Lillian Smith at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 704-892-7591. To see a full schedule of this year's classes, visit www.ci.davidson.nc.us/civics101.
KW Lake Norman accepts toy donations
Through Wednesday, Dec. 14, Keller Williams Lake Norman Market Center will serve as the official community drop-off for the Salvation Army's Magical Toy Drive. The Salvation Army needs new and unwrapped toys for children ages newborn to 14, in order to provide for some 13,700 children who would not otherwise receive gifts this year. The greatest need is for ages infant-2 and 11-14. The Keller Williams office is at West Catawba Avenue and Bethel Church Road in Cornelius. The office is open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Runners to hit Huntersville streets
About 500 runners and walkers will take to the streets Saturday morning in and around Birkdale Village as well as the Birkdale, MacAulay and Wynfield neighborhoods in the first Huntersville Half Marathon and Huntersville Holiday 5K.
"Between 7:30 and 11 a.m., there may be traffic delays on the course but no formal road closures," says race director Bear Robinson.
The races start at 8 a.m., and begin and end in Birkdale Village. Maps of both courses are at www.huntersvillehalf.com.
Also Saturday, hundreds of runners and walkers are expected for the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K at The Park Huntersville. That event begins at 9 a.m. For more information, visit www.sportoften.com.
Davidson professor earns high acclaim
Davidson College Professor Wolfgang Christian's steadfast crusade to show the world a better way to teach physics has received acclaim from Science, one of the world's top publications on scientific issues.
Christian, the Brown Professor of Physics at Davidson, and collaborators Francisco Esquembre and Lyle Barbato received the magazine's monthly SPORE (Science Prize for Online Resources in Education) for development of a national digital library hosting a collection of interactive computer simulations.
The Nov. 25 edition of the publication recognized the honorees for their creation of the Open Source Physics (OSP) Web site, and includes a two-page essay describing the educational benefits of the system of online physics resources they are compiling there.
The essay explains: "The Open Sources Physics project seeks to enhance computational physics education by providing a central Web site containing computer modeling tools, simulations, curricular resources such as lesson plans and a computational physics textbook."
This OSP approach improves comprehension and visualization of abstract physics concepts through a teaching process called the Learning Cycle developed by Berkeley's Robert Karplus in the 1960s. In the first "exploration" phase, students consider a problem and make predictions about the outcome. In the second "invention" phase, the teacher and students share observations and ideas.
The SPORE award validates again the value of online learning that Christian and his Davidson departmental colleague Professor Mario Belloni have long promoted in a carefully managed strategy of curriculum development, publication, educational outreach and educational research. They have published about a dozen books on the subject, led frequent workshops and presented talks at professional meetings worldwide.
Recent surveys have shown that more than 20 percent of the 40,000 physics teachers in the USA are aware of OSP. The OSP Web site last year delivered about 500,000 page views and more than 50,000 simulation downloads.
As the impact of effort primarily by a professor in a six-person department at a small liberal arts college, the OSP project and SPORE award are significant achievements. But Christian has never gotten ahead by standing still.
With a well-stocked library of collegiate and graduate-school level simulations in OSP, Christian is now emphasizing work appropriate to K-12 students, and is investigating how to use collaborative tools and social media to teach and promote computational physics education.
— Staff
