Stories written by Mark Pellin
An award-winning journalist and former editor of The Rhinoceros Times in Charlotte, Pellin has been called everything from a misguided troglodyte to a professional agitator. He prefers the label of a realist, the guy in the crowd telling everybody that not only doesn’t the emperor have any clothes; he’s trying to steal ours. Pellin has covered the Char-Meck scene for the better part of two decades, earning his fair share of fans and more than a few critics who wish he’d move to Nome, Alaska, and be eaten by wild bears. When he’s not writing, he stays busy enjoying time with his wife and two kids. When he can break away for some R&R, he likes to fly fish (even if he doesn’t catch anything) and camp (even if it rains).

NASCAR Museum Racing Into The Red

Attendance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame plummeted 39 percent in June compared to the same month one year ago, attracting a scant 17,604 visitors according to numbers released yesterday by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which operates the $200-million, city-owned facility. The drop in attendance continued a downward spiral for the racing museum: in […]

July 14, 2011 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,City Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Government Broke, But Not From Lack Of Loot

States and local governments across the country have been stuffing their coffers with record takes of revenue, aside from a slight hiccup during the height of the recession, according to the advocacy group Watchdog.org: State and local governments collected a record high of $322 billion in taxes the first quarter of this year, and tied the […]

July 13, 2011 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

Was Stumptown Elementary Sacrificed To Appease NAACP?

Mecklenburg commissioners on Tuesday night approved spending $156.4 million to launch 18 capital projects, from parks and greenways to school renovations and new-school construction. But not Stumptown Elementary, a planned $15 million school that parents and education advocates in north Mecklenburg say is long overdue and desperately needed to relieve severe overcrowding at Torrence Creek […]

July 13, 2011 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,County Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Stimulust Revisions: Take DXCII

As far as bodacious spin and stone-crazy rhetoric goes, this has to rank near the top of any list: the latest gruesome jobs report, which pushed the real unemployment rate past 16%, is solid evidence that the $830-billion economic stimulus package … wait for it … worked exactly according to plan. So opines The One: […]

July 12, 2011 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

Habitual Criminals Catch A Break

Apologies – that header should read Habitual Criminals Catch More Breaks. Because our revolving door of criminal justice isn’t spinning quit fast enough, new legislation will apparently add more grease to the hinges. It comes courtesy of HB 642, co-sponsored by Mecklenburg County’s very own Becky Carney, and is already drawing backlash from district attorneys. “I used […]

July 11, 2011 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,County Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Saturday Night House Party

Send us a youtube clip of your favorite tunes or vids (editor@pundithouse.com) and we’ll work them into the rotation:

July 9, 2011 | Posted in Mark Pellin | Read More »

Clinton: Fraud-Free Elections Are Racist

America’s first unofficial/official Afro-Am President Bill Clinton opines that GOP efforts to restore integrity and honesty into the electoral process is, of course, a blatant form of racism. This from Politico: “There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the […]

July 9, 2011 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

CRVA Contract Contortions

The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority’s two top chief executives will be performing their high-flying, tourism-attracting circus act without a safety net for the immediate future. “We wanted to let everyone know that the CRVA Board has decided that with the expiration of their contracts at the end of June, Tim Newman and Mike Crum will […]

July 7, 2011 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,City Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Thaddeus Thesaurus

I’ll confess I haven’t done much research on Thaddeus McCotter, but he already gets some style points for this vid from a years back:

July 7, 2011 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

Testing Lessons For CMS

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools interim chief Hugh Hattabaugh used his inaugural presser this week to make clear his intention of staying the course when it comes to fully implementing a barrage of new, pricey, and unproven tests that come part and parcel with the district’s drive for teacher performance pay. The initiative, championed by former super Peter […]

July 7, 2011 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,CMS Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

This Month's Top Commentators

  • Be the first to comment.

The Best Voter Lists Available