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Lowe’s Family Night Out promises hands-on fun for all ages

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This week, Lowe’s is transforming two Charlotte-area stores into vibrant community hubs with Ladies’ Night Out and Family Night Out, free events designed to spark creativity, connection, and a little DIY magic.

Brian Shaunfield, Lowe’s Store Manager, joined Charlotte Today to share what makes these nights so special. “We wanted to create something that felt more like a celebration than a shopping trip,” said Shaunfield. “Ladies’ Night and Family Night are about bringing people together in a space that’s familiar, but reimagined.” Here is what to expect:

Ladies’ Night Out – Thursday, Nov. 6 | 6–8 PM (Sold Out)Lowe’s at 16830 Statesville Rd, Huntersville, NCThis evening is all about relaxation and creativity. Guests can sip mocktails, enjoy tasty bites, and groove to a live DJ while snapping selfies in front of a flower wall. The highlight? A hands-on terrarium-making station. Terrariums are a great starter project,” Shaunfield explained. “All you need is a glass container, some soil, pebbles, and a few small plants. We’ll show you how to layer it all together.” Every attendee receives a 20% off coupon for future projects—just one perk of being a MyLowe’s Rewards member.

*While this Ladies' Night Out is Sold Out - you can still get the kits to make a Terrarium at home. Brian encouraging people to continue to check their websites because they are always adding activities.

Family Night Out – Friday, Nov. 7 | 5–8 PMLowe’s at 2115 Matthews Township Pkwy, Matthews, NCThis event is built for all ages! Kids can dive into slime-making with CAMP, race through an obstacle course, and build surprise projects in a hands-on workshop. “We know it’s hard to find something the whole family enjoys,” Shaunfield said. “So we turned part of the store into a playground. It’s about making memories together.” Both events are free and open to MyLowe’s Rewards members. To register, visit lowes.com/events and search for your local store.

Whether you're crafting with friends or chasing kids through a turf maze, Lowe’s is proving it’s more than a hardware store—it’s a place where creativity and community come to life.

Family Night Out:

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Tuesday is Election Day across the Carolinas, where local municipal elections were being held in dozens of counties.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, ballots were being cast in North Carolina and South Carolina for local offices including mayors, council members, commissioners, and other local issues and offices. WBTV was tracking election results for races throughout the Charlotte region, in both North and South Carolina.

On the election results page, results are organized alphabetically by county. To toggle between North Carolina and South Carolina election results, click or tap the green “More Elections” button at the top of the page.

Election results will populate in real-time as they are reported after polls close.

Election results are not official until they are certified by a board of elections. County boards of elections in North Carolina were scheduled to meet to certify Nov. 4, 2025, election results on Nov. 14.

In North Carolina, polls were open from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

In South Carolina, polls were open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

For voters in either state: If you are in line at your polling place before polls officially close, you will still be allowed to vote even if polls close. You cannot get in line to vote after polls close.

If you still need to return your completed absentee ballot, you must drop if off in person before polls close on Tuesday.

In North Carolina, you can deliver your completed absentee ballot to your local county board of elections office. Click here to find your local office.

In South Carolina, you can deliver your completed absentee ballot to your county voter registration office. Click here to find the office in your area.

Ballots must be returned before polls officially close in either state.

Each voter is assigned a polling place for Election Day based on their residential address.

You can look up a sample of your ballot in North and South Carolina.

WBTV reached out to candidates in several high-profile local races to get their take on a number of issues.

Click the links below to read responses from dozens of local candidates.

On the ballot for Mecklenburg County voters this year is a proposed one-cent sales tax increase.

Residents were voting in favor of or against a transit tax referendum designed to increase the sales tax to benefit transportation initiatives and infrastructure in the county.

If the referendum gets approved, revenue from the increased sales tax would fund improvements for roads, rail, and buses to address traffic congestion and improve transit options across Mecklenburg County.

The sales tax rate in Mecklenburg County would increase from 7.25% to 8.25%.

Click here to learn more about the referendum.

Drawing on their own journey supporting aging parents, Sree and Sara Veda are pairing scientific training with genuine compassion to launch a Griswold franchise built on empathy and integrity.

For Sree and Sara Veda, caregiving has never been theoretical — it’s personal.

“We’ve experienced the challenges of helping our parents age at home,” Sree said. “I grew up with a big family and my father needed care at home. My mother is still alive but has limited mobility — she also needs home care. For my wife, her parents also needed assistance. We were able to help them through these services, and I know how difficult it is to support your parents as they age. That gave me a firsthand understanding of how important and necessary home care really is.”

After long careers in science and entrepreneurship, the couple is taking on a new mission: helping families in their community care for aging loved ones with dignity. With their opening in Matthews, North Carolina, they are using their personal experiences and professional skills to build a business that’s not only impactful but deeply needed. Compassion, they say, is the cornerstone — and gave them the right tools to lead with heart.

1851 Franchise spoke with Sree to learn more about his background, what drew the couple to Griswold and their plans for the future.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What do you want us to know?

Sree Veda: My background is as a PhD scientist, and my wife Sara is a scientist too. I had my own biotech company and also worked as a clinical consultant for a diagnostics company. But even before we started that business, we were thinking about home care and franchising opportunities. At the time, we didn’t move forward with it. But after selling the diagnostic lab business, I immediately started looking into other opportunities. I talked with a few agencies and finally landed on Griswold.

