Business

The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has denied Tesla Motors' application to sell its electric cars at a new store near Charlotte. 

This year is shaping up to be a good one for America’s Christmas tree farmers. A report published this week by the American Christmas Tree Association estimates nearly 22.6 million Christmas trees will be bought, strapped to a car roof, brought home, and decorated this holiday season. That’s a million more trees than were sold in 2011, and it’s welcome relief for the Christmas tree industry, which is still recovering from the recession.

Duke Energy's latest earnings report shows profits declined 27 percent from the same period a year ago. The Charlotte-based company's net income was $932 million through the end of September, which missed analyst expectations.

Weak results internationally and legal settlements in the U.S. hurt Duke Energy's bottom line. The settlements in the quarter were related to a coal plant in Indiana and cleaning up coal ash in North Carolina.

Friday at 12:05 p.m., a flight from Philadelphia will land at Charlotte Douglas Airport. This is not normally news, or history. But this flight will be both.

If you happen to be in the terminal around that scheduled landing time make sure to stop by gate D-13 and look for US Airways flight 1939. It will be on the ground for two hours and then it’s off to Phoenix. When it takes off it will mark the end of an airline.

Bank of America shareholders will vote Tuesday on whether chief executive Brian Moynihan should continue to also serve as the company’s chairman.   The issue has been brewing for several years. 

Shareholders voted back in 2009 to separate the CEO and chairman roles.   But in a controversial move last year, the Bank of America board changed the company’s by-laws to allow one person to hold both titles.   

Salisbury, North Carolina – population just shy of 34,000 – can now lay claim to the title of “city with the fastest Internet in the U.S.” It’s not operated by Google, Verizon, or Time Warner Cable. Instead, it’s a homegrown fiber optic network. WFAE’s Ben Bradford says, when city officials launched it, the only title they were seeking was “employed.”

Two of the largest public pension funds in America are calling for Bank of America to strip Brian Moynihan of his joint title of Chairman and CEO.

Last October the Bank of America board of directors changed the company bylaws and combined the positions of Chairman and CEO. It was a controversial move. In a response to criticism, the Board allowed for a shareholder vote on the move which scheduled for later this month. 

After more than a century as a family-owned department store chain, Belk has agreed to sell to a New York-based private equity firm later this year for about $3 billion.

Started as a single store in Monroe in 1888, Belk now has 296 stores in 16 states.

Three years ago, Charlotte-Douglas Airport officials celebrated the opening of a new trash sorting facility. The goal was to turn a profit on recyclables within five years. It’s not turning out that way.

The pending merger of Family Dollar Stores and Dollar Tree now appears to be headed toward completion in early July.  

Bank of America is one of six financial institutions hit with a total of nearly $1.8 billion in fines Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. The fines stem from foreign currency trade violations. 

About forty protesters rallied outside Duke Energy’s headquarters, chanting “Up with solar, down with coal,” as shareholders left the annual meeting. The clash between environmental advocates and Duke Energy about solar energy and fossil fuels also extended inside the meeting, even the demonstrations.