City of Concord Just Approved $1.3 Million Greenway Extension To The Carolina Thread Trail

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The City of Concord has just approved a new $1.3 million greenway extension near Corban Ave. and Branchview Dr.

The 1.17 mile extension will The Harold B. McEachern Greenway on the other side of Cabarrus Ave:

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The greenway winds along the Threemile Branch Creek as it winds along side Branchview Dr.

The new McEachern Greenway extension will fully connect downtown Concord with McGee Park and the Les Myers Greenway, joining to the Carolina Thread Trail.

Beautiful morning for 5 miles on the Greenway! #concordnc #mceacherngreenway #runhappy

A photo posted by Marc Van Brunt (@marc.e.marc) on

Would you like to continue to see more greenway development around Concord?

Four NC Women Were Arrested For Anti-Trump Graffiti

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north-carolina-trump-vandalismFour women were arrested for vandalizing several businesses and a police car in Boone, NC.

The women spray-painted several vulgar and extreme statements about President Donald Trump shortly before 4 a.m. Friday night.

police-car-trump-graphittiThey walked along along King Street and continued damaging buildings, signs and even a police patrol car.

Taryn Bledsoe, 22, Julia Grainger, 22, Elizabeth Prier, 22, and Hannah Seay, 21, have now been charged with seven counts of misdemeanor graffiti vandalism and one count of misdemeanor damage to personal property.

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They were issued a $1,500 bail and ordered to appear before the Watauga District Court on March 1st.

It’s now estimated that the vandalism caused upwards of $10,000 in damages.

City of Charlotte Cancels $175 Million Major League Soccer Deal in Elizabeth Neighborhood

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rendering of the new MLS stadium
rendering of the new MLS stadium

Tensions ran high this week as the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg county moved closer and closer to approving the new $175 million MLS stadium contract, which would essentially replace Memorial Stadium and the Grady Cole Center in Elizabeth and bring a Major League Soccer team to our city for the first time in history.

The deal called for the city and county to each give $43.75 million to Marcus Smith and his team, with another $75 million being financed by the county, to be paid back over the next 25 years.

Proponents of the deal argued that joining the league would add Charlotte to a growing, international soccer community, increase development around the new stadium, and attract more talent into an increasingly globalized city.

Those who protested the deal said the process was rushed and incomplete, and many asked why a billionaire family should get nearly $120 million of county money while other county needs were being ignored. Many people also felt that Memorial Stadium needs to be preserved as a historical landmark in our city.
Yesterday morning, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 5-3 Thursday to approve the deal, but moments later, the City of Charlotte announced that it was shutting down the deal:

“We are canceling the City Council Friday 4 p.m. meeting scheduled to discuss the MLS deal. Over the past several days, we have been discussing this opportunity, and while this is very promising, it is clear that we are not prepared to move forward at this time on the current soccer proposal.

“The Council is interested in a future opportunity to pursue Major League Soccer with more information and time to allow for interactive dialogue with the community and appropriate due diligence on our part.

“Any major decision we make needs to be considered as part of the bigger picture as we serve our entire community. Continued partnerships with sports positively impacts many of the initiatives we are working on, and we need to be diligent in planning a future where everyone wins. We very much look forward to continued discussions.”

How do you feel about the new stadium deal? 

Do you think the city should have moved forward with it? 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

 

The Cause of Last Night’s Massive ‘Boom’ Captured By Huntersville Man’s Security Camera

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Local meteorologists are now thinking that low-reaching meteors could be the cause of the recent ‘booms’ that Mount Holly residents have been hearing. One of those fireball meteors lit up the sky early Wednesday morning and was caught on film in Huntersville.

Rob Swanson recorded the entire event on his outdoor security camera last night at around 4 a.m.:

The fireball meteor was also seen in several surrounding states. The American Meteor Society has already received 25 reports of last night’s fireball. “The fireball was seen primarily from North and South Carolina but witnesses from Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland also reported the event.”

charlotte-fireball

According to AMS, “The preliminary estimated trajectory plotted from the witness reports shows the meteor was traveling from the Northeast to the Southwest and ended its flight south of Rock Hill, South Carolina.”

