The Charlotte Checkers’ CheckMates have checked out
Plus: Teen Talk is back, so let's darty; + News of the week: Panthers trade Christian McCaffrey, flu-like illnesses strain local hospitals, Charlotte Latin lawsuit continues, early voting starts
Good morning! Today is Saturday, October 22, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.
Need to subscribe — or upgrade your Ledger e-newsletter subscription? Details here.
Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by Allegacy Federal Credit Union, a member-owned and not-for-profit credit union offering lower fees and higher earnings for comprehensive products and services for your business. For checking, lending, treasury services and more, visit allegacy.org or our Charlotte financial centers located at 100 Queens Road or 3021 Prosperity Church Road.
Minor-league hockey club discontinues dance team after about 15 seasons; More time for Chubby and promotions
ICE TO HAVE KNOWN YOU: After about 15 seasons, the Charlotte Checkers have dropped the club’s dance team, the CheckMates. They are still described on the team’s website as “a vital part of the Checkers' community outreach programs and game experience.”
by Lindsey Banks
You may have noticed something different — or missing — on the ice if you’ve been to a Charlotte Checkers minor-league ice hockey game lately.
The official Checkers dance team, the CheckMates, are no longer a part of the team’s game presentation, said Paul Branecky, vice president of marketing and communications for the Checkers. This upcoming 2022-23 season will be the second season without the club’s on-ice dance team that doubled as cheerleaders.
“We initially made the decision as part of our return-to-play plan from the pandemic — you might remember that we took the entirety of the 2020-21 season off in addition to losing the latter part of 2019-20 — and have since decided to focus more heavily on various other aspects of our in-game production and experience,” Branecky told The Ledger in an email.
The Charlotte Checkers kicked off the 2022-23 season Oct. 14, with a 4-3 win against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The time that used to be allotted for the CheckMates during game intermissions is now filled with various other activities, games and promotions, including the team’s mascot, Chubby; their organ player, Greazy Keyz; and their emcee.
“We still feel we have enough characters and personalities that can interact with fans and be a part of our show,” Branecky said.
The CheckMates used to clean the ice during game breaks as a secondary role, but Branecky said the Checkers have improved and streamlined this critical in-game process by adding a crew of experienced skaters to get the job done.
The end of an era: The CheckMates have cheered on the sidelines for approximately 15 seasons, Branecky said. There were 15 women on the team each season, and they only performed their on-ice dance routine during home games at the Bojangles Coliseum.
The CheckMates still have a Twitter account, but it has not posted anything in more than two years. One of the last entries is from the start of the pandemic, highlighting one of the dancers, Montana, who was a nurse:
The Charlotte Checkers website still describes the CheckMates as “a vital part of the Checkers’ community outreach programs and game experience and are a diverse group that includes college students, teachers and other working professionals.”
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
Today’s supporting sponsors are Charlotte Christian School — Experience the Charlotte Christian community and attend an on-campus admissions event this fall. A Closer Look for Grades JK-12 is Saturday, Nov. 5. The events provide an opportunity to take a look into classrooms, tour the campus and learn more about our curriculum and co-curricular offerings. More details.
… and Soni Brendle:
Teen talk: Build your vocabulary
Impress and delight the young people in your life by using the words they use. The Ledger shows you how in this occasional Saturday feature.
Today’s word: “darty”
Part of speech: noun
Definition: a party that occurs outside during the day (“day” + “party”)
Used in a sentence:
“Are you pulling up to the AEPi darty on Saturday? I heard it’s Halloween themed!”
“I went way too hard at the darty yesterday — I was dancing on the table and it was only 1 p.m.!”
Ledger analysis: Mashing two words into one is what’s known as a portmanteau, like “brunch,” “athleisure” and “hangry.” This new term seems to be popular among college students — probably not so much among younger teens. “Darty” seems related to another recently created phrase, “day drinking.”
