FAQ City

The tumult caused by the coronavirus this week has many WFAE listeners writing into our newsroom with questions about the unfolding pandemic. For instance, "Why do news anchors alternate between saying coronavirus and COVID-19?" "Is there a difference between quarentine and isolation?" "What should I do if I think I have the coronavirus?"

Maybe you've seen one in a parking lot at Walmart, or outside the mall during the holidays. A keen-eyed television viewer might spot them among the crowd at the Super Bowl, or in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Living near the city can be loud. Really loud. Even though we can tune the noise out after a while, the constant racket can have serious effects on our health and our environment. That might be why WFAE listener Katrina Lee wrote to FAQ City asking where she might find might Mecklenburg County's quietest outdoor spot.

A crop of new utility poles and wires is starting to appear around Charlotte. You've probably sped right by them and barely noticed. These poles are black metal, about the size of a wooden utility pole, with a strange cylinder on top. And those wires — you see them hanging from utility poles, or sticking up out of the grass along the roadside. What could all this work be?

For years, people in Concord have heard tale that the city is built on a volcano. An ancient volcano, actually, that once spewed molten lava across the prehistoric piedmont.

When was the last time you booked a flight out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport? How much did you pay? It's great to have a busy airport, where you can get a direct flight to just about anywhere. But sometimes it can be tough on your pocketbook.

How do you respond to tragedies? We all face them periodically over the course of our lives. Sometimes there's little we can do to remedy the situation. Other times, we're given the opportunity to fight back.

This week on the FAQ City podcast, we examine the story of how one small North Carolina town faced the threat of a polio epidemic in the 1940s, and turned the moment into a story of small town solidarity.

If you do a lot of walking in Charlotte, perhaps you've had this experience before: You're strolling along the side of the road, the kids are in the stroller or perhaps Fido is tugging on the leash, and suddenly, the pavement beneath your feet comes to an abrupt stop. Where did the sidewalk go?

We get it: Recycling can be confusing. Do you keep the bottle caps on plastic water bottles or take them off? Should you break down cardboard boxes before putting them in the bin? What about office paper with staples? Do you have to take the staples out?

The Interstate 77 Express Lanes have been under construction for four years north of Charlotte. The toll lanes are now open on all 26 miles between Interstate 277 and Exit 36 in Mooresville, and drivers have all kinds of questions about how they work. 

Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published in April 2019.

So you've finally binged all of "The Great British Baking Show" on Netflix, and now you're left wondering how to get some of those scrumptious-looking baked goods. But what bakery in Charlotte carries hazelnut dacquoise or kouign-amann?

Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published in October 2018. 

Not long ago, two of our listeners wrote in wondering about paranormal hotspots in the Charlotte area. Does Charlotte have local ghosts? Is the city haunted by the supernatural? According to some students and longtime faculty at Queens University, the answer might be yes.

Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published in December, 2018.  

WFAE listener Chappy Garner has been mountain biking for about five years, and one of his favorite spots in Charlotte is the Backyard Trails — a 12-mile network of twisty, turvey paths winding through 140 acres of woods in south Charlotte.

Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published in March 2019.

Many Charlotte residents have long heard tales of abandoned gold mines left buried beneath uptown. Aaron Hopping, a WFAE listener, wanted to know more. Like, where are they? What happened to them? And are any still accessible?

Waking up is hard. Even harder when you're a teenager who has to be at the bus stop at 6 a.m.

One WFAE listener, Jennifer Morell, wrote in to "FAQ City" wondering why our high schools start so early in the morning, and if our kids might be better served if we pushed back the opening bell.

Native Charlotteans are sometimes described as unicorns — so rare they also seem mystical. Transplants, on the other hand, seem far more common, and one WFAE listener says it feels like their numbers have grown considerably in the last decade.

Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published in October 2018.

Few Charlotteans may remember Earle Village, the public housing community built in First Ward just outside uptown. It was a bustling community that stretched from Sixth Street to 10th Street, roughly bordered by Myers Street and Caldwell Street. It was the place where 400 of the city's poorest families resided — until the village was condemned to demolition in the 1990s.

The 60th floor of the Bank of America Corporate Center is a mysterious, mythical place. At nearly 776 feet above the ground, it's one of the highest spots a person can visit in Charlotte. It's situated higher than the top of the Space Needle and the Washington Mounument, and it presumably offers unparralleled views of not just the city, but the entire region.

And it's strictly closed off to the public.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in December 2018.

Mooresville resident Lauren Sullivan has a boat she takes out on Lake Norman from time to time. She and her husband will cruise across the water, sometimes towing a wakeboard from behind. Like most people, she knew the lake was man-made, and that got her wondering: what might have been swallowed up by all the water, and what happened to the people who once called the area home?