Charlotte Is Now Ranked As One Of The Top Cities To Invest In Housing In 2017

Steve
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Charlotte Is Now Ranked As One Of The Top Cities To Invest In Housing In 2017

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The Queen City has landed on the top of yet another list – Forbes’ Top Cities to Invest in Housing in 2017.

The financial publication teamed up with North Carolina’s Local Market Monitor, to annalize data from over 300 housing markets, and based on population, job, and home price growth, they ranked the top 20 in the United States.

Charlotte was ranked #12 in the nation, ahead of Raleigh at #13 and right behind Sacramento at #11. Jacksonville came in at #2 and Dallas was ranked #1.

According to Forbes, these are the current numbers for Charlotte:

  • Average home price: $235,000
  • Population: 2,380,314
  • 3-year population growth: 5.7%
  • Year-over-year job growth: 2.1%
  • Year-over-year home price growth: 8%

Yet another reason to love the Queen City! 

Popular Discount Grocer “Lidl” Announced New Plans To Open Stores in Rock Hill and Fort Mill

Charlotte Stories
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Popular Discount Grocer “Lidl” Announced New Plans To Open Stores in Rock Hill and Fort Mill

The wildly popular Lidl supermarket chain has announced its first wave of stores for the US. They’re expecting to open 100 locations across the east coast starting this summer, including locations in both Rock Hill and Fort Mill.

Lidl is kind of like the Ikea of grocery stores (except German instead of Swedish):

Many traditional grocery stores have been seeing increased competition from store-brand focused, low priced retailers such as Aldis and Trader Joes, and especially now that Aldis has started to add gluten-free, organic, and fresh produce products to their shelfs.

Aldis, also a German grocer, originally opened their first store in the US in 1976, now has more than 1,600 stores in the U.S. and plans to increase that to nearly 2,000 by the end of 2018. The Aldi parent company, Aldi Nord also owns Trader Joes, a higher end grocer that has 460 locations across the US.

Lidl currently operates roughly 10,000 stores in 27 countries around the world.

Are you excited for Lidl to come to the Charlotte area?

After An Overwhelmingly Negative Response Bourbon N Burgers Changed Back To Ed’s Tavern

Steve
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After An Overwhelmingly Negative Response Bourbon N Burgers Changed Back To Ed’s Tavern

Ed’s Tavern finally decided to listen to the overwhelmingly negative response to their name change.

Back in March, the owners of Dilworth’s historic Ed’s Tavern decided to re-brand themselves as ‘Bourbon N Burgers’.

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It wasn’t long before long-time patrons began to voice their complaints in person and on social media:

Lance and Tina Blundell, who purchased the restaurant and bar back in 2014, just released a statement announcing their name change back to the original Ed’s. “After changing the name, our patrons let us know their disappointment, so bringing back Ed’s Tavern was an easy decision to make.”

Since the Blundells purchased the restaurant, they’ve made several changes and additions, including a new 3,000 sqft patio, updated bathrooms, new booths, a new high-tech draft beer system, and totally revamped menus.

They were hoping the new name would help to solidify all of their upgrades and bring in new customers, but it turned out to have the opposite effect.

What do you think of the name change? 

Do you prefer Ed’s Tavern or Bourbon N Burgers? 

3 Charlotte Companies Ranked By Forbes Among The Best Employers In America

Steve
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3 Charlotte Companies Ranked By Forbes Among The Best Employers In America

nucor steelIt seems like every day Charlotte is topping another “best ofs” list – this time is for having some of the best employers in the country.

Forbes recently partnered with Statista to poll 30,000 employees working for 500 of the biggest companies in America. In the poll, they were asked a series of questions about their employers and how likely they would be to recommend their employer to someone else.

3 Charlotte area companies scored remarkably high, given the competition.

Nucor Steel was the highest in the Queen City, and one of the highest in America, coming in at number 26. Duke Energy also had impressive scores, ranking at No. 141; and Ingersoll-Rand came in at No. 222.

To see more of the rankings, click here.

Forbes also ranked the Best Midsize Employers in America, and 4 Charlotte area companies ended up on that list as well. Red Ventures came in at number 148, Snyder’s-Lance at number 152, Kennametal at number 169, and Baker & Taylor ranked as the number 221 best in America.

You can browse all the job openings in Charlotte’s top companies here.

Police Asking For Help To Find Missing Rock Hill Teenager – Family Now Offering $10,000 Reward

Charlotte Stories
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Police Asking For Help To Find Missing Rock Hill Teenager – Family Now Offering $10,000 Reward

magras-missing-rock-hill-teenA senior from Rock Hill’s Northwestern High School has recently gone missing and now the family is pleading for the public’s help in finding their daughter. The family is now offering a $10,000 reward for any information that could lead to her safe return.

18-year-old Jamie Lee Allison Magras was last seen around 1am on Friday morning near her home at Twin Lakes and Mount Gallant roads, according to police. Dozens of people gathered in front of her home this past Saturday afternoon to pray for her and to hand out over 10,000 missing person fliers.

Magras is 5’5″ and weighs approximately 110 pounds, she has dirty blond, wavy hair and green eyes.

The Rock Hill sheriff’s office has now stated that they will continue to look for Margas, but they have discontinued all K-9 and helicopter searches until they receive additional leads.

