South Carolina Police Officer Gets 20 Years in Prison For Killing Unarmed Black Man

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South Carolina Police Officer Gets 20 Years in Prison For Killing Unarmed Black Man

The SC police officer that shot and killed an unarmed African American man in North Charleston has just been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Michael Slager was found guilty of second-degree murder on Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge David Norton after a 4-day hearing surrounding the fatal shooting of Walter Scott. Scott was shot five times in the back as he was running away from the officer during a traffic stop on April 4, 2015.

“I wish I could go back in time to change the event, but I can’t,” Slager said to the court before he was sentenced. “It’s a very tragic situation and I’m sorry for it.”

After the video footage of the incident was released, it sparked national outrage. It was one of the first major shootings that helped to fuel the Black Lives Matter movement and the national discussion about reforming police training.

The ex-officer now has the right to appeal the sentence.

 

 

Charlotte Sheriff Hosting Gun Raffle To Raise Funds For Re-Election Campaign

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Charlotte Sheriff Hosting Gun Raffle To Raise Funds For Re-Election Campaign

The man in charge of preventing gun violence in Mecklenburg County is about to give away guns to raise funds for his reelection campaign.

The “Re-Elect Sheriff Carmichael Gun Raffle” will be held on February 18th, 2018 from 8am to 12pm. Tickets for the raffle will cost $50 each, or you can buy 3 for $100. At the event, Sheriff Carmichael will be raffling off 4 assault weapons, 8 pistols, and 3 hunting rifles.

The Facebook event was created by the Committee to Re-Elect Irwin Carmichael for Sheriff.

“Support the Re-Elect Irwin Carmichael for Sheriff campaign by buying your raffle tickets for a chance to win these great guns,” the event description says.

Reporter Kirstin Garriss recently interview Sheriff Carmichael – when asked about his gun raffle, he said, “a lot of folks that support me, support the second amendment…”

What are your thoughts on the gun raffle? 

Top 10 Things To Do Around Charlotte Region This Weekend

Steve
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Top 10 Things To Do Around Charlotte Region This Weekend

The weekend is almost here!

There will be Christmas shows, parades, festivals, basketball, and tons of concerts!

Here are the top 10 things happening around the Charlotte region this weekend:

#1 Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Ghosts of Christmas Eve

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra About To Host A One-Of-A-Kind 'Ghosts of Christmas Eve' Show in Charlotte

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, now one of the world’s most famous progressive rock bands, is heading to Charlotte on Thursday, December 7th for an epic Christmas performance.

They’ll be playing at the Spectrum Center starting at 7:30pm.

For tickets or more info click here.

#2 Fantasia: Christmas After Midnight

Grammy-winning Fantasia will be performing live in Charlotte this Friday night on her national ‘Christmas After Midnight’ album tour.

She will be playing at the Oven’s Auditorium starting at 8pm on Friday night.

For tickets or more info click here.

#3 Belmont Christmas Village

This coming Friday night, come downtown Belmont, NC for a magical night of fun holiday cheer during for our annual Christmas Village! Smores, hot coco, hot cider, cookies and more! Get your picture with Santa or take a ride through downtown on the hayride or carriage rides.

For more info click here.

#4 Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets

This coming Friday night the Chicago Bulls will be coming to Charlotte to take on the Hornets at the Spectrum Center starting at 7:00pm.

For tickets or more info click here.

BONUS – the Hornets will also be taking on the LA Lakers on Saturday night – for tickets click here.

#5 18th Annual Santa Bar Crawl

18th Annual Santa Bar Crawl the original Holiday Bar Crawl in Charlotte. “It Doesn’t Matter If You Are Naughty Or Nice” kicks off Saturday, December 9th 2017 from 3 pm to 2 am. 25 Bars Of Christmas where you can enjoy drink specials all around the city.
Use promo code ‘CharlotteStories’ to save 50% off tickets here ($18 regular – $9 with code).

#6 Weihnachtsmarkt

OMB’s legendary Weihnachtsmarkt Christmas Market will host their grand opening this coming Friday.

