NEWS UPDATES JULY 2023

Gaston County officials said there will soon be a new public beach near Belmont, thanks to a lease between Duke Energy and the county. The Gaston County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement for the county to operate the 68-acre Southpoint Access recreation area on the Catawba River.

The area will include boat ramps, fishing piers, a swimming beach and more. Duke Energy proposed the idea to the county in 2022 and has invested $7 million into the area.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for the County,” Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Hart said. “This provides us an extra park in a very busy and growing part of the county where land is difficult to come by right now.”

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall says her department needs more funding to handle an increase in business filings. Marshall called on state lawmakers during Tuesday's Council of State meeting to fund more positions and higher salaries.

She’s seen a 70% increase in filings to create new businesses, but the filing fees aren’t being used to help her agency keep up.

"The reality is this chronic underfunding and understaffing at the department is having a detrimental impact on the department's ability to deliver the services. Our business community rightfully expects, resulting in longer processing times and wait times, and that cuts into their efficiency and their profits," she said.

The latest budget proposal adds three positions to the secretary of state’s office, and most state workers would get small raises. Lawmakers hope to pass a final budget by the end of this month.

A development that could reshape part of uptown is underway after years of waiting, Mecklenburg County officials say. The county and the developer behind Brooklyn Village have completed the sale of land for Brooklyn Village South. This is Phase I of the Brooklyn Village Redevelopment project by developer BK Partners, which has been in the works since 2015.

The first phase makes up 5.7 acres at the intersection of East Brooklyn Village Avenue and South McDowell Street, which the developer bought for $10 point 3 million dollars. The redevelopment will include apartments, office, hotel, retail and park space. BK Partners will demolish the Walton Plaza office building, and construction is scheduled to begin in the fall.

Brooklyn Village is being built on the site of the former Brooklyn neighborhood, an African American part of uptown that was cleared out in the 1960s to make way for the city and county's government buildings and new roads.

Governor Roy Cooper visited Charlotte again on Tuesday. He’s hosting an event with business and education leaders celebrating North Carolina being named as CNBC’s top state for business for the second straight year. Cooper spoke at Central Piedmont Community College’s Parr Center on Elizabeth Avenue at 12:30 p.m.

Candidates for the next governor have raised about $9 million so far this year.

Attorney General Josh Stein is so far the only Democrat running for governor, and he raised nearly $6 million in the first half of the year. His campaign entered July with more than $8 million in the bank.

That’s well ahead of the leading Republican, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. He raised about $2.3 million and has over $3 million in his campaign account.

Robinson has raised millions more than his GOP primary opponents. State Treasurer Dale Folwell reported raising more than $1 million, but most of that was from a million-dollar loan he gave his campaign last month. Former congressman Mark Walker reported raising $500,000.

In the crowded field of candidates for lieutenant governor, Democratic state Sen. Rachel Hunt and Republican candidate Hal Weatherman lead their primary opponents in fundraising so far.

North Carolina House and Senate leaders say they’ve reached an agreement on income tax cuts in the state budget. Senate leader Phil Berger declined to provide details of the tax cut compromise, but he said it will tie rate cuts to state revenue levels.

House Republicans had worried that speeding up income tax reductions could lead to funding shortfalls.

Berger says the latest agreement leaves only a few items to resolve in budget negotiations.

"I think this will enable us to get the wheels moving so hopefully we’ll be able to finalize the budget sometime in the month that starts tomorrow," said Berger on Monday, referencing August.

The spending plan is about a month late because Republicans from the two chambers have been unable to agree on the details.

The Catawba Lands Conservancy announced Monday that it had received a major new tract of land to preserve in Mecklenburg County.

The conservation easement makes up 178 acres valued at over $5.8 million. The contribution was left by Willie and Cecil Teeter, who both lived in the county. The property includes frontage near Reedy Creek, which will provide protection for the watershed and the creek.

Catawba Lands Conservancy

The Catawba Indian Nation has elected Brian Harris to lead the tribe as its next chief.

The tribe made the announcement in a social media post Sunday after voting ended on Saturday. The tribe did not announce vote totals, but in a Facebook post, Harris said he had won 465 of a total 886 votes cast.

He also said to hoped to unite the tribe, including those who didn't vote for him.

"Today is no different than any other Monday," Harris wrote. "Relax, take a deep breath and get ready to dig in and make Catawba stand out once again in Indian County."

In an Instagram post, Harris' opponent, Jason Harris, acknowledged defeat and congratulated his opponent. He and Brian Harris have said they are distant cousins.

"The people have spoken," Jason Harris wrote, "If you have ever supported me in any way, I ask that you join me once again as we come together in Unity to support our new Chief."

Brian Harris will become the Catawba Indian Nation's first new chief in more than a decade. He will succeed William Harris, who was first elected chief in 2011 and declined to seek a third term.

The Catawba people have lived on the Catawba River for at least 6,000 years, according to the tribe's website, and have more than 3,300 enrolled tribal citizens.

The tribe is located near Rock Hill, South Carolina, and is the only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina. The tribe opened a casino in July 2021 in a temporary facility in Kings Mountain off Interstate 85.

Also Saturday, Catawba voters elected Patricia Leach as assistant chief; Rob Beck as secretary/treasurer, and Connie Wade and Roo George-Warren as at-large members.

Charlotte FC got back into the win column over the weekend, downing Mexico’s Necaxa 4-1 in the League’s Cup Tournament outside of Major League Soccer play. Coach Christian Lattanzio said it was rewarding to see the team play like he believes they can.

"The thing that pleased me the most is to see the players play with the personality togetherness, playing the, the game that we want to play, creating chances and really being ourselves, being where we are," he said.

The victory moves Charlotte FC into the round of 32 in the tournament. They’ll take on another team from Mexico, Cruz Azul, on Thursday in Frisco Texas.

The club won't play that game at Bank of America Stadium, as originally planned. The Carolina Panthers' annual FanFest is set for Wednesday, at 7 pm.

Professional cornhole players from around the country descend on Rock Hill this weekend for the start of the world championship of the American Cornhole League.

The nine-day event gets underway Saturday at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center with more than $700,000 in payouts on the line.

The game involves players tossing bean bags filled with pellets into holes placed in wooden boards.

ESPN and CBS will air portions of the tournament.

The Catawba Indian Nation will elect a new chief to lead South Carolina’s only federally-recognized Indian tribe on Saturday.

Current chief Bill Harris has led the tribe since he was elected in 2011, but is not seeking re-election.

The Rock Hill Herald reports that two distant cousins are running against each other for the open spot. They are Jason Harris, who has served as assistant chief since 2015, and Brian Harris, who has served on various tribal boards and committees.

Two years ago, the tribe opened its first casino in Kings Mountain. Members of the tribe will cast their ballots for the new chief on Saturday.

North Carolina state investigators say a second crack has been discovered in the Fury 325 roller coaster at Carowinds.

The ride has been closed for about a month after a park visitor alerted staff to a broken support beam that visibly separated as guests rode the coaster. The broken beam was replaced about two weeks ago.

The state Department of Labor confirmed Friday that a second "crack or break" had been found during its investigation of the ride. The department did not say the extent of the damage or when it was discovered.

