This week in Charlotte
Good morning! Today is Saturday, March 7, 2020. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s End-of-the-Week Round-Up. SET YOUR CLOCK FORWARD AN HOUR TONIGHT.
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This week in Charlotte: Biden rallies, coronavirus arrives in N.C., arrest in Brooks murder, Drake Maye commits to UNC
Freedom Park. (Ledger photo by Caroline Mecia)
Politics
Super Tuesday was super for Biden (NYT/Observer): Turns out there wasn’t much of a contest among the Democratic candidates as Joe Biden handily won North Carolina with 43% of the votes. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders received 24.1%, followed by Michael Bloomberg with 13%. Biden received 61 delegates and Sanders took 32. Almost all counties — 96 of 100 — went for Biden, with the exception of four counties near the Tennessee border that went for Sanders. A CNN exit poll found roughly 3 in 10 N.C. voters made up their minds in the last few days and were influenced by the candidates who dropped out and endorsed Biden.
Trump rallies his Charlotte troops (WCNC): President Trump held a campaign rally at the Bojangles’ Coliseum on Monday evening. Supporters began lining up in the early morning hours. Trump boasted about the (since fleeting) stock market comeback and took digs at the Democratic hopefuls vying to be the nominee running against him in the fall. He poked fun at Biden and said that the enthusiasm being shown by Sanders’ supporters is “much less than we have.” You can watch a video of the rally, and sing along with the crowd waiting for his arrival, on YouTube.
Some other folks won their races as well (WBTV): There were a good number of items on the ballot Tuesday that didn’t have to do with the presidential race. To name a few: For U.S. Senate, Thom Tillis won the Republican nomination and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham won the Democratic primary. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will run against Democratic incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper. Longtime at-large Mecklenburg County Commissioners Ella Scarborough and Pat Cotham won their re-election bids. And in Mecklenburg District 3, George Dunlap, chairman of the Mecklenburg County commissioners, defeated Democratic challenger Cade Lee.
Negative coverage had no effect? (WBTV/WFAE) Juvenile district court Judge Aretha Blake easily defeated her Democratic opponent despite her concerns about negative media coverage. Blake has been in the news lately because she tried to stop WBTV from airing a story that criticized how she did her job. Blake’s attorney argued the story was inaccurate and could jeopardize her campaign. Blake won with 67% of the vote.
Education:
Honors music funding dries up (Observer): CMS is losing funding for its honors music program that about 770 students participate in each year. It had been funded by the nonprofit Charlotte Concerts, which is folding. CMS will have to find funding to replace the $20,000 a year that the nonprofit kicked in or ask parents to pay.
New charter schools approved (WFAE): Five new charter schools were approved by the North Carolina Board of Education on Thursday. Two will be in Mecklenburg County: Huntersville Charter High School and Telra Institute elementary school (location hasn’t been decided) are planning to open in August of 2021. Charter schools are becoming more popular in Charlotte as the enrollment has grown.
Local news
NC now has two reported cases of coronavirus (News & Observer): As of Friday night, two state residents were reported to have COVIC-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The first case involves a Wake County man believed to have been infected when he visited a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Wash., the site of an outbreak. On Friday, a second, unrelated case of COVIC-19 was reported by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The second infected person, from Chatham County, had traveled to Italy in February. He is in isolation at home and reported to be doing well.
Arrest made in Scott Allen Brooks murder (Observer): On Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers arrested 33-year-old Terry Conner Jr. in north Charlotte in connection with the killing of Scott Allen Brooks, the beloved co-owner of Brooks’ Sandwich House in NoDa. Police are searching for a second suspect. Conner was charged with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, first-degree kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to CMPD.
Billionaire political donor convicted (Observer): A federal jury found Greg Lindberg guilty of using the promise of millions in campaign money to bribe North Carolina’s insurance commissioner Mike Causey (who cooperated with investigators, including wearing a secret recording device when he met with Lindberg). After 12 hours of deliberations, the federal jury also found Lindberg associate John Gray guilty on two public corruption charges. (Associate John Palermo was found not guilty of both charges.) Lindberg owns Global Bankers Insurance Group, a managing company for several insurance and reinsurance companies. Prosecutors say Lindberg wanted Causey to reassign a senior regulator who oversees his companies. Lindberg’s attorneys told the Observer it is likely they will appeal.
Business
More affordable housing for Ballantyne Reimagined? (CBJ/WFAE/Ledger): Northwood Investors, owner of Ballantyne Corporate Park, has increased the amount of affordable housing in its massive Ballantyne Reimagined plan, but some City Council members said it still wasn’t enough. The council is expected to vote on a rezoning for the project next month. In a discussion on Monday, council members were generally supportive, but two members, Malcolm Graham and Dimple Ajmera, said more affordable housing is needed in the area. Ed Driggs, council member whose district includes Ballantyne, said it is unrealistic to expect the developer to absorb the cost. The developer is also seeking $42.5M in public investment to help pay for infrastructure.
