Always Last... To Breaking News!
Staff Writer
Staff writer for The Charlotte Mercury covering government, elections, public safety, and development across multiple publications. Beckett has filed more than 600 stories on local policy, crime, zoning, and civic accountability in Connecticut and the Carolinas.
Jesse Love took the lead with fifteen laps to go and won the Nu Way 225 at World Wide Technology Raceway, his first victory of 2026. Sheldon Creed finished second and left St.
Jack Beckett·Sep 13, 2026
The Charlotte Checkers open at home Friday, Oct. 16 against the Hartford Wolf Pack, and individual tickets are on sale for a 36-date home season.
Jack Beckett·Sep 11, 2026
A 2-1 win at Stade Saputo leaves Charlotte fifth in the East and unbeaten in six. Pep Biel reached ten goals and ten assists, one of three players in MLS to do it this year.
Jack Beckett·Sep 10, 2026
The Knights gave away more than 2,000 tickets for Friday, the twenty-fifth September 11. The game-worn jerseys go to a foundation named for an FDNY firefighter from Engine 217, run out of Waxhaw for…
Jack Beckett·Sep 10, 2026
An emergency slide deployed from the Qatari-gifted 747 now flying as Air Force One, on the side of the plane the president does not use.
Jack Beckett·Sep 9, 2026
Carolina opens the 2026 season Sunday at Bank of America Stadium against Chicago: the roster it takes in, who practiced Monday, what the Bears bring, and Thursday's injury report.
Jack Beckett·Sep 8, 2026
Bell won the Cook Out Southern 500 by 1.038 seconds over Ty Gibbs, his first victory in 33 races and the end of a season with seven runner-up finishes.
Jack Beckett·Sep 7, 2026
Carolina Ascent scored three times inside 40 minutes and shut out Fort Lauderdale United for its first home win of the season.
Jack Beckett·Sep 7, 2026
Jeremy Clements has more starts than anyone in the history of NASCAR's second national series, and says the hardest part of the job is funding, not driving.
Jack Beckett·Sep 6, 2026
Thirty-eight cars started Saturday night's Fleetio 200. Twenty-nine were Chevrolets, seven were Toyotas, and the one Ford went out with a brake problem after 21 laps.
Jack Beckett·Sep 6, 2026
Creed led the final 53 laps and won Saturday night's Fleetio 200 by 2.961 seconds, his second career win in the series. Allgaier led more laps than anyone, hit the wall with 23 to go and finished 17th.
Jack Beckett·Sep 6, 2026
Ashley Westwood was booked twice for dissent inside the same minute on Saturday, and Charlotte FC's captain is suspended for Wednesday's trip to CF Montréal.
Jack Beckett·Sep 6, 2026
Charlotte's last six games at Truist Field this season all fall between Tuesday and Saturday, September 8 to 12, against Buffalo.
Jack Beckett·Sep 5, 2026
Charlotte FC sold its exclusive right to sign Damion Downs, a 22-year-old United States international forward, to St. Louis CITY SC for $350,000 on the last day of Major League Soccer's transfer…
Jack Beckett·Sep 5, 2026
Justin Allgaier ended the regular season 229 points clear. The Chase reset left him 25 ahead of teammate Carson Kvapil going into Saturday's Fleetio 200 at Darlington, where Allgaier has four spring…
Jack Beckett·Sep 5, 2026
The NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series opens its first Chase on Saturday night at Darlington. The 12 drivers, the reset points, the track history, the tire and the schedule.
Jack Beckett·Sep 5, 2026
Sieg led two laps at Daytona, the last two of the race. He arrived holding the series record for most runner-up finishes without a win, and he leaves the regular season 15th in points, outside the…
Jack Beckett·Aug 29, 2026
Over his last 11 games, Andy Weber has 12 hits, and eight of them went for extra bases. The Charlotte Knights second baseman is slugging .757 in that span against .481 for the season, and August is…
Jack Beckett·Aug 28, 2026
At its last meeting before the September 23 reinstatement vote, CRTPO heard that Charlotte's position on the I-77 South toll lanes is unchanged, that the alternatives analysis cannot finish in time…
Jack Beckett·Aug 26, 2026
Council approved neither a new curfew nor a pilot Monday. Charlotte's police chief asked to explore a test of the 9 p.m. rule, while members proposed different measures, limits, and timelines.