In a statement, Carowinds said it was continuing to test and inspect the ride in preparation of its reopening, and that "during such reviews, it is not uncommon to discover slight weld indications in various locations of a steel superstructure."

"It is important to note that these indications do not compromise the structural integrity or safety of the ride," the statement said. "When such indications are found, we conduct non-destructive testing to determine the appropriate remedy."

The park describes Fury 325 — named after its maximum height of 325 feet — as the "tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America," that reaches speeds up to 95 mph.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed a bill into law requiring the next generation of boaters to complete safety courses before operating vessels with a 10-horsepower engine or greater.

The new requirement will apply to anyone born after July 1, 2007. Those born before that date do not need to obtain a safety certificate, a spokesman for the governor's office confirmed.

The state Department of National Resources will approve and offer the courses in-person and virtually. The state will offer different courses for personal vessels, specialty propcraft, and people who want to rent boats. A boat rental safety certificate will be valid for 30 days.

In-person courses would be offered for free, while virtual courses could be taken for a fee, according to DNR's executive director, Robert Boyles.

The bill includes exceptions for boaters who obtain licenses or credentials from other states or the U.S. Coast Guard, and for anyone accompanied by a qualified boater of at least 18 years of age.

Violators will be subject to a fine of $50 to $300. The new law will take effect on Aug. 18.

McMaster signed the bill into law during a ceremony Thursday at the Columbia Sailing Club, where he was joined by boating safety advocates, lawmakers and people who had lost loved ones in boating accidents.

Charlotte-based Wild Wing Cafe has a smaller wingspan after filing for bankruptcy and closing many of its restaurants across the Carolinas over the past several months.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports the restaurant group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections on July 19 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

The group filed under the limited-liability company Aetius Companies, claiming it has between $10 million and $50 million in assets and at least $10 million to $50 million in debts.

The Wild Wing partnerships are co-owned and managed by former Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Muhsin Muhammed II. In filings, Muhammed is also listed as a manager at Aetius.

The City of Charlotte this morning held a ribbon cutting for a new section of the Cross Charlotte Trail in south Charlotte. The 1-point-five mile trail will extend from Brandywine Road to Tyvola road. Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston said this was a major goal for the city council to complete.

"When Council member Bakari and I first came into office this was a line on a sheet of paper," Winston said.

"It was an unfulfilled promise of how to actually present this to the community. So along with Mr Bakari and folks in management, we took on the task of figuring out how to take that from a line on the paper to a reality."

There are now roughly 11 miles of the planned 30-mile trail project completed. The entire project is estimated to cost about $113 million dollars.

he Charlotte region should brace for another brutal string of hot, humid days with three-digit heat indexes and poor air quality alerts, forecasters said.

The heat index could rise into the 100- to 105-degree range each afternoon from Thursday to Sunday, the National Weather Service warned on Wednesday.

Saturday could be the hottest day, with the heat index in some areas teetering around 105 degrees.

The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when humidity is combined with the air temperature.

Temperatures have hit or exceeded 90 degrees for 18 of the past 25 days this month in Charlotte, according to the weather service, and the average monthly temperature is about 1.5 degrees higher than normal.

The hottest days so far this month have been July 7 and 13, when temperatures hit 95 degrees. Those records could be broken on Thursday or Friday, when afternoon temperatures could hit 96, and again on Saturday, when temperatures could hit 97.

Poor air quality may also accompany the sweltering heat. The weather service issued a "Code Orange" air quality alert for Mecklenburg and surrounding counties on Wednesday, when afternoon temperatures were expected to hit 95 degrees.

"Code Orange" indicates the air may be unhealthy to breathe for long periods of time for older adults, younger children and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.

Forecasters said high levels of ozone were to blame for Wednesday's poor air quality.

Already this summer, Charlotte has experienced three "Code Red" air quality alerts as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted into Charlotte, creating a visible haze across the region.

"Code Red" indicates the air quality is unhealthy for most of the population, and some members of the general public may experience health effects. "Code Purple" and "Code Maroon" are both higher on the air-quality index.

No data was compromised on the officers computer and none of the town’s servers were compromised during the attack.

The town of Cornelius has now fully recovered from a malware attack that happened two weeks ago.

A Cornelius press release says the virus failed to obtain data from the town’s network, and that there was no ransom demand. Communications manager MaeLynn Joyner.

We have invested heavily into our it infrastructure over the past several years," Joyner told WFAE.

"And so we did have a number of safeguards in place that have presented, that have prevented thousands of attacks in the past. We'll be working on patching the hole that this virus discovered and we'll continue to improve our safety measures to the best that we can."

The attack occurred July 10th after a Cornelius police interacted with a virus while working on an investigation.

The Department of Homeland Security detected unusual activity in the town’s network and alerted staff the next day.

An argument between two people led to a shooting Tuesday at Julius Chambers High School campus, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a release.

The person that was shot had injuries that were not life-threatening, according to police.

Police said the two people involved were adults who did not work at the high school or for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

In a statement, the school district said the two adults were contract workers who were repairing the school's track.

School was not in session at the time of the shooting, and no children were present.

Charges are pending, police said, though no arrests have been reported.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says last week’s tornado damage to the Pfizer plant in Rocky Mount, northeast of Raleigh, won’t have as much of an impact on the drug market for hospitals and clinics as initially feared.

Dr. Robert Califf, commissioner of Food and Drugs, said in a statement that the agency doesn’t expect any immediate significant impacts on supply given the products are currently at hospitals and in the distribution system.

He added that while Pfizer has one-third of the total sterile injectable drug market for hospitals in the U.S., the Rocky Mount facility only makes 25% of Pfizer’s total product for this market — not the entire market. This means 8% of U.S. consumption is supplied by this site.

Califf said redundancy in the supply chain from other manufacturers will help until the Rocky Mount plant is repaired.

Carolina Panthers veterans are arriving in Spartanburg today ahead of annual training camp practice sessions starting tomorrow. Rookies reported to Wofford College in South Carolina Saturday. Tomorrow (WED), on-the-field activity gets underway. New head coach Frank Reich said last month’s mandatory minicamp helped set a foundation the team can build on now.

"Just getting to know each other as players and coaches, getting to understand our schemes, you know, getting to understand what our expectations are going to be, so we wanted to get ready to get into training camp and lay that final piece of the foundation in training camp and then turn it loose," he said.

The first practice gets underway at 10:15 tomorrow (WED) morning. Fans can attend for free, but need to reserve a ticket for each session at panthers -dot- com under the training camp tab.
https://www.panthers.com/training-camp/

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police

UPDATE: CMPD reports that the child's parent has been located.

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Missing Person Unit are asking for help in identifying a 3- to 4-year-old child. The child was found walking alone Saturday at 10 a.m. near the 5100 block of Brooktree Drive coming from the direction of Toddville Road. The child was wearing a white T-shirt and a Pull-Up.

The child said his first name is Cane, but the spelling of the name is not known. He is 3 feet tall, 40 pounds, with brown eyes and shorter than collar length hair in cornrows.

Detectives ask that anyone who knows this child or has information about the child's family, call 911 immediately.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating a sexual assault in the 11800 block of Johnston Road.

Shortly after 7 a.m. on July 22, a woman reported to CMPD that as she was walking on the McAlpine Creek Greenway, a man exposed himself to her and then grabbed her inappropriately. The man then ran toward nearby Pike Nurseries.

