2 People Confirmed Dead After Landslide Destroyed North Carolina Home

Steve
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2 People Confirmed Dead After Landslide Destroyed North Carolina Home

Two people have now been confirmed dead after a landslide destroyed their home, according to Watauga County officials.

The Boone Fire Department now thinks the landslide may have ruptured a gas line due to the lack of flame arresters at the home on Pine Ridge Dr., leveling the home in a firey explosion at about 5pm yesterday evening;

Over 20 different emergency agencies assisted in the search last night and are continuing to help with the cleanup today, including;

  • Boone Fire Department
  • Boone Police Department
  • Blowing Rock Fire Department
  • Blowing Rock Police Department
  • Watauga Sheriff’s Office
  • Watauga Medic
  • Watauga Rescue
  • Watauga County Emergency Management
  • Watauga County Communications
  • Boone Public Works Department
  • Blowing Rock Public Works Department
  • Red Cross
  • Foscoe Fire Department
  • Cove Creek Fire Department
  • Linville Central Rescue Squad
  • Fleetwood Fire Department
  • Champion Fire Department
  • Caldwell County Emergency Services
  • Lenoir Fire Department
  • Clairmont Fire Department
  • Alexander County Rescue Squad
  • USAR Taskforce – Buncome County

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency after several days of rain and heavy winds from subtropical storm Alberto caused havoc across western North Carolina.

Flash flood warnings continue to remain in effect accross our state until tomorrow morning;

Officials are now urging drivers to not drive through flooded roads if they can’t see the yellow or white lines marking the pavement.

North Carolina Ranked 9th Worst State in America for Jobs

Steve
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North Carolina Ranked 9th Worst State in America for Jobs

The Tar Heel state has just been ranked as one of the worst job states in America.

Today WalletHub released their report on the Best & Worst States for Jobs in 2018 and North Carolina came in at #42, just behind New Mexico (#43), Alaska (#44), and Alabama (#45).

Source: WalletHub

The financial analyst website compared all 50 states across 29 key indicators of job-market strength, opportunity and economic vitality. The dataset ranges from employment growth to median annual income to average commute time.

Here is how North Carolina stacked up in the most significant categories (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

  • 27th – Job Opportunities
  • 31st – Unemployment Rate
  • 32nd – Median Annual Income (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
  • 32nd – Avg. Length of Work Week (in Hours)
  • 24th – Avg. Commute Time (in Minutes)
  • 25th – Job Satisfaction

You can check out the full report here on WalletHub.com.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Is Coming To Charlotte on Farewell Tour

Charlotte Stories
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Lynyrd Skynyrd Is Coming To Charlotte on Farewell Tour

lynyrd-skynyrd-coming-to-charlotteThe legendary Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd is heading to Charlotte this year on their last tour ever.

The band originally started in 1964 as My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida, and is now considered to have one of the longest performance records in history.

“Rock N’ Roll Hall of Famers” Lynyrd Skynyrd put a neat bow on a decorated career spanning five decades with one final tour looking back at the band’s biggest hits.

They’ll be performing at the PNC Music Pavilion on their nationwide ‘Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour’ along with .38 Special on Saturday, June 30th starting at 6pm.

For more info or tickets click here.

Over 100,000 Gallons of Raw Sewage Spilled In Myrtle Beach

Charlotte Stories
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Over 100,000 Gallons of Raw Sewage Spilled In Myrtle Beach

Over 100,000 gallons of raw sewage has just spilled onto the coast of Myrtle Beach.

According to the city’s Facebook post, The rupture happened at the top of an older ductile iron pipe, which has been in service for 30-plus years. The pipe wall thinned over time due to age and corrosive gases, and it’s thought that today’s heavier-than-normal flow volumes may have caused the pipe to break…”

The spill occured near the Mary C. Canty Recreation Center and flowed downstream into the ocean near the Family Kingdom Amusement Park, according to officials;

According to the DHEC website, there is now a long-term swim advisory in affect for the public beach access outside of the park;

The advisory will remain in effect until water quality returns to acceptable levels.

Officialls recommend that anyone with well water in Myrtle Beach test their water with a home testing kit, and consider installing a reverse osmosis filter on any faucet used for drinking water.

NC Lawmakers Want To Make Parents Financially Responsible For School Threats

Katherine Miele
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NC Lawmakers Want To Make Parents Financially Responsible For School Threats

Lawmakers in one North Carolina county are now pushing a new idea to make parents financially responsible for the additional resources a school has to use after a threat of violence is made.

Commissioners in Harnett County now think that if your child were to make a bomb threat or school shooting threat, you, as the parent would have to foot the bill. Area leaders are estimating that ‘the bill’ could cost upwards of $30,000 – from the cost of gas in the police cars to the overtime paid to resource officers, teachers, and other school staff.

In Cumberland County, just south of Harnett, the sheriff’s office has also been talking about implementing a similar measure, saying that school threats are now up to ten times the norm, and directly charging parents could change that.

Mecklenburg County government leaders, however, are much more reluctant to the idea, saying they have to consider parents who are already under financial hardship and might now have the ability to foot the bill, putting further strain on the family and ultimately the child.

What are your thoughts on the new concept?

Do you think parents should be held financially liable for threats their children make?

Landslides and Flooding Near North Carolina Dam Causes Emergency Evacuations

Steve
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Landslides and Flooding Near North Carolina Dam Causes Emergency Evacuations

Over 2,000 residents were evacuated after emergency crews anticipated a possible dam failure in western North Carolina.

