The Region’s Biggest Christmas Light Display Now Open At The Charlotte Motor Speedway

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Speedway Christmas is now back at the Charlotte Motor Speedway now through December 31. This year’s light show will be the 7th year the speedway has filled the infield and track with flickering and dancing lights, and it’s certainly the biggest yet.

They now have over 3 million lights installed along the 3.75-mile course.

Here’s a preview of some of the displays you’ll see this year:

Christmas lights display last night!

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Welcoming in the Christmas Season! Sometimes it's the simple things like Christmas lights that can brighten your spirit! ❤️

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Also, every weekend, they’ll be featuring a different ‘drive-in’ movie experience on their giant 16,000 sqft Speedway TV.

They will be airing the following movies over the next several weekends:

December 1st – 4th – Elf

December 8th – 11th – A Christmas Story

December 15th – 19th – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

December 20th – 24th – Frosty’s Winter Wonderland , The Grinch, Mickey’s Christmas Carol

December 29th – 30th – Frozen

The Speedway also features a full ‘Christmas Village’ with a petting zoo, Bethlehem village, horse-drawn wagon rides, photos with Santa, and more.

Famous Desert Maker Sending Elves Around Charlotte To Deliver Christmas Trees

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For some, cutting down your own Christmas tree is a necissary family tradition, but for others, it’s a painful chore. Thankfully, King of Pops has come up with the perfect solution for the later – Christmas tree elves!

Charlotte’s famous popsicle maker is now sending elves throughout our city to deliver and set up Christmas trees – bringing joy to kids everywhere (not to mention they also throw in some free popsicles with each delivery).

The delivered trees currently range in price from $55 (for 5 footers) to $95 (for 9 footers).

The popsicle company that’s known for it’s unusually creative flavors and concoctions decided to start the tree delivery service last year while the demand for frozen treats hit it’s annual lull.

So far this year, the King of Pops Christmas Tree Elves have harvested 400 trees, all from local Charlotte area farms.

Each delivery also comes with a box of popsicles filled with some of their most popular flavors.

If you’d like to have some elves deliver your Christmas tree this year, you can go to TreeElves.net, or visit the King of Pops at their South End retail location (2500 Dunavant St.)

If you want to order a tree just go to treeelves.net or their warehouse, which is located at 2500 Dunavant Street in Charlotte’s SouthEnd.

Mecklenburg County’s First Beach Is About To Get A Massive New Fishing Pier

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14156143_1473258460-0283Lake Norman’s Ramsey Creek Park, which now includes Mecklenburg County’s first public beach, is about to build a massive new fishing pier…hopefully.

Funding has been approved by the Town of Cornelius and the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department to construct an extension of the existing pier at Ramsey Creek Park, which would be named “Patriot Pier.” The town and county have pledged to $75,000 of the $95,000 cost of the project with the Patriot Military Family Foundation (PMFF) currently raising the remaining $20,000.

Huntersville businessman Dana Bradley has now launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds and awareness for the project – especially since it will be open to all disabled people and their families.

Currently, there are no handicapped-accessible fishing piers anywhere on Lake Norman.

Patriot Point would also help raise funds for other wounded veterans via The Patriot Military Family Foundation (patriotmilitaryfamilyfoundation.org) – the mission of the PMFF is to honor veterans for their service and to serve them and their families.

Do you think the new Patriot Point is a good idea?

Charlotte’s Humane Society Is Offering Free Pet Adoption This Weekend

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The Humane Society of Charlotte has just announced that all pet adoptions on ‘Black Friday Weekend’ will be free. They’re calling it “Home for the Paw-lidayz”, and they’re hoping to find loving homes for over 100 animals.

“The Humane Society of Charlotte is proud to partner with both Zappos and Best Friends Animal Society on their second Home For The Pawlidays adoption event. “This is the first year that HSC has participated, and we look forward to this team effort and hope to find new loving homes for many our HSC dogs and cats, which would be a reason to be truly thankful”, notes Shelly Moore, President/CEO at the Humane Society of Charlotte.

“Happy #Pawlidayz” continues through end of day on Monday, November 28th – they’ll be open daily 11am-5pm at their main shelter and 11am-7pm at our HSC Petco Huntersville location.

For more information you can visit humanecharlotte.org.

Tesla Just Opened Their Second Charlotte Location in The South Park Mall

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tesla-south-park-mallIf you’re interested in Tesla’s newest Model X this Christmas season, we have good news!

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company just opened their second Charlotte location inside the South Park Mall, but it’s not a ‘dealership’, or ‘showroom’ – it’s a ‘design studio’.

Inside Tesla’s new 600 square foot South Park Design Studio, the company allows shoppers to sit inside the state-of-the-art car and browse all of it’s high-tech features, as well as take one on a test drive. They can also build their own car from the ground up, choosing engine type, technology controls, interior decor, and exterior options, and within seconds, see a 3-d model of how it will look in their garage.

tesla-design-studio-charlotte

Although shoppers will be able to completely design their own car, they won’t be able to purchase a car from the new South Park location, due to the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle’s restrictions on the electric car maker.

If you do fall in love with your design, however, you can simply transfer your designs to an online account where you can buy the car at home and have it shipped to Tesla’s service center on Independence Blvd.

Have you ever sat in a Tesla? What do you think about the new high-tech auto maker? 

