Feature Stories
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Pat’s Place Answers the Call as Pandemic Raises Child Abuse Concerns
Before moving to Charlotte to run Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center in October 2015, Andrew Oliver worked in a similar facility in Lexington, Kentucky, where he and his staff once helped a 12-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted by her uncle. Despite having not seen the man for more…
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Psychiatric Patient Transport Left in Sheriffs’ Hands Despite Pitfalls
This is the third story in a three-part series about how more people in mental health crisis end up under involuntary commitment (IVC) for treatment and why that’s a problem, as originally reported and published by North Carolina Health News. You can read the first part here, which covers the…
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Charlotte Future Comprehensive Plan Hits Delay as Discussions Continue
It was not long after Charlotte Assistant City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba finished his presentation to Charlotte City Council at its March 1 strategy session that it started to become clear just how much an uphill battle he was facing in getting approval for the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which…
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As Nursing Home Visitation Restrictions Lifted, Questions Remain
Appalled when he saw blood mixed with the waste in his mother’s North Carolina nursing home toilet, Tim Wall called 911 emergency workers as well as quizzing staff at the facility to try to get answers. The information he got from EMTs and care providers during the Jan. 5, 2021…
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Community Coalition Calls for Delay in Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan Process
With the deadline for a vote on the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan rapidly approaching, discussions about certain elements of the plan have ratcheted up in recent weeks, many of them focused on a new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that would allow for the building of duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes…
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Center for Community Transitions Changes the Narrative Around Criminal Justice
Hanging on the wall of Center for Community Transitions executive director Patrice Funderburg’s office, she has a framed copy of the resolution announced by Mayor Vi Lyles in late February declaring Feb. 25 as Ramona Brant Day in Charlotte. Brant, who emerged from two decades of incarceration to become a…
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More People Made Eligible for Vaccinations Across State and County
Gov. Roy Cooper announced at a press conference this afternoon that all people who fall under Group 3 in the North Carolina COVID-19 vaccination rollout will be eligible for vaccinations beginning Wednesday, March 3, while the most high-risk members of Group 4 will become eligible on March 24. Earlier on…
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Home Again Foundation Is Putting Its Affordable Housing Plan Into Action
On Cochrane Drive in the Nevin area of north Charlotte, a small plot of previously unused land serves as the foundation for what grassroots organization Home Again Foundation (HAF) believes can be the solution to Mecklenburg County’s affordable housing crisis. In partnership with Kris Axhoj of Axhoj Enterprises, HAF has…
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As Move to Hotel Shelter Begins, County and City Clash Over Transport Claims
On Thursday morning, county officials made themselves available to the media for the first time since issuing an imminent hazard abatement that will evict residents living in an encampment on 12th Street known as Tent City. During the press conference, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio confirmed that local law enforcement…
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Questions Remain Over Enforcement of Tent City Evictions
More information is known now a day after Mecklenburg County Public Health issued an order stating that everyone living at Tent City along 12th Street would need to clear out by 5 p.m. on Friday. We’ve learned more about the county’s plan to offer shelter to those who want it,…
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County Issues Imminent Hazard Eviction Order for Tent City Residents
At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH) department issued an Order of Abatement of Imminent Hazard to the owners of seven properties that make up what has become known as Tent City, a sprawling encampment where around 100 unsheltered residents have made their homes. The order…
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COVID-19 Outbreak in Shelter Puts Quarantine Motel at Capacity
At first glance, the motel looks abandoned. The sign out front is empty. Cones block much of the entrance. Just a couple of cars sit in the parking lot. As I enter around the cones at 12:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon, however, I see some signs of life.…
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Charlotte City Council Elections May Be Delayed Due to Census Setbacks
Questions arose during a Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday night about whether the council election and other municipal elections scheduled for this year will take place as planned or need to be delayed due to late results from the 2020 Census. In the midst of a discussion about the…
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Patrick Williams Talks Homecoming Upon First Return to Charlotte
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The headline should have read, “Local Hero Comes Home to a Sell-Out Crowd” in Patrick Williams’ first return to Charlotte as a member of the Chicago Bulls. But then, nothing is going as planned these days. With the COVID-19 pandemic still affecting the…
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Report Highlights Disproportional Impact of COVID-19 on Minorities
“He’s never coming back,” Irlanda Ruiz of Charlotte remembers telling her 8-year-old niece. The girl’s father, Ruiz’s brother-in-law from Puerto Rico, was an essential worker who had contracted COVID-19 on the job. He died at age 41, and Ruiz struggled to tell his children why. Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s…
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Mayor Casts Tiebreaking Vote to Appoint Greg Phipps to Charlotte City Council
With Mayor Vi Lyles acting as a tiebreaker, Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to appoint former council member Greg Phipps to fill James “Smuggie” Mitchell’s vacant at-large seat. He will serve the rest of Mitchell’s term, which expires on Dec. 6, 2021. Mitchell, who resigned from his seat in…
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