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
CMS opened the 2026-27 school year Tuesday. At eight schools, the board's August 11 Program Choice votes make it the final year for nine magnet and choice programs, with replacements arriving on a…
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
The Knights closed a 5-7 road trip with a series split in Moosic and come home at 67-59. Six straight against Memphis at Truist Field start tonight at 6:35.
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
NASCAR published two sets of Truck Series standings one minute apart on Saturday, the same ten drivers in the same order, with Layne Riggs on 825 points and then on 2,100.
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
Ryan Blaney made a late two-tire call last for 74 laps at New Hampshire, holding off Bubba Wallace as the Chase cutoff tightened behind them.
Jack Beckett·Aug 24, 2026
Carolina beat Jacksonville 34-17 in preseason Week 2. Bryce Young completed 5 of 6 passes and Jonathon Brooks scored.
Jack Beckett·Aug 23, 2026
Buffalo beat Carolina 29-14 in preseason Week 1. The Panthers scored on passes from Kenny Pickett and Kyle Trask.
Jack Beckett·Aug 23, 2026
Carolina beat Arizona 33-30 in the 2026 Hall of Fame Game after Haynes King scored on a 5-yard run as time expired.
Jack Beckett·Aug 23, 2026
Friesen finished fourth in the Truck Series regular-season finale at New Hampshire, the best result of any driver outside the playoff field, and still missed the ten-driver Chase by seven points.
Jack Beckett·Aug 23, 2026
The Panthers list 91 players across the three lists subject to the August 30 reduction. Track the active roster, official moves, final 53 and waiver claims.
Jack Beckett·Aug 22, 2026
The Knights' 2027 home schedule puts the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A affiliate in Uptown for the first time, opens March 30 against Memphis, and keeps all three holiday weekends at home.
Jack Beckett·Aug 20, 2026
Petition 2026-019 cleared all four criteria that put a Charlotte rezoning on the consent agenda, where petitions pass together without discussion. It came off the list anyway.
Jack Beckett·Aug 20, 2026
Charlotte trailed by seven going into the eighth Tuesday night at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and won 9-8 in ten innings, the largest come-from-behind win of the Knights' season.
Jack Beckett·Aug 19, 2026
Kyle Larson finished sixth after starting 30th at Richmond, then flew to Iowa and led all 50 laps to win his fourth Knoxville Nationals title.
Jack Beckett·Aug 16, 2026
MPTA unanimously ordered a separate planning study for a possible future West Craighead infill station. The action leaves the current 11-station Red Line plan unchanged while requiring CATS to begin…
Jack Beckett·Aug 13, 2026
CMS will bar independent YouTube use for K-2 students, but YouTube will not be technically blocked on their school devices.
Jack Beckett·Aug 13, 2026
CMS says Crystal Hill will return as superintendent after an independent review. The board says the review found issues that still require attention, but it did not explain them at its Aug. 11 meeting.
Jack Beckett·Aug 12, 2026
Charlotte opened its 12-game road trip with an 8-6 comeback win at Rochester, moving one game above .500 against teams other than Durham.
Jack Beckett·Aug 12, 2026
Charlotte FC conceded once in three Phase One matches, but Pachuca’s stoppage-time winner left the club waiting on the rest of the Leagues Cup table.
Jack Beckett·Aug 12, 2026
Charlotte has until September 1 to seek a share of nearly $300 million through DOJ’s Model Cities Initiative. Applying requires local signatures, federal collaboration and an immigration…
Jack Beckett·Aug 11, 2026
The Charlotte Knights finished 14-4 against Durham and 62-52 overall. Remove those 18 games and Charlotte is exactly 48-48 against everyone else, with a 12-game road trip beginning Tuesday.
