Hurricane Irma’s Effects In The Charlotte Region Will Be Felt Tonight

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Hurricane Irma’s Effects In The Charlotte Region Will Be Felt Tonight

hurricane-irma-charlotte

Although Hurricane Irma (soon to be Tropical Storm Irma) is headed much further west than previously projected, there is still a danger of high wind gusts, significant rain, and possible tornadoes for the Charlotte region.

The worst weather in Charlotte is expected between 5 p.m. this afternoon and 9 a.m. tomorrow morning with gusts up to 50 mph possible. We can also expect anywhere between 1-3 inches of rain with possible flash-flooding in low areas.

There will be a low possibility of isolated tornadoes around our region for tonight and tomorrow morning.

wind-warnings-charlotte
via WCNC.com

Here’s a forecast of the potential wind gusts this afternoon at 5pm;

ventusky-gust-20170911t2100-33n83w

and the potential precipitation tomorrow morning at 2am;

ventusky-rain-3h-20170912t0600-33n83w

Several schools and daycares in the Charlotte region have already closed today (mostly in South Carolina), including;

Chester County School District
Chesterfield Co. Schools
Clover School District
Faith Christian Academy
Fort Mill School District
Lakeshore Christian Preschool
Lancaster County Schools
Pine Grove Baptist Church Daycare
Rock Hill School District
The Saluda Counseling Center
Victory Christ Academy/Day Care Gastonia
Walnut Grove Christian Academy
York School District 1
Stay safe out there Charlotte! 

Charlotte Is A Strong Contender For Amazon’s New $5 Billion 50,000 Employee HQ2

Steve
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Charlotte Is A Strong Contender For Amazon’s New $5 Billion 50,000 Employee HQ2

Amazon just announced plans to build an entire second headquarters somewhere in North America.

According to Amazon’s request for proposals; “The Project is expected to create as many as fifty thousand (50,000) new full-time jobs with an average annual compensation exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per employee. We will begin sourcing for talent at Amazon HQ2 upon final site selection”

Rendering Amazon's New Spheres Headquarters in Seattle via nbbj
Rendering Amazon’s New Spheres Headquarters in Seattle via nbbj

Amazon was very clear in stating that their new complex will be a “complete headquarters for Amazon — not a satellite office.”

“Amazon expects to hire new teams and executives in HQ2, and will also let existing senior leaders across the company decide whether to locate their teams in HQ1, HQ2 or both,” it said. “The company expects that employees who are currently working in HQ1 can choose to continue working there, or they could have an opportunity to move if they would prefer to be located in HQ2.”

“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home.”

Amazon’s request for proposals states they are looking for a city and state that can offer substantial incentives, and fit the following criteria:

 Metropolitan areas with more than one million people
 A stable and business-friendly environment
 Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent
 Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options

After CBS News spoke with Amazon representatives, they said the company will likely choose a major city where at least 33% of the population has a college degree or higher – 26 cities that would fit the criteria, including Charlotte.

PC Magazine also named Charlotte one of the “6 US Cities Amazon Should Consider for its Second HQ“.

“Probably the best East Coast pick, Charlotte is a finance and financial-technology center with affordable land, an educated workforce, and a great airport,” according to the article.

Would you like to see Amazon build their second headquarters here in Charlotte?

USPS Offering $50,000 Reward In Shooting Of Charlotte Postal Carrier

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USPS Offering $50,000 Reward In Shooting Of Charlotte Postal Carrier

50000-reward-for-postal-carrier-shooterLast Thursday US postal carrier Ed McDaniel was shot while on delivery in southwest Charlotte on Archer Ave. near Clanton Rd. He was rushed to the hospital and brought to a stable condition. He will now need several surgeries but he is expected to recover.

USPS’s Assistant Inspector-in-Charge Scott Fix noted that McDaniel was with the postal service for over 11 years. He said the agency is now committed to doing whatever it takes to find McDaniel’s shooter.

“The safety of our employees is paramount to our agency,” Fix said. “It is our mission. So, for us, we’ve brought in resources from as far as Miami and up to Washington D.C. We’ve brought in approximately 25 additional inspectors to help supplement our local inspectors.”

After over a week of no new clues from CMPD, officers with the USPS have been going door-to-door around southwest Charlotte delivering ‘Wanted’ posters.

 

The posters read:

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) who assaulted a USPS Letter Carrier while he was delivering mail on the 3600 block of Archer Avenue in the West side of Charlotte, NC 28217. The USPS Letter Carrier was shot and suffered serious bodily injuries. The assault occurred on Thursday, August 31, 2017, at approximately 1:30 pm.