The suspect is described as a young Black man, slim and approximately 6 feet 1 inches tall. He was wearing a blue Kentucky Wildcats hooded sweatshirt.

CMPD has increased the number of officers and resources on McAlpine Creek Greenway and all greenways in the department's jurisdiction.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call 911. Information can be shared anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/sitemenu.aspx?ID=372&.

CMPD shares greenway safety tips in this video:

A Charlotte sanitation worker who also worked as a major drug trafficker was sentenced Thursday in federal court. Prosecutors said 56-year old Gary Lee Davis was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine.

According to court documents, Davis met a confidential source in Jan. 2021 who worked with law enforcement and sold that person 20 grams of fentanyl. During their next meeting, he sold a kilogram of the drug to the same source. He was later arrested and police seized 1.5 kilograms, according to prosecutors.

Davis also admitted to having drugs shipped in large quantities from a supplier in California. He said he trafficked between 50 to 100 kilograms of fentanyl. Davis spent his drug earnings by buying luxury cars and renting several homes where he would store drugs and money. Police took six of Davis’s vehicles that included a Maybach, two Mercedes Benz vehicles, two Lexus vehicles, and a Chevrolet Corvette, prosecutors said, as well as $300,000 in cash and two guns were also seized. Davis is in federal custody.

“By day, Davis was as a sanitation worker for the City of Charlotte. By night, he was a bulk trafficker of fentanyl, a deadly substance that is devastating our communities. I commend our law enforcement partners for conducting an investigation that led to the largest federal seizure of fentanyl in this District. We will continue to focus our efforts on identifying large drug networks and major distributors like Davis and disrupting the flow of illegal fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Dena King, in a statement.

The North Carolina legislature is taking a break until the week of Aug. 7, leaving the state budget and several vetoed bills unresolved. The House postponed several votes this week to override Governor Roy Cooper's vetoes of education and transgender regulations.

Senate leader Phil Berger says his chamber also won't hold votes until early August.

"When the House takes up those overrides, we will bring folks back. So if they're not going to have votes until the second week of August, we probably are not going to have votes until then," Berger said.

The House and Senate still haven't reached a compromise on the budget. Republicans disagree about the size of tax cuts and other spending. Gov. Roy Cooper is criticizing the delays, saying the standoff is wasting taxpayer money.

The North Carolina Values Coalition said a woman who medically transitioned her gender as a minor in the state — then switched back — has filed a lawsuit against multiple North Carolina healthcare providers alleging fraud and medical malpractice.

Prisha Mosely has been a vocal advocate against allowing minors access to medications and surgery to transition genders, and has spoken before multiple state legislatures, including North Carolina's, advocating for bans.

“NC Values supports Prisha Mosely’s lawsuit against unethical and greedy doctors who are now facing charges of fraud, malpractice, deceptive trade practices and negligence for lying and manipulating she and her parents into destructive medical gender transitioning," NC Values Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald said in statement.

The lawsuit, filed in Gaston County, names Eric Emerson, Brie Klein-Fowler, Family Solutions, Shana Gordon, Tree of Life Counseling, Martha Fairbanks and Moses Cone Medical Services as the defendants.

Prisha Mosley says she was was permanently damaged from her gender transition surgery and hormones that she took.

She was quoted in a WFAE story last month and said she suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder, an eating disorder, and trauma from sexual assault.

The North Carolina General Assembly is weighing an override of Gov. Cooper's veto of a bill that would ban gender transitions for minors. LGBTQ advocates say that only a small number of minors undergo any medical transition procedures, and that such bans are meant to stir up political controversy and animosity against them.

A coalition of business and public leaders concerned about climate change will kick off a nationwide tour in Charlotte Thursday to promote federal funding for climate-related projects.

The "Cash In on Clean Energy Tour" will offer tips for business, government and community leaders to take advantage of tax breaks, rebates and other incentives in the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles is a co-chair of the tour's nonprofit organizer,America Is All In, along with United Nations Climate envoy Michael Bloomberg and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Besides Lyles, the day's speakers include officials from the U.S. Department of Energy, business and environmental groups, and Duke Energy. Thursday's event runs noon to 5 p.m. at the Mint Museum uptown.

Higher interest rates and low availability of homes for sale continue cooling off Charlotte's housing market, new data released Wednesday show.

Sales in June declined 22.1% from the same month a year ago. That's the fifth straight month of declines. Meanwhile, the median price paid for a home in the Charlotte region dipped 2.5%, to just under $390,000.

Canopy, the Charlotte region's Realtor association, attributed the decline to interest rates that remain high and fewer homes on the market. The number of homes for sale in June sank 17.2% compared to last year. There are fewer than 5,000 homes for sale across the Charlotte region.

In another sign of the market's slowdown, the average number of days a house spent on the market in Charlotte more than doubled from last year, to 29 days.

“Inventory and supply along with higher mortgage rates, strongly impact home sales, and our region’s tight inventory remains a challenge for buyers,” said Tiffany Johannes, Canopy Realtor Association president and a broker with RE/MAX. “Sellers still control the market and we can see that, as sellers received nearly all of asking prices for their homes this past month; however, the lack of seller activity reflects sellers' unwillingness to take on higher mortgage rates, since listing their homes, means they too become buyers.”

Dashew

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Ann Doss Helms

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Chair Elyse Dashew announced Wednesday that she won’t seek a third term. That means the district will soon have a sweeping slate of new leadership.

Dashew’s decision means there will be only one incumbent on the ballot for three at-large seats. And that means that when new members are sworn in, at least seven of the nine members will have one year’s experience or less. And they’ll be working with a new superintendent; Crystal Hill started the job this month.

Normally school board elections are two years apart. But the 2021 district election was postponed to get up-to-date Census data, and last fall five of the six members elected were new to the board.

Dashew says the new district representatives have learned fast, but it takes time to get fully up to speed.

"You know, you can train and train in advance. You can have all sorts of useful life experiences. But nothing really prepares you for school board work until you’re doing it," said Dashew.

But Dashew says she feels confident that a new team can be ready to lead.

Filing ends at noon Friday, and the nonpartisan school board election takes place November 7th. It will share the ballot with a $2.5 billion school bond referendum.

The Charlotte Area Transit System has said the cost to repair the entire Lynx Blue Line light rail fleet will now cost nearly $60 million — nearly twice as much as the original estimate this spring.

Interim CATS chief executive Brent Cagle told City Council in April that he expected to have all 42 light-rail vehicles overhauled before the summer of 2025.

At the time, the cost was $30 million.

But in a memo last week to the Metropolitan Transit Commission, Cagle said he expects the overhaul to cost nearly $59 million. What’s more, the work by manufacturer Siemens won’t be finished until late 2027.

The repairs are needed because CATS had failed to do required maintenance. That resulted in a May 2022 derailment, when a Lynx train’s wheel left the track after water had seeped inside bearings in the axle .causing it to corrode and stop turning.

The train did not tip over, and no one was hurt.

But the state blasted CATS' maintenance and response to the accident.

Cagle said in an interview that CATS will have one round of maintenance done on the vehicles in the near future, and those same cars will then be sent back to Siemens in California a few years later for the same work.

