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Friday, August 12, 2016
News Lunch Break (8/12/16): Man killed during suspected break-in; free 'Sausage Party in Your Mouth'
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 11:45 AM
A man was killed in west Charlotte last night after he may have attempted to break into an apartment where someone was home. Police say the man, 26-year-old Stan Wilson, Jr., entered an apartment on Park Fairfax Drive at around 7:40 p.m. last night. A struggle ensued, and Wilson was stabbed. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Police are currently investigating whether Wilson knew the occupants of the apartment.
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CMPD released pictures of three men who are all wanted for cutting off and discarding electronic monitoring bracelets they had been ordered to wear as a condition of their pre-trial release. Police ask that anyone who sees the men pictured below call 704-432-8888, option 3, or call 911.
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JJ's Red Hots, a perennial winner for Best Hot Dog in Charlotte's annual Best of Charlotte issue (2016 voting open now) will be offering free sausages to customers returning from the film Sausage Party, which opens today. The promotion, which is being called "A Sausage Party in Your Mouth," begins today and will last through Sunday.
“This sounds like our type of movie so we decided to go all in. This promotion falls squarely in the ‘We don’t take ourselves too seriously’ camp.” said JJ’s proprietor and founder Jonathan Luther in a press release. “We treat our sausages a little better than they did in the movie so go have some laughs then grab some great eats on the house during opening weekend.”
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Watauga Online has been updating readers all morning on a massive fire at Valle Landing strip mall, next door to Valle Crucis School. There were reportedly six people in the apartment complex above the strip mall when the fire started. Three were treated on scene, one was transported to a local hospital, another was flown out with life-threatening injuries and yet another is still unaccounted for. At its peak, the fire reached seven alarm status. (Kenneth Reece, Watauga Online)
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
News Lunch Break (8/10/16): Charlotte shooting suspect shot by officers following chase to Catawba County
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 11:51 AM
A suspect was shot by police multiple times today in Catawba County following his alleged involvement in a shooting in southeast Charlotte and a long chase with responding officers. CMPD says that officers responded to a call for service at Brook Canyon Drive and W.T. Harris Boulevard, where two victims were reportedly shot. The officers engaged in a pursuit with two suspects in the shooting, and the pursuit came to an end when the suspects struck a utility pole on Highway 16 in Catawba County. According to a statement from police, "Officers attempted to arrest the suspects. One suspect displayed a gun and refused to comply with the officers' commands and made movements with the weapon that threatened the safety of the officers." The suspect was shot multiple times by officers. He was transported to Catawba Regional Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The second suspect was taken into custody without incident.
Catawba sheriff and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on the scene at hwy 16. Hearing there was a chase pic.twitter.com/Dp4JC4VXcZ
— Thomas Neas (@NeasNews) August 10, 2016
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Beginning today, Uber riders in Charlotte will be able to pre-schedule rides, compared to the "come pick me up right this very second" style the app usually offers. "Even though we pride ourselves on providing on-demand rides, we totally get it. When you've got somewhere to be at a very specific time, it’s nice to have extra assurance that a ride will be available when you need it," said Billy Warden in a statement announcing the arrival of scheduled rides in Charlotte. The global rollout of this feature was announced in June. Riders will be able to schedule rides for as little as 15 minutes in the future to as many as 30 days.
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CMPD is taking advantage of a lull in homicides so far this month to go back and wrap-up investigations on some of July's unsolved murders. Yesterday, police announced the arrest of two suspects in the death of a two-year-old child in east Charlotte on July 25. The child had been found unresponsive at a home on Farm Pond Lane and investigators later found that the toddler had been assaulted. Following the child's death, police said there were "several adults who were in the position to provide care to the child in the days leading up to his death." Yesterday, detectives arrested the child's mother, 25-year-old Tenisha Wells, and her boyfriend, 28-year-old Patrick Chambers. Both suspects have been charged with murder.
