David Boraks

Charlotte Independence Soccer Club is the new organization's name. It will have more than 12,000 players from Fort Mill, South Carolina, to Iredell County. It's being formed by the merger of the Carolina Rapids in the Lake Norman area, Discoveries Soccer Club in Fort Mill, and Lake Norman Soccer Club in Mooresville.

A judge in Charlotte Tuesday morning will consider whether to order the release of an additional nine minutes of body camera video showing the police killing of a Charlotte man a month ago. Monday night, city council members agreed the video should be released, but had differing views on how they came to be shown a longer version of the video than Charlotte Mecklenburg Police released.

It looks like electric scooters have beaten out dockless bicycles in the race for users on Charlotte's streets. Lime said Thursday it has phased out its green rental bicycles in Charlotte over the past several weeks to focus on scooters.  

Early voting begins next Wednesday, April 24, in the Republican primary for the 9th Congressional District seat. The seat remains unfilled after state elections officials invalidated last November's results because of absentee ballot fraud. Mark Harris, the Republican who led unofficial results in that race, isn't running. But 10 other Republicans are - and eight showed up at a candidate forum Tuesday in south Charlotte.

Charlotteans like to talk about how hot the local real estate market is, and for good reason. People are moving here in large numbers - 60 a day by one estimate. That means lots of homes are being bought and sold. But individuals aren't the only buyers.

For the past seven Fridays, 14-year-old Mary Ellis Stevens of Charlotte has skipped classes at Trinity Episcopal School and staged what she calls a School Strike for Climate outside Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center. It's not about getting a day off - she's following the lead of other young activists trying to build a global youth movement to fight climate change.

Mecklenburg County Young Republicans are calling for an overhaul of the state Republican Party leadership. That's after a series of political losses and the indictment of state party leader Robin Hayes on charges of improper campaign contributions and lying to the FBI. Hayes has stepped down from day-to-day leadership of the party.  But county young Republican chair Larry Shaheen said that's not enough.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney says he has no problem with Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden's desire to expand law enforcement beyond the traditional role of the sheriff's office.

Homicides in Charlotte are up sharply this year, according to quarterly statistics released Wednesday by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. CMPD says it investigated 33 homicides in the first three months of 2019, up from just 10 in the same period last year and 23 in 2017.

Updated 4:15 p.m. 

Two more large banks have announced investments in Charlotte's private-sector affordable housing fund, putting the fund nearly two-thirds of the way to its $50 million goal. Foundation for the Carolinas CEO Michael Marsicano said Tuesday that public and private groups have pledged more than $200 million for housing in the past year. 

Updated: 6:49 p.m.
The state Department of Environmental Quality has ordered Duke Energy to excavate coal ash from six remaining coal-fired power plants in North Carolina that don't already have closure plans. 

Charlotte missed out on winning a Major League Soccer franchise last year. But hopes remain that the city might still have a shot, especially since Carolina Panthers' owner David Tepper keeps saying he's interested. But what if a women's team became the first top-level professional club here? 

CMPD chief Kerr Putney says police body camera video eventually will be released from Monday's shooting of a black man by a white police officer at a fast-food restaurant on Beatties Ford Road.