This year, they will have over 40 vendors – their largest market to date. Some vendors will be in traditional wooden huts, but all will be decorated to the max and full of local crafts and baked goods. Like the Christmas Markets of Nuremburg, Germany, OMB’s Weihnachtsmarkt will also have fresh beer on tap (including our winter seasonal brews Dunkel & Yule Bock) and Gluhwein (pron. “Gloo-vine”), a mulled red wine served hot and fresh.

For more info click here.

#7 Free TreeStore

Saturday morning from 9am-11am come down to 701 Tuckaseegee Rd. to get a free tree!

Check out more information here.

#8 21st Annual Lighted Boat Parade

This coming Saturday night, the Penninsula Yaht Club will be hosting their annual lighted boat parade.

The event will be free to the public. For more info click here.

#9 Kannapolis Christmas Parade

Kannapolis holiday festivities continue with the 79th Annual Cannon Pharmacy Kannapolis Christmas Parade on Dec. 09, 2017. Starting at 6 p.m., the parade begins at the intersection of Main St. and Dale Earnhardt Blvd. Thousands come out each year for this event, so make sure you get your spot early!

For more info click here.

#10 Carolina Panthers vs. Minnesota Vikings

This coming Sunday afternoon the Minnesota Vikings will be coming to Charlotte to take on our Carolina Panthers at the Bank of America Stadium. Game starts at 1pm.

For tickets or more info click here.

If you think other events should be on this list or future lists, let us know – Scott@CharlotteStories.com

Charlotte Is About To See Its First Snowfall of The Season

Steve
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Charlotte Is About To See Its First Snowfall of The Season

It’s time to start stocking up on milk and bread – the Charlotte region is about to see its first snowfall of the season!

Meteorologists with Accuweather say that cold air blowing up from Texas will lead to a wintry mix at end of this week.

“If the storm develops to its full potential, up to a few inches of snow could cover some non-paved surfaces with a coating on colder roads and sidewalks.”

According to WeatherUnderground.com, the snowy mix should start at around 10pm on Friday night;

Are you excited to see some snow in the Queen City?

CMPD Issues Desperate Plea To Help Find Missing Mother and Daughter

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CMPD Issues Desperate Plea To Help Find Missing Mother and Daughter

CMPD has just issued a statewide silver alert for 33-year-old Megan Stack, who is believed to be missing with her 8-year-old daughter Ava.

According to Ava’s father, Timothy Lybarger, Megan picked her up on Monday afternoon at around 3:15pm from Bain Elementary School in Mint Hill, and never returned back to their house.

He told Charlotte’s ABC station that Megan doesn’t have a firm grip on reality and that she believes people are out to get her.

She dumped her phone, laptop, wallet, credit cards, and camera at a business on North Graham St. so she couldn’t be traced.

The CMPD sent out several tweets yesterday asking everyone around the Charlotte region to be on the lookout for Megan, Ava, and their silver 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe with a paper tag.

If you have any information about Megan’s whereabouts, or if you spot Megan, her daughter, or their vehicle, please call D L Ring at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department at 704-336-3237 or dial 911.

UPDATE 12/6/2017 10:35am: 

After driving from Charlotte to St. Louis, Megan check herself in to a hospital for evaluation. Her daughter Ava is also safe and will be returned to Charlotte after she is evaluated.

Hackers Shut Down Mecklenburg County Computer System – Demanding Ransom in Bitcoins

Steve
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Hackers Shut Down Mecklenburg County Computer System – Demanding Ransom in Bitcoins

The Mecklenburg County computer system has just been hacked and cybercriminals are now demanding a ransom for the files.

County Manager Dena Diorio said that an employee clicked on a suspicious email attachment on Monday, resulting in a ‘worm’ gaining access to the county’s computer files. The worm file then froze all internal files and gave control over to a group of external hackers.

The hackers are demanding 2 Bitcoin (currently worth about $23,000) in ransom to unlock the files and remove the worm.

Mecklenburg County now has until 1 p.m. this afternoon to pay the ransom.

