Have you ever thought of Charlotte as the best to be, hear, and mangia everything Italian? You got that right.

Charlotte is the second largest banking city in the US and people move here for those types of jobs, despite the fact that banks are having issues in today’s marketplace. Although the Queen City is not considered a “Big City”, it certainly has its perks. Coming from Detroit myself over 8 years ago, I found the metro area to be a nice balance of city life as well as peaceful small towns.

Last Saturday I witnessed how a newly opened restaurant in South Charlotte is fast becoming the gathering place of the Eastern Europeans living in North and South Carolina. Russians, Armenians, Georgians, Ukrainians and the American residents of Charlotte had come to attend the Grand Opening of Kavkaz restaurant.

Lowes racing is one of my favorite races of the year. It is the longest race distance wise and it comes on the heels of the Indy 500 in the afternoon. A couple years ago drivers such as Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon used to attempt to race both the Indy 500 in the afternoon and then fly to Charlotte to race the Coca Cola 600. A total of 1100 miles in the day. For me this race kicks off summer. It's Memorial Day weekend and it's time to go racing.

We do not have many reviews of restaurants in Charlotte, NC, but Kavkaz is one of those restaurants that you go not only for food, but for a good company. Kavkaz in South Charlotte is one of those restaurants where you see the owner frequently talking to the guest and making sure everyone is having a wonderful recreational time.

Streets in some parts of Charlotte, NC were closed today due to two suspicious devices that the police found under trees.

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce that Bank of America will sponsor its 2008-2009 Classics series in the Symphony’s 77th season. The Charlotte Symphony is the largest and most active professional performing arts organization in the central Carolinas, employing more than 100 professional musicians, 64 on full-time contracts. The CSO Classics series opens on September 12, 2008.

Music lovers gather under the stars this weekend for the return of one of the area's most popular cultural events: the Charlotte Symphony's summer series of free outdoor concerts. The opening concerts will spotlight a player who usually stays stashed away near the rear of the stage, first-chair French horn player Frank Portone. When Portone steps out front, he'll leave his horn behind and show off his other musical gift – as a tenor.

The two pieces are so different that putting them together might seem a little nutty. Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto epitomizes the lyricism and sparkle that are Mendelssohn's trademark. Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" is a chorus-and-orchestra extravaganza that revels in music's primal forces.

Opera Carolina, the largest professional opera company in the Carolinas, has selected Corder Philips as its creative agency for its 2008/2009 operatic season. In the agreement, Corder Philips will update current promotional materials for the new season's five operas.

As part of a year-long partnership with the Northwest School of the Arts, the Charlotte Symphony Department of Outreach, Education and Community Partnership has commissioned Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson, an American composer who lives in Switzerland, to create a work specifically for students in the NWSA Recital Seminar Class. The students will perform the piece, Questions Answers and Echoes (sometimes), on April 16 in a school concert.

Some people would say that schools nowadays are less education and more test preparation. At the elementary level, state-required end-of-grade tests lurk like an ominous storm cloud that gathers strength throughout the year. Yet we are lucky to live in an area where many educators still believe kids learn in a variety of ways.