If you have information about Jamie Magras, please call 911 or the Rock Hill Police Department at 803-629-3059.

Please help spread the word!

Lowe’s Adding 1,114 More Employees Around The Charlotte Area

Charlotte Stories
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Lowe’s Adding 1,114 More Employees Around The Charlotte Area

lowes-hiring-new-workers-copyLowe’s recently announced that they will be hiring an additional 1,114 seasonal employees over the next few months for its Charlotte-area stores.

The Mooresville-based corporation noted that the Charlotte-area hires are part of about 45,000 seasonal employees they will be hiring nationwide.

The new positions will include include cashiers, lawn and garden associates, stockers and assemblers of outdoor products.

Their press release also noted that they’ll be hiring new loaders to assist the increasing number of customers who order products online at Lowes.com and pick them up at their local store, a growing trend that now accounts for about 60% of all of Lowe’s orders.

To browse current job openings in the Charlotte region click here.

Cabarrus College Was Ranked As The #1 Small College In North Carolina

Katherine Miele
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Cabarrus College Was Ranked As The #1 Small College In North Carolina

cabarrus college rankedCabarrus College of Health Sciences was recently ranked as the top Small College in North Carolina.

Zippia’s North Carolina small college rankings used data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the College Scorecard to critically judge several aspects of each college, including:

– Career earnings after six and ten years

– Admissions rate

– Ratio of people working to not working after 10 years

– Average cost of attendance

Cabarrus College earned the #1 spot by having graduates earn the second highest salaries in the state for all small colleges, as well as having a 31 percent admission rate and the third lowest cost.

Here is the complete list of Zippia’s Top 10 Small Colleges in North Carolina:

  1. Cabarrus College of Health Sciences
  2. Laurel University
  3. Davidson College
  4. Mid-Atlantic Christian University
  5. Piedmont International University
  6. North Carolina Wesleyan College
  7. Catawba College
  8. Brevard College
  9. Montreat College
  10. University of North Carolina School of the Arts

South Park’s Iconic Siskey Mansion Just Went On Sale For $5.5 Million

Charlotte Stories
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South Park’s Iconic Siskey Mansion Just Went On Sale For $5.5 Million

sisky-house-south-parkOne of South Park’s most iconic mansions just went on sale for $5.5 million.

The total estate sits on 7.37 acres on the corner of Sharon Rd., and includes the main house (6,000 sq ft with 6 bedrooms and 9 total baths), plus 3 other out-buildings, including a semi attached gar/exercise space and a detached 6+ car garage/man-cave/theatre/bar/entertaining space.

The property was last sold to the Siskey family (accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme) for $2.8 million in 1999, according to Mecklenburg County tax records.

Here are some shots of the home (cars not included in the $5.5 million asking price):

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Above images via DickensMitchener.com

Here is some video footage of the epic mansion:

 

NC House Bill 910 Would Spend $56 Million To Stop Human Trafficking In Our State

Steve
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NC House Bill 910 Would Spend $56 Million To Stop Human Trafficking In Our State

human-trafficking-in-charlotteAs Charlotte’s population continues to grow, and our road and airport traffic continues to increase our city is becoming an even greater focal point in the war on human trafficking.

According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, there is now an average of 78 sex trafficking cases every year in North Carolina, and Charlotte is the #1 city.

Last week, Rep. Bill Brawley from Matthews introduced a new bill that would spend over $56 million to help victims and to train students and police to recognize the signs of trafficking and stop them – so far over 40 other lawmakers have also co-signed the bill.

House Bill 910 would set aside $37.5 million for victim shelter beds, $13.5 million for mental health services, and $4.5 million on educating students.

NC lawmakers are also working to pass Senate Bill 500, which would significantly increase the scope and penalties associated with sex trafficking crimes.

In addition to government agencies, several local ministries are also increasing their fight. Starting this fall, Present Age Ministries will be teaming up with DSS and CMS to teach courses to seventh and eighth-grade students in Charlotte about sexual trafficking.

According to the ministry, there are now at least five-hundred new ads are posted soliciting sex in Charlotte every day.

The new law and educational courses will both be largely aimed at combating these online solicitations, teaching kids what to look out for on social media, and making it a felony to solicit online.

Here are some warning signs and things to watch for:

Some great points from our friends at @ourrescue. It only take a few seconds to read and learn them.

A photo posted by Justice Ministries (@justiceministries) on

Please share to help build awareness;

A Charlotte 49er Has Just Been Drafted In The NFL For The First Time In History

Charlotte Stories
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A Charlotte 49er Has Just Been Drafted In The NFL For The First Time In History

charlotte-49er-nfl-draftCharlotte 49er defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi has just become the first UNCC football player to ever be drafted into the NFL. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the second round last night.

Ogunjobi earned a scholarship to play football for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s brand new 49ers football team. Since joining the brand new team 4 years ago, he is also one of the only players ever to start every single game in the school’s history.

He wore the honorary number 49 jersey for the 49ers in their first-ever game in 2013, and finished the year with an impressive 42 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 total sacks.

Ogunjobi improved in his sophomore year with 48 tackles, 11.5 TFL, and 5 sacks, junior year with 62 tackles, 14.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, and during his senior year, he was selected as an first-team All-Conference USA amassing 65 tackles, 13.5 stops for loss, and three sacks.

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