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News & Opinion
North Carolina Universities Host Cannabis Research Programs
Even as state lawmakers continue to waffle over marijuana legalization, placing residents in a confusing holding pattern where certain hemp products are allowed and others aren’t, two universities have seen their cannabis research programs blossoming as of late, as they focus on the burgeoning potential for the cash crop. North…
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Music
Wild Recluse Spreads Message of Self-Love and Exploration Through Multiple Mediums
On a warm April night, Petra’s is packed for “Sam on Someday,” a multi-act, genre-fluid jam launched by Sam Tayloe, founder and frontman of Charlotte folk rock band Time Sawyer. The talent onstage is prodigious — guitarist Justin Clyde Williams, drummer Tim Haney, bassist Kerry Brooks, piano player Jason Atkins…
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Arts & Culture
Bechtler Exhibit Celebrates Multi-Faceted Career of Virginia Jaramillo
Throughout a career lasting nearly seven decades, visual artist Virginia Jaramillo has remained a pioneer. Among other accomplishments, Jaramillo was the first Mexican American woman to exhibit abstract paintings in a US museum and the only woman included in one of the first racially integrated art shows in America, the…
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News & Opinion
Thousands in Charlotte Say ‘Hands Off’ to Trump
Around 3,500 people gathered in front of the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services on Billingsley Road on Saturday morning to protest draconian cuts to agencies and services by the Trump administration. Citing actions by Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by the president’s billionaire benefactor Elon…
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Music
PREMIERE: Petrov Unleashes the Vulnerability on New Single ‘Protector’
Above a stately metronomic beat, skirling rock guitars soar while Petrov frontwoman Mary Grace McKusick unleashes a preternaturally powerful and sustained vocal: “Dreams in a different hue/ I know they’re from you…” The differences in “Protector,” the latest single from Charlotte indie-rock powerhouse Petrov, are not confined to the colors…
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Music
Local Songwriters Take Musical Roles in ‘The Righteous Gemstones’
For a song parody to land, the music has to be good. Mike Mitschele and Rick Randall know that, while they can write lyrics as silly as they like, the music always must be on point or the whole thing falls flat. In a varied career, the two Charlotte natives…
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News & Opinion
Critical Program for Unaccompanied Children Scrapped Due to Trump Cuts
After weeks of raising the alarm about how the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts might affect their work, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (CCLA) now has to scrap a local program that helps unaccompanied children seeking legal immigration status in America. The center — which offers low-cost and pro-bono…
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News & Opinion
Vendors Left Reeling by Charlotte Collective’s Sudden Closure
A March 19 Instagram post from Charlotte Collective owner Amy Crowe announcing the imminent closure of her South End boutique has drawn sharp criticism from local vendors who rely on the shop to sell their wares and feel that Crowe should have provided more warning to allow them to find…
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Music
Sam on Someday Showcases Charlotte’s Talented Singer/Songwriters
Seven musicians are packed onto the Evening Muse’s stage, but the band doesn’t seem cramped or crowded. In fact, the vibe among the players is convivial as they sashay through a rocking version of iconoclastic country-rocker Mickey Newbury’s “Why You Been Gone So Long.” Vocalist and guitarist Justin Clyde Williams…
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News & Opinion
One Year Later, Was Legalizing Sports Gambling in NC a Smart Bet?
March 11 marked precisely one year since North Carolina lawmakers legalized sports betting in the state. The law made North Carolina the 38th state to legalize sports betting and the 30th (along with Washington D.C.) to offer mobile sports wagering. At first glance it looks like the Tar Heel State’s…
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Arts & Culture
Elizabeth Bradford’s Paintings Capture Vanishing Wilderness Next Door
Elizabeth Bradford’s paintings celebrate untamed nature with a riot of bold acrylic paint, vibrant colors, intricate details and interlocking geometric shapes. The artist’s zoomed-in hyper focus imbues scenes we often overlook — creek beds, riverbanks and thickets of weeds — with a fragile alien beauty. “Vivid, tangled, disorienting at times…
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Music
Femme Fest Expands in Second Year at The Milestone
Femme Fest, a homegrown benefit concert showcasing bands or artists that include at least one woman, femme-presenting or LGBTQIA+ member, will return this spring, doubling down for two days of music. After a successful one-day inaugural run in 2024, the event that won Best New Music Festival/Event in Queen City…
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Arts & Culture
Historic Carolina Theatre to Reopen with Concerts this Month
Closed for nearly half a century, the historic Carolina Theatre in Uptown is finally set to reopen its doors later this month, with a ribbon-cutting followed by a free open house scheduled for Monday, March 24 at 3 p.m. Currently under the ownership of Foundation For The Carolinas (FTTC), the…
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Music
Springadelia Fuses Sound and Vision at Snug Harbor
Snug Harbor is getting a jump on the vernal equinox this year with the return of Springadelia, a three-night festival scheduled for March 6-8 on Gordon Street. Zach Reader, the venerable Plaza Midwood music venue’s talent buyer who launched Springadelia in 2024, describes the multifaceted happening featuring 24 musicians and…
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News & Opinion
Montford Point Marines Provide Living Black History Lesson to Students
Veterans with the Montford Point Marine Association, a nonprofit that celebrates the legacy of America’s first Black Americans to serve in the Marine Corps, brought Black history alive for students at Tuckaseegee Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 21. Veterans shared the story of the Montford Point Marines, a segregated unit…
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Music
‘How to be an Ethical Slut’ Explores Lessons and Logic of Polyamory
Blake Valentini has a problem. She’s wrestling with her desire for a loving, monogamous relationship and the simultaneously dawning realization that there may be alternative — and better — ways to forge meaningful romantic and sexual connections. In short, Blake is contemplating How to be an Ethical Slut — not…
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