The Domestic Violence Advocacy Council is inviting the public to march in response to the most recent domestic violence related homicide in Mecklenburg County.

Mecklenburg County residents are reminded that property tax payments must be paid on or before Jan. 5, 2012 to avoid interest charges. If mailed, the payment must be postmarked by the United States Postal Service, not metered, on or before that date.

Beginning in January 2012, businesses in Mecklenburg County will be able to file their annual property tax listings with the Assessor’s Office online.

Due to its successes over the past few months, the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) has been awarded additional funding from the North Carolina Job Boost Program grant.

The Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor’s Office has completed nearly two-thirds of the informal appeals from property owners seeking an adjustment to their new property values and has decided more than 2,800 of the formal appeals.

The Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Advocacy Council is inviting the public to participate in the 7th Annual Domestic Violence Memorial Tree ceremony in Uptown Charlotte.

The Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) will begin taking applications for help with energy bills starting on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

A $4.9 million federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) grant will help Mecklenburg County and the region deal with sustainability planning in transportation, the environment, housing, and economic development.

The Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District is accepting pre-orders through Nov. 30 for the 41st Annual Tree Seedling and Rain Barrel Sale.

Mecklenburg County government offices and agencies will be closed on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25, 2011 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The winter 2012 issue of Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s Get Going Guide is now available online at parkandrec.com.

If you’ve ever used the Internet to look up driving directions, check your property value or find the closest park, count yourself in as a user of geographic information systems (GIS).

The free event is Friday, Nov. 18, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., at Bank of America Founders Hall.

Mecklenburg County Finance Director Dena Diorio has been named to the Government Finance Officers Association Standing Committee on Government Debt Management.

In the old days, throwing out a few boxes of long-canceled checks and other personal documents was quite simple: You dumped it all in the trash, sent it to the curb, and forgot about it.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, in partnership with U.S. Paralympics, will host a 2011 Paralympic Experience for people with physical and visual disabilities ages 6 - up.

Charlotte, NC–Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department will host on-camera acting classes at Elon Recreation Center for ages 8-13 and 55-up beginning in late November.

Funding will help replace older diesel equipment at Charlotte Douglas Airport.

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department and the Davidson Lands Conservancy invite the public to a ceremony marking the County’s recent purchase of the former 242-acre Abersham development off Grey and Shearer roads in Davidson.

Park and Rec will host a community meeting to provide information and solicit feedback for the American Legion Memorial Stadium and the Grady Cole Center site master plan. The meeting is Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grady Cole Center.

The Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor’s Office has completed 54 percent of the appeals filed by property owners seeking an adjustment to their new property values.

Early voting starts Oct. 20 for the County’s General Election, which includes contests for Board of Education, Charlotte Mayor and Council plus town races in Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville.

Mecklenburg County Cooperative Extension is taking orders for various berry plants and fig trees. The deadline to order is Oct. 28., and all plants are $8. Proceeds directly support Mecklenburg Cooperative Extension and 4-H programming.

Want to help make our community a “greener” place? Mecklenburg County Solid Waste has issued a call for volunteers for the annual Wipe Out Waste Day on Nov. 12, 2011.

Preparation is underway for a one-day outreach event for veterans who are homeless to help connect them and their families to community resources and assistance.

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department invites parents with children interested in playing basketball, ages 4-18, to register now through Oct. 21 for the upcoming winter co-ed recreation season.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Director Jim Garges competed in his second ironman triathlon competition recently on his 60th birthday.

The SWIMMING ADVISORY has been lifted that was issued on Saturday, September 17, 2011 for a small area of Lake Norman at the end of Peninsula Point Drive in Cornelius.

The SWIMMING ADVISORY has been lifted that was issued on September 19, 2011 for a single cove on Lake Norman between Springwinds Drive and Peninsula Cove Lane in Cornelius.

Be part of something BIG! This year is the 25th anniversary of Big Sweep, a one-day clean up of Charlotte-Mecklenburg creeks, streams and lakes.

A SWIMMING ADVISORY was issued on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011 for a small area of Lake Norman at the end of Peninsula Point Drive in Cornelius due to potentially elevated bacteria levels associated with a sewer leak.

A SWIMMING ADVISORY was issued on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 for a single cove on Lake Norman between Springwinds Drive and Peninsula Cove Lane in Cornelius due to potentially elevated bacteria levels associated with a sewer leak.

Sugaw Creek Recreation Center will host the 14th annual Queen City Amateur Boxing Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 at 4 p.m.

Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awards funding to communities to assist homeless and disabled citizens with housing.

Sometime this year, you literally may be speaking with someone from Mecklenburg County Government in your own backyard.

Mecklenburg County joins the City of Charlotte to host an event in remembrance of the attacks and to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, in partnership with the Arts and Science Council, Charlotte Center City Partners and Partners for Parks, invite the public to the groundbreaking of Romare Bearden Park on Friday, Sept. 2 from 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Mecklenburg County Government offices and agencies will be closed on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011 for the Labor Day holiday.