North Carolina-Based Rise Biscuits Donuts Is About To Open Their First Charlotte Location

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Charlotte is about to get it’s first Rise Biscuits Donuts, a wildly popular breakfast and lunch food chain with 7 locations in the Raleigh-Durham region.

The franchise, which opened its first location in Durham in 2012, was recently ranked among Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers. Their new Charlotte location is schedule to open on December 3rd at 7am on Providence Rd. West, across from the Ballantyne Town Center (the one with the Publix).

Their also planning on opening new locations in Greensboro, Wilmington, and Allen, TX over the next several months.

Rise will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. ever day, and will feature an eclectic mix of donuts, biscuits sandwiches, and creative pastries.

Post workout maple bacon bar ❤️ #iifym #iifymgirls #crossfit #crossfitgirls #eeeeeats

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Crazy donuts 😋👀🍩 #cheatmeal #CrewBreakfast #FAforAA #airlinelife #crewlife #fruitypebbles

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11-Year-Old Gastonia Girl Starring With Winona Ryder On New TV Series

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tv star from gastoniaKaylee Glover has just landed her first major acting role along side Winona Ryder on the new thrilling Netflix-original drama series, ‘Stranger Things’.

According to her agency resume, she’s also appeared on the 2014 thriller film, ‘The Taking’, as well as several modeling and runway appearances.

What makes her resume even more impressive is the fact that she’s an 11-year-old 6th grader. Kaylee currently lives in Gastonia with her parents and attends Cramerton Middle School.

The highly anticipated new series, ‘Stranger Things’, will be set in small-town Indiana in the 1980s. Winona Ryder will star as the show’s single mother whose son goes missing. Kaylee will be playing a popular girl in the local school.

“It was a really good experience, I didn’t want to do TV at first, but when I did that role it made me excited to know I was a part of something. It was really cool.” she remarked in a recent press conference.

America’s First Prison Distillery Is About To Open in Cabarrus County

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A Cabarrus County jail that’s being converted into a moonshine distillery is now offering tours of the facility.

Southern Grace Distilleries — Cabarrus County’s first legal moonshine distillery — is converting the old prison at 130 Dutch Road, in Mount Pleasant into its new state-of-the-art distillery, complete with daily tours.

new moonshine distillary in mt pleasant

The old prison closed its doors about five years ago, operating from 1929 to 2011.

Tours of the new facility will cost $14 each, which will include the complete history of the prison, moonshine tasting, and a souvenir glass to take home.

Southern Grace President Leanne Powell stated that the company is now the first working distillery to operate inside a prison facility in the U.S.:

The new space will include about 13,300 square feet for manufacturing and close to 5,000 square feet for Southern Grace’s new barrel house, as well as roughly 1,500 square foot for a visitor center.

The owners have stated that they’ve already come across old prison “memorabilia” hidden by the former prisoners, such as razor blades and shivs made out of spoons, which they plan on displaying around the old historic prison facility.

New Animal Hospital, Hotel, and Spa About To Open Near Lake Norman

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new animal hospital opening on lake normanHarbor Point Animal Hospital, Hotel, and Spa is about to open just off exit 35 in Mooresville. Dr. Jamie Laity wants to create a truly unique and special place for pets in the Lake Norman area. Each four-legged visitor will enjoy their own “destination-themed” luxury suite, daily housekeeping, two premium meals per day, including specially prepared healthy snacks.

The facility will also offer a full service veterinary hospital, including preventative care, surgical care, internal medicine, dentistry, puppy and kitten care, emergency medicine, on-site pharmacy, dog and cat boarding, and a variety of grooming services ranging from therapeutic mud baths and paw balms to vanilla blueberry facials.

Harbor Point is now expected to open in early September, in the shopping center at 694 Brawley School Rd, Mooresville, NC.

You can find out more on their website at HarborPointAnimalHospital.com or by calling them at 704-230-0858.

Rock Hill Store Owners Plead Guilty To $5 Million In Food Stamp Fraud In Federal Court

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According to federal court records, three Rock Hill convenience store owners are now facing steep prison time after pleading guilty in to over $5 million in food stamp fraud.

The court documents show that the 3 Rock Hill store owners defrauding the federal government of $5,850,733.

Li Fang Phu, Hoang Long Huu Nguyen, and Dianne Margaret Phu perpetrated the scheme at the former Gas on the Spot store on South Cherry Road, and at the Daily Express Mart on Wilson Street (also known as T & D Food Mart LLC), across the street from the Rock Hill Housing Authority, and two blocks from the Rock Hill Police Department.

Prosecutors claim that the men repeatedly accepted food stamps for cigarettes, beer, and gas (one charge shows the acceptance of $59 in food stamps for a bottle of beer and a pack of cigarettes).

Food stamps, technically called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are a federal program that gives assistance to the poor for food purchases only. Food stamps by law are not allowed to be used for non-food items.

The three suspects allegedly used signs, signals and other subtle clues to alert customers that they accepted food stamps for unapproved items. Li Phu faces one felony count; Nguyen faces two counts, and Dianne Phu is charged with three felonies. The charges now carry up to five years in prison for each count, and they might have to forfeit any property or proceeds “derived from or traceable to” the alleged fraud – including their stores.

Sentencing is now expected to happen sometime in 2017, the case’s federal prosecutor Jim May remarked in a press release.