From an attempted local government takeover of tourism tax dollars to signs of economic life, particularly from the commercial development sector, there has been no shortage of headlines and hot topics for local readers to follow.

The highlighted events on the local news calendar began Feb. 4, when an e-mailed press release from the mayors of Huntersville, Davidson and Cornelius caught many local officials by surprise, including those of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce and the region's official convention and visitors bureau, Visit Lake Norman. The Mayors Travel and Tourism Task Force, in clandestine fashion, had been formed.

With the coming expiration of the interlocal agreement between the three towns, as well as growing grumbling about tightening budgets and exactly what each town was gaining from participating in VLN funding, it was seen by hoteliers and restaurateurs — who actually raise the tax dollars largely from out-of-town guests — as well as VLN and Chamber officials as a major step toward a grab at part or all of the roughly half-million dollars per year the towns turn over to the organization.

In response, town officials insisted it wasn't about the money, but some electeds in both Huntersville and Davidson had, not entirely privately, discussed their desire to keep the tourism dollars for themselves to help balance budgets and promote the towns individually rather than as a region. Keenly aware of that fact, the hotel operators went to Raleigh to seek changes in the legislation that created the tourism tax fund to codify funding at the 10-year historic levels, which the towns fought vigorously.

With little discussion, the General Assembly unanimously sided with the hoteliers at every stop along the legislative path, but with one obvious omission: VLN would still have to work out an interlocal agreement with the towns on the governance of the organization. Give and take on both sides yielded a new structure for the board of directors, but all is not settled. At the most recent Cornelius Town Board meeting, commissioners learned that not all the desired language was included in the VLN Board's charter amendment, and until those adjustments are made to the Cornelius board's satisfaction, it may hold the third-quarter payment due VLN in January.

Apparently, there will be more to come in 2012.

E-mailgate 2011

Seems as though anytime there is a scandal involving government, the suffix "gate," as in Watergate, is applied. It's totally meaningless, as Watergate was a hotel in Washington, D.C., but it sounds ominous.

So it was that, just when the VLN funding matter seemed to be settled and all was returning to north Mecklenburg's version of normal, an e-mail written by Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce President Bill Russell to a long-time friend and political mentor in South Carolina made it out of his computer and into the waiting arms of what appear to be his arch-nemesis, the Huntersville Town Board of Commissioners. In the e-mail, Russell boasted of his apparent political victory in securing legislative support in Raleigh for VLN funding. Visit Lake Norman was an offshoot of the Chamber, and it still held some veto authority over amendments to its charter.

Ultimately, it was determined the e-mail was taken from Russell's computer by now-former Chamber staffer Janet Rollins, but exactly how it made it to the Huntersville Town Board remains a mystery. While the ultimate distributor of the communiqué is unknown, there is a curious trail leading from Rollins to the Huntersville Town Board. At some point in the process, the e-mail was apparently copied and pasted, then sent through a series of false and/or pirated e-mail accounts to lend the appearance that Russell's e-mail accidently made it to an unintended person's in box, then got passed around legitimately until it ended up in the hands of only the Huntersville commissioners.

It was a clumsy effort easily spotted, but exactly whom was involved remains officially unknown, at least to those who don't know. Tight lips all around, as Huntersville officials have worked quickly to quell the controversy. Perhaps that story can be completed in 2012 as well.

Towering infernal

Some around the area lament the 430-foot concrete monolith that sprung up within a few weeks in Commerce Station in southern Huntersville, the industrial park owned jointly by the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson.

The tower is a key component of the new ABB plant, a $90 million facility that will manufacture the highest of high-tech electricity transmission cables. The cables can carry current hundreds of miles underground with little degradation, and they are specifically designed to connect green power generation facilities such as wind and solar to the existing grid. Two of the state-of-the-art cables can carry all of the current generated by a typical nuclear reactor.

The edifice is an extrusion tower, and is used in a vertical production process for the cables as they are coated before being rolled onto giant spools for shipping. It's a symbol of the continuing emphasis on industrial growth in the region, and the plant is expected to draw ancillary businesses and is boosting enrollment at Central Piedmont Community College, which is responsible for training new workers on the technology. To help serve ABB and the park's first occupant, Pactiv, a bridge to extend a realigned Verhoeff Drive is being built over N.C. 115 to provide better access for trucks.

More development

Until now, the three north Mecklenburg towns have managed to zone out any intrusion of Walmart into the area, forcing area bargain hunters to travel to University City, Mooresville, Denver or Mountain Island to get their regular low price fix. But because it really is on the extreme southern edge of Huntersville in the burgeoning Bryton development, well, it must be okay.

The area's first Walmart will be Bryton's first tenant and is expected to open in late 2012. It will be close to the Red Line, assuming it's built, as well as the final leg of I-485, once that's completed in 2014. Bryton is a transit-oriented, mixed-use development that includes a realigned rail line, and eventually a passenger station. Farther north, real earth-moving is finally under way at Langtree at the Lake, the mega-development that will eventually occupy all four corners of Exit 31 on I-77 and beyond with condos, retailers, restaurants, offices and hotel rooms.

