Police Are Asking For Help Identifying An SUV Involved In A Deadly Hit And Run

Steve
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Police Are Asking For Help Identifying An SUV Involved In A Deadly Hit And Run

wanda-sue-hearn-hit-and-run

On Friday night at roughly 9:45pm, Wanda Sue Hearn was struck and killed by a dark-colored SUV. The driver then quickly sped away from the scene on Court Drive in Gastonia:

hit-and-run-gastonia

Police are now asking for the public’s help in locating the vehicle. The official BOLO (be on the lookout) from the police states that the vehicle is believed to be a Burgundy 2010-2012 GMC Acadia SUV (there should be damage damage to the front right headlamp, fog light, and/or bumper):

- not actual vehicle -
– not actual vehicle –

This video was taken of her brother immediately after the incident (he was walking with her when the SUV hit his sister):

Police are asking anyone who may have seen the incident or who might have additional information to contact Officer J. Ewers with the Gastonia Police Department at 704-866-6702.

Hearn’s family just launched a GoFundMe page for her funeral costs (donate here), which states:

“I’m in desperate need of help for my mother in law, she was hit from behind last night, her and her brother were walking to dollar general around 9 when a vehicle came from behind and hit her so hard it knocked her shoes off an killed her instantly she was a good kind caring loving mother an a grandmaw to her first granchild I need help with her funeral cost her name Wanda Sue Hearn rip we love you.”

Please help spread the word.

Charlotte Area Man Nominated As CNN Hero of the Year Finalist

Steve
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Charlotte Area Man Nominated As CNN Hero of the Year Finalist

harry-swimmer-cnn-heroLocal Weddington resident Harry Swimmer has just been named a top 10 global finalist for CNN’s Hero of The Year Award (you can vote for him here).

20 years ago Harry met a girl with cerebral palsy and offered her a free ride on one of his horses.

“I wondered what might happen if I put her on a horse,” commented Swimmer. “She just lit up like a candle. That’s when I knew what I wanted to do.”

Soon after that initial encounter, he and his wife decided to turn their lucrative for-profit horse farm into a nonprofit getaway for children with special needs:

Since 1994, the Swimmer’s farm has hosted over 700 children with special needs, if you’d like to volunteer, you can visit the Misty Meadows Mitey Riders website to find out more.

The Swimmer family also hosts the globally televised DrumSTRONG event on the same Weddington farm each year to raise money to fight cancer.

Please share and tell everyone to vote for Harry!

3 Charlotte Area Counties Report Voting Machines Picking Wrong Candidates

Steve
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3 Charlotte Area Counties Report Voting Machines Picking Wrong Candidates

NC’s election board has just reported a high number of complaints about electronic voting machine errors and wrong selections.

State Board of Elections spokesman Pat Gannon commented this week that the complaints involved touch-screen machines used for early voting. He noted that the complaints only came from 5 out of the 100 North Carolina counties, including:

  • Cumberland
  • New Hanover
  • Iredell
  • Mecklenburg
  • Catawba

The complaints noted that the machines wrongly identified a voter’s choice, but in all reported cases, the voters were able to correct their ballots before casting them.

“To my knowledge, at this point, we don’t have any cases where elections officials noted significant problems with any machines based on these complaints. Of course they’re all looked into and that’s why we encourage people to immediately flag down an election official,” commented Gannon.

Here’s a video from Virginia showing a touch-screen voting machine malfunctioning:

CBS’s affiliate WFMY-TV in Greensboro just released this report:

The NC State Board Of Election released the following statement regarding the complaints:

The N.C. State Board of Elections is aware that some voters have contacted advocacy groups or elections officials with concerns about touch-screen voting machines in several counties.

Similar reports have been made in recent elections, and we take them very seriously.

We want to ensure voters that safeguards are in place to ensure touch-screen machines accurately record voters’ selections.

Touch-screen machines are tested thoroughly before each election. They are recalibrated daily before voting begins to test and ensure accuracy. If a voter notices an issue with selection accuracy of a machine, they should raise their hand and notify an election official immediately. If needed, the machine may be taken out of service for recalibration, and the voter may be moved to a different machine.

Also, each touch-screen machine prompts voters to review their selections before casting their ballot. As with paper ballots, voters should check over their selections to ensure accuracy prior to casting their ballot. On touch-screen machines, voters also can review a real-time audit log that records all of their selections.

“We urge all voters to carefully review their selections before casting their ballots, and to immediately report any questions or concerns to elections officials,” said Kim Westbrook Strach, executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections.