TAKE NO ACTION TO APPREHEND THIS PERSON YOURSELF

If you have any information about this incident, please contact the:

U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 (select Option 2)

or

Call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly with a Homicide Unit Detective. The public can also call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Charlotte’s Garinger High School Broke Their 6-Year 0-55 Losing Streak Last Night

Charlotte Stories
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Charlotte’s Garinger High School Broke Their 6-Year 0-55 Losing Streak Last Night

Charlotte’s Garinger High School football team finally broke one of the longest losing streaks of any football team in Charlotte’s history last night.

The last time the Wildcats won a football game was back on October 21st, 2011, and they haven’t shown many signs of improvement since then. The year the team has continued to struggle – they were completely shut-out in their first 3 games with a combined score of 140-0.

Last night, however, the team dug down deep and finally broke their 6-year losing streak with a shut-out of their own. They defeated Monroe’s Central Academy of Technology and Arts with a final score of 42-0 (this was also the first time Garinger scored more than 30 points in a game since 2010).

W

A post shared by Garinger High School Football (@garingerfootball) on

Way to go Garinger! Keep it up!

CMS Partnered With Houston Schools To Supply Clothing and Toiletries After Devastating Flooding

Steve
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CMS Partnered With Houston Schools To Supply Clothing and Toiletries After Devastating Flooding

After seeing the devastation from last week’s flooding in the greater Houston area, CMS leaders decided they needed to help.

Last week, CMS’s superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox announced that CMS would be partnering with Houston’s Council of Great City Schools to collect new clothing, toiletries, and other supplies for Houston students that were affected by the flooding from Hurrican Harvey.

“The Houston Independent School District has asked other districts to help it provide new clothes and toiletries for the students displaced by the storm,” commented Dr. Wilcox. “As a district of comparable size, we are uniquely positioned to understand the urgent needs and to respond to this request. We also recognize that a disaster like this could strike us or anyone.”

Every CMS school and various departments around the district collected items from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. The mountains of donations were then centrally organized at the old J.M. Alexander school, where a team of over 150 volunteers (parents, teachers, CMS staff, and community members) spent hours sorting and packing the hundreds of items.

CMS’s donations were shipped Houston yesterday.

Updated Hurricane Tracks Now Indicate That Irma Will Miss The Carolinas

Steve
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Updated Hurricane Tracks Now Indicate That Irma Will Miss The Carolinas

As Hurricane Irma continues to plow through the Carribean, its path is becoming increasingly clear to meteorologists.

There is still some question as to when exactly the monster storm will turn, but most projections are now showing the storm making landfall in the Everglades and staying on Florida’s west coast as it makes its way up toward Georgia and Tennessee.

hurricane-irma-updated-track
via nhc.noaa.gov

The ECMF spaghetti models are also all indicating an either central, west-coast Florida, or gulf track;

via atmos.albany.edu
via atmos.albany.edu

Although given the historic size of Hurricane Irma, the Carolinas (and the rest of the Southeast) will likely see significant rainfall from the storm early next week;

hurricane-irma-not-hitting-the-carolinas

via Weather.com
via Weather.com

It’s still not a guarantee that the storm will turn exactly when predicted and miss the Carolinas – everyone should still keep an eye on the storm as it moves toward Florida.

Please also consider how you might be able to help people of Florida and the Carribean through donations, offering shelter through CouchSurfing.com, or by planning to help with the clean-up efforts in person over the next few weeks.

Here is just some of the devastation that Irma has already caused in the Virgin Islands;

North Carolina’s ‘Land of Oz’ Theme Park Opened This Weekend for ‘Autumn at Oz Festival’

Charlotte Stories
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North Carolina’s ‘Land of Oz’ Theme Park Opened This Weekend for ‘Autumn at Oz Festival’

north carolina land of ozNorth Carolina’s legendary “Land of Oz” theme park in Beach Mountain has brought back all the old characters and reopen all the attractions for a limited time.

Join Dorothy and friends on a journey down the yellow brick road during Land of Oz’s annual Autumn at Oz Festival this weekend (September 9th-10th).

You’ll be able to follow Dorothy through a classic story-line. Escape the ‘cyclone’ and run to the storm cellar and enter into the magic Land of Oz.

Walk through the tilted house or the old witches castle. The park features hundreds of oz-themed props, buildings, and actives for visitors of all ages.

This video from a few years ago gives a little more insight into the historic rise and downfall of ‘The Land of Oz’;

Tickets are $35 and sell out quickly. (Children two and under are admitted free.)

For more information or for tickets you can visit landofoznc.com.

Lowe’s Corporate Is Hand-Packing $1.3 Million Worth Of Supply Buckets For Harvey Victims

Steve
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Lowe’s Corporate Is Hand-Packing $1.3 Million Worth Of Supply Buckets For Harvey Victims

lowes-harvey-donation-event-1

As Houston is recovering from record floods caused by Hurricane Harvey, employees at Lowe’s corporate headquarters in Mooresville are putting together over 20,000 buckets of critical clean-up supplies to send to help with relief efforts.

