The Charlotte City Council swore in three new members Monday: Kimberly Owens, JD Mazuera Arias and Joi Mayo.

Tennessee Republican Matt Van Epps this week won a special U.S. House election for a conservative district that includes part of Nashville.

In 2014, 61% of Mecklenburg voters rejected a plan to increase the sales tax by a quarter of a penny, from 7.25% to 7.5%. Most of the money would have gone to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Two weeks ago, Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez McDowell hosted a forum in Steele Creek about the multi-billion-dollar transportation plan on the November ballot.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles on Tuesday easily won the Democratic primary, getting 71% of the vote against four opponents. That’s a rout. But the results also showed some softening of support compared to her three previous primaries, when she got 85%, 84% and 87%.

The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance this week kicked off a campaign to convince Mecklenburg County voters to increase the sales tax by 1 cent per dollar to pay for a multi-billion-dollar transportation plan.

The Service Employees Union International wants to flip at least one seat on the Charlotte City Council.

Mayor Lyles’ tiebreaking vote made the proposal moot — Charlotte won’t even take the anodyne step of referring it to a City Council committee for study. The issue is complicated.

Interim Charlotte City Attorney Anthony Fox plans to launch an investigation into inflammatory comments City Council member Victoria Watlington made last month about the city’s $305,000 settlement with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings. But Watlington is continuing to push back — she doesn’t want Fox investigating himself.

The county's frustration boils down to this: After being picked in 2016 — and signing a development agreement in 2018 — The Peebles Corporation hasn’t built a single Brooklyn Village apartment.