Local meteorologist Brad Panovich noted that meteors aren’t that uncommon, but fact that it was very low in the sky and the amount of time it was seen is what makes last night’s sighting it unique.

He also noted that it most likely caused a loud boom last night, and could have been the cause of recent unexplained booms heard in Mount Holly. “If it got that low we would have heard a boom or explosion as it got lower in the atmosphere.”

Another massive meteor was captured on film by a local Charlotte resident just this past September – how many more may have fallen since then that may not have been spotted?

Mount Holly residents have been asking a lot of questions recently about several loud booms that started over a week ago. The Mount Holly police chief was able to attributed one of the booms to a train rolling through town, and another as a high-atmospheric weather event.

But there was no explanation for a loud boom reported Jan. 17 – a boom so loud that it rattled several houses and caused over 30 residents to call 911.

This Russian Youtube shows how loud a low-flying meteor can be:

Do you think the Mount Holly ‘boom’ heard on January 17th, was a large meteor?

Illegal Squatters Have Taken Over This North Charlotte Home

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squatters-have-now-taken-over-this-north-charlotte-homeA North Charlotte homeowner is now in middle of a lengthy legal battle, attempting to remove unauthorized ‘squatters’ from her house.

Andrea Archie and her two daughters are technically now ‘squatting’ in the North Charlotte home, but she said she had no idea she was doing anything wrong when she first moved in.

Back in January a man in her old neighborhood approached her and asked if she wanted to rent the home, the man brought her to the home, opened the lock box, then presented her with a fake lease. She signed it, put the utilities in her name, and moved in.

It turns out that the man, Alvin Stout, was a con-artist who apparently had joined the lock-box service in order to gain access to the home. Alvin has a long criminal record in Charlotte, including drug possession and maintaining a dwelling to sell drugs.

Andrea and her family now plan on staying in the home for as long as they can while the legal battle plays out. She told reporters that after paying over $1,000 in security deposit, rent, and utilities, she doesn’t have enough money to move anywhere else.

Find out more about the case here on WCCB.

Uptown’s Biggest Gallerys Are Hosting A Gallery Crawl This Week – And It’s Free

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uptown-charlotte-museumsThis coming Thursday evening, the Charlotte Center City Partners are paying for Charlotte residents to explore Uptown’s arts and culture scene for free from 6-9 p.m.

They’ll let you start your own tour at any of the featured venues, then travel freely between the stops by foot or a free trolley ride, they will be running for the duration of the event.

The participating galleries will include:

Mint Museum UPTOWN
New Gallery of Modern Art
Wells Fargo History Museum
Sozo Gallery
Levine Museum of the New South
Projective Eye Gallery @ UNC Charlotte Center City
Goodyear Arts

Find out more or RSVP on the Facebook event here.

Please spread the word! 

Accidents on I-77 Have Been Steadily Increasing Since Toll Lane Construction Started

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Ever since construction started on the I-77 toll lanes between Charlotte and Mooresville, there has been a steady increase in accidents in both the north and south bound lanes.

According to the NCDOT, the number of crashes between Exit 23 and Exit 36 is up up 7.8% between January-October 2016 (compared with the same time period in 2015). There were a total of 619 accidents, up from 574 in 2015.

Based on the pictures and reports on social media I’ve been finding after October of 2016, my guess is that number has exponentially increased

Here are just a few of the accidents that have occurred near the toll road construction on I-77 since October 2016:

Jan. 21st, 2017 via Huntersville Fire Dept. 

accident-on-i-77-due-to-toll-roads8

Jan. 14th, 2017 via John R McAlpine V Mac*

jan-14th-via-john-r-mcalpine-v-mac

January 13th, 2017 via Morgan Feldon*

accident-on-i-77-due-to-toll-roads

Same accident via Huntersville Fire Dept.

accident-on-i-77-due-to-toll-roads3

Dec. 17th, 2017 via Garry Stanley

accident-on-i-77-due-to-toll-roads6

Nov. 21st, 2017 via WBTV

accident-on-i-77-due-to-toll-roads4

It may not be a surprise that accidents have increased since the toll roads started in Nov. 2015 (since they narrowed the lanes and eliminated the shoulders), but many are surprised that the numbers continue to rise.

