Explosion Injures Several Soldiers At North Carolina’s Fort Bragg

Charlotte Stories
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Explosion Injures Several Soldiers At North Carolina’s Fort Bragg

Early this morning, several US Special Ops members were injured in an explosion at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg, according to a Fort Bragg spokesman.

The incident occurred in the middle of a training exercise at a firing range.

The total number of injured soldiers and non-military personnel is currently unknown.

According to spokesman Lt. Col. Rob Bockholt, all injured personnel were rushed to the Army base’s Womack Army Medical Center for treatment.

There are currently over 57,000 military personnel serving at Fort Bragg, which sits just outside Fayetteville, N.C. The entire base covers about 161,000 acres. It is currently America’s largest Army installation by population.

UPDATE 9/4/2017 2:45pm:

It’s now been confirmed that a total of 8 people were injured during demolitions training;

We will update this article as new information comes in.

Top 10 Best Things To Do Around Charlotte This Weekend

Steve
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Top 10 Best Things To Do Around Charlotte This Weekend

The weekend is almost here!

There will be tons of concerts, shows, and festivals!

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

#1 Panthers vs. Bills

panthers stadium charlotte

The Charlotte Panthers will be hosting the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon at the Bank of America Stadium for our home game of 2017.

For more info or tickets click here.

#2 Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, Marshall Tucker Band & Foghat

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The redneck legends of comedy will be coming to the PNC Music Pavilion this coming Friday at 6pm.

Tickets are starting at $14 each.

Children under 2 are free as long as they don’t take up a seat.

For more info or for tickets click here.

#3 UB40

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The legendary UK band will be performing live at the Knight’s Theater this coming Friday night starting at 8pm.

The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success.

For more info or tickets click here.

#4 Pumpkin Fest 2017 at Sycamore

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This year’s Pumpkin Fest will feature Live Music on 2 Stages, Outdoor Pouring Stations, and 4 Food Trucks. Live bands will include;

Of Good Nature
PMA Positive Mental Attitude
Late Night Special
Colby Deitz Band
Below the Belt
And more!

For more information click here.

#5 Charlotte’s Big Block Party

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Charlotte’s Big Block Party will be one of the largest arts and community events in Charlotte at Camp North End. The Big Block Party showcases local visual artists, performing artists, food trucks, and tons of live music.

For more information click here.

#6 Quidditch Day at the Amazing Maize Maze

quidditch-day-charlotte2

Come muggles, wizards, half-bloods, and squibs alike this coming Saturday from 11am-4pm.

Rural Hill brings you a day of wizarding wonder and fantastical family-friendly fun. The Charlotte Quidditch at UNCC takes on UNCG Quidditch in an entertaining exhibition match for your absolute amusement. Then, take to the field and try your hand at catching the snitch and shooting the quaffle, as UNCC Quidditch aids you with their incredible instruction. Peruse wizarding whimsies from our vendors like Clinks Drinks and Thirsty Nomad Brewing, then, test your powers of perception at the Amazing Maize Maze…

For more info click here.

#7 Tawba Walk Arts & Music Festival

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This coming Saturday’s arts and music festival in Cornelius will feature 2 stages of live music, over 80 arts and crafts vendors and tons of food trucks. It will be held from 2-8 pm in Old Town Cornelius (Oak Street Mill, Town Hall, Catawba Ave.).

For more info or tickets click here.

#8 Charlotte 49ers Vs. NC A&T Aggies

charlotte-uncc-home-openers

Pack the Mine for the Charlotte 49ers 2017 home opener against the North Carolina A&T Aggies on Saturday, September 16! Tailgating lots will open at 2pm, the Niner Walk starts in front of the Hauser Alumni Pavilion at approximately 3:49pm, gates open at 4:30pm, and kick off is slated for 6pm! The first 10,000 fans will receive a 49ers pom-pom.

For more information or tickets click here.

#9 Midwood Market Block Party

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The Midwood Market Block Party will be held on Commonwealth Avenue between The Plaza and Pecan Avenue in Plaza Midwood. There will be live music, arts and crafts, and tons of food!

For more info click here.

#10 Grungefest

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The Filmore is about to host an all-day Grungefest this coming Sunday afternoon starting at 2pm, featuring tribute bands for Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP + More

For more info or tickets click here.

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

CMS Cafeterias Debuted A Truly Bizarre Mystery Meat – The Char-Meck-A-Nator

Steve
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CMS Cafeterias Debuted A Truly Bizarre Mystery Meat – The Char-Meck-A-Nator

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools now have parents scratching their heads after debuting a new mystery meat this past Tuesday called the ‘Char-Meck-A-Nator’.

After this week’s menu was released, several parents began to ask the district on social media what it was;

The school district responded by saying it was a type of cheese/ketchup/meatloaf creation;

Parents and students alike were quick to ask the school district exactly what was in the new creation;

CMS was quick to defend the Char-Meck-A-Nator, telling everyone they needed to try it first before judging it.

They even released a special promo video and announced it will soon be coming to CMS high schools;

What do you think of the new mystery meat sandwhich?

Charlotte McDonald’s Employee Fired Over Viral Video Asking Customer to Spell ‘Deportation’

Charlotte Stories
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Charlotte McDonald’s Employee Fired Over Viral Video Asking Customer to Spell ‘Deportation’

A video taken at a Charlotte McDonald’s drive-through is now going viral after an employee told a customer to “say Donald Trump” and “Can you spell deportation?”.

The video was first uploaded to Facebook by Wendy Rios on September 9th and was quickly picked up by Fox News.

Wendy commented under her video, “Hello everyone, look what happened to me at the Mcdonald’s of eastwey and central, I feel assaulted and everything happened, nothing more why I asked if my order was complete?….don’t laugh at me English, is that when I’m pissed off. 🤣. Help to share it so this lady can resist. Look at how bad she said.”

Her video has already been shared over 5,000 times and viewed over 475,000 times:

Wendy said that she was asking for some ketchup, after which the employee put up her middle finger to Wendy through the closed window – the rest of the argument can be seen in the above video.

As soon as McDonald’s caught wind of what the employees did and said to Wendy, they fired the employee, saying that her actions inexcusable.

McDonald’s Owner/Operator George Forrest also released the following statement:

“The actions of this employee are inexcusable and in no way reflect the strong values McDonald’s and my organization place on diversity, inclusion and providing a welcoming experience for our customers. This individual is no longer employed at my restaurant and we have expressed our sincerest apologies to the customer for this situation.”

What do you think about the altercation?

NCDOT Warns Charlotte Drivers To Avoid Traveling on I-77

Steve
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NCDOT Warns Charlotte Drivers To Avoid Traveling on I-77

i77 toll lane petitionThe NCDOT is now warning Charlotte drivers to avoid traveling on I-77 Southbound if at all possible due to Hurricane Irma evacuees returning home.

Traffic on I-77, as well as I-95 and I-26 is expected to worsen over the next few days as the remainder of shelters in our region empty and other Florida residents travel home from staying with friends and family along the East Coast.

According to a press release, the NCDOT will be opening up all available lanes indefinitely, “To ease the congestion, the N.C. Department of Transportation has suspended lane closures during the day for the southbound lanes of Interstates 95 and 77 and the eastbound lanes of I-26.” They are recommending all local drivers to take side roads if possible to limit congestion (check out the Waze App or CoPilot GPS for the best alternative routes).

Unlike the evacuation, the return will be spread out over several days, as some people took the week off, and others wait for news that the water in their flooded neighborhoods receded.

The Queen City became one of the primary destinations for Hurricane Irma evacuees after the storm’s track shifted further West and was predicted to cross over Atlanta and Nashville. It’s been reported that every single hotel room in Uptown Charlotte was booked this past Monday and Tuesday nights.

Mayor Jennifer Roberts Was Just Voted Out In Charlotte’s Mayoral Primary

Steve
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Mayor Jennifer Roberts Was Just Voted Out In Charlotte’s Mayoral Primary

Charlotte is about to have its 7th new mayor in just 8 years.

Incumbent Mayor Jennifer Roberts Just conceded the election to Mayor Pro Tem Vi Lyles last night at her watch party at the Peculiar Rabbit.

Mayor Roberts said that she called Vi Lyles to express her support for the new Democratic candidate.

With Charlotte’s 168 precincts reported results, Democratic Lyles defeated Roberts by nearly 3,400 votes, 15,773 to 12,375.

Republican City Councilmemeber Kenny Smith defeated Gary Dunn with over 89% of the votes.

Here are the unofficial results from Charlotte’s mayoral primary (official numbers are still pending);

charlotte-mayoral-primaries

Click here to see the unofficial results of the city council primaries.

Vi Lyles will now face off against Kenny Smith in Charlotte’s Mayor Election on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

What do you think about yesterday’s primary results? 

Charlotte Chamber Just Stated “We will aggressively pursue” Amazon’s New $5 Billion HQ2

Steve
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Charlotte Chamber Just Stated “We will aggressively pursue” Amazon’s New $5 Billion HQ2

Last week Amazon announced plans to build a second headquarters somewhere in North America that will “create as many as fifty thousand (50,000) new full-time jobs with an average annual compensation exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per employee. Most major cities are now chomping at the bit to court the tech mega giant.

