Always Last... To Breaking News!
City council, county policy, and civic accountability
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Mecklenburg County's new budget raised 721 county workers to a living wage but left MEDIC's paramedics and EMTs out — their raise sits in restricted contingency, pending two studies and a second vote.
Jack Beckett·Jun 3, 2026
Mecklenburg County's 2026-27 budget was a foregone conclusion — but adopting it still took the board most of an hour, through nine contract recusals, a failed park-appointment slate, three motions to…
Jack Beckett·Jun 3, 2026
A Charlotte City Council committee voted 4-1 to keep exploring a criminal-penalty option for repeat street-vending offenders and unanimously advanced citywide vending regulation, sending both to the…
Jack Beckett·Jun 3, 2026
At the MTC's final meeting, members praised interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle for steadying an agency in crisis since he arrived in December 2022.
Jack Beckett·Jun 3, 2026
Charlotte City Council voted 10-1 Monday to direct the city manager to give the Charlotte Fire Department the same 10 percent raise as police, closing a pay gap that drew months of firefighter protest.
Jack Beckett·Jun 2, 2026
The Metropolitan Transit Commission's final vote adopted the CATS Fare Modernization Program — tap-and-go payments, electronic validation, a new streetcar fare, and expanded reduced fares, phased in…
Jack Beckett·Jun 2, 2026
The Metropolitan Transit Commission held its final meeting May 27 after 27 years, adopting an amended CATS fare policy and formally handing operational control to the new Metropolitan Public…
Jack Beckett·Jun 1, 2026
Charlotte went from a bus-only city to a rail-connected region to an independent transit authority in 27 years. A companion to the Mercury's coverage of the MTC's dissolution, laid out as a single…
Jack Beckett·May 30, 2026
A late substitute motion placed $2,293,759 in restricted contingency rather than fund a same-day move of MEDIC's EMT minimum wage to the new $25.53 county floor.
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
Thirteen new fund-balance allocations cleared at Thursday's FY27 straw vote — eleven external community partners plus two internal Park & Rec restorations.
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
A 7-1 vote sends the FY2027 operating budget to ordinance-drafting for June 2 adoption. Roughly $1.6 million in additional fund-balance allocations cleared.
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
Charlotte's city council voted Tuesday to open applications for an interim mayor, 19 days after Mayor Vi Lyles announced her resignation — and the 2027 race question is already on the form.
May 27, 2026
CMS unanimously approved a 99-year lease option with Innovative Housing Solutions Foundation for educator housing adjacent to Garinger High School. IHSF must secure fundraising by June 2027.
Jack Beckett·May 27, 2026
Charlotte City Council held a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed 150-day moratorium on new telecommunications and data storage facilities.
Jack Beckett·May 27, 2026
Inside the $2.6 billion budget Mecklenburg commissioners adopt June 2 is the county's share of a $118 million public-safety training complex in Matthews — Central Piedmont's "Community Lifeline,"…
Jack Beckett·May 24, 2026
CRTPO voted May 20 to withdraw support for the I-77 South toll lanes, all but ending a $3.2 billion expansion, removing it from the state's ten-year construction plan, and putting an estimated $700…
Jack Beckett·May 23, 2026
One regional board ended a multibillion-dollar state project. Here is what CRTPO is, how its weighted vote works, and why Charlotte's bloc is large enough to decide the outcome.
Jack Beckett·May 23, 2026
County Manager Michael Bryant's recommended FY2027 budget holds Mecklenburg's property tax rate flat and fully funds Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Jack Beckett·May 23, 2026
Charlotte City Council on Monday unanimously approved a partial rezoning of the Manor Theater site on Providence Road, clearing the way for SLRH Acquisitions to redevelop the long-closed Eastover…
Jack Beckett·May 22, 2026
Mission City Church, Freedom Communities, and the True Homes Foundation walked Charlotte City Council through their 49-townhome affordable-housing petition Monday night.
Jack Beckett·May 21, 2026
The Charlotte City Council on Monday rezoned a 0.16-acre Verbena Street parcel from ML-2 (manufacturing and logistics) to TOD-NC, 7-2.
Jack Beckett·May 21, 2026
At Mecklenburg County's May 20 budget overview, Budget Director Adrian Cox put a number on what the county spends covering the state's share of CMS: more than $400 million — about sixteen cents of…
Jack Beckett·May 20, 2026
Council Member Renée Johnson (District 4) brought a manually-compiled CMS school-utilization report to Monday's council meeting to argue that the conventional rezoning process is not tracking the…
Jack Beckett·May 20, 2026
Mecklenburg commissioners got a deliberately neutral briefing on data centers at their May 19 meeting and signaled they want a position on the fast-growing industry.
Jack Beckett·May 20, 2026
Charlotte City Council unanimously approved a 41.26-acre rezoning of the Atrium Health University City hospital campus Monday, switching the property from Institutional Campus 1 to Institutional…
Jack Beckett·May 20, 2026
Council Member Renée Johnson pulled petition 2025-136 — a conventional rezoning at 1800 West Sugar Creek Road by Larry Cooper — off the consent agenda Monday, citing her standing concern about…
Jack Beckett·May 19, 2026
Mayor Vi Lyles had not chaired a 2026 zoning meeting through her current term — Council Member Ed Driggs (District 7) handled each of the four held earlier this year.
Jack Beckett·May 19, 2026
Brendan K. Maginnis, the runner-up in Charlotte's September 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, has volunteered for the interim mayor appointment — from Copenhagen, where his family moved in January…
Jack Beckett·May 16, 2026
Students from Levine Middle College and a Pre-K family advocate used Tuesday's public comment period to ask the CMS Board to protect programs they said were producing results.
Jack Beckett·May 15, 2026
The Board of Education approved a $5.5 million amendment to its Oracle enterprise software contract, extending the implementation and adding hypercare support as the district works toward a full…
Jack Beckett·May 15, 2026
District Court Judge Elizabeth Trosch spent nearly two decades in juvenile court before showing up at the May 12 CMS board meeting to explain what the district's sustained investment in four…
Jack Beckett·May 15, 2026
The MPTA board launched a national CEO search Wednesday and advanced the draft Interlocal Agreement as the July 1 operational transfer deadline approaches.
Jack Beckett·May 14, 2026