Police also arrested a man this morning for the Independence Day slaying of 19-year-old Markas Vereen. Vereen was one of two people suffering from gunshot wounds inside a car that struck the emergency room entrance at Novant Presbyterian Hospital on July 4. This morning, police wrapped up an interview with their suspect in the case, Ricco McHam, Jr., 18, and charged him with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Monday, August 8, 2016
News Lunch Break (8/8/16): Phil Berger's birthday cake is somewhat disturbing
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 11:55 AM
CMPD investigators announced early this morning that they have located a woman who went missing on Saturday and charged a man in her disappearance. Police released a missing person alert on Saturday stating that 21-year-old Briana Richard had gone missing under suspicious circumstances. This morning, they announced that Richard has been located and that police have arrested and charged Allan Spencer with breaking and entering with the intent to terrorize. CMPD also said additional warrants have been signed in this case but did not identify what those charges were.
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A staff member for N.C. Sen. Phil Berger tweeted out a picture of the state senator's birthday cake this morning and it looks like something out of The Colbert Report's graphics department. We present the following tweet without further comment:
Wishing a very happy birthday to a great boss: @SenatorBerger! #NCGA #NCPOL pic.twitter.com/aJoTKbne74
— Will Tomlinson (@wtomlinson) August 8, 2016
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Investigators with CMPD, North Carolina Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are looking into a fatal accident that occurred in north Charlotte on Sunday evening. Police say 46-year-old Dexter Marion was operating a "yard hopper" at Howell Motor Freight on Metromont Industrial Boulevard when he exited the vehicle and it rolled back from the dock and struck him.
A yard hopper is an unregistered tractor trailer cab that is used solely to move trailers around a business property. Marion was pronounced dead by MEDIC on the scene at 6:50 p.m., just four minutes after the call came in.
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Concord firefighters rescued a man from a burning building early this morning. Crews responded to reports of a house fire on Arbington Drive at around 3 a.m. and entered the home to see if anyone was trapped inside. That’s when they found the man, who was unresponsive. The man was transported to the hospital for treatment, but fire officials expect that he’ll recover. While the man was taken away for treatment, an estimated 33 firefighters were on-scene fighting the fire. Officials haven’t determined what caused the fire or the extent of damage. (WBTV Web Staff)
Concord,NC☆Residential Fire☆
— NCfirefighters (@ncfirefighters) August 8, 2016
<3:00am,one occupant rescue
and transport. pic> @wsoctv #NCfire pic.twitter.com/bAWI9d9LG8
Friday, August 5, 2016
News Lunch Break (8/5/16): Environmentalists file FOIA request to make McCrory prove perjury accusations
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 12:16 PM
Residents and organizers with groups like Greenpeace held a press conference at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center after delivering an official public records request to Gov. Pat McCrory's local office there.
The request asks for any correspondence from McCrory, his communications director Josh Ellis, and a number of other state employees on April 2, 2015, the day Dr. Kenneth Rudo testified he was called to McCrory's office and asked to rescind or revise a do-not-drink advisory he had helped draft for those living near Duke Energy's coal ash ponds. McCrory has denied being involved with any such meeting with Rudo. Yesterday, Creative Loafing reported on the reactions of some residents affected by the toxic leakage from coal ash ponds to the Rudo testimony.
"We would hope that the government will fulfill its duty to provide this information," said Michael Zytkow, who delivered the request this morning. "I think the public has a right to know, especially when we have McCrory's staff directly calling Rudo a liar. We have two different stories floating out there and I think the public has a right to now which is true and how the government acted in response to this crisis."
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Queen City Forward (QCF), a Charlotte-based hub for social entrepreneurs, announced the appointment of Amy Chiou as its next executive director yesterday. Chiou is co-founder and CEO of Ballot, a free mobile app that makes voting easier. She's been living in Philadelphia for much of 2016, working with the Democratic National Convention. She has served on QCF's Advisory COuncil since November 2015.
"I have watched Queen City Forward blossom over the years, by creating opportunity and fostering innovation in our community," Chiou said in a press release. "I see incredible potential and look forward to helping Queen City Forward find its voice as a place where great ideas grow."
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Rain or shine, it's safe to say thousands of fans will turn out for a much anticipated Carolina Panthers Fan Fest at Bank of America tonight. It's the first Panthers football action in Charlotte since the team's disappointing Super Bowl loss in February. This year marks the first time tickets are needed to enter the event, which is basically a glorified practice.