The $59 million is a significant financial hit to CATS, which is funded primarily by a half-cent sales tax. That tax brings in about $150 million a year.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges is trying to turn a new page after a domestic violence conviction that took him off the court last season. This is the first time he’s spoken to the media since he was charged last July.

In a press conference alongside general manager Mitch Kupchak, Bridges, in audio posted to Twitter, said he’s been trying to work on himself as a person.

The NBA says Bridges will still have to miss 10 games to start this season to finish his suspension.

It’s been a violent start to the week in Charlotte, with six people injured by gunfire. Two of the victims died. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating four separate shootings that occurred in the past two days.

• Tuesday morning, CMPD officers responded to a fatal shooting in the Thomasboro-Hoskins neighborhood. The killing was reported around 5:21 am near 500 Porter Street, northwest of uptown. The caller said she arrived at her home and shot a woman who was inside of her house. When officers arrived they found a female victim with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead by paramedics. CMPD did not release the names of the people involved.
• On Monday afternoon, a double shooting occurred in the Sugar Creek area on North Tryon Street. CMPD officers responded around 1:13 pm for an assault with a deadly weapon call. When officers arrived they found two men with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to Atrium Health Main, and are expected to recover. CMPD did not release the names of the victims.
• On Monday evening, an officer shot a woman barricaded in her home off Independence Boulevard. Just after 6:30 pm officers responded to to check the welfare of people living on Krefeld Glen Drive. When officers arrived, they heard yelling from the apartment, followed by a gunshot. After a suspect didn’t comply with an officer who entered the home, the officer fired his before retreating outside the apartment. SWAT and negotiators arrived, and at 9:15 pm officers stormed the apartment. A female suspect was found with a gunshot wound and she was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. A child at the apartment was not injured, police said.
• And later Monday, CMPD responded to another double shooting in the Coventry Woods neighborhood at around 9:40 p.m. near 5600 Paces Glen Avenue. When officers arrived, they found two victims with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead and the second victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. CMPD did not release the names of the victims, as the investigation continues.

Charlotte City Council members did something unusual Monday night — they said "no" to a developer. In a tie vote, City Council members denied a rezoning request from a developer seeking to build up to 186 townhouses on Mallard Creek Road.

Mayor Vi Lyles cast the deciding tiebreaker no vote after the council deadlocked 5-5 multiple times.

Council member Renee Johnson said the pushback she got for leading the bloc of no votes was intense, and demonstrates how rarely council denies rezoning petitions.

"The discussion and the controversy because I want to deny a petition is just unbelievable. The public accuses us of rubber-stamping and this is the kind of pushback that you, that you get when you want to deny a petition," Johnson said. She said she had found only three other instances in the past four years when City Council had denied a petition.

Neighbors had said they were worried about traffic and overall density from the development, which backs up to a neighborhood with single-family homes. The developer, Appaloosa Real Estate Partners,
tried to withdraw the rezoning petition, but City Council voted to deny it outright instead. That means Reid can't bring the petition back to City Council for two years.

Some council members said denying a petition that a developer is trying to withdraw will set a bad precedent. City Council usually allows developers to withdraw rezoning petitions when it's clear they don't have enough support to win passage.

"We have never in my time here and I believe probably in modern history .. .tried to vote down what somebody is trying to withdraw," said Tariq Bokhari.

In the end, council members LaWana Mayfield, Renee Johnson, Dante Anderson, Victoria Watlington and Dimple Ajmera voted to deny the rezoning petition. Lyles cast the tiebreaker vote.

After nearly half an hour of trying to sort out competing motions and separate, deadlocked votes, the mayor said she was glad the vote was over.

"That's a lot of dancing without any good-night kiss," said Lyles.

Correction note: This story has been updated to reflect the petition that was denied. An earlier version incorrectly identified the petition as an attempt to build a café; that petition was deferred.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has approved student IDs from 99 public institutions for use in voting this fall. That includes Johnson C. Smith University, Davidson College, Queens University and UNC Charlotte in Mecklenburg County. Students with IDs from those schools can use them at the polls.

But Johnson & Wales University was denied — the only school in Mecklenburg that applied that didn’t make the cut. The state board said Johnson & Wales’ IDs don’t have an expiration date, which is required. Voters will be required to show ID to cast a ballot this year.

You can see a full list of the newly approved IDs online here.

The Loaves & Fishes food pantry says that it provided a record amount of groceries in June. Last month the organization provided a week’s worth of groceries to nearly 11,000 people, the highest total in the organization's history.

By comparison, last June the organization fed 8,503 people. This June is also slightly higher than the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw 9,763 families fed.

With inflation on the rise and more families stretching their budgets, demand has increased. CEO Tina Postel said they continue to see a rise in calls for groceries.

“You know, our phones are ringing off the hook,” Postel told WFAE. “People that are calling us today, we used to be able to get them into a pantry the same day and sometimes they have to wait a couple of days for our pantries or our grocery home-delivery program to have an opening. We have not seen a slowdown yet."

Postel also said the organization is in need of volunteer drivers to help deliver groceries to homes. You can get involved by going to loavesandfishes.org.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19, but that his symptoms are mild.

In a brief tweet, Cooper said he will be working from home for the rest of the week.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police are investigating a shooting that happened Sunday night in the University area.

Around 9:40 pm, officers responded to a call for an assault with a deadly weapon at 2000 Laysan Teal Lane, in the University area. They found two victims with gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a local hospital. No arrests have been made.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to file his 2024 candidacy for South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary when he’s in the first-in-the-South voting state this week, becoming the first GOP hopeful to do so.

DeSantis plans to file his paperwork at the state GOP headquarters in Columbia on Tuesday, his campaign told The Associated Press last week.

DeSantis will make his candidacy official during his third campaign swing through South Carolina. Monday he made a stop in Tega Cay.

South Carolina is set to hold its GOP presidential primary Feb. 24. The state has two homegrown 2024 candidates of its own — former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott.

Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue says it recovered a body after an apparent drowning on Lake Norman yesterday.

Crews were called to The Sandbar for a missing boater last night. That’s a popular gathering spot on the lake. The person’s identity, nor the circumstances of the incident have not been released pending notification of family members.

Fire Rescue officials are reminding everyone to wear a life jacket while on the water.

After nearly a decade as speaker of the North Carolina House, Rep. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) says he won't seek a sixth term.

Moore didn't rule out running for his statehouse seat again, according to WRAL. He was first elected in 2002, and he's been speaker since 2015. But he has also been mentioned for years as a likely candidate for the U.S. Congress, and a run for federal office could be in his future.

Moore has been at the center of state politics since Republicans won their legislative supermajority in 2010, and he was appointed to the Republican leadership in the House. He has helped to lead North Carolina rightward on fiscal policies such as lower taxes, as well as social policies such as stricter abortion limits.

Last month, former Apex Town Council member Scott Lassiter filed an alienation of affection lawsuit against Moore, prompting Moore to admit to a “casual relationship” with Jamie Liles Lassiter, a state employee married to Scott Lassiter. Moore said in June that Jamie Liles Lassiter was separated from her husband at the time. The lawsuit was dropped earlier this month.

A 9-year-old is recovering after being wounded by gunfire in southeast Charlotte early Sunday, police said.