Jack Beckett·Aug 10, 2026
Charlotte FC enters its final Leagues Cup Phase One match with six points, five goals and two clean sheets. CF Pachuca is the final test Tuesday.
Jack Beckett·Aug 10, 2026
Kvapil led only nine laps at Iowa. They were the last nine, and his second consecutive win showed what 63 winless starts had built.
Jack Beckett·Aug 10, 2026
Ty Gibbs won at Iowa with a two-tire call built on the No. 54 team's own data. One year after sitting 16th in points, he is second. The change is not just speed.
Jack Beckett·Aug 10, 2026
A federal penalty tied to North Carolina's food-assistance error rate could take $30 million to $42 million a year out of Mecklenburg County's budget, and the county will owe a share of it even if…
Jack Beckett·Aug 7, 2026
Charlotte has until October 5 to reverse itself on the I-77 South toll lanes or absorb a penalty the legislature wrote in July: a state bill the city attorney puts at $64 million, a freeze on its…
Jack Beckett·Aug 5, 2026
Charlotte FC's development side beat Red Bull New York II 3-0 on Friday and sits first in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference with 40 points from 19 matches, one clear of Columbus Crew 2 with a match…
Jack Beckett·Jul 29, 2026
Heim held off Christopher Bell by 0.287 seconds at Indianapolis and led more laps than anyone in the field. He is the defending Truck Series champion, declared for points in that series, and the…
Jack Beckett·Jul 27, 2026
The Charlotte Knights won five of six games from the Norfolk Tides at Truist Field, clinched the series with a game to spare, and left for a six-game trip to Nashville at 55-47.
Jack Beckett·Jul 26, 2026
Charlotte FC won 2-0 at Red Bull New York on Saturday, its first win at that ground, completing a two-match season series it took by a combined 8-1.
Jack Beckett·Jul 26, 2026
Lionel Messi, Son Heung-Min and Thomas Müller are on the 29-player MLS All-Star roster for Wednesday night at Bank of America Stadium.
Jack Beckett·Jul 26, 2026
Kvapil came in tied for the most runner-up finishes without a win in series history. He led the last 22 laps at Indianapolis to end it, and JR Motorsports took the next three spots behind him.
Jack Beckett·Jul 26, 2026
Riggs gave up the lead once, for two laps, and immediately took it back. He led the other 198, swept both stages and left Indianapolis Raceway Park 100 points clear with two races left before the…
Jack Beckett·Jul 26, 2026
The team has put a car in the top 10 in 78 straight races. One more ties the all-time mark. Chase Elliott is in the car on the oval where his father won the Brickyard 400.
Jack Beckett·Jul 25, 2026
Hamlin has seven wins across NASCAR's four biggest races and none of them is the Brickyard 400. A win Sunday makes him the fifth driver ever to complete the set.
Jack Beckett·Jul 25, 2026
Ty Majeski has two wins and the best average finish in the track's history. His team has not won in 40 races. The next three races are the three best ovals of his career.
Jack Beckett·Jul 24, 2026
George Dunlap, the District 3 member of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, was sworn in Monday as president of the National Association of Counties.
Jack Beckett·Jul 21, 2026
Joey Logano led 323 of 450 laps and beat Denny Hamlin by 0.859 seconds to win the Window World 450, the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 30 years.
Jack Beckett·Jul 20, 2026
Kaulig Racing brought five Ram trucks home between 21st and 29th at North Wilkesboro, in Ram's first NASCAR season after a 13-year absence.
Jack Beckett·Jul 18, 2026
Chandler Smith led the final 105 laps of the FaithFest 250 for his ninth career Truck Series win at North Wilkesboro, beating his own Front Row Motorsports teammate and points leader Layne Riggs to…
Jack Beckett·Jul 18, 2026
Grant Enfinger backed into a Lime Rock win and a playoff spot. At North Wilkesboro he defends it from a pack of short-track natives, including Kaulig's Brenden Queen and Justin Haley.
Jack Beckett·Jul 17, 2026
North Wilkesboro hosts its first Cup Series points race since 1996, and Denny Hamlin's shrinking lead lands at a short track no one has a modern read on. A preview of Sunday's Window World 450.
