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The proposal was added to Iryna's Law during debate late Monday evening. It added a partisan element to a bill that had appeared to have bipartisan support.

Decarlos Brown Jr., the man charged with stabbing Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail, suffered from schizophrenic delusions and poor mental health since his release from prison in 2020, according to his family. The case shows how the state struggles to contain and treat mentally ill people who may pose a risk to the public.

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%.

Interim Charlotte Area Transit System CEO Brent Cagle said he has tripled the amount of money the transit system spends on security since 2023.

Vice President JD Vance visited North Carolina for the first time since taking office, urging Gov. Josh Stein to sign a new crime bill and saying the administration would send the National Guard to Charlotte if asked.

What did voters say in this off-year election where some key local races and the transit referendum were on the ballot? What will those decisions mean for the area’s future? Republican spending in local races was up. Did it make a difference? We look at the outcome of the election and talk with former North Carolina governor and former Charlotte mayor, Pat McCrory, about a host of issues.

We’re speaking with the three new faces on the Charlotte City Council. All ran on keeping communities safe, expanding affordable housing and improving transportation. Charlotte has been grappling with those issues for years — and now that Joi Mayo, J.D. Mazuera Arias and Kimberly Owens have started their terms, we’ll see how their priorities translate into action.

For years, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather has lobbied for more staffing in his office, which has not had a significant increase in nearly 15 years. With Iryna’s Law now on the books, he should be able to hire 10 more prosecutors. Will that be enough? We will ask about that and about his impression of how the law might affect public safety, as well as other issues facing the DA’s office.

After a fatal stabbing on Charlotte’s light rail, Mayor Vi Lyles has ordered more patrols and fare checks. We rode the Blue Line to hear how riders feel about safety now — and what they want from CATS, police and the courts.

Officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, have stepped up security on the city's light rail system after the fatal stabbing of a woman on a train last month.

The new Charlotte City Council is sworn in, Iryna’s law goes into effect with stricter bail rules for violent offenses, the state auditor plans to investigate the settlement paid by the city of Charlotte to the husband of the new police chief, and Mecklenburg County officials create a new transit authority.

It’s impossible to review a year’s worth of news in just one hour, especially after the year we just had. But the Charlotte Talks team wanted to highlight the significant news we brought you over the last 365 days. It seemed like there was never a dull moment.

On the next Charlotte Talks, Russ Ferguson. You may have seen him on TV recently, announcing the arrest of a Mint Hill man who allegedly planned an ISIS-style New Year’s attack. Ferguson is the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. He has been in that position since March of last year, but was only confirmed by the Senate in December. We spent time with him early in his tenure and now we get an update on what he and his office have been focusing on.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles is calling the fatal stabbing of a young woman on the city’s light rail system a “tragic situation” that underscores broader challenges with mental health and homelessness.

North Carolina Rep. Laura Budd spoke Monday about safety on Charlotte’s transit system and political violence nationwide.

Citing concerns about a wave of homicides in the past six weeks, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police is requesting that the National Guard be deployed to Charlotte.

The Charlotte Area Transit System said its private security firm, PSS, is now fully staffed.

Mecklenburg County Commissioners and law enforcement leaders weighed in on the impacts of Iryna’s law which begins Monday.

A violent killing in Charlotte's transit system has gotten a lot of attention. The numbers say trains and buses remain safe overall, but assault has eclipsed robbery and theft as the biggest concern.

The gruesome stabbing of a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman aboard a Charlotte light rail train has sparked an outpouring of grief, anger and a rush by politicians to assign blame. One thing both parties can agree on: Repeat offenders cycling through the system present a major problem.