First look at new tower (CBJ): The Biz Journal gave readers a first look at South End’s newest office tower. The 23-story building will be at the East/West Station on the Lynx Blue Line in South End. Plans call for about 370,000 s.f. of office space, 7,000 s.f. of street-level retail fronting the Charlotte Rail Trail, an 8,000-s.f. amenity center and a “sky lobby” on the 11th floor. Developers Stiles Corp. and Shorenstein Properties are developing the tower. They bought the 2 acres of land for $21.5M in October (that’s about $11M per acre!)
Harry & Bryant on the move (Ledger): Funeral home Harry & Bryant Co., Mecklenburg County’s oldest continuously operating business, is leaving its longtime home on Providence Road. The Bryant family is selling the 1.1 acre parcel it owns on Providence Road to local real estate investor/developer Brian Bucci, who has put in a reasoning request to change it to office. The funeral home would like to stay in Myers Park or Eastover and may move across the street to a lot owned by the Bryant family. But manager Jeff Dimond told the Ledger plans remain uncertain.
Ingersoll Rand starts layoffs (WFAE): The industrial employer in Davidson has begun layoffs following a merger and spin-off that split Ingersoll Rand into two companies. The company has not said how many employees are being let go and hopes to save $250M in expenses through the merger. The merged company (which makes air compressors, pumps and other equipment) took the Ingersoll Rand name and will stay in Davidson. The industrial equipment division was spun off and merged with Gardner Denver of Milwaukee. The layoffs do not affect the heating and cooling business, now known as Trane Technologies. Ingersoll Rand now has about 750 employees in Davidson, while Trane has 1,100.
Sports
Another Maye to UNC (Observer): Myers Park High QB Drake Maye snubbed Alabama and committed to UNC, he announced Friday on Twitter. “Committed to The University of North Carolina! Go Heels” he wrote, along with a ram emoji. He was previously committed to Alabama to play for Nick Saban.
Carolina Panthers trade (ESPN.com): The Panthers have agreed to trade Pro Bowl right guard Trai Turner to the Los Angeles Chargers for left tackle Russell Okung, league sources have told ESPN. Turner started 80 of the 84 games in which he has played for the Panthers since he was selected in the third round of the 2014 draft. After the news of his impending trade broke, Turner responded to Panthers teammate Gerald McCoy's tweet saying, “The NFL crazy!!” with a Tweet that included an airplane emoji between two palm trees.
Today’s supporting sponsor is Industrial Handling Solutions:
Reading list
Want to hire that cool influencer you admire? Tony Mecia tells you how as he tried to hire one on the cheap to promote The Ledger’s 40 over 40 contest.
Why you shouldn’t panic about the coronavirus: Former Charlotte Observer reporter Karen Garloch shares her experience dealing with past health crises and offers solid advice for how to cope amid the chaos building around the coronavirus. It’s a particularly timely read given the state has just reported its second case of COVIC-19.
Buyer’s remorse? Although Michael Bloomberg has stopped his campaign, this story by Politico offers interesting insight into Charlotte and the presidential race.
The conversation is over now, but it was fun while it was happening. The Ledger hosted an online conversation yesterday about uptown and South End development and trends with Clayton Sealey of CLT-Development.
Next week:
Brackets and schedules and seeds, oh my. It’s ACC tournament time. The 2020 ACC men's basketball conference tournament starts Tuesday, when teams compete for the conference title at Greensboro Coliseum. The Blue Devils are the defending ACC tournament champion. Get the bracket, schedule and seed progress information.
Need a break from basketball? Consider attending the Eastland reckoning community meeting. The City of Charlotte, Tepper Sports & Entertainment and Crosland Southeast will host a community meeting on Thursday, March 12, as part of the Eastland rezoning petition process. This meeting will help residents, business owners and area property owners better understand the rezoning request and provide an opportunity for feedback on the project.
New Charlotte trend? $12 cocktail, glass not included
Something caught our eye the other day about the recent opening of the bar Billy Sunday at Optimist Hall: It sells a drink served in a plastic bag.
The drink is called “Tea Time,” and it costs $12.
And then we came across this article from December in the foodie publication Eater:
While drinking out of a bag might feel wrong to some American consumers, elsewhere in the world, it’s a completely ordinary experience. From Asia to South America, disposable bags are a common method for dispensing takeout drinks. …
Unsurprisingly, cost is a chief driver in the proliferation of bagged drinks: Plastic bags are generally cheaper than heavy-duty plastic containers or paper cups, and in some cases serve as a replacement vessel for plastic and glass bottles. …
The plastic bag appears to be a play for Instagram likes.
(No shocker there.)
And then we checked with our millennial sources in South End, who said there is a bar on South Boulevard called Rosemont that’s well-known for serving beverages that are like Capri Suns:
And you don’t even want to know about the all the different kinds of drink containers on the Reddit group called “We want cups.”
The trend is coming. Maybe we should just embrace it.
“Bartender, I’ll take a Ziploc of your finest whiskey.” — TM
Today’s Ledger was compiled by Kerry Singe. Kerry is an award-winning former Charlotte Observer business reporter. In addition to writing for various publications, she helps her clients, many of which are real estate firms, tell their stories and manage content across multiple media platforms.
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The Charlotte Ledger is published by Tony Mecia, an award-winning former Charlotte Observer business reporter and editor. He lives in Charlotte with his wife and three children.