Jack Beckett·Jul 17, 2026
The Smithsonian's "¡Pleibol!" opens Saturday at the Charlotte Museum of History, in partnership with the Charlotte Knights, and runs through October 18.
Jack Beckett·Jul 17, 2026
Timothy "Mini" Tyrrell won his NASCAR ride on a reality show. His teammate Brenden Queen leads Rookie of the Year. Underneath the branding, Kaulig's Ram truck team is a roster of short-track kids…
Jack Beckett·Jul 17, 2026
"¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues," a bilingual Smithsonian exhibition on Latinos and baseball, opens Saturday at the Charlotte Museum of History in partnership with the Charlotte…
Jack Beckett·Jul 16, 2026
The regional board that killed the I-77 South toll lanes in May will vote September 23 on bringing them back, under a state budget that told the governments that opposed them to reinstate the project…
Jack Beckett·Jul 16, 2026
The City Council's Safety Committee voted unanimously to send the full council a single 9 p.m. curfew for everyone under 18, replacing the current age-tiered rules.
Jack Beckett·Jul 15, 2026
Justin Allgaier came from 16th through 13 cautions and three red flags to win the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta, his sixth O'Reilly Series win of the season.
Jack Beckett·Jul 13, 2026
Ryan Blaney led 171 of 263 laps, kept handing the lead back to the pack, and took it for good in overtime to win a rain-delayed Quaker State 400 at Atlanta's EchoPark Speedway.
Jack Beckett·Jul 13, 2026
The two fastest trucks at Lime Rock did not win the race. Grant Enfinger, who wasn't the fastest, did, passing cleanly for his first road-course win and first victory in more than a season, on the…
Jack Beckett·Jul 12, 2026
Crown Legacy FC, Charlotte FC's MLS NEXT Pro development side, sits second in the Eastern Conference at 8-2-6 and has already sent four players up to the First Team.
Jack Beckett·Jul 11, 2026
For the first time in club history, Charlotte FC will have players in the MLS All-Star Game: Tim Ream, Pep Biel, and Ashley Westwood.
Jack Beckett·Jul 11, 2026
Charlotte's new transit authority gave its interim CEO expanded authority to sign technology contracts without case-by-case board approval, racing a Jan.
Jack Beckett·Jul 11, 2026
Denny Hamlin leads the Cup Series by 44 points with seven races left, but Sunday night the Quaker State 400 visits EchoPark Speedway, a drafting track where he has no top 10 all year.
Jack Beckett·Jul 10, 2026
Austin Hill has five wins at Atlanta, tied with Kevin Harvick for the most in NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series history. On Saturday, in his home state, he can break the tie.
Jack Beckett·Jul 10, 2026
The Craftsman Truck Series runs its final road course of the year Saturday at Lime Rock Park, a Connecticut track a 1959 court order still bars from racing on Sundays.
Jack Beckett·Jul 10, 2026
A committee of Charlotte's new transit authority voted 5-4 against recommending a West Craighead station for the Red Line, siding with staff who warned an extra stop could weaken the project's bid…
Jack Beckett·Jul 10, 2026
Mecklenburg County will turn a long-vacant building on LaSalle Street, the former home of Project Lift, into a west side workforce hub run by the Urban League of Central Carolinas and four partner…
Jack Beckett·Jul 8, 2026
Brandon Jones started 29th at Chicagoland, led 12 of 201 laps, and won the Cuervo 300 in overtime, the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series' first extra-lap finish of 2026.
Jack Beckett·Jul 6, 2026
William Byron swept both stages at Chicagoland and led 94 laps, more than anyone else on the grid. He finished fourth. Chase Briscoe led the final 46 laps, beat Christopher Bell by 0.276 seconds, and…
Jack Beckett·Jul 6, 2026
NASCAR's Cup Series returns to Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday for the first time since 2019, a 2,562-day gap. The eero 400 caps a three-day holiday weekend at the Joliet oval and lands in a…
Jack Beckett·Jul 3, 2026
Robert "Rob" Harrington took the oath of office Wednesday morning as Charlotte's mayor, ending the succession that began with Vi Lyles's resignation.
