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  Former Mecklenburg County District Judge Bill Belk, already banned from holding judicial office, now faces possible punishment from the North Carolina State Bar.

On Aug. 23, Belk will appear before the bar’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission on charges he lied during a 2009 investigation into his possible misconduct while he sat on the bench.

Margaret Cloutier, the bar’s deputy counsel, said Monday that Belk faces disciplinary action ranging from warnings, reprimands and censure, to suspension of his law license and disbarment.

Charlotte police are rapidly expanding their use of technology to detect and locate gunshots in real-time.

The "ShotSpotter" system debuted in Uptown Charlotte during the Democratic National Convention and was expanded to the Grier Heights community in March. It uses a system of microphones to detect gunfire and notify police.

On Monday night, the Charlotte City Council approved $140,000 to extend CMPD's contract with ShotSpotter in the Central District and install it in another neighborhood struggling with violent crime: Albemarle Road and Farm Pond Road.  

  Once again, the Charlotte City Council is talking streetcars. It's a topic that has dominated even those meetings when it wasn't on the council's agenda.  Monday night it actually is.