The owner of a local pizza place here in Charlotte has decided to help those who were faithfully going to work even without a paycheck.
Juli Ghazi, the owner of Pure Pizza, posted a message on their Instagram over the weekend saying that she doesn’t think federal worker’s paychecks and well-being should be ‘a political debate’.
She then tells them to bring their family and government ID to either of her restaurants for a free meal;
Please help spread the word with any federal worker you know!
As the government shutdown enters its 24th day, it’s starting to affect more than just national parks and tax returns.
According to CNN, hundreds of TSA workers, who are required to work without paychecks, have been calling in “sick” in increasing numbers.
Here in Charlotte, lines are starting to back up due to the call-ins;
Same at Charlotte at 6:15am. Longest Precheck line I’ve ever seen. Grateful for all the TSA agents here and working hard.
— Andi Stevenson (@PastPerfectAndi) January 14, 2019
One of the TSA checkpoints in the Houston airport even had to close due to the lack of staff;
TSA checkpoint at Houston airport closed because there are not enough people to staff it.https://t.co/Eh52WsIzdX
— FOX 46 Charlotte (@FOX46News) January 14, 2019
A TSA worker in Charlotte tweeted the president directly over the weekend, asking him to change the budget structure since it is now becoming ‘very hard’ for her to buy gas to get to work during the shutdown;
@realDonaldTrump I voted for you and I support the wall. However, you need to change the budget structure so when there is a shutdown essential employees can continue to get paid. I’m TSA screener and I still need to buy gas to go to work. Very hard when I’m not getting paid.
— Rossache (@cdiaz1017) January 12, 2019
What are your thoughts on the current government shutdown?
The personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its 2019’s Best College & University Rankings.
To help college-bound seniors make the most informed school choices, WalletHub compared nearly 1,000 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes to determine the top colleges in America. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary.
Top 10 Colleges & Universities in North Carolina
| 1 | Duke University | 6 | Western Carolina University | |
| 2 | University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill | 7 | University of North Carolina-Wilmington | |
| 3 | North Carolina State University-Raleigh | 8 | University of Mount Olive | |
| 4 | Davidson College | 9 | Salem College | |
| 5 | Appalachian State University | 10 | Elon University |
With that in mind, here’s a closer look at some of the top schools and how each performed in certain metrics:
School Snapshot: Duke University (1 = Best; 21 = Average; 41 = Worst)
School Snapshot: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1 = Best; 21 = Average; 41 = Worst)
School Snapshot: North Carolina State University-Raleigh (1 = Best; 21 = Average; 41 = Worst)
Here’s the complete ranking of the top colleges in America (Duke ranks 6th and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte ranks 387th);
The Queen City has just been picked by the New American Economy (NAE) and Welcoming America to receive the prestigious ‘Gateways for Growth’ award.
The award gives cities a wide range of resources to assist in developing strategies to integrate immigrants, foster economic growth, and promote inclusion for all residents.
Charlotte is one of 13 cities across the country to receive the award, including;
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Charlotte, North Carolina
Flint, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lexington, Kentucky
Lowell, Massachusetts
Memphis, Tennessee
Northern Kentucky
Roanoke, Virginia
San Antonio, Texas
Toledo-Lucas County, Ohio
Wayne County, Michigan
Awardees will receive a combination of research, technical assistance, and matching grants from NAE and Welcoming America to support the development of welcoming strategies. Gateways for Growth (G4G) also serves as a network in which local communities can learn from each other and share best practices.
According to the most recent US Census, there are approximately 130,000 immigrants currently living in Charlotte.
“The facts prove it—cities that embrace immigration as a growth strategy reap the benefits,” commented NAE’s president John Feinblatt. “The Gateways for Growth Challenge spurs more local leaders to step up and make immigration a centerpiece of their economic agenda.”
Some of this year’s resources given to winning cities include;
“Over the past two decades, Charlotte has experienced a significant demographic transformation,” said Federico Rios, City of Charlotte’s International & Integration Manager. “In 1990, foreign-born residents made up less than two percent of Charlotte. The American Community Survey states that now over 16 percent of Charlotte’s population are foreign-born. This grant is a wonderful opportunity to enhance our integration efforts with our receiving community. By working on a neighborhood level, we can introduce our native born and newcomer neighbors, and unite them in a shared desire to improve our community’s economic mobility.”