A big part of that decision came from our personal lives. We’ve experienced the challenges of helping our parents age at home. I grew up with sisters and my father needed care at home. My mother is still alive but has limited mobility — she also needs home care. For my wife, her parents also needed assistance. We were able to help them through these services, and I know how difficult it is to support your parents as they age. That gave me a firsthand understanding of how important and necessary home care really is.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Sree: I’m not from the senior care industry — I’m not a CNA or anything like that. This is a totally new space for me. But with my previous business experience, I had an idea of what it takes to run a business. I felt that franchising would be the better route because it gives you support, training and systems. Griswold made that transition easier for me.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Sree: What really attracted me to Griswold was the type of help they offer franchisees. I felt like it was better than what other franchisors were offering. From our very first conversations, I felt like Griswold aligned with our values and mission. It’s easier to build something that’s already established when you believe in how it operates. We liked how Griswold supports its franchisees — the systems, the network and the resources.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth?

Sree: Our goal is to continue helping seniors in a compassionate and ethical way. That’s really the most important thing. Compassion is a key part of this service. We want to provide excellent care, use the right caregivers and do everything in a way that builds trust. That’s how we plan to grow.

1851: Is there anything else about your story you want us to know?

Sree: Both of our children are looking to go into health care, so we’re hoping they will help with the business in the future. This could be something we pass down to them — something meaningful and lasting.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming franchise owners?

Sree: An agency like this should always be answering the phone — that’s the first thing. You need to listen carefully, be nice and be compassionate. That’s how you build a strong business in this space.

ABOUT GRISWOLD

With 196 locations across 31 states, Griswold is one of the country’s top home care companies, providing professional, compassionate Caregivers 24/7. Griswold’s “Live Assured” promise gives both clients and their loved ones peace of mind, so they can live without the weight of worry. Griswold helps adults maintain quality of life despite advanced age, onset of illness, or post-surgery recovery through services including companion care, home services, personal care, and respite care. Founded by the late Jean Griswold in 1982, the company has maintained its founder’s profound sense of empathy for older and disabled adults and those living with chronic conditions. In 2024, Griswold was ranked #206 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 and named a 2023, 2024 and 2025 Best of Home Care® Endorsed National Provider. For more information, visit or call 215.402.0200.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — The proposed data center in Matthews is no more after the potential developer pulled their application.

Most politicians Channel 9’s Eli Brand spoke with said they would not have voted to move forward with that application, but they’re not taking credit for killing it. They say they believe it was the public backlash that caused that developer to pull that application.

“Probably for every 100 emails I got, about 99 were against it,” Matthews Mayor John Higdon said.

Higdon says the idea of a data center in the town of Matthews was an interesting one when it was proposed a few months ago. He says it could have potentially been an economic boon for the town, but the public backlash was just too much for it to be doable.

“As I learned about it, I felt that there would be too many unknowns to be real comfortable moving forward with it,” he said.

The proposal, called Project Accelerate, was for 123 acres of development along East John Street. Several neighbors spoke out in recent weeks with concerns about water usage and pollution.

According to the mayor, the center would have recycled the same water during its lifespan, but still would have required 1 million gallons to get started.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious, it’s pretty obvious that the opposition, that you’re going to be pushing that string up a hill and I urged them a severe amount of caution,” Matthews Town Commissioner John Urban said.

Urban says he and other commissioners were also hit with multitudes of negative emails about the proposed project.

As for Higdon, he said more data center applications would not be supported by him.

“I would not recommend any developer come to Matthews and suggest building a data center here,” Higdon said.

Channel 9 reached out to the developer who proposed the data center. They responding with a statement saying, “The development team for Project Accelerate has requested withdrawal of its rezoning petition. This will allow additional time to explore options.”

VIDEO: Developer withdraws plans for controversial Matthews data center project

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Duke Energy plans to build new natural gas infrastructure to accommodate incoming data centers and manufacturers. But one data center developer is attempting to distance itself from the associated cost of new energy generation — illustrating the tension between the state’s biggest new power consumers and residents worried about their bills.

Matthews residents packed into Town Hall on Thursday night to hear from the developers of a proposed 123-acre data center on John Street, at I-485. Many of their questions centered around how much electricity the new data center would use.

"Because you’re going to be pulling so much more energy than, you just said — than all of us combined — why aren’t you just paying for it? Why do we have to bear the burden?" one resident asked the developers.

The data center would require 600 megawatts of power, according to Drew Nations, CEO of Engineered Land Solutions, one of the project’s developers. For scale, that’s roughly two-thirds the capacity of Duke’s entire Shearon Harris nuclear reactor, outside Raleigh.

Nations said the developers would pay for local transmission upgrades to bring the electricity, but did not mention upgrades to energy generation facilities to make it. He also referenced Duke’s 2025 resources plan.

"They’re saying that they’re planning for power bills each year to be 2.1% increase year over year. That’s already published. This is their plan regardless of what happens tonight," he said.

That annual increase was an estimated average over 10 years and would change depending on large load customers, such as data centers. Duke’s plan has not been approved yet by regulators, and Matthews Town Commissioners have yet to vote on the data center plan.

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