Sen. Tom Apodoca, a Republican out of Hendersonville, announced he will not seek an eighth term this morning, becoming the second powerful Republican in the North Carolina Senate to make that announcement in November. Sen. Bob Rucho of Matthews made the same announcement earlier this month. Apodoca plays an important role in the state Senate as the Senate Rules chairman, deciding which potential laws go to the floor for a vote. (Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer) 


The former North Carolina resident charged with shooting and killing three people at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado on Friday will appear in court today for a preliminary hearing. Robert Lewis Dear, who once lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina, is charged in the deaths of Jennifer Markovsky and Ke’arre Marcell Stewart, according to the Joint Information Center. University of Colorado police officer Garret Swasey was also killed during the shooting. (TWC News Staff) 

Police are still searching for information about the suspects in what appears to be a random act of violence at an I-85 rest stop over the weekend. Police said Greg McKee was with his family when he stopped at a rest stop near exit 60 and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard in Gastonia. McKee reportedly entered the restroom alone, where he was confronted by two men, at least one of which had a gun. McKee tried to run out of the restroom and was shot in the back, paralyzing him. (Ashlee McGeehan, Fox46) As can be seen below, one of the men was caught on surveillance video. 


According to reporting done by The Charlotte Observer, the city of Charlotte will have to spend another $1 million on light rail expansions that were supposed to be finished by September. The project to expand light rail platforms to be able to cater to three-car Lynx trains, as opposed to the current two-car trains, has run into delays due to problems with the contractors and insufficient resources, which has added $950,000 to the expected cost. (Associated Press) 

Following a drought-stricken summer, Charlotte experienced its wettest November on record following rainfall this morning that will continue to fall throughout the day, putting us well over the previous record of 8.68 inches. The city reportedly passed that bar at about 3 a.m. today and is now approaching 10 inches. (Christine Rapp, WSOC) 

This article appears in Nov 24 – Dec 1, 2015.

Ryan Pitkin began his journalism career at Creative Loafing as an intern, later becoming the writer of CL's satirical column, The Blotter, and recently became the News Editor. Other publications he has...

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