The Charlotte City Council just voted to approve 4 annexation proposals at last nights meeting, adding 267.2 more acres into Charlotte’s city limits.

According to CharlotteNC.gov, “Annexation has resulted in Charlotte’s land area to more than double since 1980, reaching nearly 308 square miles.”

The newly annexed land is mix of parkland and new home development, including the following parcels:

▪ 17.9 acres off Berewick Commons Parkway in Steele Creek, which will become a new 107 townhome development, built by Mattamy Homes.

▪ 96.5 acres near the Plaza Rd. Extension, which will increase the size of Charlotte’s Reedy Creek Nature Preserve.

▪ 108.5 acres near Shopton Rd. West, which will add onto Charlotte’s Winget Park/Nature Preserve off Winget Road.

▪ 44.3-acres at the intersection of Byrum Drive and West Blvd., which will help the city in the future development of the River District.

The small red sections on the following map are the new parcels that were added to the city of Charlotte last night (using parcel maps from last night’s meeting):

The newly annexed parcels may look small on the above map, but 267 acres really is a significant chunk of land – it’s almost as much as the entire Charlotte city limits was back when the city was first founded in 1768.

What do you think about the continued growth of our city limits? 

Novant Health announced this week that Michael Jordan will be donating $7 million to help build two brand new health clinics in Charlotte.

The new clinics will bring life-saving healthcare to some of the most underserved communities in our city, with an anticipated opening date in late 2020, according to their press release.

“I am proud to partner with Novant Health to bring critical health services to underserved areas of Charlotte and the thousands of North Carolinians with limited access to health care,” said Michael Jordan. “Through my years of working with Novant Health, I have been impressed with their approach and their commitment to the community. It is my hope that these clinics will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve.”

According to census bureau data, there are now over 100,000 Charlotteans who don’t have any kind of health insurance. Those affected most are children of single-parent families living in troubled areas, who often face difficulty accessing primary and mental health services, and a lack of healthcare education and preventive care. The two new clinics hope to address these issues in areas that will be identified by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Opportunity Task Force as the most at-risk for generational poverty.

“As a longtime partner, we are thrilled that Michael Jordan continues to support Novant Health and our mission to improve the health of our communities, one person at a time,” said Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health. “This gift will transform the lives of thousands of families and children living in poverty-stricken communities. We are thankful to Michael for his generosity. The gift will remove barriers to high-quality health care in some of the most vulnerable communities.”

In thier first 5 years, the new ‘Novant Health Michael Jordan Clinics’ are projected to provide care to 35,000 children and adults who now have virtually no access to healthcare.

Coloring used to be a fun activity for kids and occasionally a bored babysitter or two. However, all that’s changed over the past few years.

The first commercially successful adult coloring books were published in 2012. Beginning as a niche hobby for hipsters, they’ve since become a worldwide trend for adults of all walks of life. They’re now regularly landing on bestsellers’ lists around the world.

Psychologists are even recommending coloring books to patients as a calming tool and a means of relaxation, according to the Huffington Post.

You can now find adult coloring books for almost any interest, including; Star Trek, unicorns, New York City, and Chicago – but nobody’s made a book for Charlotte yet.

I decided to take some of my favorite shots from around Charlotte, illustrated them into black-and-white ‘coloring book’ designs, and publish the Queen City’s first ‘adult coloring book’.

I called it “Color The Queen City” and its now available on Amazon:

To see more images and information, check out Color The Queen City here on Amazon.com

I hope ya’ll like it!