Jack Beckett·Jul 2, 2026
Fifty thousand secondhand books, almost none over eight dollars, and a trade that keeps them moving reader to reader. Inside The Book Rack, the Johnston Road shop that has kept south Charlotte…
Jack Beckett·Jul 1, 2026
On June 24 the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority closed out the last of the twelve requirements North Carolina set before it can run Charlotte's buses and trains, and voted to send the…
Jack Beckett·Jun 28, 2026
With the U.S. Mint's last penny struck in November, Mecklenburg County is drafting a policy for cash payments made without exact change: round the total up to the nearest nickel, by no more than four…
Jack Beckett·Jun 25, 2026
Charlotte-Mecklenburg's school board declined to renew i-Ready on the terms its staff requested, rejecting a multi-year, sole-source contract for a single year with conditions attached.
Jack Beckett·Jun 24, 2026
After a runoff decided by a single vote, the City Council chose Robert Harrington, a Robinson Bradshaw attorney who has never held elected office, as Charlotte's next mayor.
Jack Beckett·Jun 23, 2026
Layne Riggs won the inaugural Truck Series race at San Diego and stretched his championship lead from 26 points to 65 as nearest rival Kaden Honeycutt crashed out.
Jack Beckett·Jun 22, 2026
Corey Heim won the Anduril 250 at the San Diego Street Course, the first Cup Series race ever run at Naval Base Coronado, then collected zero championship points: as a Truck Series cross-entry he was…
Jack Beckett·Jun 22, 2026
Austin Hill won the inaugural O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at San Diego's Naval Base Coronado, surviving a 25-car wreck and a run of engine failures for the 16th series victory of his career.
Jack Beckett·Jun 22, 2026
The council interviewed five finalists for interim mayor on June 18 and set the appointment vote for Monday. Here is how each got on the ballot, what they told council about running meetings, the…
Jack Beckett·Jun 20, 2026
Hendrick Motorsports has petitioned to rezone 22.89 acres at the Mecklenburg-Cabarrus line from residential to industrial to expand its race-shop campus.
Jack Beckett·Jun 17, 2026
A bill in Raleigh, written by Sen. Vickie Sawyer, would require the Charlotte-area governments that voted to kill the I-77 South toll lanes in May to repay the state an estimated $60 million, freeze…
Jack Beckett·Jun 17, 2026
Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell Jr. applied for the interim mayor seat the council will fill, and he can vote for himself. Council members raised a conflict; the city attorney ruled there is no legal…
Jack Beckett·Jun 17, 2026
More than 100 people applied to be Charlotte's next mayor, and about 30 made their case in person at a June 15 council forum.
Jack Beckett·Jun 16, 2026
Denny Hamlin held off Tyler Reddick by 1.678 seconds at Pocono on Sunday for his third straight NASCAR Cup win, a record eighth at the track.
Jack Beckett·Jun 15, 2026
On July 1, the Charlotte Area Transit System stops being a city department and passes to the MPTA, a 27-member appointed board, along with a new one-cent tax meant to raise $19.4 billion over thirty…
Jack Beckett·Jun 11, 2026
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted 7-2 to adopt Policy S-SFRS on student free speech. The most substantive speech about the policy came from a student who argued it would do the…
Jack Beckett·Jun 10, 2026
More than a dozen parents, students, teachers, and health professionals testified against renewing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' iReady contract at Tuesday's board meeting.
Jack Beckett·Jun 10, 2026
Charlotte's city council voted unanimously Monday to pause all new data center and telecommunications facility approvals for 150 days, giving staff time to develop regulations the council says…
Jack Beckett·Jun 9, 2026
The Charlotte Knights completed a six-game sweep of the Durham Bulls on Sunday, a 12-5 finale that ran their win streak to six and dropped Durham to 0-9 against Charlotte in the first half.
Jack Beckett·Jun 8, 2026
