Cell Phone Video Of Fight Between Kid And Elderly Man in Charlotte Now Going Viral

Charlotte Stories
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Cell Phone Video Of Fight Between Kid And Elderly Man in Charlotte Now Going Viral

charlotte-fight-at-transit-centerThis past Friday, Johnson and Wales University student Solomon Gilliam posted a video he took on his cell phone of a fist fight between an elderly man and a young man in his 20s at the Charlotte Transit Center in Uptown.

The young man seems determined to hurt the old man, but several bystandards continue to intervene, then at about 2:50 minutes into the video, the young man gets a truly shocking surprise:

 

The video has already been viewed over 9 million times and shared over 140,000 times in less than 4 days (original post here).

An important lesson in what could happen if you don’t respect your elders!

New Charlotte-Based Retailer About To Close All 323 Of Its Stores Nationwide

Charlotte Stories
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New Charlotte-Based Retailer About To Close All 323 Of Its Stores Nationwide

dollar-general-buying-dollar-expressThe Dollar General just announced that it is buying the entire North Carolina-based Dollar Express Company and plans on shutting down or re-branding all 323 stores in the chain.

Dollar Express is the first dollar-store chain owned by Sycamore Partners – who also own Belk, Coldwater Creek, Hot Topic, and others. The private equity firm quietly purchased 323 Family Dollar stores in August of 2015, and was working on plans to re-brand the stores from Family Dollars to Dollar Expresses before their recent decision to give up and sell to the Dollar General.

According to their recent sale application with the FCC, Sycamore Partners noted that Dollar Express “can no longer operate as a viable standalone business” due to “changes in competitive conditions since the purchase.”

The employees at the two Charlotte-area Dollar Express stores (1437 E. Sugar Creek Road and 5300 South Blvd) will most likely lose their jobs after the stores are sold and shut down.

Cornelius Approved Adding Over 89 Miles of Bike Lanes And Paths All Around Town

Katherine Miele
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Cornelius Approved Adding Over 89 Miles of Bike Lanes And Paths All Around Town

Cornelius town leaders recently voted to approve the new Bike Cornelius! master plan, which calls for a vast expansion of bike lanes and educational programs and events throughout the area.

Cornelius now has about 2 miles of on-street bike paths and 6 miles of greenways and cross-through trails. The new Bike Cornelius! plan will expand those numbers to include over 97.4 miles of paths and trails.

bike-cornelius-master-plan

It specifically calls for 12 major projects, including five immediate bike paths added on West Catawba, Washam Potts, Westmoreland, Nantz, Hwy 115, Torrence Chapel, and Hwy 21. It also calls for longer term projects include adding bike lanes on Bailey Road to connect to the greenway, and adding cycle tracks to West Catawba included in the new road widening project.

While most residents are in favor of adding new biking options to the town, some proponents argue that adding more bike lanes will only add to the traffic congestion on the town’s already busy roads.

How do you feel about the new Bike Cornelius! master plan?

Local County Workers See 9th Highest Wage Growth In America

Katherine Miele
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Local County Workers See 9th Highest Wage Growth In America

charlotte area county workersCatawba County workers are now seeing their earnings increase at the 9th highest rate in the country.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s latest report, Catawba gave their employees 8.9% more than last year, and this isn’t the only county in the Charlotte metro area that’s paying employees comparatively high wages.

Mecklenburg County also outpaced the rest of North Carolina, increasing the wages to their employees by 6.8% to $1,204 per week on average – ranking #36 in the country.

The Raleigh area, in contrast, posted surprisingly low numbers – Durham and Wake counties both came in at #218 nationally (out of 343 counties), showing an increase of only 4.2% year-over-year.

Mecklenburg County also ranked among the top in the nation for hiring – with a 4% increase in employees. That was 33rd highest among the America’s largest counties, according to the BLS figures – York County did even better, with a 4.5% growth rate, and ranking at#18 nationally.

All of the counties in the Charlotte metro region are expected to continue their hiring surges as our region continues to improve – if you’d like to browse all job openings around the Charlotte region click here.

Please share;

Cam Newton Just Flew 7 Make-A-Wish Kids Into Charlotte For An Unforgettable Weekend

Charlotte Stories
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Cam Newton Just Flew 7 Make-A-Wish Kids Into Charlotte For An Unforgettable Weekend

Cameron Newton just flew 7 Make-A-Wish kids into Charlotte for the Knights home opener weekend. The Cam Newton Foundation paid for the who trip, giving the precious terminally ill children a truly unforgettable day.

Today was also Cam’s first public appearance since he underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder last week on March 29.

Here’s a video of the first pitch being thrown:

CJ, Carmella, Jordan, James, Precious, and Todd all joined Newton on the field for the Knight’s ceremonial first pitch:

Lake Norman’s Nuclear Power Plant About To Test Its Sirens

Charlotte Stories
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Lake Norman’s Nuclear Power Plant About To Test Its Sirens
via Duke-Energy.com
via Duke-Energy.com

Lake Norman’s McGuire Nuclear Station is about to test their entire siren system next week on Wednesday, April 12, at approximately 11:50 a.m. in the morning.

