Local

North Carolina's unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in four years, and South Carolina's unemployment rate has declined to the lowest point in five years. That's according to figures released Friday for the month of April.

  On March 11, in the music room of Blythe Elementary in Huntersville, 25 first- and third-grade children stepped on stage to receive the gift of a new violin. The children are the first class of MusicalMinds NC, a free, classical music program for “at-risk” children modeled upon the famed El Sistema schools of Venezuela. On stage with the children was Eduardo Cedeño, conductor of the Lake Norman Symphony Orchestra and one of El Sistema’s first students.

Mecklenburg County Chairman Pat Cotham has taken a lot of heat for the firing of County Manager Harry Jones last week.  So she’s decided to fire back at her nay-sayers by releasing results of a poll she commissioned.   

Influential anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist made several stops in North Carolina yesterday. He visited the capitol to show support for Republican proposals to overhaul the state’s tax system, and ended the day in Huntersville. 

A high school student from Davidson is among the students from around the world in Arizona this week competing for scholarships and cash prizes in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.    Eighteen-year-old Christopher Panuski's entry in the fair looks at cheaper and more efficient ways to shield electronics from cosmic radiation.  He joined us to talk about the project and the competition.