—Caroline Mecia, age 19
This week in Charlotte: Panthers offload star running back, hospitals fill as respiratory illnesses surge, Charlotte Latin lawsuit continues, early voting starts
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Politics
Time to vote: Polls opened for early voting this week. (Schedule and locations from Board of Elections)
Charlotte donors to Budd-Beasley: (Ledger 🔒) According to campaign finance reports, some of Charlotte’s biggest business executives are among the donors to both Tedd Budd’s and Cheri Beasley’s Senate campaigns.
Local
Hospitals filling with sick children: (Ledger 🔒) The percentage of emergency room visits from people with influenza-like illnesses is twice as high than usual for this time of year, and many are children with weak immune systems coming out of the pandemic, leaving hospitals scrambling to find pediatric beds.
Plans for former Levine Museum site: (Biz Journal) VeLa Development Partners will break ground on its $170M, 32-story multifamily apartment tower early next year at the former site of the Levine Museum of the New South.
Sports
Christian McCaffrey traded: The Carolina Panthers traded star running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for future draft picks.
Start of Hornets’ season: The Charlotte Hornets opened their season with a win on Wednesday, even as a couple players face off-the-court troubles (Miles Bridges’ domestic assault case, James Bouknight’s drunk-driving arrest).
Business
Solid bank earnings: Bank of America and Wells Fargo posted 3Q earnings that were lower than last year but that beat analysts’ expectations, and they said consumers seem resilient despite concerns about a weakening economy.
BofA new work-from-home policy: (Ledger 🔒) Bank of America has a new policy on returning to office that allows some of its employees to work from home 2 days a week.
Education
Charlotte Latin lawsuit continues: (Ledger 🔒) A Mecklenburg County judge is allowing one of the nine claims against Charlotte Latin School to continue, in a case stemming from the expulsion of two siblings last year after their father objected repeatedly to what he said was classroom political activism.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Curtain call for SouthPark movie theater: The Regal Phillips Place theater closed on Sunday after 26 years, and one movie-goer attending the final show — “Halloween Ends” — said he made a last-second decision: “I said, ‘Babe, I think the right thing for me to do is to come over here and to try to be the last person in here when it closes tonight.’”
Bank background: We answer a reader question about whether TD Bank, described in local media as based in New Jersey, is actually based in Canada.
Wednesday (🔒):
Big Diwali fireworks rush: Phantom Fireworks in Indian Land, S.C. across the state line is gearing up for the likely increase in sales this weekend as families prepare for Diwali, a 5-day festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs that begins Monday.
Friday (🔒):
Catawba Riverkeeper Q&A: Catawba Riverkeeper Brandon Jones talked with The Ledger share why protecting the river basin is important to Mecklenburg County. Bonus: Enjoy it as a podcast 🎧.
Matthews residents ‘pretty angry’ over development plans: Pappas Properties has plans to develop 81 acres on Idlewild Road near I-485 with a mix of 666 homes and a shopping center, and neighbors are worried the development would place too big of a strain on nearby infrastructure and not match their single-family homes on half-acre lots.
Ways of Life (🔒):
An exit together: College sweethearts Larry and Sue Breckenridge were married for 56 years — 25 of those years in Charlotte — and passed away just 3 days apart from Alzheimer’s and melanoma in August 2021. “The way they decided to exit made perfect sense,” said their son, David.
CATS challenges ahead: Charlotte Area Transit System CEO John Lewis will resign at the end of November, leaving a transit system in the hands of a new transit leader to combat obstacles like the increase in people working from home, the rise of convenient ride-share services and more people owning cars.
Why not list your event on The Ledger’s new events board?
Reach 15,000+ engaged Charlotte residents on The Charlotte Ledger events board — we’ll list your event online and in our newsletter for a meager $50. School open house? Charity golf tournament? Industry panel discussion?
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 4 of our local newsletters:
➡️ Opt in or out of different newsletters on your “My Account” page.
➡️ Learn more about The Charlotte Ledger
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news through e-newsletters and on a website. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and to tell a friend.
Social media: On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Sponsorship information/customer service: email support@cltledger.com.
Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project