Top 10 Best Thing To Do Around Charlotte This Weekend

Steve
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Top 10 Best Thing To Do Around Charlotte This Weekend

This weekend is going to be incredible! There will be live music, sports, festivals, and tons of costume parties!

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

#1 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics

The 2016 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions will be coming to Charlotte this month on October 28th. The event will showcase gymnasts from the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, along with well-known names from the sport. They will be performing at the Spectrum Center (formerly Time Warner Cable Arena) in Uptown.

For tickets or more information click here.

#2 Grave Diggers Ball

grave-diggers-ballKiss 95.1 Grave Diggers Ball turns the Queen City into the Scream City every October with the area’s largest costume contest, DJs and live music performances by chart-topping acts.

For more information click here.

#3 World of Outlaws World Finals

The most prestigious dirt racing event in the country, the Oct. 27-29 Bad Boy World of Outlaws World Finals brings together the top series in the sport, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Big-Block Modifieds of the Super DIRTcar Series, for a full weekend of racing culminating in the crowning of all three series champions.

For more info or tickets click here.

#4 Fall Crawl Cankerworm Festival

fall-crawl-festival

 

Plaza Midwood is hosting their twelfth annual Fall Crawl Festival this coming Saturday in Midwood Park, with live music, food, games, and tons of kids activities from 12:30 until 6:00 pm.

For more info click here.

#5 Charlotte Hornets vs. Boston Celtics

hornets-vs-heat-charlotte

This coming Saturday night, two of the most legendary basketball teams of all time (we may be biased) will be facing off in the Queen City.

Click here for tickets or more info.

#6 Sugar Creek Brewing 2 Year Anniversary Party

carnival-fire-breather

Join Sugar Creek Brewing Co. Saturday, October 29th for a carnival themed party, with food trucks, fire breathers, live music, music, movies, games and entertainment for the kiddos.

For more info click here.

#7 Carolina Renaissance Festival

charlotte-rennaisance-festival

The annual Carolina Renaissance Festival continues this weekend. There will be tons of shows, arts and crafts, games and rides, jousting knights on horseback, feasting and so much more! Time travel to the greatest party since Camelot!

Click here for more info.

#8 First Date in Charlotte

first-date-in-charlotte

Featuring a set hand-crafted and designed exclusively for the Charlotte production, FIRST DATE tells the story of when Aaron meets Casey and a casual drink turns into a hilarious high-stakes dinner. Can this couple turn a dating disaster into something special before the check arrives? There will be several show times throughout this weekend at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

For tickets or more info click here.

#9 Carolina Panthers vs Arizona Cardinals

panthers stadium charlotte

The Panther’s next home game will be this Sunday at the Bank of America Stadium. They’ll be taking on the Arizona Cardinals – hopefully they can start turning this season around!

Tickets are still available here (starting at $41 each).

#10 Tour North Carolina’s Best Fall Colors

best-place-to-see-fall-colors-in-north-carolina

The most beautiful colors are now on display in most parts of our state. The blue ridge parkways is at peak stage at medium elevations, and the lower elevations around North Carolina are just now starting to show color.

Check out our Top 10 Best Places To See Fall Colors Around North Carolina list here.

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

Concord-based ACN Just Launched Its First Japanese Headquarters

Steve Peters
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Concord-based ACN Just Launched Its First Japanese Headquarters

acn concord headquartersConcord-based ACN, Inc., the world’s largest direct seller of telecommunications, energy and consumer goods, just made history with the launch of its 25th country, Japan.

ACN opened its Japan headquarters in the Minato neighborhood of Tokyo in mid July – providing a meeting space, a call center, corporate offices and a product storefront.

This will allow ACN to provide service and support locally to current and future sales representatives and customers in the Asian market.

ACN Japan will initially focus on selling its Benevita product line – a premium lifestyle brand that provides nutrition and weight-loss products, before it will attempt to break into the Japanese utility market.

“As the fifth largest direct selling market worldwide, Japan was incredibly appealing to us,” said ACN President and Co-Founder Greg Provenzano. “But it was the people that sealed the deal when selecting Japan to continue our Asian expansion.”

ACN also recently launched their new mobile platform for both sales representatives and consumers – a huge competitive advantage over any other direct sales brand.

Charlotte Was Named As A Potential City For A New MLB Team

Charlotte Stories
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Charlotte Was Named As A Potential City For A New MLB Team

bb&t uptown charlotte ballpark2Major league baseball might soon come to Charlotte!

