Two people from the Charlotte region were guests of the president for his State of the Union address.

Bruce Cochrane is the head of a Lincolnton Furniture Company. Cochrane recently opened the furniture plant in Lincoln County at the same site where his family used to run Cochrane Furniture Co.

That business was sold in the mid-90s, and Bruce Cochrane turned to furniture consulting for companies that were closing plants in America and transferring production to China. WFAE's Greg Collard had a story on Bruce Cochrane and Lincolnton Furniture in October.

Unemployment rates are looking better in both North and South Carolina, but for the first time in eight years, South Carolina now has the lower rate.

There's one very important thing South Carolina's economy has that its northern neighbor lacks.

"South Carolina has a very major automotive assembly plant sector," notes
NC State economist Mike Walden.

North Carolina has some auto parts manufacturing, but South Carolina has plants like BMW that actually build cars.

Huntersville police said Tuesday they believe the principal of Northwest School of the Arts took his own life, days after parents had launched a public effort to protect him from an imminent dismissal from his job.
Barry Bowe, 54, was found dead in the garage area of his Huntersville home on Monday afternoon. Deputy Chief Michael Kee said all indications are that Bowe committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Red Line Regional Rail Project is facing another major roadblock this week: Norfolk Southern Corp., which owns the tracks it would run on, is balking at the idea of commuter and freight rail operating on the same line.

South Carolina's presidential primary was the first in the South and an important test of the appeal Republican candidates have among their party's most dedicated supporters.

This week, WFAE gathered a diverse group of South Carolina voters - Republicans, Democrats and Independents of all ages - for a Public Conversation on the state of the 2012 election. What issues do they most care about? What do they wish the candidates were talking about? Here are some of their thoughts.

Officer Kobee Moore demonstrated the new X2 Taser gun model today. Photo: Tanner Latham

The CMPD distributed a new line of Taser guns to its officers today. Part of the upgrade to the new model includes a built-in safety mechanism.

Officer Kobee Moore takes his stance about six feet from a cardboard target as he fires his Taser gun.

A potential merger has been the subject of speculation since American Airlines filed for bankruptcy in November.

U.S. Airways CEO Doug Parker brought up the issue in a conference call to head off reporters and analysts waiting to ask about a merger.

"We can now decide if it's best for U.S. Airways to operate as a stand-alone company, or participate in further consolidate over time, and that's what we intend to do," Parker said.

Parker announced that U.S. Airways has retained Barclays Capital and two other firms to explore a merger with American.

Students, staff and parents of Northwest School of the Arts arrived at the Charlotte school in shock Tuesday morning, dealing with the death of their principal.
Huntersville police say they found the body of Barry Bowe, principal at the performing arts magnet school for nearly four years, at his Huntersville home Monday afternoon. He was 54.
In recent days, students and parents had been rallying support for Bowe, who they said had been given a retire-or-be-fired ultimatum by the school system.

As President Obama gives his State of the Union address tonight, Charlotte area viewers will see an attack ad funded by the Republican National Committee. The GOP has yet to settle on a candidate to challenge Obama, but general election campaign messages are already blaring from TVs in Charlotte.

As recently as 2004, it would have been unheard of for the Republican Party to spend money on TV ads in North Carolina this early in the election season. The state was a shoo-in for Republican presidential candidates.