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department hosts the first annual Charlotte Fall Challenge Tennis Tournament for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

MORE THAN 360,000 BILLS FOR REAL, PERSONAL AND BUSINESS PERSONAL PROPERTY

Fall is almost here, and there’s no better time for the residents of Mecklenburg County to go natural and learn to make rich fertilizer for spring gardening.

The Mecklenburg County Health Department is pleased to announce that County residents will now be able to use their EBT cards or “food stamp” card to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from several area farmers’ markets and produce stands.

Local residents affected by flash flooding on Aug. 5, 2011 can begin applying for low-interest disaster assistance loans starting August 23rd.

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department invites the media and the public to check out the brand new and dramatic “Predators of Hummingbirds” exhibit at this year’s Hummingbird Festival on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011.

County employee works to ensure fish in area lakes are safe.

MeckCARES Family Fun Day

The fall 2011 issue of Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s Get Going Guide is now available online at http://parkandrec.com.

The Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) has been awarded another year of the North Carolina Job Boost Program grant due to the success from the program over the last fiscal year

The Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) will change its operating hours starting on Friday, July 1, 2011.

Under a new state law that takes effect July 1, 2011, televisions and computers and related computer equipment will be banned from landfills in North Carolina.

The Board of County Commissioners’ Economic Development Committee has agreed to recommend to the full board an extension of the agreement with the Charlotte Knights to construct a baseball stadium in Third Ward.

With little change from their straw-vote decision last week, the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners voted to adopt a $1.38 billion budget on Tuesday that gives more to education and libraries and creates a fund to better manage debts.

Business imperatives reserves fund County functions necessary for the delivery of all services, providing for capital improvements such as building repairs and equipment replacement, technology improvements, and replacement of aging County vehicles.

Former Senior PGA Champion Charlie Sifford was honored on May 3 with the dedication of the Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course at Revolution Park.

Residents of North Mecklenburg got a chance to Connect with Mecklenburg County and share their budgetary priorities at a meeting at Cornelius Town Hall Wednesday night.

The Board of Equalization & Review is a panel of 15 citizens appointed by the Board of County Commissioners that reviews assessments appealed by property owners.

Creation of a new finance division is expected to place greater focus on compliance consistency for Mecklenburg County and improve overall efficiency of financial services.

In the fifth Budget Update to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, budget and finance officials said the County’s revenues are at $10.6 million more than projected for the current year.

On Tuesday, a budget official presented a revenue-neutral tax rate of 78.74 cents for information as the Board of County Commissioners considers a budget for the 2012 fiscal year.

Work is nearly complete on a project to install 141 solar thermal collectors on five public buildings in Mecklenburg County that are high users of hot water.

Moody’s Investors Service, an international credit rating agency, has again affirmed Mecklenburg County’s AAA bond rating, the highest possible.

The date for this year’s event is Oct. 11, 2011, at the Grady Cole Center on Kings Drive in Charlotte, N.C.

Mecklenburg County's current financial status report shows about $5.4 million in projected surplus revenue, according to Director of Finance Dena Diorio.

What will County government look like in the year 2020? That’s what residents are being asked to give their thoughts on from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 11, at the Vision 2020 Community Forum.

County Manager Harry L. Jones Sr. was elected president of the North Carolina City & County Management Association on June 25, 2011.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation invites parents with children interested in playing soccer, ages 4-6, 7-8 and 9-10, or flag football, ages 4-6, and 7-8 to register for the upcoming fall coed recreation season.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation is partnering with Hands On Charlotte, the Lincoln Heights community and US Airways to build a community park between the 1500 and 1900 blocks of Catherine Simmons Ave. in Charlotte.

Findings in a review of four separate domestic violence fatalities will help Mecklenburg County as a community understand more about the crime, the victims, the perpetrators and the agencies and organizations working to prevent it.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation and local nonprofit agency Hands On Charlotte are partnering to raise money to build an 11-acre park in Charlotte’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood during the week leading up to Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011.

The Mecklenburg County Tax Collector’s Office has added a new privilege license “search” feature to its online services website.

Charlotte Regional Don’t Drive Day. Use a clean commute (bus, carpool, telecommute, LYNX Blue Line, walk, bike or vanpool) to and from work

MeckCARES has partnered with Starlight Skating Rink to allow the community to participate in the 5th Annual MeckCARES Family FUN Day.

Mecklenburg County filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority (commonly known as Carolinas Healthcare System) in Superior Court.

In light of recent coyote sightings throughout the Charlotte area, the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department, in cooperation with the Towns of Cornelius and Huntersville, would like to provide the community some brief information on coyotes and what to do in the event that you encounter one.