5 Things to Know: Local Theatre Company Feels Federal Funding Cuts

Federal Funding Cuts Hit Local Theatre Company

The team at Three Bone Theatre announced this week that it has lost the $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant awarded to the company last year to support its run of the Luis Alfaro Trilogy, a modern-day retelling of Greek tragedies, due to funding cuts at the federal agency.

“This is an unprecedented reversal of federal arts funding nationwide. We were told our project no longer aligns with agency priorities,” read a Monday press release from the troupe. “While this termination wasn’t surprising in the midst of the current environment, it was heartbreaking news.” 

Emails announcing the funding cuts were sent to grantees on Friday, May 2, the day after Three Bone premiered its latest production, ‘what the end will be…‘ According to reporting from NPR, the letters stated that the NEA would be shifting focus for its grantmaking policies to prioritize projects “that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.”

The letter went on to identify those projects as those that “elevate the Nation’s HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.” 

Three Bone aimed to be the first company in the country to produce the Luis Alfaro trilogy, which sees the playwright bringing Sophocles’ Electra and Oedipus along with Euripides’ Medea into the modern-day streets of Chicanx and Latinx communities in Los Angeles and New York. 

Having already presented Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles in August 2024, the company remains committed to finishing out the project. 

“These stories, like all of our productions, serve the Charlotte community and deepen our relationships, understanding and empathy,” the release read. “The show will go on — but we need your help to ensure that the type of work that Three Bone Theatre does is sustained during these difficult times.” 

The company is asking community members to do four things: show up, donate, become a sponsor, and/or get loud.

Fallout Continues in City Council, CMPD Controversy

A beef that started between then-Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings last summer has now engulfed the entire council. Following Tuesday’s comments from Victoria Watlington calling the actions of her council members “unethical, immoral, and frankly, illegal,” then a Wednesday press conference from some of her colleagues denouncing those comments, one other council member who hadn’t spoken up yet broke her silence on Thursday. 

District 2 rep Tiawana Brown said she “watched the press conference with deep disappointment and disbelief” in a public statement, adding, “The tone, the language, and the public nature of the response were not reflective of the values of restoration, equity, and dignity that we, as a body, should embody.” 

Brown said she does not endorse comments made by Watlington but was concerned with the how the press conference was presented because “a public display of division … undermines the public’s trust in our leadership.” 

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police Board of Directors has also approved a motion to hold a No Confidence vote against Chief Jennings after sending out a preliminary survey to its 2,000+ members to “gain a better understanding of where [they] stand on this issue.” The board confirmed Friday that a preliminary vote is now underway and will wrap on May 14, followed by a formal vote if the preliminary vote points the organization in that direction. 

The FOP has been heavily critical of Jennings’ actions over the last year, including his insistence that the outer-carrier protective vests Bokhari had demanded for the entire force would not offer meaningful protection beyond what officers already have and would also present patrol officers as overly militarized, going against the community policing initiatives Jennings has worked toward. 

A vote of No Confidence would largely be a symbolic move, as only Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones has the authority to remove Jennings from his post. 

NC Supreme Court Election Finally Decided

Chief US District Judge Richard E. Myers rejected losing candidate Jefferson Griffin’s ongoing challenge to sitting NC Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’ November election win on Monday, ordering NC officials to certify the election within a week, giving Griffin time for yet another appeal. 

Yet Griffin conceded on Wednesday, allowing for the certification of an election that has been up in the air for more than six months, the longest-running uncertified race from last fall’s elections. 

“After six long months of battling unprecedented challenges, we can finally say that the winner of the NC Supreme Court race is the candidate voters chose in the first place: Allison Riggs,” said Audrey Meigs, whose vote was among those challenged. “The more than 60,000 voters — and all voters — can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their votes counted.” 

However, as Melissa Price Kromm, executive director of North Carolina For The People, warned in a release on Wednesday, dangerous precedents have been set over the last six months that might reverberate for years to come. 

“Despite the court’s ruling, the damage to future North Carolina elections has been done,” she stated. “The NC Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have issued decisions paving the way for retroactive voter challenges, creating a pathway for future contested elections.”

City Considers Non-Congregate Homeless Shelter

City staff presented members of the Housing, Safety, and Community Committee Monday with a proposed plan to build a non-congregate shelter for residents struggling with homelessness, offering more privacy than those shelters that keep guests together in large, open rooms. 

According to the 2024 Charlotte-Mecklenburg State of Housing Instability & Homelessness report, there were 2,784 people in Mecklenburg County actively experiencing homelessness in Mecklenburg County as of June 2024, a 3% increase from the previous year. 

A survey of 180 people experiencing homelessness in the area found that a large reason why many avoid emergency shelters in Charlotte is due to a lack of privacy. The proposed design presented on Monday would provide 50 independent rooms that would operate on a 24-hour basis, allowing guests to stay through the day and night. 

Funded by the private sector for at least three years, the facility would provide on-site medical care, mental health services, transportation service, and substance abuse treatment. If the plan were to come in front of council and be approved, staff hopes to select an operating partner by the end of the year and open the facility by summer 2026. 

Man Killed in Triple Shooting in SW Charlotte

CMPD has identified a man who was killed in a triple shooting in front of a convenience store in southwest Charlotte on Monday. 

The map above shows the narratives behind killings that Queen City Nerve has tracked thus far in Charlotte in 2025. Black markers signify deaths by gun violence, red markers signify stabbings, yellow markers signify murder by vehicle, purple markers signify deaths by trauma or unknown cause, green markers signify killings that have been deemed justified, and blue markers signify police killings.

Shortly after 3:45 p.m. that afternoon, police responded to the Archdale Mini Mart & Laundry on Archdale Drive, where they found multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds. Medic transported two victims to the hospital, while a third, 26-year-old Mykel Washington, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The following day, police arrested a 37-year-old suspect and charged him with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.