This Charlotte-Area Town Ranked Among The 10 Least Educated Cities In America

Steve
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This Charlotte-Area Town Ranked Among The 10 Least Educated Cities In America

hickory-ncFinancial advice website ‘Wallethub’ recently released their 2017 ranking of the most & least educated cities in America. Hickory, NC made the list as the 8th least educated city in the country.

Their analysts compared the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across nine key metrics, ranging from share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher, to quality of the public school system, to gender education gap.

The City of Charlotte ranked right in the middle at #71 on the list;

Source: WalletHub

 

Hickory, NC was also recently ranked as the 5th Worst Place in America for Opioid Abuse.

While Hickory certainly has its issues, it’s still considered to be a gateway city to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and offers a ton of recreational activities, from water sports to mountain hiking.

What are your thoughts about Hickory?

What do you think could be done to improve it?

Over 1,200 Gallons of Wastewater Spill Into Catawba From Grease Buildup

Charlotte Stories
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Over 1,200 Gallons of Wastewater Spill Into Catawba From Grease Buildup

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte Water crews responded to a major wastewater overflow in Steele Creek.

According to the press release, a grease-buildup caused estimated 1,200 gallons of wastewater spilled out into a small creek that flowed into the Catawba River.

The overflow happened on O’Hara Dr in SouthWest Charlotte;

Charlotte Water retweeted the following tips this past week to remind residents not to let greese go down the drain;

YouTube Star Goes Uptown Charlotte To Give High-End Sneakers To The Homeless (Video)

Steve
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YouTube Star Goes Uptown Charlotte To Give High-End Sneakers To The Homeless (Video)

17-year-old Giancarlo Purchia from Huntersville has amassed an incredible following on Youtube by making fun and silly videos about his life. He now has over 692,000 followers

The high-school senior now has over 692,000 followers under his social media name ‘Blazendary’.

He said he wanted to give back to the community for Thanksgiving, so he decided to give out over a dozen pairs of high-end sneakers to homeless people in Uptown Charlotte.

Since uploading the video just 3 days ago, it’s already been viewed over 133,000 times;

Some of the shoes he gave away included the Nike Foamposite (retails for $275), Air Jordan 31s (retails for $150), Addidas Human Race (retails for $110), Nike Air Force 1 (retails for $55), and Addidas NMDs (retails for $139).

A great reminder to us all to give back this holiday season!

South End is Hosting A Massive ‘Small Business Saturday’ Fest Today

Steve
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South End is Hosting A Massive ‘Small Business Saturday’ Fest Today

If you weren’t able to get all your shopping done yesterday on Black Friday, consider ditching the big boxes and shopping local.

Today from 11am-5pm, Historic South End will be hosting a massive Small Business Saturday event that will include over 200 local shops, restaurants, and breweries.

The event will include 3 major ‘hubs’;

– Camden Road, start at East-West Boulevard and Camden, arm yourself with a map (and directions from a friendly tour guide) and set out to explore the great shops, restaurant and art galleries on and around Camden. Pop-up shops will line the street and the brick and mortar shops will have doors open, music playing and specials throughout the day. Ciel Gallery is hosting a Jingle Jangle holiday market, and Charlotte Art League is hosting the Starving Artist Market pop-up art market. Then take the free trolley to the next stop…

– 2525 Distribution Street, with Dudeapalooza at C3 Lab. 11am – 5pm. Plentiful parking, local shops featuring gifts for dudes (and no potpourri), original works of art for sale, and the C3 Outdoor Biergarten with a heated outdoor tent, Triple C beer and food trucks slinging BBQ and taco goodness. Then take the free trolley to the next stop…

– Lincoln Street, between Church and Mint, where pop-ups will line the streets, and you can explore music, shop for gifts, art and holiday decor, and enjoy locally crafted beverages. Then take the trolley back to grab a bite to eat or back to where you started.

Check out a map of the entire event and more information here.

NC Department of Health Warns of Personal Information Leak

Steve
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NC Department of Health Warns of Personal Information Leak

North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services just leaked out over 6,000 people’s personal information after mistakenly sending a spreadsheet to a vendor in an unencrypted email, according to a press release.

The spreadsheet was filled with the names, social security numbers, and test results for people who had to take drug tests to work, intern, or volunteer at DHHS.

Letters have been sent out to everyone on the list, but if you didn’t receive a letter, or didn’t read it, DHHS is recommending that anyone who recently had a drug test for their organization put an active fraud alert on their credit.

You can contact any of the following credit bureaus to request fraud alerts be placed on your credit to monitor for any suspicious behavior, new accounts, or unusual spending:

  • Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
  • Experian: 1-888-397-3742
  • TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

If you have any other questions, you can call DHHS at 1-800-662-7030 with questions.

 

Earthquake Just Struck 30 Miles South of Charlotte

Steve
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Earthquake Just Struck 30 Miles South of Charlotte

A 2.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pageland, SC area today, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Its epicenter was at a depth of 2.5 kilometers.

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division reported that the most severe effects were felt at around 1am this morning.

The quake struck about 30 miles south of Charlotte in Chesterfield County.

It was just slightly smaller than the 2.9 magnitude quake that rocked Asheville last December.

The Carolinas have been known to experience the occasional damage-causing earthquakes.

According to USGS.gov, “The largest earthquake in the area (magnitude 5.1) occurred in 1916. Moderately damaging earthquakes strike the inland Carolinas every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt about once each year or two.”

Did you feel last night’s quake? 

Charlotte-Area High School Performs In Front Of Millions During Macy’s Parade

Charlotte Stories
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Charlotte-Area High School Performs In Front Of Millions During Macy’s Parade

Yesterday morning a couple hundred students from a Charlotte-area high school were seen marching in front of millions of people around the world during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Fort Mill’s Nation Ford High School was selected out of over 400 high school finalists. They were 1 of only 8 high school bands chosen to march in the parade.

