Paul Schadt is hanging up the headphones (free version)
Paul Schadt is hanging up the headphones (free version)
Plus: City settles 2017 police shooting lawsuit; CMS enrollment stays flat; city attorney's employment contract; Jon Bon Jovi to appear at Charlotte rally on Saturday
Good morning! Today is Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Editor’s note: This is a shorter, free version of The Charlotte Ledger sent to people on our free sign-up list. The complete version for paying members went out 15 minutes ago. It included:
The complete story of retiring Charlotte radio legend Paul Schadt, who dished to Ledger contributor Ted Reed about some of his favorite career memories, including interviewing Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw, and his friendship with the late Dale Earnhardt.
News of a settlement in the 2017 police shooting of Ruben Galindo, who was shot and died outside his apartment in the Sugar Creek area. A trial in the case had been scheduled to start Nov. 12, after the case spent five years winding its way through the court system.
A look at what’s happening with student enrollment in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system, including how south Charlotte’s new high school has helped ease overcrowding at the high schools it was designed to relieve.
The scoop on how much the city of Charlotte will have to pay city attorney Patrick Baker if his employment is terminated without cause. Word is that Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and the city council are looking to oust Baker because they’re dissatisfied with the job he’s been doing.
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After 36 years of morning radio in Charlotte, the hall of fame country music host says now’s the time to retire; A brush with a young Taylor Swift, a friendship with Dale Earnhardt
Paul Schadt of the “Paul Schadt and Sarah Lee Morning Show” on 96.9 The Kat announced he’s retiring in February. After 36 years on morning radio in Charlotte, he says it’s time. (Photo courtesy of Paul Schadt)
By Ted Reed
At 64, Paul Schadt has reached a turning point.
For 36 years, he has been playing country music on morning radio in Charlotte, starting at 5 a.m. When he announced on the air on Oct. 16 that he was going to retire in February, co-host Sarah Lee teared up. He teared up. Callers to their show on 96.9 The Kat (WKKT) were teary as well.
That morning, Geof Knight, his producer for 28 years, decided he would retire, too. Later, Schadt said, singer Eric Church, who grew up in Granite Falls, “told me he can remember listening to me when he was 6 or 7 years old” — a reminder that the clock has been ticking for quite a long time.
“I’ve done this my entire adult life,” Schadt told The Ledger in an interview.
He started in radio at age 21, working in the WSOC-FM control room in 1981. He landed the all-night show in 1982 and moved to mornings in 1988. In January 1998, he moved to competitor WKKT-FM, where he stayed.
Having promised management a month’s notice, he decided to give five. “I didn’t think it would be emotional: I thought ‘I have months to go.’” He has not yet selected the date of his final show in February.
Why now?
City settles wrongful death suit in 2017 police shooting; police said it was justified, while lawsuit suggested the man was trying to surrender
The city of Charlotte has agreed to settle a lawsuit stemming from a highly publicized 2017 police shooting, in which a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer shot and killed a man outside an apartment complex in the Sugar Creek area.
Court documents filed this week say that
CMS enrollment stays flat district-wide, while overcrowded south Charlotte high schools see relief from new school
Enrollment in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools stayed basically flat this school year, with 141,700 students on the district’s logs at the end of the first month of school, compared with last year’s 140,836 — a rise in 0.6 percent.
The holding-steady enrollment numbers signify a continuing leveling off from the pandemic plunge the district saw in 2020-21, when out of 176 schools, 143 lost students in 2020, and the following year, 119 schools had enrollment declines.
Last year, enrollment dipped by just 350 students compared with the start of the 2022-23 school year. The district is still far from its peak enrollment in 2017 and 2018, when more than 147,000 students were enrolled.
Some of the most significant school-specific enrollment changes this year happened in
Charlotte city attorney’s employment contract specifies a payout if he’s ousted
Charlotte’s city attorney is entitled to a payout if his employment is terminated without cause, under the terms of a 2019 contract.
Citing a confidential memo and interviews with unnamed City Council members, WFAE reported last week that the council and Mayor Vi Lyles are working to oust City Attorney Patrick Baker, the city’s top legal official. The memo didn’t cite a cause, but WFAE reported that several council members mentioned Baker’s decision in the spring to release a document he believed was a public record as a factor. We’ve heard it has to do more with general dissatisfaction than any single incident.
If the council and mayor push him out, Baker would likely be entitled to
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
MONDAY: “Unpretentious Palate's 2024 UPPY Awards,” 6-9 p.m. at the Visulite Theatre, Charlotte. Save the date for the 2024 UPPY Awards! Unpretentious Palate‘s fourth annual People of the Year Awards, or The UPPYs, will be held on Monday, November 4th from 6-9 p.m. at Charlotte’s historic Visulite Theatre. The annual event celebrates the best in Charlotte’s restaurant industry, from chefs and bartenders to sommeliers and general managers. $140.
WEDNESDAY: World Affairs Council of Charlotte Distinguished Speaker Series with Ambassador Herman J. Cohen, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Zoom. Ambassador (ret.) Herman “Hank” Cohen, one of the most experienced U.S.-Africa diplomats alive, will speak to WACC members and guests through WACC’s Distinguished Speaker Series (virtually) on Wednesday, November 6. Free for WACC members, $15 for nonmembers.
NOV. 9: Queens University of Charlotte Open House, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Queens University of Charlotte. Get a glimpse into life as a Royal. The Queens University Open House is your opportunity to meet Queens campus staff and faculty, hear directly from current students about their experiences, explore our beautiful campus, and learn more about the enrollment process. We have a jam-packed day scheduled for you and your guest(s), so please plan to stay for the entirety of the event. Free. Register here.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief
Final days of early voting: Early voting continues today and ends tomorrow at 3 p.m. After that, your only option is casting your ballot on Election Day on Tuesday. Check out the list of early voting sites in Mecklenburg here, and go to the Ledger Election Hub for all the info you need on state and local races.
Rock n’ rally: Musicians Jon Bon Jovi and Khalid will perform during Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Charlotte on Saturday, which is the last day of early voting. (WCNC)
Bridges BBQ is back: The 79-year-old Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby reopened on Wednesday after a fire last week. The fire, which started in the electrical system, was contained within the firewall of the building, and no injuries were reported. (Observer)
Push-button stories: The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system has installed a short-story dispenser in the SouthPark Regional Library that prints out short stories, poetry and fiction on receipt-like thermal paper free and at the push of a button. The kiosk was developed by a French global publishing house and was provided to the library system by the Principal Foundation as part of a financial literacy program, as it also spits out “money chronicles” — stories with a money theme. (SouthPark magazine)
Hornets Halloween hospital visits: Three Charlotte Hornets players dressed in Sesame Street costumes and visited patients at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital on Halloween. (NBA)
Valuable card: A rare, more than 100-year-old baseball card featuring Ty Cobb’s portrait on the front and a “Ty Cobb Tobacco” advertisement on the back is being auctioned, with initial bids starting at $75,000. The family of the man who bought the card at a flea market lives in the Greensboro area. (Observer)
Messy fight: A liquid that may have been a combination of gasoline, urine and bleach was splashed on students during a fight Wednesday morning in the cafeteria at Rocky River High School, and the school was placed on a modified lockdown to de-escalate the incident. Medic was called to examine the students. (WCNC)
Starting QB: Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young will start again on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Backup quarterback Andy Dalton was back in action at practice on Wednesday, but Panthers coach Dave Canales said he wanted to give Dalton another week to recover from a thumb injury he sustained in a car accident. (Associated Press)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman