Quick hits: UNCC fires Lutz and Warren Wilson grad rows across Atlantic

Longtime Charlotte coach Lutz fired

"Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coach Bobby Lutz, the winningest coach in school history, was fired today after his team failed to make postseason play in the NCAA or National Invitation tournaments for the second consecutive season," said the Observer.

"Lutz met with athletics director Judy Rose and informed his assistants of her decision this morning.

"Lutz still had four years remaining on his current contract, which went through the 2013-14 season with a base salary of at least $237,000 per year. He received an extension prior to last season. ..."

Warren Wilson grad rows solo across the Atlantic

"A 22-year-old American rower who graduated from Warren Wilson College completed a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, touching a pier in the coffee-brown waters off Guyana to claim a record as the youngest person to accomplish such a crossing," says the AP.

"Katie Spotz, who spent more than two months alone at sea, hugged her father and brother as a crowd of 200 people cheered her arrival in this South American capital.

“ 'The hardest part was just the solo part,' said Spotz, who said she struggled with boredom and had trouble sleeping inside the cramped, 19-foot row boat. ..."

Quick hits: Mountains-to-Sea trail gets aid and college students are (happy to work with) pigs

Mountains-to-Sea Trail gains land in three counties

"North Carolina's Mountains-to-Sea Trail grew a bit in the past two months," says the AP.

"In December and January, the trail acquired land in Guilford, Orange and Johnston counties. Trail executive director Kate Dixon says the acquisitions are especially helpful because groups have been working hard to acquire land in the heavily populated Triangle and Triad areas.

"The acquisitions are 250 acres in Guilford County; 65 acres in Orange; and 330 acres in Johnston.

"The trail is a state park that eventually will stretch about 1,000 miles from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey's Ridge on the Outer Banks. About half the trail is completed. ..."

At this college, students toil in pig sty

"At most colleges, a new semester starts with students buying books, getting ready for new classes and attending a party or two," says the AP.

"But at Warren Wilson College, a small liberal arts college in North Carolina's mountains, some students also welcomed a litter of eight piglets.

"Warren Wilson requires each of its 900 students to work on campus; for some, it's on the college's farm.

"Between 300 and 600 piglets are born each year to 25 sows at Warren Wilson's farm. About 25 students work on the farm, where about 10,000 pounds of naturally raised meat worth about $150,000 is produced each year. Meat is sold by students and some is used in the college dining hall. ..."

(Photo from Warren Wilson's website)