In between Bryton and Langtree, contractors rebuilding a piece of one of the region's primary east-west major thoroughfares missed their deadline. Blythe Development was scheduled to finish the widening of Sam Furr Road in Huntersville between I-77 and N.C. 115, plus make significant intersection improvements at both ends of the project, by mid-December. But the orange barrels remain, and they will stay there until spring. The North Carolina Department of Transportation doesn't allow paving over the winter months, and road markings won't properly adhere in cold weather. When complete, the new, four-lane piece of road will include a "quad left" intersection at N.C. 21 and widening both north and south bound at highways 21 and 115.

Meanwhile, in Mooresville, the long-awaited completion of work to widen Brawley School Road between The Point and Williamson Road was completed, making the daily commute incredibly more tolerable for the thousands of residents on the miles-long Lake Norman peninsula . Options were limited, which is to say there weren't any, so motorists had to pack plenty of patience just about any time of the day they wanted to leave. Now with four lanes and a wider intersection at Williamson, all that remains is the continuation of the project to I-77, where construction of a new Exit 35 to access Brawley School Road and at least diffuse some of the traffic at exits 33 and 36 is well under way.

Station identification

After more than three years of wrangling over the need for a new headquarters for the Huntersville Police Department, the solution practically fell into the laps of Huntersville commissioners in the fall. Just a few months earlier, Police Chief Phil Potter received the news from the board that the town would not pursue a bond referendum for more than $15 million to build a new headquarters at the former Anchor Mill site in downtown Huntersville. By all appearances, the HPD wasn't going to be able to move out of its inadequate, 8,000-square-foot building anytime soon.

But the broker of a former medical office in The Park Huntersville brought to the town's attention a 26,000-square-foot stone and glass structure that once housed an alternative medicine center on 2.8 acres off Julian Clark Avenue. And at $4.225 million, plus upfit and equipping costs that will still keep the total price below $6 million, it's a comparative bargain. The town secured a very low-interest loan, so no public vote was required. The building can be expanded by another 10,000 feet in the future, if needed.

Musical chairs

Local elected bodies have plenty of new faces, and in some cases perhaps new thinking, as a result of significant changes on area town boards. Ten new commissioners were seated behind the dais in local town halls, with the most significant changes happening in Huntersville and Mooresville.

In Huntersville, a vacated seat, a newly created one and a commissioner challenging an incumbent mayor meant there would be at least three new commissioners picked for a now-six-member board. In 2010, the commissioners amended the town charter to create a sixth seat on the panel, and in early summer of 2011, Ken Lucas resigned from the board and moved to Texas. Then, freshman Commissioner Danae Caulfield announced she would challenge incumbent Mayor Jill Swain for ownership of the gavel, and the jockeying began.

Eleven candidates ran for the board with three newcomers — Danny Phillips, Charles Guignard and Melinda Bales — elected. Guignard has experience, returning to the board after a decade-long absence. Swain easily defeated Caulfield to remain mayor.

Things were much more calm in Cornelius, with only two non-incumbents John Bradford and Jeff Hare filing to run. With eight-year Commissioner Jim Bensman deciding not to seek re-election, at least one seat was open. But on election night, Bradford edged 16-year Commissioner Thurman Ross by a mere two votes, resulting in a two-fifths turnover on the board following a very quiet race.

Some civic unrest in Davidson over the fiscal state of the town, brought a challenge to Mayor John Woods and other challengers to what they call the "Davidson way" of little in the way of public dialogue over key issues. Margo Williams and Tim Dreffer didn't run for re-election, and with all incumbents winning their seats, the only changes to the panel were Rodney Graham and Jim Fuller.

In Mooresville, a new mayor and three new commissioners took office in December. A series of highly publicized social and conflict of interest blunders convinced Chris Montgomery not to seek re-election after one term as mayor, and veteran commissioner Miles Atkins emerged from a hotly contested battle with political newcomer Jared Esselman to win the mayor's seat. In the board races, Mitch Abraham, Mooresville's longest-serving commissioner and the town's most active representative in regional matters, lost in his re-election bid. Also, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Carney resigned his board seat after being selected to complete the North Carolina Senate term of the late Jim Forrester.

When the smoke cleared, election winners Eddie Dingler and Bobby Compton were installed as new members of the six-member board of commissioners and in mid-December, planning board member Lisa Qualls was named as Carney's replacement.

Skeen deep

Jamie Skeen has been a household name in Mecklenburg County — and especially on the northern end — since his days at North Meck High, where he became a basketball star, led the Vikings to the 2005 4A state championship and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball (2005).

But the 6-foot-9 Skeen stepped into the national spotlight and became one of March's most memorable when he and the underdog Virginia Commonwealth University Rams made an unprecedented run to the Final Four, advancing from the play-in round and winning five tournament games before falling to national runner-up Butler in Houston.

And all that after being an afterthought when the tournament bracket was announced. VCU didn't even watch the tournament selection show as a team, and Skeen was dining alone in a Richmond, Va., restaurant when he was notified of the Rams being included.

Skeen was the Rams' catalyst in the tournament, averaging 17.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in the wins over Southern California, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas. Skeen appeared in Sports Illustrated and was a regular on ESPN's SportsCenter and college basketball coverage and had perhaps his best college game in the Elite Eight against 35-win Kansas and twin post players Marcus and Markieff Morris. He scored a game-high 26 points, hit 4-of-7 three-point attempts and pulled down 10 rebounds. Skeen followed that effort with a 27-point, 6-rebound performance against Butler in the Final Four.

Skeen is now trying to make a name for himself overseas, where he is playing professionally.