The City of Charlotte now plans on utilizing the new resources to research the economic impact of immigrants in Charlotte and work with local partner organizations to increase outreach efforts toward economic mobility.
Workplace insights platform kununu has released a study revealing the best cities for employment happiness, based on over 87,000 workplace reviews from the last year.
Since 2007, Kununu has been helping potential employees to gain insights on companies, so they know first-hand that happy employees are what make companies thrive. The platform wanted to find out if your geographical location has an effect on your career happiness, so they conducted a deep-dive investigation into employee contentment, looking at four key factors: company culture, teamwork, autonomy, and support from management.
The results reveal that Miami has the happiest employees, while New York City has the least happy employees.
How the study was conducted:
The study is based on 8,327 employee reviews conducted within the last 12 months for companies located in the 50 most populous United States cities. On a scale from 1 (dissatisfied) to 5 (satisfied) kununu users rated:
The table below shows the top 10 cities in the United States for employee happiness:
|
Rank
|
City
|
Happiness Score
|
|
1
|
Miami, Florida
|
3.99
|
|
2
|
Los Angeles, California
|
3.95
|
|
3
|
Raleigh, North Carolina
|
3.90
|
|
4
|
Louisville, Kentucky
|
3.88
|
|
5
|
Omaha, Nebraska
|
3.86
|
|
6
|
San Jose, California
|
3.85
|
|
7
|
Sacramento, California
|
3.85
|
|
8
|
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
|
3.84
|
|
9
|
Seattle, Washington
|
3.83
|
|
10
|
Fresno, California
|
3.82
|
Source: kununu.com/us, 87,327 reviews, November 1st 2017 – October 31st 2018;
Scale: 1 (dissatisfied) – 5 (satisfied).
The table below shows the bottom 10 cities in the United States for employee happiness:
|
Rank
|
City
|
Happiness Score
|
|
50
|
New York City, New York
|
3.53
|
|
49
|
Oakland, California
|
3.60
|
|
48
|
Memphis, Tennessee
|
3.63
|
|
47
|
Houston, Texas
|
3.64
|
|
46
|
Dallas, Texas
|
3.67
|
|
45
|
El Paso, Texas
|
3.67
|
|
44
|
Colorado Springs, Colorado
|
3.70
|
|
43
|
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
|
3.70
|
|
42
|
Albuquerque, New Mexico
|
3.71
|
|
41
|
Charlotte, North Carolina
|
3.71
|
Source: kununu.com/us, 87,327 reviews, November 1st 2017 – October 31st 2018;
Scale: 1 (dissatisfied) – 5 (satisfied).
Do you agree with our ranking?
How happy are you working in Charlotte?
One of the most popular bars in Uptown Charlotte has just received the worst health grade possible in Mecklenburg County for over a dozen items ranging from raw food to dirty dishes to cockroaches.
Scoring a ‘C’ on a health inspection in Charlotte is exceptionally rare. Out of a total of 2,573 restaurant inspections performed over the past 12 months in Mecklenburg County, only 7 ‘C’s were given.
The only Mecklenburg County restaurants to score a C in the past 12 months were;
5/24/2018 – La Romero Taqueria and Juice Bar – 76.50 C
6/28/2018 – Flamin Kitchen – 75.50 C
11/7/2018 – Cheddar’s (University City) – 71.50 C
11/19/2018 – Stoke Restaurant and Bar – 76 C
11/21/2018 – Pudina – 74.50 C
12/4/2018 – Cottage – 77.50 C
1/9/2019 – Ink n Ivy – 78 C
Some of the worst things the health inspector found at Ink N Ivy included;
You can read Ink N Ivy’s full health review here.
90s rock legends Hootie & the Blowfish are about to perform live in Charlotte for the first time in over 10 years.
“One Week” favorite Barenaked Ladies will be joining them as the opening act. The ‘Group Therapy Tour’ will start May 10th in Virginia Beach and run through Sept. 13 in South Carolina.