A total of 6 buses carrying over 300 students, faculty, and parents left Fort Mill on this past Monday to make preparations for Thursday morning’s parade.

They performed the song “We Gather Together” at roughly 10:07 a.m. yesterday morning;

The Nation’s Ford High School Marching Band was also featured during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade back in 2011 playing “A Carolina Medly”;

Way to be awesome Nation’s Ford!

Top 10 Best Black Friday Deals on Amazon

Steve
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Top 10 Best Black Friday Deals on Amazon

While it’s technically not Black Friday yet, most retailers start to offer their crazy deals on Thanksgiving, and Amazon is no exception.

Over the past 10 years, Amazon has become one of the best retailers for finding the craziest Black Friday savings, but not all of its deals are worth your attention. We’ve sifted through Amazon’s massive amount of Black Friday deals, and cherry-picked the top 10 deals of 2017;

Check out over 100 other black Friday deals available today and tomorrow here on the Amazon.com Black Friday Deal Page.

Free Amazon Prime Membership Trial – sign-up link – Receive free two-day shipping on most items including those for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – a must for any Amazon Black Friday deal shopping. It can be cancelled with no change inside 30 days letting you get all your holiday sales shopping done first.

Local Cone Weed Brought Huntersville Together and Raised Over $14,000 For Charity

Steve
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Local Cone Weed Brought Huntersville Together and Raised Over $14,000 For Charity

Over the past several months, a weed growing out of the center of a traffic cone has captivated the hearts of thousands around the Huntersville community.

It all started early this summer when a landowner neglected to mow a tiny piece of grass around a small traffic cone.

Somehow, one small weed was able to grow up inside of the cone, and shoot out directly through the center.

via Huntersville Fire Department

About a month after all the leaves died off of the now sizable weed, a good Samaritan decided to decorate it for Christmas;

and a few days later, someone droped off some presents;

“Two weeks ago it was suddenly decorated in the spirit of Christmas. We’re calling it magic,” the fire department’s public information officer, Bill Suthard, told ABC News. “It was the magic of the season. It had Christmas lights on it, it had a timer to come on at 7:30 at night and would go off in the morning. It had ornaments.”

Soon it became a regular tradition around town to take a shot of Cone Weed, drop a gift off, or just say hi;

As the Cone Weed craze continued to grow, local graphic designer Brian Blackmore decided to use the phenomina for a campaign to help the less fortunate. He designed some Cone Weed shirts and sweaters and launched his campaign on TeeSpring.com in support of a local non-profit called Hope Match;

Brian’s initial goal was to sell just 20 shirts, but after the Huntersville Fire Department joined the campaign and a $10,000 matching donor came on board, things really took off;

A local elementary school even joined in on the fun;

and a local baker made some custom Cone Weed cookies;

The Huntersville Fire Department and Hope Match have now sold 950+ shirts and raised more than $14,000 for families in need this holiday season.

Things were really looking up for Cone Weed – it had brought a community months of joy, and raised thousands of dollars for charity, but this past Monday morning, tragedy struck….

As hundreds of Huntersville residents were driving to work Monday morning, they were shocked to see an empty plot of grass where Cone Weed grew up.

After a few hours of conspiracies and hysteria on social media, the NCDOT released a statement;

They removed Cone Weed for being too close to the road and permanently relocated it to the Huntersville Fire Station;

For now, it seems, Cone Weed is happy with his new home.

Charlotte Ranked #1 Most Likely City In America To Attract Amazon’s New $5 Billion HQ2

Steve
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Charlotte Ranked #1 Most Likely City In America To Attract Amazon’s New $5 Billion HQ2

CNBC has just released a new report that ranks Charlotte the #1 city in America (tied with Raleigh and Greensboro) to win “the war for Amazon’s new headquarters”.

The new headquarters, nicknamed ‘HQ2’, will cost at least $5 billion to build and is expected to create as many as 50,000 new full-time jobs with an average annual salary of $100,000 per employee.

The new report uses conclusions from CNBC’s 2017 America’s Top States for Business study and data from the US Census Bureau to grade the top contenders for Amazon’s coveted second headquarters location. The grades were based on the Amazon’s four main site selection criteria: A metropolitan area with more than 1 million people; a stable, business-friendly environment, ability to attract and retain strong talent, and creative thinking when considering locations.

Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro all tied for a ‘B’ grade – the highest grade of the report.

“The three largest metropolitan areas in the Tar Heel State, each submitting bids, benefit from a state with one of the best workforces in the country and a heritage of innovation dating back to the Wright Brothers.

Counting against the state is a lack of mass transportation and a nagging lack of inclusiveness. North Carolina repealed the most controversial parts of its so-called bathroom bill, but it still lacks statewide protections against discrimination and expressly bars them at the local level. North Carolina finished No. 5 in this year’s Top States rankings.”

via CNBC

The report also gave ‘B-‘ grades to a number of other solid contenders, including Nashville, Austin, Atlanta, and Seattle, all with strong workforces, reasonably good economies and business-friendly regulations.

Amazon received a total of 238 official proposals from 54 states, providences, territories, and districts in North America, according to Amazon’s official HQ2 page. They are expected to release a list of their top contender cities 9 days from now.

Most experts think the determining factor for Amazon will come down to the tax incentives offered by each city and state. Some even think that Amazon’s new HQ2 will end up paying little to no local or state taxes for decades.

What are your thoughts about Amazon’s HQ2 coming to Charlotte? 

Do you think their benefits would outweigh the tax breaks we would likely have to give?

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