This week, over 1,000 employees at Lowe’s Mooresville corporate campus worked together to fill the mountains of five-gallon buckets with bleach, cleaning gloves, insect spray, bottled water, and spray bottles (each bucket is worth about $60).

lowes-harvey-donation-event-6-small

The employees split up into 4 “teams” – Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, and Friday afternoon to see which team could pack the most buckets during their 4-hour time slot.

lowes-harvey-donation-event-2-small

I came during the end of the Thursday morning team’s time slot – they had already filled over 5,500 buckets;

lowes-harvey-donation-event-4-small

lowes-harvey-donation-event-3-small

I also spotted Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock joining in with his employees;

lowes-harvey-donation-event-7-small

lowes-harvey-donation-event-8-small

“We’re deeply saddened by the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, so we want to do whatever we can to help the people of Texas begin to recover,” Niblock remarked. “We believe we have a responsibility to help the citizens and homeowners of Texas get back to some sense of normalcy as quickly as possible.”

The total supply donation of over $1.3 million (not including labor or delivery costs), is in addition to the $500,000 Lowe’s donated to the American Red Cross last week. Lowe’s is joined by vendor partners, including Clorox, Pepsi, Cutter, Butler and The Safety Zone, in making this donation.

Charlotte’s 5 Krispy Kreme Donut Shops Are Making Pumpkin Spice Donuts For 1 Day Only

Steve
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Charlotte’s 5 Krispy Kreme Donut Shops Are Making Pumpkin Spice Donuts For 1 Day Only

pumkin-spice-krispy-kremeKrispy Kreme Doughnuts is ushering in autumn with the return of its popular Pumpkin Spice Original Glazed® doughnut for one day only – Friday, Sept. 8. Donut lovers will be able to enjoy the seasonal transformation of the classic Original Glazed donut at all Charlotte locations.

“As guests anticipate the crisp return of fall, we’re offering the taste of the season they’re craving – served fresh, the Krispy Kreme way,” said Jackie Woodward, Chief Marketing Officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. “The Original Glazed doughnut is a delicious treat on its own. By adding the subtle flavor of pumpkin spice, our guests can enjoy a one-of-a-kind fall indulgence.”

The Pumpkin Spice Original Glazed doughnut is the same Original Glazed doughnut that Krispy Kreme customers know and love, but with a hint of cinnamon and pumpkin spice flavor, transforming the classic into the perfect fall treat.

All 5 Krispy Kreme locations throughout the Charlotte region will be carrying the fall treat tomorrow;

charlotte-krispy-kreme-locations

Over 58,000 People Have Joined Together To Attempt To Re-Direct Hurricane Irma Using Fans

Steve
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Over 58,000 People Have Joined Together To Attempt To Re-Direct Hurricane Irma Using Fans

Category 5 Hurricane Irma is currently making its way across a string of Caribbean islands toward the US mainland. Depending on what the storm does over the next 2 days, there is still a chance it could miss the US mainland altogether and travel North-East back out to sea.

Several people decided to start an online campaign to help encourage the storm to take that more easterly path using a rather ridiculous method – electric fans…a lot of them.

Earlier this week Joshua Stanaland created a Facebook event titled “Everybody Points Their Fans At The Hurricane To Blow It Away“, which has since gone viral – dozens of news stations have already covered the idea and there are now over 58,000 people committed to pointing their fans at the storm.

The Facebook event includes the following instructions:

“Everyone takes their fans outside and points them at Hurricane Irma to blow it away from us. Air compressors with a blow gun attachment also a plus, or anything else. Get creative. Date/time subject to change due to the unpredictable path it may take.

*Not responsible for any collapsed lungs should you choose to blow manually.”

The event is scheduled to run from September 7th through September 13th.

Pictures and videos of people pointing fans at the storm have been flooding social media all day;

Doing my part! #unitedwefan #irma #hurricaneirma

A post shared by Micaiah Wells (@micaiahwells) on

Barbara Simo Manzano even said she is getting the University of Miami involved by using their high-velocity industrial fans;

“We have the Wall of Wind (WoW) in the Engineering Center at the University where I work in Miami. This should do it. #wow #FIU #hurricaneresearch”

blowing-hurricane-irma-using-fans

Meteorologists are doubtful the fans will have any effect on the storm, even with 58,000 people participating. Hurricane Irma has sustained wind speed speeds of 150mph, and it’s the size of Texas.

In all seriousness, if you are in the projected path of Hurricane Irma, please make sure you are prepared to either seek shelter or evacuate.

According to the National Hurricane Center, this is the most recent project of Irma’s path;

unitedwefan-hurricane-irma

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