Charlotte City Council

Charlotte's Mint Museum will be one of three U.S. museums to host a traveling exhibit of paintings by Picasso in two years. Museum officials plan to seek $500,000 from the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County governments to help pay for it.

The Charlotte City Council must draw new districts based on data from the 2020 census. Republicans have two of 11 seats today. A new map, depending on how it's drawn, could give the Democrats 10 of 11 seats.

Unions representing police, fire and some public service workers said in a letter to city officials that they were against a COVID-19 vaccination mandate and that mandates that go against a person's beliefs are "dangerous."

The city of Charlotte estimates that 62% of its employees have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That compares with 69% of adults in Mecklenburg County.

Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, a Democrat, filed paperwork with the Mecklenburg Board of Elections in April to make her campaign "inactive." She said she hasn't made a final decision about whether to run for reelection.

Charlotte’s expanded ordinance applies to businesses of all sizes and protects workers from discrimination based on their race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, hairstyle or disability, among other things.

Charlotte plans to spend billions of dollars over the next two decades building new rail lines, a better bus system, greenways and roads. But in an age of self-driving cars, drones, hydrogen train and cheap, futuristic tunnels, is the city building tomorrow’s transportation system with yesterday’s technology?

A consultant hired by the city of Charlotte says a proposed transit sales tax would grow by 4.4% a year for 50 years. The existing half-cent sales tax for transit grew by 3.8% a year since 1999. The difference in growth rates would be about $7 billion when the city's debt is paid.

Charlotte City Council is scheduled to discuss new legal protections for LGBTQ residents on Aug. 2. A final vote on the expanded ordinance a week later on Aug. 9.

As the COVID-19 pandemic abates, public bodies across the Charlotte region are resuming in-person meetings. But that raises questions about whether there’s still a role for remote participation by elected officials or members of the public who want to speak. Despite rough spots, some see this as an opportunity to update public participation rules.