It was only a few months ago that the county manager and budget director openly acknowledged that Mecklenburg could not afford the government it has. So naturally, the Democrat majority on the board of county commissioners, with a party line vote Tuesday night, approved a budget that grows government by upward of $70 million. The […]
It seems the FBI has some questions and is investigating two local taxicab companies that took the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services for a ride – or not, in multiple cases allegedly bilking the taxpayers for phantom trips. This from WCNC: The two cab companies made up about two-thirds of the DSS billing in 2009, […]
Mayor Anthony Foxx and Police Chief Rodney Monroe used the better part of an hour yesterday trying to explain why the riot that rocked uptown and resulted in 70 arrests, one shooting fatality and one shooting injury was not, in fact, a riot. Or a melee. Or any other moniker that might give the uptown […]
Charlotte’s gang problem isn’t really a gang problem, more like a version of the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family living under one roof, according to Police Chief Rodney Monroe, who offered this stunning evaluation of the local crime scene in the wake of the mob riot that erupted uptown, leaving one dead, one wounded, 70 […]
Alternate Headline: Crash-and-Burn Bill of the Week. Which doesn’t necessarily make it a bad one, but I suspect Rep. Dale Folwell, a Forsyth Republican, is doomed to epic failure with proposed legislation that would require principals to keep track of illegal immigrants in their schools, for the sole purpose of fiscal analysis. The blowback from […]
Commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts is actively lobbying the public to support her self-proclaimed “education budget,” which would use a rate-neutral spending plan to funnel $50 million in additional county funding to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and dramatically increase the tax burden on a majority of homeowners. The county board chairman’s e-newsletter, paid for by the Committee to […]
As county manager Harry Jones was pitching his recommended $1.4-billion budget that accelerates county spending while dramatically increasing the tax burden on a majority on homeowners, he assured that the moment was right for a so-called “re-investment” spending spree. “Although the winds of change continue to swirl around us, we find ourselves once again standing […]
GOP mayoral candidate Scott Stone is planning a visit this afternoon to the uptown transit hub, the scene of the latest gang riot to rock center city. We said earlier that Stone should push Democrat Mayor Anthony Foxx on his Katrina-flyover response to the riot; this is a good start. From Stone’s media release: Stone […]
Ever since my youngest ratted me out for dropping the F-Bomb in the car on the road trip home from an extended Memorial Day weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about the power and importance of words. How and when they’re used. What impact they can have. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the link I […]
Two quality and local talk show hosts gone in two months over at WBT, as Massachusetts-based Greater Media cuts loose Tara Servatius, a powerhouse behind the mic during the afternoon drive-time slot for the last two years. The station in March dropped Pete Kaliner and the regular doses of overnight wit and wisdom he brought […]