The child was hit in the foot when bullets were fired into a home near 6600 Idlewild Road at about 3:49 a.m., according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. The area is just off Independence Boulevard, where a number of apartment complexes are clustered.

The child was taken by paramedics to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

The department didn't release any information Sunday about possible suspects or the circumstances that led to the shooting.

One adult and one juvenile have been charged in the homicide last weekend of Savion Lockhart in northeast Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.

Reginald Moses, 19, and the 17-year-old juvenile have been charged with murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.

On July 8, shortly after 7 p.m., officers responded to an adult with a deadly weapon call at 2400 Turtle Point Road. When officers arrived they found Lockhart and another person suffering from gunshot wounds. Lockhart was pronounced dead. The other victim is expected to recover.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have arrested two suspects in a recent killing in the Eastway area.

CMPD said they arrested 19-year old Emanuel Prada and a 15-year old juvenile on Thursday. Both have been charged with murder.

On July 8, just after 5 pm, officers responded to 5000 Curtiswood Drive for a call about an assault with a deadly weapon. When officers arrived they found Ja’Kez Johnson suffering from gunshot wounds. Johnson was transported to the hospital. He died on Monday.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management Office says there are currently no plans to open cooling centers, with triple-digit heat index values expected for the next few days. The office says Mecklenburg County, the city of Charlotte, and homeless service providers, are working together to support the needs of the community regarding extreme heat and are monitoring the situation. Heat index or “feels like” temperatures are expected to exceed 100 degrees locally today, as well as most days over the next week.

Get ready for traffic if you're heading uptown: More than 70,000 people are expected in uptown Charlotte this weekend as one of country music’s top stars is set to perform two shows at Bank of America Stadium. Huntersville native and former Appalachian State student Luke Combs has concerts set for both Friday and Saturday night. WBTV says family and friends of Combs will be hosting a tailgate at 2 p.m. Saturday at the stadium’s North Plaza. It will feature live music, entertainment, and early merchandise sales.

In addition to Combs, there are two other big shows planned for Friday night:

• blink-182 is playing Friday at 7:30 pm in the Spectrum Center.
• Melissa Etheridge is playing Knight Theater at 7 pm.

Duke Energy is bracing for a surge in demand ahead of several days of extreme heat in the forecast. The National Weather Service says the next several days could bring heat index values that exceed 100 degrees in the Piedmont and Sandhills. Severe thunderstorms will be possible each afternoon. Duke spokesman Jeff Brooks says as demand peaks, the utility will rely more on its main power sources like nuclear and natural gas. He says peak demand usually comes in the evening, between 5 and 9 p.m.

"That's when everybody comes home from work. That's when you are cooking dinner, you may plug up your EV or you may turn on your television. Whatever it is you're doing, that pulls a lot of power at that time of day," said Brooks.

Brooks says residents can help ease stress on the power grid by turning up their thermostats, turning off lights and closing blinds.

Charlotte Observer readers will no longer see the cartoons of Pulitzer prize-winning Kevin Siers in the newspaper. It’s part of parent company McClatchy’s strategy to eliminate daily opinion cartoons across its newspapers. McClatchy’s opinion editor wrote in a memo to staff that the company made the quote-difficult decision based on changing reader habits and its focus on providing local news and information. Siers drawings framed the irony, humor, and often grim view of news in Charlotte and beyond for over 36 years. He spoke with WFAE about his process in 2014, after winning the Pulitzer.

"I spend a lot of time scribbling and free associating and just randomly coming up with images and comparing and contrasting. Then, the image will just pop out of nowhere," Siers said.

Those images struck a chord with readers. His editor often wrote columns based on the reaction to his cartoons. Siers said he was more fortunate than a lot of his cartoonist colleagues as the newspaper industry struggled.

Piedmont National Gas will conduct routine maintenance on equipment in Huntersville for the next six days.

Work will happen at 11000 McCoy Road near the Gar Creek Nature Preserve. he work will involve flaring, or burning off some gas. Piedmont is warning residents they might hear a whistling sound and see a tall flame. The company is asking people not to call 911 unless it's truly an emergency.

Duke Energy

Charlotte FC has had five straight matches end in a tie, including last week’s contest against FC Cincinnati, Major League Soccer’s top team. That also marked the first start for midfielder Scott Arfield, who joined Charlotte earlier this month from the Scottish club Rangers. He says the team is playing well but when they score has been the issue.

"Well, I think in the first two or three games, but what I've been seeing, I think we just need to score goals at certain times. I think we've been in every game that we've played, we've drawn a lot of games within the last 4 to 6 weeks.And I think that is you need to score at the right time to win these games because the transitions, you know, that you're always going to get the transitions, but it's about picking your moments," said Arfield.

Arfield says he’s adjusting to the switch from Glasgow to Charlotte with his family here now. On the pitch, Charlotte FC is in a four-way tie for tenth place in MLS’s eastern Conference with nine teams making the playoffs. They’ll face Montreal – one of the teams they’re tied with — on the road Saturday night.

Piedmont Natural Gas will perform routine infrastructure maintenance in the 11000 block of McCoy Road in Huntersville. The work is expected to continue through Wednesday.

The operations will include the use of a large vertical pipe called a flare stack, which could produce a loud noise and result in a tall flame being visible to nearby neighborhoods and businesses. People in the area also may notice a whistling sound or the smell of natural gas. The utility is asking people not to call 911 unless there's a true emergency.

Flare stack operation is a controlled process that will be managed and monitored by Piedmont Natural Gas personnel in cooperation with local fire departments.

Piedmont Natural Gas

The Transportation Security Administration released its statistics on firearms recovered from travelers during the first half of 2023.

So far this year, TSA officers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport have found 66 firearms compared to 52 at the same time last year. In the first six months of 2023, TSA agents across North Carolina discovered 130 firearms.

That's a slight increase compared to midyear 2022, when 128 were found.

Regional leaders are pressing pause on the renegotiation of a memorandum of understanding that underpins the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization. The group has mostly relied on staff from the city of Charlotte. Now, they’re going to get their own outside lawyer. Board member Lisa Qualls, a Mooresville tow commissioner, said at a meeting Wednesday that the regional body needs separate legal advice.

"Diving into this MOU, it became very apparent that, gosh, every time we, we have a question about this legal document and we're going back to Charlotte's attorney," she said. "With all due respect, it almost feels like the fox watching the henhouse, so to speak, that we don't have that independent answer that I feel like represents all of us."

Leaders of some towns, such as Huntersville and Davidson, have said the city of Charlotte’s weighted vote gives it too much power to determine the region’s transportation spending priorities. They want one town, one vote written into the updated agreement.

The organization will continue updating its governing document once they’ve hired outside counsel.

Politics

Read more: Towns are seeking to curb Charlotte's power over transportation decisions

Steve Harrison

Some municipalities want to change the voting structure on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, or CRTPO, to give towns like Huntersville and Cornelius more power.

Carowinds is working to return Fury 325 back into service after a customer found and shared video of a cracked pillar on the roller coaster.

The amusement park said in a release that it is in the process of removing the support column and replacing it with a new steel column.

It planned to put cranes in place Wednesday to hold the coaster's track while the existing support is removed. On Thursday, the new support column will be delivered and installed, the park said.

Following installation, the park says it will operate the ride for 500 cycles to test it.

Once the testing is complete, Carowinds will work with the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau to determine when the rollercoaster will reopen.

