David Boraks

Republican leaders want public school students in North Carolina to have the option of returning to five-day-a-week, in-person classes as soon as possible. They laid out their argument during a press conference Wednesday. It was partly a chance for Lt. Gov. and gubernatorial candidate Dan Forest to criticize the phased school reopening plans of Gov. Roy Cooper. 

North Carolina Republican leaders are calling on Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to give parents the option of choosing full-time, in-person classes in public schools. 

A Charlotte City Council committee is expected to discuss Wednesday whether to recommend banning housing discrimination based solely on how renters pay. The rule, which would be the first of its kind in North Carolina, is aimed at making it easier for people to find housing. 

Public health officials across North Carolina are continuing to use contact tracing in hopes of limiting spread of the coronavirus. When it works, they can pinpoint the origin of an outbreak, map it and ask people to quarantine. But area health departments have successfully traced only a few large outbreaks. More often, they meet resistance as people refuse to share information or follow quarantine requests. 

City leaders are pledging to revitalize the Beatties Ford Road area in west Charlotte by stepping up criminal and building code enforcement and promoting economic development.

North Carolina's large solar developers and Duke Energy have reached agreements on key issues that have delayed many projects. Duke says that could get more solar farms online faster. 

Construction is finally done on the northern section of the Interstate 77 toll lanes in the Lake Norman area north of Charlotte — eight months behind schedule. But the remaining two segments still aren't finished.  

The group Heal Charlotte was founded after the police shooting of Keith Scott in 2016 to improve police-community relations. This year, it's been helping people with food and housing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the group has an ambitious plan to buy a hotel to help solve the city's affordable housing crisis. 

Federal environmental officials say they've finished testing more than 100 additional properties around an old asbestos mill in Davidson. Only six -- including a town-owned park -- need cleanups. That's fewer sites than after previous testing three years ago.   

Duke Energy has sent North Carolina regulators a new long-range energy plan. This year's plan has something new: scenarios for faster adoption of renewable energy. But they come at a price. 

Charlotte homeless services organization Roof Above is getting into the apartment business with the purchase of a 341-unit complex in east Charlotte. The $50 million purchase includes a guarantee the units will stay affordable for at least another 27 years. 

People living in some federally financed housing will have until the end of the year to catch up on any payments they missed during the coronavirus-induced economic downturn without losing their housing. 

Duke Energy is urging state regulators to approve rate increases at its two North Carolina electric utilities, including money to pay for cleanups of toxic coal ash.   

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say despite health concerns with the coronavirus pandemic, they have an obligation to help property owners remove homeless encampments. But advocates for homeless residents worry many may just move their tents elsewhere. 

City Council members raised questions Monday about construction delays on Charlotte's $150 million Gold Line streetcar project.