Officials in McDowell County reported that widespread flooding was being caused by heavy rainfall of 4-6 inches over the past 24 hours. “This is causing significant and life-threatening flooding countywide. Floodwaters have reached levels not seen since the September 2004 floods associated with Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. Numerous evacuations of residences, businesses, and campgrounds, road closures, water rescues, and landslides are ongoing.”

This morning at about 1am, the National Weather Service sent out an emergency alert for all residents between Lake Shore Dr. to Lake Tahoma Rd. to leave their homes immediately, urging residents to “ACT NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR LIFE!”

Here is a compilation video of what the dam looked like last night put out by World News;

Shelters were opened at the YMCA in Marion, the Glenwood Baptist Church and Old Fort Baptist Church. No injuries have been reported, NBC News also said.

Lake Tahoma is located about 5 miles northwest of Marion, North Carolina, and about 60 miles northweat of Charlotte.

Flash flood warnings were sent out on Tuesday for North Carolina ahead of subtropical storm Alberto.

Charlotte Was Ranked The 4th Best City In America For Dating

Steve
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Charlotte Was Ranked The 4th Best City In America For Dating

The website ApartmentList.com recently surveyed 13,000 of their renters in the top 30 largest metro areas in the country, asking them how satisfied they were with the dating scenes in their city.

North Carolina saw the best results, with Raleigh, NC topping the list (two-thirds of those surveyed had a positive outlook), and Charlotte coming in at #4 in the nation.

Out of 30 major metropolitan areas surveyed, these were to top 10 best performing cities:

 

Riverside, CA saw the worst scores, with only 28% of respondents saying that they were happy with their dating opportunities. The nation’s top tech hubs – Seattle, Denver, and San Francisco – also perform below average.

Do you think Charlotte is a good city for dating? 

Let us know your experiences in the comments below:

Kyle Busch Made History This Past Weekend At The Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Stories
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Kyle Busch Made History This Past Weekend At The Charlotte Motor Speedway

This past weekend, Charlotte hosted NASCAR’s annual Coca-Cola 600 where tens of thousands of fans showed up and one legendary driver made history.

Kyle Busch absolutely dominated the Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday night, winning his fourth race of the season, and is now officially the first driver in NASCAR history to win a points-paying race at every single track on the NASCAR Cup Series.

“Ever since I was a kid I dreamed of this!” Busch exclaimed on the radio after taking the checkered flag.

The 33-year-old driver is now 15th all-time for total wins with 47. After Busch is Hall of Famer Herb Thomas with 48 and Tony Stewart with 49. Jimmie Johnson has the most wins among active drivers with 83 and Richard Petty holds the most wins in NASCAR history with 200.

Congrats Kyle – keep it up!

Alberto Bringing Flash Flooding And High Winds To The Charlotte Region

Steve
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Alberto Bringing Flash Flooding And High Winds To The Charlotte Region

2018’s first named gulf coast storm is about to make landfall today, and many local residents are now bracing for the effects.

The eye of subtropical storm Alberto will be hitting Florida’s panhandle later today and traveling up the middle of the US, bringing flash flooding and powerful winds to the Carolinas.

According to the National Weather Service’s latest warning;

“Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected before Alberto reaches the northern Gulf Coast later today. Steady weakening is forecast after landfall, and Alberto will likely become a subtropical depression tonight or early Tuesday and degenerate into a remnant low by Tuesday afternoon.

Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center. An elevated observing station located about 15 miles (25 km) south of Apalachicola, Florida, has recently reported sustained winds of 46 mph (74 km/h). A wind gust to 39 mph (63 km/h) was recently observed at Apalachicola, Florida.”

The Carolinas will be hit especially hard by the storm, with the potential of up to 4″ of rain hitting our region within the next couple of days;

Flash flood watches have already been issued for most counties around the Charlotte region, including for Avery, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Chester (SC), Chesterfield (SC), Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Union, and York (SC) counties through tomorrow morning.

Officials recommend anyone living in the above counties to prepare for possible power outages and flooded roads. Heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected to stay in the Charlotte region until Thursday evening.

Walmart Launching Same-Day Grocery Delivery Service in Charlotte

Steve
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Walmart Launching Same-Day Grocery Delivery Service in Charlotte

Walmart has just announced plans to compete with Target’s Shipt and Amazon Now grocery delivery services in Charlotte and 5 other select markets around the country. They plan on expanding the service to over 100 metro areas by the end of this year.

“We’re saving customers time by leveraging new technology, and connecting all the parts of our business into a single seamless shopping experience: great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, and apps and websites that are simple to use,” commented Greg Foran, president and CEO, Walmart U.S. “We’re serving our customers in ways that no one else can. Using our size and scale, we’re bringing the best of Walmart to customers across the country.”

Charlotte customers place their orders online at Walmart.com/grocery or on the existing Walmart Grocery App, and unlike other services, the same prices online will be the same prices they offer in the store.

The service currently ‘personal shoppers’ to fulfill orders in stores and Uber drivers to deliver the groceries. They currently employ over 18,000 personal shoppers and plans to add thousands more over the course of 2018 as they expand their grocery delivery service.

These employees have to first complete a three-week training program to learn how to prepare online orders, which involves learning how to pick the best produce or the best cuts of meat.

There are currently over 1,200 stores offering grocery pickup, up from over 900 in 2017, 600 in 2016, and just 100 in 2015. Walmart says it will expand curbside pickup another 1,000 stores in 2018.

“Our commitment goes further than saving customers money,” commented Tom Ward, vice president, Digital Operations, Walmart U.S. “Ninety percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store, and we serve more than 150 million customers a week, which gives us a unique opportunity to make every day a little easier for busy families.”

Walmart’s Online Grocery Delivery carries a $9.95 fee with a $30 minimum order. Customers can get their first order delivered for free using promo code FRESHCAR.

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