Ben Bradford

A Gaston County martial arts instructor held a seminar a week ago for teachers about how to respond in a school shooting. First grade teachers, school nurses, and administrators practiced how to defend a classroom should a shooter try to enter, and how to fight back. Similar events have been popping up across the country, run by martial arts gyms, firearms training centers, and even schools, in the wake of Sandy Hook.

The numbers are in on Daimler Chrysler’s plan to lay off workers at its three Charlotte area Freightliner plants. The tally is 1,200 jobs.

To comply with federal law, Daimler notified state and local governments this week that the company plans to lay off workers as soon as April. The state posted the numbers of expected layoffs today: 80 workers from a parts plant in Gastonia, 405 from an assembly plant in Mount Holly, and 715 from the assembly plant in Cleveland. Daimler cited “softening economic conditions” as the catalyst.

It’s been a rollercoaster month for MeckLINK. That’s the county mental health service agency, which has been preparing for two years and hired nearly 150 workers to take over more than $200 million in Medicaid funds for mental health, substance abuse, and disability services. Since December 31st, MeckLINK has lost the job--when the state found it would not be ready to take over--appealed that decision, lost the appeal, threatened to sue, and then negotiated an extension to prove it can be ready by March 1st.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department has more than a hundred new security cameras Uptown. They were purchased through a federal grant for the Democratic National Convention. Nearly five months later, they’re still in place. But CMPD says they could be put to better use in high-crime areas.

CMPD’s Video Observation Room is a little bit sci-fi.

“This is about as good as it gets,” says Captain Steve Willis.

  Mecklenburg County will have another chance to prove it’s ready to take over more than $200 million in Medicaid funds for mental health services.

The county spent the last two years and $3 million  preparing its agency MeckLINK to handle mental health, substance abuse, and disability services, as part of a statewide change to how Medicaid funds for those services are dispersed. 

There’s big trouble in little Cherryville. For over a year, the 5,700 residents of the small Gaston County town have experienced a series of FBI raids, federal indictments, and government scandals. 

Twelve of the town’s public employees have been arrested, suspended, or dismissed in the scandals. Kelly Martin served many of them at the Home Folks Cafe on Main Street.

She says Cherryville used to be “just a small town place--everybody knew everybody. A good friendly place.”

The Charlotte City Council met Monday night behind closed doors with Panthers president Danny Morrison and owner Jerry Richardson. The team is seeking public support for renovation of their 16-year-old stadium. But, Panthers officials won’t talk about it, the mayor won’t talk about it, and (only) a limited number of staff have been let in on it.

Sink your teeth into this: about half of all children will have tooth decay before the age of 12. A common procedure called a dental sealant can extract most of that risk. But a new report gives North Carolina, along with only five other states, an “F” for its use of dental sealants. The failing mark stems partially from the lack of sealants administered in high need schools, but also specific grading criteria that state officials say does not score North Carolina’s accomplishments.

Mecklenburg County will continue its fight to reinstate its mental health service agency, MeckLINK, as the overseer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds. In a last ditch effort, county commissioners unanimously voted to take their case to court.