Atrium Health officially broke ground Wednesday on a new hospital tower at the Carolinas Medical Center in Dilworth.

“This state-of-the-art medical facility will not only add to the Queen City skyline as the largest structure on our campus, but it will serve as a ‘beacon of hope’ for so many patients and community members and provide the quaternary care needs of the future in order to accommodate the incredible growth of Charlotte and beyond,” Ken Haynes, president of the Southeast Region for Advocate Health, said in a statement.

Atrium Health

The new tower will feature new patient rooms, an emergency department and public spaces. The 1.1 million-square-foot tower will feature new patient rooms, an emergency department and public spaces. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.

Atrium Health

MeckEd, an advocacy group that’s been active in local education since 1991, has a new CEO. The group announced Wednesday that Kellie Cartwright will take over leadership on Aug. 1. She’s currently an executive with United Way of Central Carolinas.

Ross Danis, who had led the group for seven years, stepped down this spring. MeckEd provides a career pathways program for disadvantaged high school students and supports after-school programs for middle-schoolers.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department held its midyear public safety report Wednesday and introduced a new program that will allow civilians — not just sworn officers — to conduct traffic investigations. CMPD Major Dave Johnson said the civilian officers would respond to traffic accidents.

The civilian employees will be called civilian traffic investigators," Johnson said. "These investigators will respond to minor traffic accidents and complete a report just the same as if it were completed by a law enforcement officer. They would not carry a firearm or have the authority to arrest or write citations and their uniforms and vehicles were clearly distinguished them from police officers. However, they will have the same authority as an officer to tow or remove a vehicle that is obstructing traffic."

Civilian traffic investigators will have to go through four weeks of law enforcement training.

CMPD also noted violent crime was down in the first half of this year —- including a 15% drop in homicides — but total crimes are rising.

That’s due in large part to more juveniles stealing cars.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, CMPD Major Jonathon Thomas said more than 3,700 cars have been stolen in Charlotte this year. That’s more than double the same time last year. Many of those thefts have been traced to teens who officers believe are influenced by social media.

"There’s Instagram or TikTok pages about groups stealing Kias and Hyundais, and they brag about it," said Thomas. "They show the videos that they’re using on that. And it’s a game to them."

Police also say more than 600 guns have been taken from stolen vehicles, and in one case, a juvenile died after stealing a car and then crashing. Police say they’re trying to cut down on thefts by handing out steering-wheel locks at auto dealers, apartment complexes and other businesses. They’re also urging parents to take more responsibility for their children.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating an assault with a deadly weapon in the Madison Park neighborhood that occurred on Tuesday morning.

Around 7 am, officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon with injuries call at 5100 South Boulevard. When officers arrived they found one victim with a gunshot wound. That person was taken to a local hospital by paramedics with life threatening injuries.

CMPD recovered a gun from the scene and arrested a suspect. The suspect’s name was not released.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will sell the old Wilmore School to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina for $8.2 million. The school on West Boulevard near uptown Charlotte was built in 1925 and designated a historic landmark in 2018. The Raleigh-based Preservation Foundation specializes in selling old buildings to buyers who will preserve them.

Wilmore has been out of use for several years. The school board approved the sale Tuesday night.

A rezoning petition filed earlier this year shows plans to build 270 apartments on the site, as well as shops, restaurants and an event space, while preserving and reusing much of the historic school building.

North Carolina’s birth rate has rebounded after a significant dip during the pandemic. That’s according to a new report from research center Carolina Demography.

The state’s birth rate dropped by about 4% at the end of 2020 — about nine months after the pandemic hit.

“I wouldn't say that it's particularly surprising,” said Nathan Dollar, director of Carolina Demography. “We would expect there to be an effect on reproductive decisions from the pandemic and the closures and kind of just like the disruptions to social and economic life that resulted from the pandemic.”

Researchers call this a period effect — when a major event has an effect on fertility. The rebound was relatively swift though. The birth rate started to tick up again by April 2021. Now, researchers say it’s close to 2019 levels again. But Dollar says it’s unlikely that we’ll see a significant increase in the future. He notes that fertility rates overall had been declining before the pandemic in North Carolina and globally.

“As economies develop, and women in particular have more access to education and labor market opportunities. And people’s reproductive decisions change. And so people have smaller families. And then cultural norms change around, kind of, ideal and intended number of children,” he said.

North Carolina’s fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman would have in her life, is now at 1.71, below the replacement level needed to maintain the population’s size.

Mecklenburg paramedics say a pedestrian was struck and killed on the I-485 Outer loop at Johnston Road on Tuesday.

The highway was closed for several hours according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officials are asking commuters to avoid the area and anticipate heavy delays.

Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday that railroad company TTX will move its headquarters from Chicago to Charlotte.

According to a release from the governor's office, the rail freight car company will invest $14.5 million, create 150 jobs in uptown and the average salary will start at $162,000.

The company was lured, in part, by $1.8 million in Job Development Investment Grant tax credits that were approved Tuesday.

Charlotte City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to spend $3.5 million to help renovate a crumbling affordable housing complex in South End.

The 78 families living in Brookhill Village on South Tryon Street will be able to stay as the units are renovated, the developers say. Last week, Mecklenburg County commissioners also approved spending the same amount, bringing the total public subsidies for rehabbing Brookhill Village to $7 million.

Brookhill Village has been deteriorating for more than a decade even as South End booms around it. Most of the buildings on the site, which once had more than 400 one-story apartments, have been demolished. Brookhill Village has proven tough to redevelop because one company owns the land and another company owns the buildings through a long-term ground lease. Under such a lease, the holder can lease the site and the rights to build on it, but doesn't own the underlying ground. The split ownership structure has scuttled prior proposals, and it's not clear what the developers will be able to build on the rest of the site.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have identified a victim in a homicide this weekend near the Eastway Regional Recreation Center.

On Saturday, around 5. CMPD officers responded to a call for an assault with a deadly weapon near 5000 Curtiswood Drive, off North Tryon Street. When officers arrived they found 19-year old Ja’Kez Johnson suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Atrium Health Main with life-threatening injuries.

On Monday, Johnson died, police said. No arrests have been made at this time.

Charlotte sprinter Cravont Charleston upset two former world champions to win the national championship in the 100 meters Friday night in Eugene, Oregon.

Charleston had never won an NCAA or USA track event. But his time of 9.95 seconds won the 100-meter final at the U.S. Track & Field Outdoor National Championships.

He beat Christian Coleman, the 2019 100-meter world champion, who ran 9.96 seconds, and Noah Lyles, the reigning 200-meter world champion, who ran 10.00 seconds.

With the win, the 25-year-old Charleston qualified for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, next month. Coleman and Lyles also qualified for the team.

Charleston is a five-time ACC Champion at North Carolina State University and an alumnus of Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte.

Watch the race on NBC's Olympic Channel.

More than half of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s approximately 185 schools will have poverty levels of 75% or higher this year, according to a report going to the school board Tuesday.

One hundred and two schools are expected to meet the 75% threshold for federal Title I assistance for high-poverty schools. That includes two new elementary schools: Esperanza Global Academy in east Charlotte and Grove Park Elementary in northeast Charlotte. Eight existing schools are also being added to the Title I list: Rocky River High, J.M Alexander Middle School and Clear Creek, Berewick, Oaklawn, Mint Hill, Pineville and Dorothy Vaughn elementary schools.

The report will update the board on plans to spend more than $52 million on academic supports to the Title I schools, as well as public pre-kindergarten to prepare students for success.

Two weeks after a fire destroyed part of the Charlotte Preparatory School campus in southeast Charlotte, investigators say the cause of the fire is still undetermined.

The late-night blaze on June 26 destroyed a school building that served kindergarten through third grades, causing at least $2.5 million in damage, according to a preliminary estimate from the Charlotte Fire Department. No injuries were reported from the fire.

The day after, Head of School Chris Marblo wrote on Facebook the K-8 private school would use temporary classrooms in the coming school year as it begins to rebuild.

"The loss of a building and its many memories is heartbreaking. But we will rebuild and will do so in ways that make our campus even better. And we will soon create new memories," Marblo wrote.

"Adversity reveals character, and I know our community will rally around each other and demonstrate the character that is at the heart of our school."

The Carolina Panthers will add two popular former players to the team’s Hall of Honor.

Former defensive end Julius Peppers and wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad will be honored during halftime on Oct. 29, during the Panthers' game against the Houston Texans.

Peppers was drafted by the Panthers in 2002 as the No.2 overall pick and would go on to play 10 seasons with the team.

Muhammad was drafted by the Panthers in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft and played 11 seasons for the Panthers.

Both Peppers and Muhammad made a trip to the Super Bowl in 2004.

The Charlotte Fire Department will assist Vermont this week after the state saw between 2 to 8 inches of rain.

CFD will send its special operations unit North Carolina Task Force 3 to help Vermont as it deals with catastrophic flooding.

Vermont is under a state of emergency, which allows it to draw additional resources.

Charlotte’s William Byron overcame an early spin through the grass to win a rain-shortened race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night. It was the fourth Cup Series victory of the season for Byron who said afterward he was trying to put himself in a good position in case the race resumed.

"I've never had a rain win," Byron said." So I was like, sure enough, it's with me leading and this isn't gonna happen like this. So I'm like, just thinking about what lane I'm gonna choose. I think as soon as the caution came out, I asked what lane are we gonna choose? Cause I didn't even want to think about the possibility of rain and you know, coming down pit road, all that was secondary to me. I was just thinking about, ok, how can we control the race? So then when the next caution comes out for rain, we're in a good spot."

Byron now leads both the regular season point standings and the playoff standings.

We still got, what, six or seven races till the playoffs and we just gotta keep inching up on it," he said. "We can't have any bad, major bad, weeks and this looked like it was going to be a bad week and, and we overcame it so good lesson to learn. But I think we're coming up on two tough tracks that we got to really hone in on, with Pocono and Loudon and so we gotta keep it up."

NASCAR heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

Two people were shot and killed in separate incidents over the weekend in the University City police division, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said.

The first was reported at around 7 pm Saturday on Turtle Point Road. That's east of PNC Music Pavilion, near the Cabarrus County line. Police said two people were injured at a house there and driven to the hospital in private vehicles. Savion Rashaad Lockhart, a 17-year-old, was pronounced dead on arrival. The second victim, who wasn't identified by police, is expected to recover.

And the second killing happened just an hour and a half later, on North Tryon Street just south of WT Harris Boulevard. Police said they got a call someone had been shot near the Microtel Inn & Suites. Stacy Deshawn Herring, a 35-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one has been arrested in either case, and police haven't released any information about possible circumstances or what led to the shootings.

A mass shooting in Wadesboro early Sunday morning left one person dead and six others injured.

WSOC-TV reports officers with the Wadesboro Police Department responded to a call of shots fired just before 2 a.m. at North Wadesboro Grocery on North Green Street, where witnesses told police a block party was being held.

At the scene, officers found one victim who was pronounced dead, as well as six victims who were taken to the hospital. The department has not released any information about the identities of the victims.

The State Bureau of Investigations, Alcohol Law Enforcement, and other regional agencies are helping investigate the incident.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last week throwing out race as a factor in college admissions, UNC-Chapel Hill said Friday that the school will increase diversity by offering free tuition to all incoming undergraduate students from North Carolina whose families make less than $80,000 dollars a year.

The school will also increase its outreach in underserved neighborhoods to draw students who might otherwise not apply.

You can read the school's announcement of the new initiative here.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting in the Shannon Park neighborhood.

CMPD homicide detectives conducting an investigation at 3800 Foxford Place near Shamrock Road said one woman was found dead there Friday morning. The person’s name was not released.

CMPD released no other information, but said they have identified a person of interest.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have identified the victim in a homicide that occurred in University Park on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, around 12:31 am, officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call at 3100 Southwest Boulevard.

When officers arrived they found 61-year old Linnie Talford and another man suffering from gunshot wounds.Talford was pronounced dead by paramedics. The other victim was taken to Atrium Health Main in critical condition.

No one has been arrested.

Carowinds plans to replace a cracked pillar on its biggest rollercoaster, Fury 3-2-5.

But the timetable for the ride’s return to service after a customer found the cracked pillar last week is still unclear. The park’s maintenance team and ride manufacturer Bolliger and Mabillard will remove the current support column and install a new one, which is scheduled to be delivered next week. Following installation, the park will operate the ride for 500 cycles to test it.

Once the testing is complete, Carowinds will work with the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau.

The Union County Sheriff's Office has arrested two suspects in a killing this week.

Twenty-five year old Joshua Newton and 22 year-old Victoria Smith remain in jail. Newton has been charged with first degree murder and obstruction of justice. Smith has been charged with obstruction of Justice and accessory after the fact.

Detectives were investigating the disappearance of 18-year-old Kierstyn Williamson. She had been missing since June 30. After a search, USCO detectives confirmed that her body was found Wednesday afternoon.

"Over the past several days, the men and women of the Union County Sheriff’s Office have fully dedicated themselves to this case and ensuring the people responsible for this tragic loss were brought to justice,” Sheriff Eddie Cathey said in a statement.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information can call the Union County Crime Stoppers at 704-283-5600

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department says that two roads are closed in the Sugar Creek area due to downed power lines.

Lanes near the intersection of Sugar Creek Road and Hidden Valley Road are closed after a wreck and CMPD is asking commuters to take alternate routes.

There’s no timeline for when the power lines will be repaired.

President Joe Biden will visit a South Carolina manufacturing plant today to highlight how his economic plan can help workers and spur new investment.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports Biden will land in Columbia Metropolitan Airport and head to a Flex manufacturing facility in Springdale, a few minutes west of the capital city, where he is scheduled to give remarks at 1pm. The president plans to tout a new partnership between a pair of companies that say it’s a result of legislation Biden signed.

Flex’s plant will produce microinverters, which convert electricity generated by solar panels from direct current to alternating current that the power grid can use.

Belmont has a new mayor. Councilmember Marc Seelinger (SEE-lin-jer), was appointed last night to serve temporarily following the resignation of Charlie Martin last week.

WJZY reportsSeelingerhas been on the Belmont city council 2019, and was chosen in a unanimous vote at a specially called meeting. He was sworn in following the vote.