The tickets were given out free by the Panthers organization, although some people are selling them for as much as $100 online, according to this story from Alex Giles with WBTV. Either way, the event will surely be full of fans who have been starving for some football during the dog days of summer.
We found scalpers trying to sell tickets to tonight's free Fan Fest for $400. Live report at 6:30 on @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/3Ulb49Iy7v
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) August 5, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
News Neighbors weigh in on recently unveiled coal ash testimony
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 2:57 PM
Local residents and organizations are calling for answers after the release of testimony from toxicologist Ken Rudo that highlights the way he says Gov. Pat McCrory tried to cover up the dangers involved with drinking well water near Duke Energy's coal ash ponds.
In his testimony, Rudo stated that he was called to McCrory's office in 2015 and challenged by a staff member about an advisory he had helped draft warning residents near Duke's coal ash pits not to drink their water. The do-not-drink advisory was eventually reversed by the Department of Health and Human Services in early 2016 in a move that Rudo called "highly unethical" and "possibly illegal."
Following the release of Rudo's testimony, McCrory called a late-night press conference denying that he was part of any such meeting, accusing Rudo of perjury.
This morning, Creative Loafing received a statement from Amy Brown, a resident who lives with her children near Duke Energy's Allen Steam Station in Gaston County. Brown explained why she trusts Rudo's testimony.
"Dr. Rudo has been consistent in this nightmare of over a year that Duke Energy's neighbors have been forced to live," Brown said. "So many times we asked, 'Who is protecting us?' while our neighbor Duke Energy continues to deny contaminating our well with their unlined, leaking, toxic coal ash ponds that sit in the groundwater. As our governor ignored our cries for help for over a year, Dr. Rudo was consistent."
We also heard from Brown's neighbor, Debra Baker, who agreed.
"Dr. Rudo wasn't laying the blame on anyone," Baker wrote in an email. "He is a true medical professional that cared for his fellow human beings' safety! Who else makes 200 personal calls to inform us about our water results and to not drink, ingest, or cook with it? I trust Dr. Rudo and no one else!"
Both Brown and Baker are still living on bottled water provided by Duke Energy and have been for well over a year.
In a statement released yesterday, Progress NC Action executive director Gerrick Brenner called on McCrory to prove his claims that he did not participate in the meeting with Rudo by releasing records of his whereabouts on April 2, 2015.
“Gov. McCrory’s latest desperate attempt to cover up Duke Energy’s coal ash pollution is a new low,” Brenner wrote. “If you’re going to accuse a 30-year state employee of lying under oath, you’d better be able to show some evidence — which the governor’s office has failed to do. If Gov. McCrory was not phoning into this meeting, then where was he? What was he doing? We know he was not meeting with any of the hundreds of families across North Carolina who are struggling with contaminated well water near coal ash waste pits. The well water families have been calling for a meeting with the governor to plead their case for last year. Pat McCrory, the former Duke Energy employee, has completely ignored them.”
News Lunch Break (8/3/16): Charlotte man arrested, charged with recruiting for ISIL
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 11:52 AM
A Charlotte man appeared in court after being arrested this morning for allegedly conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
Erick Jamal Hendricks, 35, tried to recruit people to train together and conduct terrorist attacks in the United States on behalf of ISIL, according to a criminal complaint unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio.
The complaint describes how a man arrested in June 2015 in Ohio for allegedly attempting to purchase an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition from an undercover law enforcement officer led authorities to Hendricks.
That man, whose name was withheld, had been recruited over social media by Hendricks, whose goal, according to the complaint, was "to create a sleeper cell to be trained and housed at a secure compound that would conduct attacks in the United States."
He mentioned that potential targets included military members whose information had been released by ISIL and the woman who organized the "Draw Prophet Mohammad contest" in Garland, Texas. Hendricks was in contact with two men who opened fire on participants of that "contest" in Texas in May 2015.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s offices in Cleveland, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina; Baltimore; and Charlotte, with assistance from the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Northern District of Ohio, District of Maryland, District of South Carolina and the Western District of North Carolina.
