Julie Rose

The Carolina Panthers say their 17- year old stadium needs an upgrade and they want taxpayers to pitch in. City of Charlotte officials are busy negotiating behind closed doors to come up with as much as half of the $250 million renovation.  They're reportedly looking at doubling the city's tax on prepared foods, such as meals in restaurants. That's not the only local tax Charlotte has used to fund big projects in the past. We asked WFAE's Julie Rose to sort out the sales taxes Charlotte has access to, as this debate over upgrading Bank of America stadium unfolds. 

Duke Energy says it will close down a troubled nuclear plant in Florida – called Crystal River – rather than try to repair it at a cost of billions.  Making that decision has preoccupied Duke and its investors ever since the company merged with Progress Energy and inherited the Florida plant.  

"From the beginning of the merged company, the resolution of the nuclear plant issue has been among the company's top priorities, if not the company's top priority," says Duke Energy spokesman Mike Hughes. 

Duke Energy wants to raise rates again on its North Carolina customers – this time by nearly 12 percent for residential users.  WFAE's Julie Rose reports on the company's latest request to state regulators.

We knew this rate hike request was coming, but we didn't know how large it would be. Last time around, Duke asked to raise residential rates by 17 percent but settled for just over 7 percent when it finally took effect a year ago.  Now Duke Energy is proposing another 11.8 percent increase for residential customers.

  Mayor Anthony Foxx says he's met twice recently with Vice President Joe Biden on the topic of gun control and this he week signed a letter with other mayors supporting tougher firearms laws. But Foxx also wonders if the city may be inadvertently helping to fund the push against gun control. WFAE's Julie Rose reports:

Mayor Foxx this week asked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for details about where it gets its firearms and bullets. The lobby against new gun laws is "pretty effective in Washington" says Foxx.

An outside study released Monday says the Democratic National Convention pumped $163 million into the Charlotte-area economy – making it the largest tourism event the city's ever held. WFAE's Julie Rose has this analysis of the study.

$163 million is on the low end of the original estimate city officials gave for what the DNC might mean to the Charlotte economy. That's what stands about this economic impact study – typically they're criticized for being way too rosy.

Original estimates placed the economic impact of the DNC in Charlotte between $150 million and $200 million.  We'll know today if it came close. WFAE's Julie Rose reports:

Charlotte tourism officials have been known to over blow predictions of economic impact for various conventions, so they hired an outside firm to come up with a credible number for the DNC. 

The Transportation Security Administration has long been criticized for reacting to threats, rather than proactively preventing them: Someone tries sneak a liquid bomb onto a plane, so TSA limits the amount of liquid travelers can carry on.  A guy disguises a bomb in his underwear so TSA installs bodyscanners at airports.  But yesterday, the head of TSA was in Charlotte pitching a more targeted approach to airport screening. WFAE's Julie Rose reports:

A small county on the Florida Gulf Coast is in a budget crisis because its largest taxpayer is refusing to pay up. Progress Energy Florida – which is now owned by Duke Energy – operates a coal and nuclear power plant complex that accounts for one-quarter of Citrus County's property tax revenues. But Duke Energy only paid half its tax bill last year and this week warned it'll do the same in 2013. WFAE's Julie Rose explains: