Duke Energy Is Buying Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 Billion

Steve
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Duke Energy Is Buying Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 Billion

duke buying piedmont gasDuke Energy is about close on their purchase of The Piedmont Natural Gas company for a total of $4.9 billion – both companies are currently headquartered in Charlotte.

According to a press release, Duke Energy now expects to close on its purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas this coming Monday after the NC Utilities Commission gives its approval.

The acquisition will expand what has already grown into America’s largest electric utility.

Duke Energy currently controls markets throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and now employs over 29,000 people. The deal will add about 1 million customers, and about 1,900 new employees to Duke’s roster.

After the buyout, Piedmont will retain its name, and will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy – maintaining its current presence and headquarters in southeast Charlotte.

The companies are currently partners on the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The buy-out would make Duke Energy a 50% owner of the pipeline, a 564-mile natural gas pipeline that will be the first to serve North Carolina. Duke currently owns 40% and Piedmont owns 10%.

Top 10 Best Things To Do In Charlotte This Weekend

Steve
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Top 10 Best Things To Do In Charlotte This Weekend

This weekend is going to be incredible! There will be tons of football, live music, food trucks, festivals, and more!

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

#1 Carolina Renaissance Festival

charlotte-rennaisance-festival

This will be the opening weekend of the annual Carolina Renaissance Festival, starting at 10am this coming Saturday. There will be tons of shows, arts and crafts, games and rides, jousting knights on horseback, feasting and so much more!  Time travel to the greatest party since Camelot!

Click here for more info.

#2 Fashion Truck Rally

This coming Saturday at the 7th Street Market, Charlotte’s first ‘Fashion Truck Rally’ will be taking place from 10am-7pm. There will be at least 14 fashion trucks from NC, SC and VA that will be participating, including tons of food, new fashion designs, and live music. 

For more info click here.

#3 Bacon Fest at Food Truck Friday

bacon-fest-at-food-truck-friday

Tomorrow night from 5-10pm BaconFest is coming to town – in celebration of Bacon! You won’t want to miss this! 10 Trucks, Live music by Pluto for Planet and C2 & The Brothers Reed Craft Beer, Cider and Wine by Sycamore Brewing!

For more information click here.

#4 Great Grapes Wine & Food Festival

This coming Saturday from 11am-7pm, the Great Grapes Wine and Food Fest is coming to South Park. You can expect 220+ wines from 20+ wineries, live music, festival eats, arts and crafts, gourmet items and a free kids area. 11-7 p.m. $20-$49.

For more info click here.

#5 Disney On Ice: Follow Your Heart

disney-on-ice-charlotte

This coming weekend, Disney On Ice is coming to the Specter Center (Formerly Time Warner Cable Arena).  Featuring Characters from Frozen, Finding Dory, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel and tons of other Disney Princesses. You’ll aslo see Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the Toy Story gang.

For tickets or more info click here.

#6 Charlotte International Jerk Festival

This coming Saturday, from 12pm-11:30pm, NoDa will be hosting the Charlotte International Jerk Fest is an annual celebration of Caribbean food and music for the whole family. The aroma of jerk cuisine and various other succulent Caribbean culinary specialties will tickle your senses. The pulsating sounds of Reggae, Dancehall, Calypso and Soca music will have you dancing. There will be food vendors, craft vendors, fruit vendors.

For more info click here.

#7 Charlotte Open Air Market

charlotte open air market

Charlotte’s biggest open air market is coming again this weekend to the old Eastland Mall site Saturday and Sunday from 7am-5pm.

It will feature hundreds of local vendors, farmers, and craftsmen selling everything you can imagine.

For more information click here.

#8 20th Annual Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure

This coming Saturday morning, the 20th Annual Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure will kick off in Uptown Charlotte’s Marshall Park. Celebrate, remember, and raise money for countless amazing women and men who have fought or continue to fight breast cancer.

For more info click here.

 

#9 Charlotte 49ers vs. Old Dominion

charlotte-uncc-home-openers

Tomorrow night the Charlotte 49ers will take on Old Dominion on Saturday evening starting at 6pm.

For more info or tickets click here.

#10 Queen City Crown Rugby Tournament

This year’s tournament will kick off at 9:00am Saturday morning, finishing up at 4:30 in the afternoon. This year’s tournament will consist of a full round robin setup with 25-min matches (no halves). During lunch at 11:20 the Charlotte Women’s RFC wil hold an exhibition match against the Nashville Stone Lions, after which tournament play will resume.

