Road and utility workers across the region are still cleaning up after Friday night’s storm, which included high winds and some of the heaviest rain in recent memory. Up to seven inches of rain fell over a couple of hours in parts of the Charlotte area, flooding streams and even washing out roads in some places. In Lincoln County, northwest of Charlotte, the main road into one neighborhood washed away, stranding about 30 families. Gilead Road, which runs east-west through Huntersville, remains closed near Ervin Cook Road after one lane over a small stream sunk about a foot. At the height of the storm Friday many roads were blocked by trees or flooding that stranded cars. And there’s more rain ahead, straight through to Independence Day.
CABARRUS WOMAN KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN
A 35-year-old woman died early Saturday after being struck by a car in Cabarrus County, and state police are asking for help finding the driver, who left the scene. The Charlotte Observer reports that Brandi Bost was found dead at 4:30 a.m. on Center Grove Road, near Penninger Road, northeast of Concord. Police say she was walking home after she ran her car into a ditch while returning from a friend’s house. She lived next door to her mother on Penninger Road. Anyone with information is asked to call troopers at 800-233-3151.
MAYOR FOXX STEPS DOWN MONDAY
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx is going to Washington as President Obama’s new transportation secretary and he’ll formally resign at a special meeting of the Charlotte City Council on Monday. Mayor Foxx is expected to give a short speech at the meeting, which begins at 4 o’clock in the City Council Chambers. It also will air live on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government TV channel, cable channel 16, and will stream live on CharlotteNC.gov.
BETTER TRAVEL INFO IN S.C.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation has introduced a new statewide 511 Traveler Information System. The DOT says the new online system improves the way it delivers traffic information, including traffic camera images, travel time estimates, and interactive maps showing incidents, weather information and average speeds. The new site is at 511sc.org. The DOT says drivers also can call 511 before a trip or have a passenger call if they need road information. And the DOT has also added four specific Twitter feeds to report incidents in the Lowcountry, Pee Dee, Midlands or Piedmont.
NEW CHANCELLOR IN CHAPEL HILL
There’s a changing of the guard this week in Chapel Hill. Today is Holden Thorp’s last day as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. New chancellor Carol Folt takes over on Monday. The former Dartmouth College interim president is getting $520,000 a year plus benefits. Thorp is moving to St. Louis to become provost at Washington University. Thorp decided to resign last year after a string of scandals involving academic fraud, improper travel spending by fundraisers and special treatment for athletes.
JOBLESS TO LOSE BENEFITS
The North Carolina legislature’s decision cut the amount and length of state unemployment benefits takes effect today, and that means about 170,000 long-term unemployed residents are losing their last checks. The reduced benefits and smaller increases in business taxes come as the state moves to repay Washington $2.5 billion borrowed to pay state unemployment claims that exploded during the recession. North Carolina becomes the first state to cut off a federal unemployment compensation program for the long-term jobless.
