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).

Chinese Meditation For Cocaine Addicts

And guess who’s paying for it. In case there wasn’t enough evidence that the federal government has completely gone off the rails of fiscal sanity, let’s toss spending nearly a half-million dollars to study the effects of teaching Chinese meditation to cocaine addicts into the mix. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of […]

July 13, 2010 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

Hooray For Hollywood East

Not content with throwing around copious amounts of cash in the form of so-called business investment grants to lure brick-and-mortar companies to North Carolina, legislators have upped the ante for Hollywood. The General Assembly approved a bill this year that turbo-charges tax breaks for the film industry, skyrocketing the amount of money available to be […]

July 13, 2010 | Posted in Carolinas,House Blends,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Charlotte’s Imploding Infrastructure

Could somebody explain to me again why we’re spending $37 million on a 1.5-mile leg of streetcar – $12 million of which is local money that could be spent on, I don’t know, little things like fixing the city’s decaying infrastructure.

July 12, 2010 | Posted in City Beat,House Blends,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Saturday Night House Party

Send us your favorite tunes (editor@pundithouse.com) and we’ll work them into the mix. This is JXL. Enjoy.

July 10, 2010 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Bad Week For BO

First a federal appeals court slapped down the Obama’s Administration misguided attempt to enforce a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, then King James snubbed Obama’s old Chicago stomping grounds in favor of South Beach and the Heat. Telling reactions to both developments: In LeBron James’ case, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert […]

July 10, 2010 | Posted in House Blends,Mark Pellin,National | Read More »

Streetcaropolis

It’s the place where pipedreams bloom and lollipops and money grow on trees, which is a good thing as nobody has a clue where dollar-one is going to be found to pay this $1.5-million tab. That’s the annual operating cost to run the initial leg of Charlotte’s vaunted streetcar, all 1.5 miles of it, chugging […]

July 9, 2010 | Posted in City Beat,House Specials,Mark Pellin | Read More »

When The Circus Comes To Town

As the uptown lunch bunch goes all-in supporting Charlotte’s bid to land the 2012 Democratic National Convention, they might want to consider the full picture of what the $45 million it’ll cost to bring it to the Queen City is buying. From the 2008 DNC in Denver:

July 8, 2010 | Posted in City Beat,House Blends,Mark Pellin | Read More »

SC Follows AZ

And maybe not just in the alphabet. South Carolina is already headed down a track to approve an illegal-immigration law that closely mirrors the one that has landed Arizona in a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. A state Senate bill that would empower local police to check the immigration status of anyone […]

July 8, 2010 | Posted in Carolinas,House Blends,Mark Pellin | Read More »

Recycled Confusion

Charlotte’s switch this week to a single-stream recycling system, replete with 310,000 giant, green rollout bins and new collection schedules, apparently threw quite a few residents for a loop. City officials report that the 311 call center was positively deluged by folks with questions and concerns. On the first day that trucks rolled with the […]

July 7, 2010 | Posted in Char-Meck Beat,City Beat,Mark Pellin | Read More »

No Luck With Lottery Loot

Mecklenburg County stands to lose upwards of $9 million in lottery revenue the state is withholding this year, a disproportionate hit compared to what other counties will suffer from the state’s money-grab. Wake County, for example, is in line to have all of $100,000 withheld from its share of lottery revenue. Mecklenburg County – $9 […]

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July 7, 2010 | Posted in County Beat,House Specials,Mark Pellin | Read More »

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