It’s hard to believe today marks an entire year since the FBI took down then-mayor Patrick Cannon on corruption charges.
The fallout was swift for the rising political star. He is now serving a 44-month sentence at a minimum security facility in West Virginia. He’s allowed visitation every weekend.
Get Hard - Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart
Home - Animated; voices of Jim Parsons, Rihanna
It Follows - Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist
Queen and Country - Caleb Landry Jones, David Thewlis
Wild Tales - Academy Award nominee: Best Foreign Language Film
Mecklenburg County is busting at the seams: It's become the first county in the Carolinas to cross the 1 million threshold in population.
Today marks the one-year anniversary when then-mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested on federal corruption charges. Now-mayor Dan Coldfelter held a press conference yesterday to talk about how far the city has come since then, but some City Council members were being "sour grapes" about it. As reported by the Charlotte Business Journal: "Councilman Al Austin, a District 2 Democrat, said in an email sent Tuesday to Clodfelter, fellow council members and city staffers that he thought the press conference was 'a terrible idea. We are feeding into the media’s desire to market controversy and our past history. We should go on with our city business and focus on pressing issues at hand. We need to look forward not behind. Selah and Amen.'”
Gov. Pat McCrory has come out against the state Senate bill proposing a sales tax revenue redistribution, saying it would cause "great harm."
A sick, terrible, horrendous joke, perhaps? The California Attorney General isn't taking any chances. Yesterday, Kamala Harris asked a state court for permission to shoot down a proposed update to the penal code that would make same-gender sex punishable by “bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” The proposed initiative, which would have appeared on the 2016 ballot had it gained any support, was filed by an Orange County attorney.
An update on the plane that crashed in the French Alps earlier this week: It appears the co-pilot intentionally crashed GermanWings Flight 9525.
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, March 26, 2015 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Reception for Collective exhibit at LaCa Projects
• PopUp Concert w/ Young Roddy at Showroom Gallery
• 365 Women A Year Project Staged Reading at UpStage
• NCFA Style Week at Label
• Food. Art. Music. Rally f. Cameron Floyd Band, Toronto in the Summer, and DJ Smitty at Chop Shop
Sixteen-year-old Blake Brockington was leaning against a doorway when I first saw him in 2013. I was there to teach a creative writing class to young people at Time Out Youth, an LGBTQ youth services agency based in Charlotte. Although he appeared shy with his hands in his jean pockets, he radiated a warm, charismatic energy. I introduced myself to him, and he said I could call him Blake. He cracked a gentle, bright smile when I shook his hand and said how nice it was to meet him.
Blake knew who he was before he had a name for it. “I actually didn’t know I was a female-bodied individual until I was 6,” he told me once on the phone that year. “I always thought I was one of the guys, and one day I was playing outside and I realized I was different.”
TOY’s annual prom allowed him to finally be out as a transgender young man. “It was the first time that anybody had referred to me as my preferred name, my pronouns,” he said. “It was the only place where I felt kind of accepted.”
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, March 25, 2015 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Doug Benson at The Comedy Zone Charlotte
• Ledisi at The Fillmore
• Selma in Retrospect at Mint Museum Uptown
• Trivia & Karaoke at Tin Roof
• Venturing Out of the Heart of Darkness exhibit at Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art + Culture
As if money wasn't already tight in Charlotte, a new proposal in Raleigh wants to change the way sales tax revenue is distributed, which could leave Mecklenburg County about $100 million short a year. Right now, that money is distributed to the area where the point of sale originated. (Shop in Charlotte? Charlotte gets the sales tax.) The General Assembly is looking at changing that model to one based on population. Rural counties would benefit the most.
As the streetcar nears opening, officials are working out the little details — like, how to fit emergency vehicles down a narrow road that shares the streetcar. "We may have to drop off the crew, and drop off equipment, and park elsewhere, but we are going to have to learn how to do that," Charlotte Fire Deputy Chief Rob Kinniburgh told WCNC.
The Associated Press shares an indepth piece on the origin of some of the fish you're buying from Kroger, Safeway and Walmart. Reporters spoke with more than 40 current and former Burmese slaves who were forced to fish commercially. "If Americans and Europeans are eating this fish, they should remember us," said Hlaing Min, 30, a runaway slave from Benjina. "There must be a mountain of bones under the sea. ... The bones of the people could be an island, it's that many."
Two Ted Cruz news items in one week? Sorry, folks, but we have to do it. Cruz, who announced his candidacy for president earlier this week and has vowed to repeal Obamacare if elected, admitted he's going on Obamacare. His wife is leaving her job to help out on his campaign.
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, March 24, 2015 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Works by Wolf Kahn at Jerald Melberg Gallery
• A Conversation with Paula Connolly at UNC-Charlotte
• March Mania Comedy Tournament at The Comedy Zone
• Black Milk, Nat Turner, DJ Justin Aswell, Kumo Machi at Snug Harbor
• Coast 2 Coast Artist Showcase at Chop Shop
Officials say a passenger plane heading to Düsseldorf from Barcelona crashed in the French Alps this morning. At least 142 passengers and six crew-members were on board.
The biggest concern that came out of the City Council meeting last night as a task force presented strategies on how to make Charlotte more immigrant-friendly was how to pay for all that it takes to implement a municipal ID program. But there's some support. "We are not having children," said Claire Fallon, "And if you want social security to last you’re going to have to welcome these people who pay it."
The Dowd YMCA is getting an upgrade to the tune of $20 million.
As if the death penalty weren't controversial enough: Utah has OK'ed the return of a firing squad as backup should lethal drugs not be available.
A new report from Meredith College looks at the role of women in politics in North Carolina. Sadly, although women make up 54 percent of the voters in the state, they hold less than 25 percent of elected and appointed offices.
A special immigration task force will unveil at tonight's City Council meeting a report of 27 strategies it thinks will make Charlotte a friendlier city for all immigrants. Among those recommendations is a municipal ID card.
The NCAA was in town this weekend for basketball. But the Ritz-Carlton did not add a service charge like it did for the CIAA. According to WBTV, they didn't because the NCAA tournament "has not drawn large crowds to the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte and has not required any expansion of our Lobby Lounge facilities or departure from the normal service provided by our staff."
Police will release details of their investigation of the alleged gang rape of a University of Virginia student today. The story was made public by Rolling Stone, which later apologized for discrepancies in its article. To save face, Rolling Stone asked Columbia University's graduate journalism school to review its editorial process; that review will be published next month.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the first to officially put his hat in the ring for the 2016 presidential election. Cruz was born in Canada and says he stands for true conservative values.