WFAE Local Content

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools presented its 2025-26 budget to Mecklenburg County on Wednesday.

Paint company PPG said Thursday that it will open a manufacturing center in Shelby. The $380 million facility will employ 110 people, with an average salary of almost $67,000. PPG makes paints and specialty materials, and the Shelby facility will produce advanced aerospace coatings and sealants.

The Public Safety Training Facility coming to CPCC’s Matthews campus is a collaboration with Mecklenburg County’s first responder agencies including the sheriff’s office, CMPD, fire and MEDIC. But some community members have pushed back — something that has happened in other communities over similar facilities. We hear from the college and law enforcement about what to expect.

North Carolina's new elections board was sworn in on Wednesday. In their first meeting this morning, the board—which now has a 3-2 Republican majority—selected Republican Francis DeLuca as their new chair. They also dismissed the state's executive director Karen Brinson Bell, who was appointed by former Democratic governor Roy Cooper in 2019, declining to renew her appointment for another two-year term. They voted to hire Republican attorney Samuel Hayes instead.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles began her third term in 2022, and many wonder will her name be on the ballot in November.

The North Carolina House passed a bill Wednesday to direct state agencies to vet residents’ immigration status before providing them benefits. The bill includes the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Commerce, and the University of North Carolina system.

Charlotte mayor and city leaders hit back at accusations from Victoria Watlington over the Jennings settlement. Griffin finally concedes in N.C. Supreme Court race. The Republican-led N.C. elections board ousted and replaced the state's executive director. Charlotte Ballet joins a growing list of arts organizations losing federal grant funding.

One of Charlotte’s best-known homegrown companies is being sold. AvidXchange was formed in 2000 and, as of the end of last year, had over 1,600 employees. The Ledger's Tony Mecia and WFAE's Marshall Terry have more on that, and other local business news, on this week's BizWorthy.

The North Carolina House passed a bill Wednesday to direct state agencies to vet residents’ immigration status before providing them benefits.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles held a news conference Wednesday afternoon after City Council member Victoria Watlington sent an email to residents accusing the city of being corrupt and unethical.

In 1873, a group of about 50 African Americans facing threats from the Ku Klux Klan in their hometown of Cross Anchor in Spartanburg County, left in the middle of the night for the western North Carolina mountains. They named a king and queen, built a two-story palace and called their new kingdom Happy Land. Bestselling author Dolen Perkins-Valdez has written a novel with the same title based on this incredible true story.

ICE published a photo on X last month of a man who had been arrested in east Charlotte, identifying him as a Tren de Aragua gang member from Venezuela.