Well, “soon” might be a bit of a stretch…the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, did name Charlotte on a short list of possible expansion cities, but the reality is that even if we are picked, it might not come for 10-20 more years.

His new list included; Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Mexico City, Portland, Las Vegas, Montreal and San Antonio as possible sites for future baseball expansion cities.

In Charlotte, reactions have been tempered with a dose of reality.

“It takes deep pockets and it takes the right site. The Knights have seen a big attendance spike now in their second season playing uptown. However, the major league is literally a different ball game.” Charlotte Knights General Manager Scotty Brown commented in reaction to the announcement.

What do you think about a new MLB team in Charlotte?

Tempur-Pedic Just Partnered With Beds For Kids To Help Over 100 Children in Charlotte

Steve
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Tempur-Pedic Just Partnered With Beds For Kids To Help Over 100 Children in Charlotte

Local Charlotte charity Beds for Kids has just received one of its biggest donations yet – 100 new mattresses Tempur-Pedic mattresses to be given directly to children in need here in our city.

The donation corresponds to Tempur-Pedic’s new flagship store in the SouthPark Mall (1 of only 4 flagship stores in the nation). They figured that since they’re new to the community, they’d do what they could to extend a helping hand to some of their newest neighbors.

I had the chance to speak with the director of Beds for Kids as well as Tempur-Pedic’s representative about today’s donation:

If you’d like to donate items to Beds for Kids, or help out in any other way, you can visit their website at BedsForKids.org

Please share:

Cabo Fish Taco in NoDa Broken Into For The Third Time This Year

Steve
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Cabo Fish Taco in NoDa Broken Into For The Third Time This Year
cabo-fish-taco-breakin
screen shot from Cabo’s security camera footage

Cabo Fish Taco has already been broken into 3 times this year, the last time was back in  June – when 4 separate businesses were broken into and owners began to take the law into their own hands.

No one was ever caught from any of the break-ins, and police have still not determined if any of the robberies were related.

This past weekend, Cabo Fish Taco was robbed again, with the thieve getting caught on surveillance video multiple times.

He was able to escape with cash, iPads, credit cards, and two bottles of liquor.

The police have now relaunched their investigation into this year’s NoDa break-ins, and they’ve increased patrol cars inNoDa.

If you have any information that might lead to an arrest, please contact crime stoppers at (704) 334-1600.

North Carolina Healthcare Plans Will Rise By Over 24% Due To Obamacare

Steve
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North Carolina Healthcare Plans Will Rise By Over 24% Due To Obamacare

CMC - South Park - Urgent CareThe price of certain health care plans sold on what’s now called the “Obamacare” exchange will rise by double digits across the nation, and by over 24% here in the Tar Heel state (a key battleground state in the upcoming elections).

In North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina announced announced that they will be increasing premiums for Affordable Care Act plans on the individual market by an average 24.3 percent for 2017.

President Obama spoke in Florida about the new hikes:

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called the law a “full-fledged train wreck which has worsened our health care system” and urged voters to “hold Democrats in Congress who passed this destructive law accountable” by electing Republicans in various races.

The spike is largely due to the extra burden of unusually high numbers of sick ACA owners, many insurers have been dropping out while the rest are struggling to cover their costs.

The Obama administration has attempted to hush the announcement by telling people that most exchange enrollees will also see their tax subsidies increase to counter the increases in premiums (although in North Carolina, it’s unlikely that anyone will see subsidies high enough to outweigh 24%+ premium hikes).

“We think [consumers] will ultimately be surprised by the affordability of the product,” said Kevin Griffis, assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services.

What do you think about the rate hikes and about Obamacare in general?

The Best Gymnasts In The World Are Coming To Charlotte

Steve
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The Best Gymnasts In The World Are Coming To Charlotte

kellog-tour-of-champions-charlotteThe 2016 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions will be coming to Charlotte this month on October 28th. The event will showcase gymnasts from the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, along with well-known names from the sport. They will be performing at the Spectrum Center (formerly Time Warner Cable Arena) in Uptown.

“This is going to be the best show we have ever produced,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “We will celebrate our athletes’ success in Rio, as well as what gymnastics means to kids and fans of all ages. This will be a special opportunity to see the USA’s best-known and well-loved gymnasts.”

“The stars of USA Gymnastics started every morning with a dream, hitting the gym and working to achieve their full potential. They have inspired and delighted fans with their hard work and dazzling performances,” said Jeremy Harper, senior director of marketing for Kellogg Morning Foods. “Maybe we’ll help inspire future gymnasts to start their own Olympic journey.”

For tickets or more information click here.

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