Tonya Rivens
Dinner in: Davidson College had real home cookin’
March 16. By Tonya Rivens. For students who started school at Davidson College up until the late 1970s, attending college included a bonus: House mothers and neighborhood moms provided home-cooked meals. According to Davidson College’s Archives and Collections, students ate at the homes of town residents around the early 1900s. In 1915, the Davidsonian listed […]
The story behind a new novel involves a real abduction
Nov. 10. By Tonya Rivens. When Gabby Petito went missing, it brought back memories of a local incident that old-timers in Charlotte, Cornelius and Davidson still remember. Unlike Gabby, Earthell Latta and her sister survived. In 1971, they were kidnapped from Charlotte’s Druid Hills community by a traveling evangelist. They were 7 and 9 at […]
Funerals were historically different in the Black community
Oct. 12. By Tonya Rivens. The death of a loved one is tough. Coping with that loss can be even more difficult. During the 1960s, Black families not only had to deal with grief after losing someone, they weren’t allowed to enter through the front door of local funeral homes. Harvey Bryant, of W.H. Bryant […]
Sure, Cornelius is affluent, but there’s also a housing problem
Aug. 9. ANALYSIS. By Tonya Rivens. In the “Live, Work and Play” motto of Lake Norman, much of the focus has been on the work and play aspects. But Cornelius recently has been fine-tuning the living aspect to include affordable housing. Mayor Woody Washam says the Lake Norman Economic Development Corp. funded a study in […]
What’s on your mind? Traffic.
PERSON ON THE STREET | By Tonya Rivens July 7. Mark says it takes 10 minutes to get to exit 28 from his home then twenty minutes from exit 28 to Potts Barber shop @ 21234 Catawba Ave (downtown) during AM drive time. He feels traffic congestion will improve once commuters are made aware of […]
Smithville revitalization: Change is inevitable
| By Tonya Rivens June 10. Smithville residents are slowly grappling with the fact that their historic, tightly knit neighborhood is changing. In April, the Smithville Community Coalition (SCC) hosted its first open community meeting at which time a revitalization plan was presented. But two months later, there still appears to be no consensus around […]