Hootie and The Blowfish is an acoustic rock four-piece featuring Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld. They earned major radio and touring success in the 1990s and 2000s with legendary ballads like “Let Her Cry,” “Only Wanna Be With You,” and “Time”. They won two Grammy Awards in 96 for “Cracked Rear View,” which went on to become one of the best-selling albums of the 90s.
Tickets for the “Group Therapy Tour” at the PNC Arena are now on sale to the general public via Stubhub and Live Nation, and tickets can also be purchased between now and the time of the show at the PNC box office.
The Ovens Auditorium is about to host the Pink Floyd tribute show, Brit Floyd, for a very special 40th Anniversary celebration of Pink Floyd’s iconic rock opera, “The Wall” on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at StubHub.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, or at the Bojangles’ Coliseum Box Office located at 2700 E. Independence Blvd.
Released in November 1979, a semi-autobiographical concept album from the mind of Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, “The Wall” remains one of the biggest selling albums of all time, and a major moment in rock music history.
As well as performing highlights from “The Wall”, the new Brit Floyd production will include songs from Pink Floyd’s classic albums, “The Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals,” “The Division Bell” and much more.
Brit Floyd has truly become a phenomenon, widely regarded as the world’s greatest live tribute to Pink Floyd. Faithfully recreating the scale and pomp of the final 1994 Division Bell tour, complete with a stunning multi-million dollar light show, large circular screen and arch plus projection, lasers, inflatables and theatrics. A Brit Floyd show really is as close as fans will get to experiencing the magnificence of the original Pink Floyd live shows.
For more information or for tickets click here.
Two people who claim allegiance to the ‘Moorish Nation’ were just arrested in Davidson for illegally squatting in the Knox Family’s historic $2,000,000 home.
A member of the Knox family discovered the couple living in the home this week and immediately called the Davidson police. When police arrived, the couple would not let them in. Officers then obtained a key and permission from the Knox family to enter the home.
Police entered the home and arrested 30-year-old Turmaine Thorne and 35-year-old Taqiyah Barber for trespassing.
According to the police report, the couple used a hide-a-key to illegally enter the home on Jan. 4, then unloaded a 26-foot U-Haul truck full of belongings and furniture and parked their car in the garage.
The couple then filed a quit claim deed with the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds and claimed that they have legal cause and ownership of the property.
The investigation is still ongoing.
North Carolina has recently become a real hot spot for the Moorish Nation, a group that doesn’t recognize federal, state and local laws, and believes heavily in “squatters rights”.
Back in 2016, a self-described Moorish National group, led by Ninti el Bey, was arrested for squatting in an $800,000 home in the South Charlotte neighborhood of Piper Glen. Police eventually arrested them after they were warned by neighbors, realtors, the HOA, and even evicted more than once by CMPD.
Other notable instances include; when a Moorish Nation murder defendant debated with a judge regarding the court’s legal authority to charge him, when a Moorish Nation Charlotte man was charged with the fatal beating of his infant daughter plans to represent himself at his murder trial, and when a Moorish Nation man, who referred to himself as ‘Emporer’, called into the WSOCTV newsroom demanding thousands of dollars every time the news station mentioned the Moorish Nation name.
Panthers’ career linebacker Thomas Davis has just announced that he has been released from the Panthers and is now an unrestricted free agent.
Davis has spent his entire professional career with the Panthers after being picked in the 1st round of the 2005 draft. Over the past 13 years, he has become the Panthers’ all-time tackle leader with 1,258 total tackles, including 30 sacks, in 176 regular season games and 11 playoff games.
In 2012, he became the first professional athlete in American history to return to play in his top sporting league after 3 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, and in 2014, he won the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
Last night, Davis posted the following video on Twitter, announcing his departure from the Panthers;
— Thomas Davis (@ThomasDavisSDTM) January 10, 2019
“I just want to thank the Carolina Panthers,” Davis said. “I want to thank my teammates – you guys have been amazing. Fourteen very special years that I will always remember, that I will always cherish. To Panther nation, I cannot thank you guys enough for the love and support.”
What are your thoughts on Thomas Davis’ departure?