If convicted, Hendricks faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
BREAKING: CLT man charged by FBI with trying to help ISIS. @wcnc pic.twitter.com/UiIfnFZRBf
— RadBerky (@RBerkywcnc) August 4, 2016
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A flash flood watch is in effect for Mecklenburg County until 8 a.m. tomorrow, according to WBTV. The watch also covers much of the surrounding area, including Gaston, Union, Caldwell, Catawba and Iredell counties. While rain around 1 to 3 inches is expected in most parts, as much as 5 inches could fall in others. (WBTV Web Staff)
Flash Flood Watch continues until 8am Friday for the majority of the #WBTV viewing area #NCwx pic.twitter.com/mP6gH8jmtl
— Leigh Brock (@LeighBrock2) August 4, 2016
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Nearly 30 former Carowinds employees who are in the country on work exchange visas will now be sent home after being fired from the amusement park for being caught drinking while underage. The employees were not working when the incident happened, but were drinking in a parking lot in the early morning hours on Tuesday. Carowinds has not commented on the incident but the exchange workers say 27 of them were fired, meaning they'll be expected to leave the country immediately. (Paul Boyd, WSOC)
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
News Guerrilla street-art project in Elizabeth meant to slow down shortcut drivers
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 5:12 PM
A group of neighbors in Elizabeth came together on Sunday to create a guerrilla street art installation that not only looks awesome but that they hope will make them safer while walking and cycling on the roads.
Neighbors that live near the intersection of Sunnyside and Oaklawn avenues spent a total of around 13 hours over the weekend creating a sun painting at the intersection roundabout. The painting is an attempt to slow down cars that speed through trying to cut between Hawthorne and Central avenues.
Local artist Felicia Sutton, a former resident of the neighborhood, designed the sun and helped sketch the design with chalk on Saturday night, which took three hours in itself. The next morning, Sutton and the surrounding neighbors literally hit the street at 7:30 a.m. and began painting. Sunday's work took about 10 hours total, with one break, and the painting was finished at around 5:30 p.m.
"I personally was super excited about the project because I feel like art — especially public art — at its best is something that can unite a community and that everyone can be a part of and everyone can experience," Sutton said. "Being able to do a project where everybody pitched in and everybody worked on it — we all got together and everyone was working together and the kids came out and painted — it was a really great community activity and brought everyone in the neighborhood closer too. So it was not only a way to make everyone safer but a way to unite the neighborhood."
Although the amateur street artists didn't exactly get permission from the city, Sutton believes the sun will stay where it is, especially considering one surprise guest who showed up in support on Sunday afternoon after hearing about the work they were doing: Mayor Jennifer Roberts.
Sutton said she was happy to see Roberts and be able to discuss Charlotte's art scene with her.
"I wasn’t expecting her. One of the people in the neighborhood had told her about it. I’m still not sure why she showed up but it was cool that she was there," Sutton said. "It was a nice little surprise. We talked for a little bit about public art and how beautifying spaces that are rundown or public spaces like the one we were at can be something that’s really powerful."
CL contributor Grant Baldwin was on hand for some of the day's festivities and shot the following slide show (below). Sutton can be seen in many of the photos in a gray tank top and blue hat.
Correction: The original post said this project was done in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood. It is actually in Elizabeth.
Monday, August 1, 2016
News Lunch Break (8/1/16): Play detective for CMPD today
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 12:03 PM
CMPD is asking for help finding the driver of the vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian in east Charlotte early Saturday morning. Khalid Perry, 21, was hit by a silver car at around 2:15 a.m. on Saturday at the intersection of Albemarle and Lawyers roads. Police released a photo of the car, stating that it's expected to have noticeable damage to the right side of the windshield and possibly to the hood and roof.
CMPD also needs help finding a man who robbed a convenience store on the same morning as the above-mentioned, unrelated incident. Police say the suspect (pictured left) assaulted an employee in the Kangaroo Express on North Tryon Street at around 12:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. He also implied that he had a weapon before taking money from the victim's hand. The suspect fled the scene in an older model white Mercury with a blue top and a basket hitch.