Yesterday the county tweeted out the following alert;

…directing people to a public statement on the county website, saying, “…all County-wide Information Technology Services (ITS) systems will be shut down until further notice…”

According to Diorio, the county is currently working with a third-party tech firm to determine how much it would cost to decrypt the files themselves.

The county is open to paying the ransom, but fear that it would incentivize hacking, and offer no guarantee the files would actually be unlocked – the hackers could simply demand more money.

UPDATE: 12/6/2017 10:12pm

UPDATE: 12/6/2017 12:05pm

UPDATE: 12/6/2017 2:10pm

“This problem will be resolved in days, not hours…”

UPDATE: 12/6/2017 3:23pm

The County just released a complete list of all public service changes that are now in place due to the attack:

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Applicants cannot apply for vacant positions.

TAX OFFICE

  • Property tax payments cannot be made at the Wilkinson Boulevard location.
  • Tax records and payment information cannot be accessed online or by telephone.
  • All online services, including online payment options, are not available.
  • Payments made by mail will not be posted until tax systems are available.
  • Once tax systems are available, payments received by mail and in person will be posted in the order received resulting in a delay in checks being cashed.
  • Real estate and personal property tax payments can be made in person at Walton Plaza if the taxpayer presents the bill(s) with payment. We do not have the ability to look up bills for the taxpayers to pay.
  • Gross receipts tax payments can be made in person at the Hal Marshall Center if the taxpayer presents the completed tax return(s) with payment. We do not have the ability to look-up information for taxpayers.
  • Payments must be made with a check, money order, or cash.  Credit and debit card payments cannot be accepted.

REGISTER OF DEEDS

  • All computers used to complete marriage applications, assumed business names research and filing, and record research are not operational.
  • Many professionals that frequent the ROD for research have prepaid for copies, they will be unable to access those funds for those services as well.

LUESA

  • Code and Storm Water Services cannot review plans or issue new permits.
  • GIS cannot provide addressing and other services.
  • Air Quality services for asbestos reviews, etc. cannot be performed until the system is up.
  • Code enforcement inspection process will be slowed due to paper process.

ASSESSOR’S OFFICE

  • County Assessor’s Office reports AssessPro (The Real Property appraisal system), NCPTS (the personal property appraisal system and the billing and collection system) are down.
  • Polaris and Tax Bill look up county web links are down.

PARK AND RECREATION

  • Online reservations are down.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Transportation Message:
If you have made a transportation reservation through DSS/MTS scheduling, please call Customer Connection at 704-336-4547 to confirm your transportation.  This includes reservations made for bus passes and vendor transportation for trips scheduled through Dec. 11, 2017.

CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT

  • Please call your agent to see if services are available.

FINANCE

  • Automated payments, invoicing, procurement, etc. This means no Electronic funds transfers, processing of procurement requests in the system, or other similar transactions at this time.

We will update this article as new information is received. 

Personal Info From 370,000 Duke Energy Customers At Risk After Massive Data Breach

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Personal Info From 370,000 Duke Energy Customers At Risk After Massive Data Breach

Over 370,000 Duke Energy customers may have had their personal information leaked during a massive data breach of a company Duke uses to process customer payments.

PayPal announced the breach this past weekend and said that they suspended operations of their subsidiary, TIO Networks (TIO) as soon as the breach was discovered.

“TIO has also begun working with the companies it services to notify potentially affected individuals, and PayPal is working with a consumer credit reporting agency to provide free credit monitoring memberships,” according to their press release.

The breach is now estimated to have affected at least 1.6 million people, including 374,000 Duke energy customers. The leaked information includes names, addresses, Duke Energy account numbers, account balances and banking information.

In an email, Duke Energy spokesman Ryan Mosier said that the company had been using TIO for in-person payments, and have since stopped accepting in-person payments.

“We are doing all we can to help,” Mosier said. “We regret the frustration and inconvenience this issue has created for our customers who rely on our walk-in locations to pay their monthly energy bills.”

Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas are still able to make payments at Western Union, online, or over the phone.

