United States

NATIONAL COVERAGE

• What You Need to Know About Charlotte’s New Transit Authority
  by Jack Beckett
  Transit power explained Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have quietly crossed a governance threshold that will shape transportation, land use, and public spending for a generation. On December 18, the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority convened for the first time. The meeting was ceremonial in form, procedural in substance, and consequential in effect. By the time the gavel fell, a new regional power center was fully constituted, officers elected, governing rules adopted, and the legal groundwork laid for one of the largest…
• Mecklenburg Commissioners Hear Housing Appeals, Reset A Home for All, and Approve SoFi Incentive
  by Jack Beckett
  A holiday meeting turns serious fast: homelessness strategy shifts, Atrium’s housing claims, board appointments, and a divided vote on a SoFi incentive package.
• Charlotte City Council Zoning Meeting, Dec. 15: Displacement Vote, Brookhill Overlay, TOD Disputes, and Growth Pressures
  by Jack Beckett
  Charlotte’s last zoning meeting mixed holiday cheer with hard votes on displacement, traffic, TOD, and school crowding. Here is what passed, what failed, and why it matters.
• Cancel Culture Isn’t Justice: Why Charlotte Should Pause, Read, and Protect Due Process
  by Jack Beckett
  Charlotte should slow down. We can condemn alleged crimes without destroying innocent people or local businesses. Due process, context, and fairness still matter.
• CATS hires an out-of-state firm to tell us what we apparently don’t know ourselves.
  by Peter Cellino
  When the city is facing a real crisis of confidence in its transit system, a $3.4 million marketing contract for an out-of-state agency isn’t just tone-deaf. It’s the civic equivalent of leaving your house unlocked, then paying someone from Austin to tell you how to jiggle the doorknob.
• Why Scout Motors Picked Charlotte For Its U.S. Hub And What Mecklenburg County Put On The Table
  by Jack Beckett
  Scout Motors picked Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood for its U.S. hub, promising 1,200 high-wage jobs and $200 million in investment in exchange for performance-based public incentives.
• North Carolina Opens 2026 Election Filing: What It Means for Charlotte
  by Jack Beckett
  North Carolina’s 2026 election cycle officially began at noon on Dec. 1 as candidate filing opened statewide. Here’s what Charlotte residents should know before the Dec. 19 deadline.
• What The Mayor Pro Tem Vote Reveals About Charlotte’s New City Council
  by Jack Beckett
  On swearing-in night, a failed motion for one Mayor Pro Tem and a 9–3 vote for another gave Charlotte its first look at how this new City Council may sort itself into factions.
• If You’re Not Reading, You’re Not Ready To Vote
  by Peter Cellino
  Why A City That Won’t Read Shouldn’t Trust Its Own Opinions The Counterintuitive Problem: The “Information Age” Hates Information For a country that never stops talking about being in an “information age,” it quietly avoids the one habit that actually delivers information: reading. The surprise is not that people are busy. The surprise is that in a year when Charlotte voters have detailed candidate guides, transit explainers and a full election portal sitting a click away, a huge slice of…
• Old Pizza, Old Media: Why The Charlotte Mercury Will Not Serve This Slice Of “News”
  by Peter Cellino
  A Texas pizza franchise’s bankruptcy just ran as “Charlotte business news.” Here is why that old attention-merchant model is breaking down and what The Charlotte Mercury is doing instead.
• Who Will Run Charlotte’s New Transit Authority? Inside the 27-Seat MPTA Board
  by Jack Beckett
  Charlotte’s new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority will control nearly twenty billion dollars in transit and road spending. Here is who appoints its 27 members, who is already in the seats, and what they can actually do.
• A County at Its Boiling Point: Mecklenburg Finally Says What Everyone Else Has Been Avoiding
  by Jack Beckett
  In a night soaked in fear, anger, and public distrust, Mecklenburg’s commissioners confronted Border Patrol tactics, Atrium’s broken promises, and the unraveling of public patience.
• MPTA Appointments Advance After a Marathon Process
  by Jack Beckett
  Charlotte City Council confirmed four new members to the long-anticipated Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority board after a multi-day interview marathon. The vote, largely unified, sets the region’s new transit oversight structure into motion—though unresolved seats will return on November 24.
• Nathan Lyons, Built For Charlotte: Inside A Prospect Whose Work Speaks Louder Than The Hype
  by The NASCAR Guy
  Nathan Lyons moved from Texas to Charlotte to do the work. With the NASCAR Development Program shifting, 2026 will reward drivers who show their homework. Here’s why Lyons fits the moment.
• Cassidy Keitt’s 2026:
  by The NASCAR Guy
  Cassidy Keitt’s 2026 hinges on one thing: qualifying where the race is. Inside her verified path, the tracks that shaped her, and the measurable plan that turns tape into opportunity.