It may be due to the steady increase in development in Charlotte and around Lake Norman, as more and more people continue to try to cram onto the two-lane highway.

Another problem that many Lake Norman city leaders have noted is the lack of posted ‘construction zone speed limits’. Since the toll road construction started, the DOT and Cintra’s I77 Mobility Partners had the option to designate it a work zone, which would have decreased the maximum speed and increase penalties for breaking the speed limit.

But Cintra and the NCDOT have decided to only briefly implement work-zone speed limits during full lane closures or shifts – outside of that, the normal speed limit of 65 still remains.

What do you think about the toll lane construction? 

How do you think more accidents could be prevented?

Gas Pumps Credit Card Machine Tampered With At Charlotte Area 7-Eleven

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16143740_1251883424878931_769620286705075016_oAn employee discovered some fishy-looking wiring at an Indian Trail 7-Eleven while doing some routine maintenance. The store manager immediately called the police when he realized they had been tampered with.

According to the Union County Sheriff’s Department, “deputies responded to the 7-11 located at 304 Unionville-Indian Trail Road in Indian Trail concerning fraud involving at least two of the gas pumps.

During routine maintenance, an employee discovered compromised integrity seals on the pump and further located unusual data ribbon cables attached to the pump’s data board. As of this writing, deputies are not aware of any credit/debit cards that might have been intercepted but encourage citizens who purchased fuel at this location over the past few days to check their credit card or bank card activity to verify recent activity.”

The 7-Eleven where the compromised credit card scanner was discovered is located at 304 Unionville Indian Trail Rd in Indian Trail, NC.

indian-trail-7-11

Deputies are now asking drivers who bought fuel there to check their credit card or bank card activity to verify recent activity.

Sale Of Ballantyne Corporate Park Could Be Largest Real Estate Transaction in Charlotte’s History

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ballantyne-corporate-parkIn the early 90s, the Ballantyne Corporate Park became one of the largest developments in Charlotte’s history and it might soon become the largest real estate sale in Charlotte’s history.

The CEO of the Bissell Company, Ned Curran, put out a statement last September, stating that the company was looking for “strategic alternatives” moving forward. There have since been rumors that New York-based Northwood Investors (parent company of Northwood Ravin, who built The Vue) have been looking at buying the entire Ballantyne Corporate Park.

Over the past few months, Northwood has filed numerous new corporate entities in North Carolina, each of which corresponds to a specific Ballantyne property, such as; NW Brixham Green One LP (named after Ballantyne’s Brixham Green One building), NW Brixham Green Two LP (named after Ballantyne’s Brixham Green Two building), NW Brixham Green Three LP (named after Ballantyne’s Brixham Green Three building), NW Brigham Building (named after Ballantyne’s Brigham Building), etc.

The entire 535 acre Ballantyne Coporate park includes over 4.5 million square feet of office space, 4 hotels with a total of almost 600 rooms, an award winning golf course, and over 400,000 square feet of retail space.

Using current commercial sales data for the Charlotte region, we calculated that the entire Ballantyne corporate park could now be worth upwards of $1.5 billion.

If the entire corporate park was sold for anywhere near that number, it would go down in the record books as the largest single real estate transaction in Charlotte’s history.

Both Northwood Investors and Bissell declined to comment.

We will update this article as new information comes in.

New South Carolina Law Will Fine People Up To $10,000 For Harming Police Dogs

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This past week, the SC Senate approved the new bill that drastically increases the penalties for anyone found guilt of abusing police service animals. According to the new bill, anyone found guilt of killing a police dog or horse will face up to 10 years in prison and/or face fines in excess of $10,000.

The new bill also stipulates that “if a person is convicted under this section, that person may be required to complete up to five hundred (500) hours of community service for an animal-related organization or foundation.”

The bill is being backed by many of the palmetto state’s top law enforcement agencies. Robert Stewart, speaking on behalf of South Carolina’s Fraternal Order of Police, said the trained animals are “invaluable” to law enforcement.

According to Stewart, there were at least 10 trained K-9s killed in 2016.

“What we’re attempting to do here is have more of a deterrent of this activity of hurting and killing these animals,” Stewart commented.

The bill is now expected to be heard before the full Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources next week.

Do you support this new bill?