The tournament will include the following teams:
Charlotte Royals
Nashville Grizzlies
Atlanta Bucks
Charleston Blockade
DC Scandals
Dallas Lost Souls
Columbus Kodiaks w/ Baltimore Flamingos

Admission is free this year so bring the whole family with you! Food and beverages are available for purchase the Rugby Athletic Center’s cafe.

For more info click here.

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

Stunning Time-Lapse Video Shows Uptown Charlotte Towers Growing Over The Past Year

Katherine Miele
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Stunning Time-Lapse Video Shows Uptown Charlotte Towers Growing Over The Past Year

Ox Blue is a time-lapse construction video company that installs cameras on some of the world’s most prominent projects. Several buildings in Uptown Charlotte have hired them to install cameras for their developments, including; 500 East Morehead, 300 South Tryon, 615 South College, and 640 N Church St.. A couple developments uptown decided not to install the tower cams (including the Mint Museum apartment tower).

Here is a compilation of the time-lapse progress that’s been made so far on Uptown Charlotte towers;

Check back later next year for a compilation video of the completed towers!

Cabarrus County Schools Buying 108 Acres In Concord To Build $4.6 Million School

Steve
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Cabarrus County Schools Buying 108 Acres In Concord To Build $4.6 Million School
new concord high school 2
hypothetical artist’s rendering

As Concord’s growth continues to outpace most of the regions, it’s starting to burst at the seams in terms of infrastructure and community resources.

Cabarrus County Schools are now one step closer to alleviating some of the stress – they were just approved to purchase a 108 acre piece of land in Concord for $4.6 million. They now plan on building a massive 2 story state-of-the-art high school for the ever-increasing population.

“Our No. 1 priority of our school system is a new high school in a centralized location within the county. That was back in December when we rolled that out, and we’ve been looking pretty diligently for land ever since. Had limited options, but we were fortunate enough to be able to come across this piece of property, which actually had been sold but then someone backed out on it, so it became available.” commented Tim Lowder, the executive director of operations for CCS.

The new school’s property sits on Weddington Road in between Cabarrus Country Club and George W. Liles Parkway and right across from the exit of Weddington Hills Elementary School.

new concord high school

The new Concord city high school is now set to open in the fall of 2019.

Charlotte’s State of Emergency Has Just Ended

Charlotte Stories
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Charlotte’s State of Emergency Has Just Ended

state-of-emergency-endedToday the State of North Carolina has just lifted the ‘State of Emergency’ that was put in place last Thursday after riots and looting ensued after the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.

After almost a week of military vehicles and National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Uptown Charlotte, they will finally be leaving our city.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory originally made the emergency declaration on Sept. 21 after CMPD Cheif Kerr Putney requested emergency assistance.

National Guard have been deactivated from Charlotte’s streets, McCrory spokesman Graham Wilson said Wednesday night.

Governor McCrory commented today, “I want to thank the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, State Highway Patrol and North Carolina National Guard for working together to restore order over the past week. We will continue working with local law enforcement and officials to offer any further assistance needed.”

The Loudest Person Heard During The Keith Scott Protests Had 1 Simple Message – ‘Jesus Saves’

Steve
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The Loudest Person Heard During The Keith Scott Protests Had 1 Simple Message – ‘Jesus Saves’

jesus-saves-in-uptown-charlotteLast week’s protests following the death of Keith Lamont Scott included a wide range of groups and goals, some people wanted to peacefully protest against injustice, others wanted to pray for the hurting, and some, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, wanted to protest through rioting, looting, and violence – but one voice was heard above them all – Sam Bethea.

Sam is a staple at the corner of Trade and Tryon with a unique approach to street preaching. While many street preachers will focus on people sins and talk about going to hell, Sam simply wants to tell people that “Jesus Saves”.

During several nights of the protests Sam could be seen and heard marching with the crowd, chanting ‘Jesus Saved’ with impressive consistency and longevity. His large size and booming voice caused him to be both seen and heard above almost every other protester that offered comparatively short chants of “Release the tapes!” and “No Justice, No Peace”.

I recorded him for about 20 minutes during Saturday night’s protests:

 

Sam was recently interviewed by Esquire, where he told them he was only steps from Wednesday night’s shooting. The shooting caused him to pause for a moment, then he quickly resumed his chant of hope.