The old Charlotte Observer building was torn down today. It's not much of a news story but everyone likes to see people knocking shit down, right? It's not quite the cool implosions you've seen on TV, but here's a video from Observer reporter Rick Rothacker anyway:
Observer building coming down pic.twitter.com/6LWBoiK8EC
— Rick Rothacker (@rickrothacker) August 1, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
News Nine important quotes from today's judicial smackdown on NCGA
Posted By Courtney Mihocik on Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 5:41 PM
Earlier today, the United State Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit remanded and reversed the lower district’s court ruling that upheld North Carolina’s recent changes in a voting suppression law that’s ruffled feathers since 2013.
The law, another embarrassing divot in North Carolina’s civil rights track, eliminated some of the voting avenues and accommodations used by African-Americans. Among other things, the law shortened early-voting periods by a week, removed one of the two Sunday polling days and restricts the kind of ID accepted at the polls — specifically IDs used most commonly by black voters.
The day the law was signed, civil rights organizations like the NAACP and the League of Women Voters immediately filed suit, claiming the law had discriminatory intent and violated the Voting Rights Act, not to mention the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments of the Constitution. The district court in Winston-Salem upheld the law, stating that their research and review of evidence does not show discriminatory intent, so plaintiffs appealed to the Fourth Circuit.
Circuit judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote a grueling appeal that threw enough shade at Pat McCrory and the General Assembly to cover for another week as scorching in the Carolina sun as this one has been.
We’ve broken down some of the better lines in the 83-page document that we believe deserve more attention, or an “Amen.”
1. “But, for some of its findings, we must conclude that the district court fundamentally erred. In holding that the legislature did not enact the challenged provisions with discriminatory intent, the court seems to have missed the forest in carefully surveying the many trees.” Page 9.
In this modern take on a tired cliché, Motz basically says the district court was completely inept when it came to finding the big picture that is the voting law’s true effect. Agreed.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
News Lunch Break (7/28/16): NC GOP becomes laughingstock for umpteenth time this year
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 11:30 AM
The North Carolina Republican Party has found itself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons yet again. Following vice-presidential hopeful Tim Kaine's speech at the Democratic National Convention, the person in charge of the state GOP's Twitter account made a quick judgement that proved miserably wrong.
In a typical show of Republican moralism gone wrong, a tweet from the official North Carolina Republican Party account (@NCGOP) tried to call out Kaine for wearing what they thought was a Honduras flag pin on his lapel in lieu of an American flag. As was quickly noted by reporter Ben Amey who works with WNYT in Albany, New York, the pin was actually a Blue Star Flag, also known as a Service flag, worn to honor his son, a Marine set to deploy to Europe soon. A quick Google search shows that the Honduran flag looks nothing like the Blue Star Flag, and has five stars outlines in blue, as opposed to one outlined in red. The tweeter was quick to delete the tweet when called out by Amey, but it's the internet, soooo….
Here's a screenshot of that @NCGOP tweet about @timkaine, since they deleted it. #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/LbAywwnnob
— Ben Amey (@BenAmeyTV) July 28, 2016
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CMPD detectives have released a series of photos (below) depicting two men believed to have robbed a man at an ATM machine on Idlewild Road last Friday night. The victim told officers he was taking money out of the ATM in the early morning hours on Saturday when he was struck across the face then kicked by one of the suspects. Another suspect attacked the victim's friend who was standing nearby. The first suspect picked up the money that was lying on the ground and the two fled on foot. Anyone with information concerning this case or the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
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WSOC reporter Dave Faherty tweeted a video (below) of an attempted robbery that happened overnight at a gas station in Conover in Catawba County. In the video, the suspect — who is with a friend — make things awkward when he nonchalantly pulls a gun while paying for a blue drink that Faherty said was Mountain Dew. The clerk hesitates so the robber is forced to leave the counter to stop another customer from leaving the store. He then returns to the counter with the customer and his friend and continues to make demands, but yet another customer enters the store, making the robber antsy. According to the Catawba County Sheriff's Office, he left the store shortly after the video ended with nothing but his Mountain Dew. Hope he was thirsty.
Attempted armed robbery caught on tape north of Conover. Suspect pointed a gun but only got Mtn Dew pic.twitter.com/0afW3FWwyp
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) July 28, 2016
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European scientists now believe Global Warming is accelerating faster than they originally predicted.
