EpiCentre offers free cab rides for partiers

During the month of December, the uptown EpiCentre will partner with the local ABC Board and three cab companies to provide complimentary rides within the 1-277 corridors through the "I’m Not Driving Impaired" initiative.

The initiative allows adults (21 and older, obviously) who have consumed alcohol to receive a $10 voucher for a single trip cab ride with City Cab, Crown Cab or Yellow Cab companies. This program is sponsored by Mecklenburg County ABC Board and is supported through the sales of distilled spirits in Mecklenburg County.

According to the EpiCentre, Mecklenburg County prosecutes approximately 4,000 driving while impaired cases each year. This statistic spikes during December, while companies and individuals celebrate the holidays.


Vouchers for the cab rides are available at the valet stand on College Street. The offer is limited and may end without notice, the EpiCentre says.

Mike Tyson bringing one-man show to Charlotte

Hear Mike Tyson’s name and you’ll likely think of heavyweight titles, bitten-off ears, face tattoos and – if you’re a fan of “The Hangover” movies – Bengal tigers.

You would not, presumably, think of the stage, much less of Broadway.

Yet Broadway is exactly where the former boxing superstar-turned-thespian spent 10 days in August, as the star of his one-man show, “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.” And on April 21, he’ll bring that show to the stage at Ovens Auditorium as part of a 10-week national tour. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

The show – written by wife Kiki Spicer and directed by Spike Lee – is billed as “a rare, personal look inside the life and mind of one of the most feared men ever to wear the heavyweight crown.”

Among the topics: His hardscrabble youth in Brooklyn; his relationships with mentor Cus D’Amato (good), boxing promoter Don King (bad), and rival Mitch Green (ugly); the 2009 death of his 4-year-old daughter; and his conversion of veganism.

Oh, and the time he caught former wife Robin Givens with Brad Pitt in the late ’80s.

This tidbit caused murmuring during “Undisputed Truth’s” run on Broadway, but after he talked about the incident in detail during a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports, headlines like “I Caught Brad Pitt Having Sex With My Wife” were splashed all over the Internet last week.

In a phone interview with the Observer on Tuesday, Tyson said the story has gotten blown out of proportion.

“You see how rumors get spread,” Tyson said. “I didn’t walk in on them. They weren’t actually (having sex). But that’s what they were going to do.”

“He’s in the show because it was a part of my life,” Tyson continued. “I’m not angry at him, I’m not trying to pick fights with him or anything like that. No way. I’m just telling a story, and I’m telling it from a funny perspective. It’s all about me being (an idiot).”

Tyson had a similar explanation for a portion of the show about Givens, which some critics say is a lengthy and vicious verbal attack on his former wife.

“People look at it as if I’m out to get her,” he said. “I’m not out to get her. I’m out to show how much of (an idiot) I was for her.”

More than anything, he’s out to win over his fans again.

“I just love to be able to entertain people,” Tyson said. “I’ve done this first as a boxer, and that’s where I got the bug. I just love being in front of the camera … I love hearing people applaud.”

Emily Maynard ... on 'Dancing With the Stars'?

In October, rumors were swirling around the Internet that Emily Maynard would be returning for a second shot at love on "The Bachelorette" (third, if you include her run on "The Bachelor" in 2011).

Well, there's fresh buzz about a possible return to ABC reality television for Charlotte's most famous single mom -- only this time, if the rumors are true, Maynard would be confronted with a different kind of smooth moves.

RadarOnline.com is reporting that Maynard, 26, has signed on for the upcoming 16th season of "Dancing With the Stars," and offers some interesting gossip regarding the news (that it attributes to the new issue of Star magazine).

According to the report, Maynard inked the "DWTS" deal with ABC when she agreed to be on "The Bachelorette." The report also quotes a source close to Maynard as saying all Emily seemingly cares about is extending her run of TV exposure.

"Emily told me the real reason she wants to do the show is to help get herself her own talk show,” dished the insider. "She's terrified of losing her fame. She loves being famous and has wanted it her entire life."

What do you think? If Maynard winds up on the show, would you tune in to check out her fancy footwork?