There will be a total of 67 sirens within 10 miles of the nuclear station that will go off for exactly three minutes to make sure each siren works properly. This full-cycle siren test is required once every quarter in cooperation with emergency officials in Mecklenburg, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and Catawba counties.

Here is a video clip of the siren that went off a few years ago:

The sirens are meant to be a warning signal to all residents in audible range to tune in to their local TV or radio stations for further information or instruction – the sirens are not meant to be an automatic evacuation alarm.

HGTV’s House Hunters Looking For Home Buyers For A New Charlotte Episode

Steve
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HGTV’s House Hunters Looking For Home Buyers For A New Charlotte Episode

house-hunters-coming-to-charlotteHGTV has announced they’re now looking for prospective home buyers in Charlotte to be filmed for an upcoming episode of their hit show ‘House Hunters‘.

The realty show takes viewers behind the scenes as your family tours a variety of different homes to decide which house will become your new home.

They’re specifically looking for fun personalities and interesting stories. Ideal candidates should have children between the ages of 7 and 16. In their press release they noted, “If your kids are excited and opinionated about your move, we want to meet you!”

If you’re interested in appearing on the show or know
someone who fits the above description, you can apply here.

Amazon Just Announced They’ll Be Hiring 5,000 At-Home Employees

Charlotte Stories
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Amazon Just Announced They’ll Be Hiring 5,000 At-Home Employees

amazon-building-in-concordOnline retail giant Amazon just announced this past week new plans to add 30,000 part-time positions in the U.S. over the next 12 months, which will include 5,000 jobs in their ‘Virtual Customer Service’ department.

This would allow people to work from virtually anywhere with an internet connection, and if you work at least 20 hours, you can be eligible for benefits.

“There are lots of people who want or need a flexible job — whether they’re a military spouse, a college student, or a parent — and we’re happy to empower these talented people no matter where they happen to live,” commented Tom Weiland, Amazon’s vice president for worldwide customer service, in a statement.

This new part-time hiring spree is part of an even larger employment surge by the retailer. Back in January, Amazon announced the addition of 100,000 full-time jobs over the next 18 months – primarily within fulfillment centers.

Over the last several years Amazon has seen some truly historic employment growth. In 2011, Amazon had just over 56,000 full- and part-time employees – now, at the end of 2016, that number was over 341,000.

Amazon’s incredible growth has had a major impact on the US retail industry, which now accounts for 1 in every 10 workers in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

You can browse all ‘virtual’ positions on Amazon’s career site here.

Former Disney Ride Designer Now Building A New Theme Park In North Carolina

Steve
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Former Disney Ride Designer Now Building A New Theme Park In North Carolina

whirlygig-woods-theme-park-north-carolina

A world-famous Disney theme park designer is now planning on building a new theme park in our state called “Whirligig Woods”.

The new park will be located on a 21-acre piece of land on the Haw River in the little town of Saxapahaw, NC;

new-theme-park-in-north-carolina

The man behind the new park is former Disney Imagineer Bob Baranick, who has spent his entire career building fantasy mountains, themed water slides, winding railroads, and dozens of other rides in California’s Disneyland, Disney World’s Epcot, and Universal Studios.

Here is a recent interview he did with WTVD;

The new “VIP experience” theme park will cost about $25 for adults and less for children’s admission.

Baranick and his team now plan on breaking ground in about 6 months.

Are you excited about Whirligig Woods?

State of North Carolina Suspended Gaston County Town – Taking Its Money and Canceling Elections

Charlotte Stories
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State of North Carolina Suspended Gaston County Town – Taking Its Money and Canceling Elections

spencer-mountain-ncThe town of Spencer Mountain, NC is now officially suspended, meaning that its town charter has been revoked and “all monies and assets held by the Town of Spencer Mountain shall be placed under the control of the State Treasurer”, according to HB1143.

Spencer Mountain was originally settled in 1772 by Zachariah Spencer. In 1874, J. Harvey Wilson II built a water-powered textile mill (Wilson & Moore Cotton Mill) at the base of Spencer Mountain. A predecessor of Duke Power purchased the mill and the hydroelectric plant that powered it in 1926, and was eventually shut down in 1999.

The town of Spencer Mountain was incorporated by the state of North Carolina in 1963, allowing it’s citizens freedom to hold elections, pass laws, and collect and use city taxes.

According to the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 37. The median income for a household in the town was $32,143, and the median income for a family was $32,143. Males had a median income of $32,083 versus $18,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,848. There were no families and 1.3% of the population living below the poverty line, including none under 18 and none of those over 64.

Last year, only two residents remained living in the town, Chase and Alice White; who voted themselves in as mayor and councilwoman in 2015. In an article published last year, USA Today noted, “a closed down store, a haunted mansion, a church and one house are all that remain in the half-square mile town.”

In May of last year, a bill was introduced by NC Representative Torbett that would effectively shut down the town – a bill that will forever be known on the streets of Spencer Mountain as ‘HB1143’. A little over a month later, on June 28th, 2016, House Bill 1143 was officially ratified, spelling doom for the little struggling town.

Chase and Alice White will still remain mayor and council person of the town until their term ends later this year, but their town’s funds have already been transferred to the state treasury, and now that the town’s charter has been revoked, no more elections can be held.

What do you think about HB1143? Do you think North Carolina should reinstate Spencer Mountain’s town charter? 

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