Marshall Terry

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.

Fashion magazines are under a lot of scrutiny for the distorted view of beauty they portray.  Photo editors often significantly airbrush the imperfections of models and celebrities.  There’s growing concern this contributes to body image and other self-esteem problems in impressionable young girls.

Take a second to remember the last time you left a stadium after a football game.  You probably noticed a lot trash - cups, plastic bottles, and other garbage scattered about the stands and walkways.

But a group at UNC Charlotte is hoping to avoid that for the school's brand new football stadium with a “Zero Waste” initiative.  The school had a beta run a couple of weeks ago during the team’s spring practice game, which was attended by more than 13,000 people.

Kate Popejoy is an education professor at UNC Charlotte and the faculty advisor for the student group behind the initiative. She stopped by ours studios to discuss the initiative with WFAE’s Marshall Terry.

More regulations are likely coming for Charlotte pedicabs – those three-wheeled bikes that carry people around Uptown on the weekend.  A proposed ordinance goes before the Charlotte Council Monday night.  The changes the ordinance calls for are being welcomed by some pedicab operators. 

Lowe’s Home Improvement says its profits jumped 76 percent in the third quarter from the same period a year ago. The company headquartered in Mooresville says it made $396 million. Part of the increase comes from sales related to Hurricane Sandy.

South Carolina officials have added more operators to a hotline for residents to call if they believe they may have been affected during a hacking of the state’s Department of Revenue. About 3-and-half-million Social Security numbers and almost 400,000 credit or debit card numbers were exposed during the security breach, which was first announced Friday. During a press conference Monday, Governor Nikki Haley stressed there’s still plenty of time to sign up for free credit protection service the state is offering in the wake of the hack.

A panel of federal judges in Washington has upheld South Carolina’s controversial voter I.D. law. But it won’t be in place for next month’s elections. The judges ruled the law requiring South Carolinians to show I.D. when they go to vote does not disenfranchise anyone. But they said the November elections are too close and that there’s not enough time for South Carolina election officials to implement the law. So it will take effect next year.

A judge has blocked a law that would’ve given only one group the authority to train bail bondsmen in North Carolina. Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens said the law would have created an unconstitutional monopoly by allowing only the North Carolina Bail Agents Association to train bondsmen and provide state-required continuing ed courses. The Association’s sole competitor –the North Carolina Bail Academy - sued to stop the law.

Tim Mathis is an instructor at the Academy and a bail bondsman in Monroe.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Metropolitan Transit Commission will consider a request to reverse its decision allowing alcohol ads on the sides of buses and trains. Consider, yes.  But actually rescind the decision?  Not likely.

“I wouldn’t support changing the position,” says MTC member and Cornelius mayor Jeff Tarte.

Tarte says the commission will talk about the request from the Charlotte City Council at tonight’s meeting, but says the income from the ads – estimated to be nearly $600,000 annually – is too great to give up with CATS struggling to rebound from the recession.