The term will run until a new mayor is elected in the November election, when the unexpired two-year term will be on the ballot. Seelinger says he doesn’t plan to run for mayor, opting instead to try for a seat on the Gaston County Board of Commissioners.

Mooresville Mayor Miles Atkins said Wednesday that he will not run seek an eighth term as the town’s mayor.

“Representing and serving the greater Mooresville community for the past 16 years has been an honor. After an ample amount of introspection, I feel now is the time to explore new possibilities, therefore I have decided not to seek a seventh term as mayor in the upcoming municipal election,” Atkins said in a statement on his website.

Atkins was elected as a commissioner at-large in 2007 and has held the position of mayor since 2011.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services has issued a no-swim advisory for a portion of Lake Norman, after nearly 875 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the lake from a pipe located at 18630 Jetton Road in Cornelius. Since the spill, the line is being repaired and no longer leaking fluids.

The agency will monitor the water quality in the area until bacteria levels are deemed safe for humans.

A fire that caused an estimated $25,000 of damage at a vacant Charlotte home ignited when someone fired off fireworks, the fire department said.

Firefighters responded to a call for heavy smoke at 900 Cantwell Street in the Thomasboro-Hoskins neighborhood about 12:16 a.m. Tuesday .

The fire was extinguished in 17 minutes, and the house was vacant, officials said.

CFD investigators said that the fire caused an estimated $25,000 of damage. No one was injured.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department made several dozen arrests during yesterday’s fourth of July celebrations around Romare Bearden Park.

During a press conference today, CMPD Lieutenant Kevin Pietrus said a series of fights led officers to charge both adults and juveniles. A total of 32 people were arrested or cited for their actions in uptown, that included 17 juveniles and 15 adults. The charges included included a fray carrying a concealed weapon, resisting a public officer assault on a government official, disorderly conduct, possession of a firearm on city property, possession of pyrotechnic and failure to disperse. Officers also recovered four weapons from the area.

CMPD noted that several of the juveniles were unsupervised.

Despite the turmoil, no serious injuries were reported.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating a fatal shooting overnight just northwest of center city on Southwest Boulevard — that’s at an apartment complex between Brookshire Boulevard and I-85. CMPD says they were called just after midnight Wednesday and found two men with gunshot wounds.

One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was taken to Atrium Main with critical injuries. None of the victims have been identified and police haven’t said what started the incident, nor if there are any suspects.

The Belmont City Council has a special meeting tonight to consider appointing a new mayor.

Longtime mayor Charlie Martin resigned for undisclosed "personal health reasons," last week. Martin has been mayor of the Gaston County community west of Charlotte for 10 years, and was on the city council for eight years before that. The agenda mentions the possibility that a new council member will also be named if one of the current members is appointed mayor.

Martin’s term ran through 2025. The mayor's office will now be on the ballot in November 2023. Today's meeting starts at 4 in the CityWorks Center.

Four people were hospitalized from a shooting early Tuesday morning near Allen Hills Park in north Charlotte, Mecklenburg County EMS reported.

The shooting was reported sometime after 2 a.m. Allen Hills Park is in Charlotte's Derita/Statesville neighborhood.

Paramedics said two people were rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. A third person had serious injuries and the fourth had minor injuries.

No other details were immediately available.

Charlotteans in the Hickory Grove neighborhood were startled over the weekend to see three large water buffalo roaming through their yards.

Iris Navarro

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Courtesy

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said animal control officers were notified of the animals around 4:40 p.m. on Friday. Neighbors said the bovines were wandering around near the intersection of Leesburg Road and Hollyhouse Drive.

When officers arrived, the animals' owner was trying to coax them into a livestock trailer.

Police said officers and the owner successfully corralled the animals into the trailer, until one again escaped. For three hours, officers unsuccessfully tried to recapture the buffalo.

Efforts continue overnight, until the buffalo was contained about 4 miles away in the baseball field of Albemarle Elementary School. At 6:30 a.m. Saturday, more animal control officers were called in, along with a member of the CMPD SWAT team.

After consulting with the owner, officers euthanized the one buffalo, citing its size and strength. CMPD said the owner agreed with the decision.

Officers said the owner was cited. Charlotte's city ordinance bans people from owning wild or exotic animals in the city — except in pet shops, zoological gardens, research laboratories or by veterinarians or wildlife rehabilitators who are treating or caring for animals.

A lawsuit against Republican state House Speaker Tim Moore is over.

Former Apex Town Council member Scott Lassiter, a fellow Republican, sued Moore last month, claiming that Moore’s relationship with his wife ended his marriage.

Moore acknowledged he had a “casual” relationship with Jamie Lyles Lassiter, a state employee, but said the Lassiters were separated at the time. The lawsuit also alleged that Moore used his power as House speaker to pursue the relationship. Moore denied that.

Alicia Jurney, an attorney for Scott Lassiter, told WFAE Monday that the lawsuit had been "resolved." WRAL reported the lawsuit had been dropped.

Politics

Related: Lawsuit alleges NC House Speaker Tim Moore had affair with state employee

Steve Harrison

Scott Lassiter, a former Apex town council member, said the alleged affair between his wife and Moore was “more than the ordinary dalliance of an unfaithful spouse and an unscrupulous paramour.” Moore said in a statement that the suit is "baseless."

The city of Charlotte will delay construction on a key pedestrian bridge linking South End to uptown until 2027.

As first reported by Axios Charlotte, the bridge that will cross over Interstate 277 is facing a significant delay — one that will push it back nearly a decade from its announcement. The bridge was announced in 2019 as part of the South End Vision plan that was adopted by the City Council.

Construction on the $11.5 million bridge was originally scheduled to begin construction in 2021, but has since faced rising material costs, labor shortages and other delays.

A body has been recovered after a day-long search for a missing boater on Lake Norman, according to Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue. The identity of the boater and a cause of death have not been released. First responders began their search Saturday night in hopes of a rescue, officials said.

They believed the boater went missing around marker D9, but searchers eventually moved to the area near The Sandbar Lake Norman (D5). The search became a recovery effort Sunday, as teams from Cornelius and Sherrills Ford endured rough lake conditions and high temperatures.

They located the body of the missing boater Sunday afternoon.

Cornelius police and the state Wildlife Resources Commission are handling the investigation.

Cornelius-Lemley FD

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Visitors to Charlotte's Carowinds amusement park this weekend won't be riding the Fury 325 rollercoaster.

Carowinds website

The ride — which is billed as "the tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America” and "North America's longest steel coaster" at over 1.25 miles long — was closed down Friday after a large crack was found in one of the coaster's support pillars.

"It separated like that. Every car came through. Every time it shook. It separated like it did," Jeremy Wagner, a Carowinds visitor, who claimed to have reported the crack to Carowinds and a local fire department, told WRAL.

In a statement to WCCB-TV on Friday, Carowinds said: “Fury 325 (has been closed) after park personnel became aware of a crack at the top of a steel support pillar. The park’s maintenance team is conducting a thorough inspection and the ride will remain closed until repairs have been completed.”

According to Carowinds' website, the Fury 325 "crosses both North and South Carolina state lines."

The Fury, which is located above the front entrance of Carowinds, features:

• a massive 190-foot-tall barrel turn.
• a high-speed S-curve reaching speeds of up to 95 mph.
• with trains reaching a height of 325 feet.
• and an 81-degree drop.