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.
We’ll revisit our conversation with Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, who we spoke to in the aftermath of the murder of Irnya Zarutska on the Lynx Blue line. Merriweather talked to us about the difficulties facing his office and the consequences of having a lack of resources. We also discussed the decision left to magistrates and their qualifications.
The impacts of "Operation Charlotte’s Web" that brought the presence of Border Patrol to the city are still being felt as we exit 2025. We’ll turn back to a conversation with Mecklenburg County commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell. In response to Border Patrol’s presence, she supported a resolution, entitled "Affirming Constitutional Protections and Expressing Support for Our Immigrant Community". The proclamation called for transparency from federal authorities regarding who they were taking into custody and where they were being transported to.
And we’ll revisit our conversation with Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden on his experiences with ICE and Border Patrol.
Then we’ll turn to summer conversation with former County Manager Dena Diorio, who retired this year. She had been the county manager since 2013 and was Mecklenburg County's first female manager. She had previously served as the county's chief financial officer since 2007. And then we’ll revisit our conversation with the current County Manager, Mike Bryant.
And to wrap up the hour, we head to space with both feet on the ground when we revisit our conversation with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
GUESTS:
Spencer Merriweather, District Attorney for Mecklenburg County
Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, Mecklenburg County commissioner, District 6
Garry McFadden, Mecklenburg County Sheriff
Dena Diorio, Former Mecklenburg County manager
Mike Bryant, Mecklenburg County manager
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, author, and director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History