Charlotte’s Chamber of Commerce sent out a statement yesterday saying, “We will aggressively pursue this opportunity.”

The statement went on to explain that “the Charlotte Regional Partnership will be the lead entity on behalf of our region. The Charlotte Chamber is working in close coordination with the Charlotte Regional Partnership. The chamber will specifically focus on the identification of potential sites in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and will assist with other components of the request for proposal as needed.

This is a transformative opportunity for our region. We are prepared to support any location within our region that is competitive. It is also an unprecedented opportunity to engage our public sector, private sector and the not for profit sector in a team effort to put our best foot forward.”

Amazon's fulfillment center in Concord, NC
Amazon’s fulfillment center in Concord, NC

GeekWire.com recently analyzed 59 of the biggest cities in America to determine who they thought would be the best choice for Amazon’s new HQ2.

After comparing each city’s population, business taxes, education level, home prices, and transit scores, they determined that these would be the top 10 best choices for Amazon’s HQ2:

1. Toronto
2. Ottawa, Ont.
3. Boston
4. Philadelphia
5. Chicago
6. Atlanta
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Charlotte, N.C.
9. Montréal
10. Vancouver, B.C.

PC Magazine also named Charlotte one of the “6 US Cities Amazon Should Consider for its Second HQ“.

“Probably the best East Coast pick, Charlotte is a finance and financial-technology center with affordable land, an educated workforce, and a great airport,” according to the article.

Would you like to see Amazon build their second headquarters here in Charlotte?

Irma Left Hundreds of Trees Down and Thousands Without Power Around The Charlotte Region

Steve
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Irma Left Hundreds of Trees Down and Thousands Without Power Around The Charlotte Region

Hurricane Irma is finally behind us, now the cleanup begins.

The Charlotte region saw a considerable amount of damage from downed trees and power lines from high wind gusts, driving rains, and possible mini-tornadoes.

Here is just some of the damage that has posted on social media so far;

#Charlotte #Irma #storm #damage #tree #down #HurricaneIrma

A post shared by Marvin Beach (@mlb1510) on

The damage done to the Charlotte region, however, wasn’t even close to what could have happened if Irma decided to avoid Florida, stay on the east coast, and make landfall in South Carolina, like Hurricane Hugo did almost 30 years ago;

And the downed trees and power outages we saw last night were nothing in comparison to the sheer devistation Irma did in the Carribean, Florida Keys, and South Florida;

Please consider contributing to relief efforts from both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.

Today is Election Day For Charlotte – Here’s What You Need To Know

Steve
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Today is Election Day For Charlotte – Here’s What You Need To Know

Today is the official primary election day for Charlotte’s Mayor and several city council positions.

There are several candidates in both the Democrat and Republican mayoral primaries, as well as Democratic Council primaries for seats in Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5, plus at-large city council seats.

For a full list of all candidates on the ballot click here.

To view your sample ballot click here.

PBS recently hosted a debate for the mayoral candidates;

Here’s a quick summary of candidates;

Candiate Party Website More toll lanes? More affordable housing?
Joel Ford Democrat JoelFordForMayor.com no yes
Constance Partee Johnson Democrat johnsonformayor.us yes yes
Lucille Puckett Democrat n/a no yes
Jennifer Roberts Democrat jenniferrobertsformayor.com no yes
Kimberley Paige Barnette Republican n/a yes yes
Gary Mitchell Dunn Republican n/a no no
Kenny Smith Republican electkennysmith.com no yes

 

Primary election day will be September 12, with polls open from 6:30am to 7:30pm.

For more information about the upcoming primary election click here.

Man Killed in Huntersville Hospital After Firing Several Shots

Charlotte Stories
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Man Killed in Huntersville Hospital After Firing Several Shots

shooting-at-huntersville-hospitalLate last night a man was shot and killed last night in the Novant Hospital after he opened fire on the second floor.

According to Huntersville Police, officers were called to the hospital at around midnight after receiving reports of a man with a gun who had fired several shots.

Officers confronted the armed man inside of the hospital. After feeling threatened, police fired several shots, striking and killing the man.

“Upon arrival, hospital staff and witnesses directed officers to the area where the man with the gun was last seen. During a search of the area, officers encountered the man still armed with the gun,” said the statement from Huntersville Police. “An encounter ensued, during which, the officers felt threatened by the man’s actions and fired several rounds striking him.”

Police have not yet released the man’s name or indicated an exact motive.

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