TIO plans on contacting all affected customers and offering them one year of complimentary credit monitoring.

High School Cheerleader’s Gravity-Defying Trick Starting Viral Internet Craze (Video)

Steve
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High School Cheerleader’s Gravity-Defying Trick Starting Viral Internet Craze (Video)

Ariel Olivar, a high school cheerleader at Manvel High School, just wanted to have some fun on the sidelines.

She never dreamed that her gravity-defying trick would have such a viral impact on the internet.

Her quick 6-second video, where she basically steps over an imaginary box, has now been viewed over 5 million times since it was first posted on December 2nd;

and her follow-up ‘fail’ has hundreds of thousands of views;

her new mind-bending trick is now causing countless others around the world to attempt it…some with minor success;

and others with slightly less;

…then there’s this guy;

Can you do it?

Try it right now…

Not so easy, is it?

Thank you internet 🙂

Charlotte’s 59th Mayor and New City Council Members Officially Sworn In

Steve
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Charlotte’s 59th Mayor and New City Council Members Officially Sworn In

Last night the City of Charlotte officially sworn in its newest mayor and city council members.

Vi Lyles is now Charlotte’s 59th mayor, and the city’s first ever African American female mayor.

Yesterday’s historic changing of the guard saw the following officials retire;

Mayor – Jennifer W. Roberts
Council Members – Carlenia Ivory – Kenny Smith – Claire Fallon – Patsy Kinsey

and the following officials swear in for their 2017-2019 terms;

Mayor – Vi Lyles
Council Members – Dimple Ajmera – Tariq Bokhari – Ed Driggs – Larken Egleston – Julie Jacobus Eiselt – Justin Harlow – La Wana Mayfield – James E. Mitchell, Jr. – Matt Newton – Greg Phipps – Braxton Winston II

Each new elected official swore the following oath;

I, (elected official), do solemnly and sincerely swear/affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States; that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of North Carolina, and to the constitutional powers and authorities which are or may be established for the government thereof; and that I will endeavor to support, maintain and defend the Constitution of said State, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, and that I will discharge the duties of my office as (Mayor/City Council Member) of the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, to the best of my knowledge and ability; so help me God.

Vi Lyles is now the 59th mayor in Charlotte’s history and the 7th new mayor in the past 9 years…it’s certainly been an eventful decade for the leadership in our city;

Pat McCrory 1995–2009 Republican Longest serving Mayor with seven terms. Later became Governor of North Carolina, the first Charlotte Mayor to do so.
Anthony Foxx 2009–2013 Democratic Stepped down to become United States Secretary of Transportation.
Patsy Kinsey 2013 Democratic Served the remainder of Foxx’s term.
Patrick Cannon 2013–2014 Democratic Resigned after being arrested on corruption charges.
Daniel G. Clodfelter 2014–2015 Democratic Appointed mayor by the City Council on April 7, 2014.
Jennifer Roberts 2015–2017 Democratic Took office on 7 December 2015.
Vi Lyles 2017– Democratic Defeated Jennifer Roberts in Democratic Primaries

via Wikipedia

What do you think about our new mayor and council members?

This Charlotte Start-Up Company Is Now Worth Over $1 Billion

Steve
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This Charlotte Start-Up Company Is Now Worth Over $1 Billion

charlotte area startupRic Elias and Dan Feldstein started a small marketing firm in 1999 that focused on creative technology driven sales solutions. They never imagined how quickly their new start-up, now called Red Ventures, would grow.

In 2007, the company built a new 20,000-square-foot headquarters in South Charlotte and over the past 14 years, it has built satellite offices in New York, Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and Guatemala, attracting big-name clients such as LendingTree, Bank of America, and Duke Energy.

They recently reached a whole new level when a California investment firm bought a $250 million stake in the company. Silver Lake Partners’ deal now values the Charlotte-based marketing firm at an estimated $1 billion.

Red Ventures has grown more than 30 percent every year for the past five years and is projected to house almost 1,800 employees on the South Carolina campus by next year.

If you would like to browse job openings for Red Ventures or any other company in Charlotte click here.

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