Although a few people found him annoying, I came to realize that he was actually brining peace to many people around him. When asked why people stay calm around him, Sam replied, “It wasn’t me. It was the Holy Spirit through me.”

Sam told the Esquire that he was handing out “I love Jesus” lanyards on Thursday afternoon, one such man approached. “He was kicking in windows last night. I saw him on the news,” Bethea commented. “Let’s see what he says.”

“I had to go savage,” the man told Bethea, laughing.

“Don’t do savage,” Bethea responded. “Do love.”

 

All-American Dog Show Coming To Lake Norman

Steve
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All-American Dog Show Coming To Lake Norman

lake-norman-all-american-dog-showThis coming Saturday afternoon, the 16th annual All-American Dog Show will be returning to Cornelius at the at Bailey Road Park track (11900 Bailey Road).

The event is free and there will be plenty of on-site parking available.

The schedule is as follows;

4 p.m.         On-site Registration Begins
4:45 p.m.   Shelter Strut Kick-Off Parade
5 p.m.         Contests Begin

Concessions and children’s activities will be available during the event.

On-site registration will be available on October 1, beginning at 4 p.m., for $8 per dog. Registration fee includes entry into two contests plus the All-American Dog contest. Additional contests are:

Best Dressed Best Kisser
Best Trick (Amateur) Most Ear-Resistible Ears
Best “Puppy Dog” Eyes Best Coat (Natural)
Cutest Puppy (Under 1 year) Cutest Senior (7+ years)
Best Spots Most Unique Tail

 

If you’d like more information, you can contact Jody Clark at jclark@cornelius.org or call 704-892-6031, ext 192.

Bomb Robot Removes Suspicious Package From CMPD Headquarters After Evacuation

Steve
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Bomb Robot Removes Suspicious Package From CMPD Headquarters After Evacuation

cmpd-headquartersYesterday afternoon, at around 4pm, a CMPD employee noticed a suspicious package that was delivered via FedEx to police headquarters. The package was not addressed to any specific name – it simply read ‘CMPD’.

When officers had their bomb-sniffing K9 examine the package, he gave the signal for a positive alert. The package was x-rayed on scene to reveal what looked like a cell phone, flashlight and a bulb.

The CMPD headquarters building was then evacuated at around 4:30pm

Their ‘bomb robot’ was sent in to retrieve the package, and it was then placed on a transport which took the package to a safe location to be examined further.

There’s still no word on exactly what’s in the package or how long it will take for CMPD to confirm if it did in fact contain explosives.

We will update this article when new information becomes available.

11 Year Old Girl Now Missing in Catawba County

Steve
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11 Year Old Girl Now Missing in Catawba County

emily-dowdle-lake-norman-missing-girl1An 11 year old girl just went missing today after getting off her school bus.

Search crews are now searching Catawba County and the Lake Norman area for the girl.

Emily Dowdle was last seen getting off her Catawba Elementary School bus at 2:40pm this afternoon.

She is about 4’11” tall with long light brown hair, hazel eyes, and wears dark framed glasses. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and capri jeans.

If you have any information regarding Emily’s whereabouts, you are asked to call the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office at 828-464-3112.

Please help spread the word:

2 Large Charlotte Churches, 1 Black, 1 White, Are Canceling Services To March Together For Unity

Steve
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2 Large Charlotte Churches, 1 Black, 1 White, Are Canceling Services To March Together For Unity

In light of the recent shooting in Charlotte and the protests that followed, two Charlotte area churches have now decided to cancel their Sunday morning services in order to march around Uptown Charlotte in unity.

Renovatus Church is a large, predominantly white church that gathers on Charlotte’s west side, and The Exchange is a predominately black church that also gathers on Charlotte’s west side.

In their video, pastor John comments, “it’s no secret that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours in our society…”

Renovatus’ Facebook page notes:

“We are closing the doors of our church in order to open the doors of our hearts. This coming Sunday, October 2nd we are cancelling our normal Sunday morning service in order to participate with The Exchange Church and others in a peace rally at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. We will meet in Marshall Park at 9:00 am. The Exchange and Renovatus have organized the event, but anyone is invited. Please feel free to bring the whole family and invite your friends. We will be wearing plain white shirts, joining in prayer and song, and walking together around the courthouse seven times.”

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