Charlotte News

Police say they have arrested two men in connection with the slaying of a man Tuesday afternoon in northwest Charlotte.

They are being charged in the death of Myron Billings, who was found shot to death shortly after noon in the 1300 block of Effingham Road, between Tuckaseegee Road and Freedom Drive.

Mitt Romney began to implement his campaign’s “bracket”strategy Wednesday with a Charlotte, the host city for the Democratic National Convention. We will have video clips of the speech here when they are available.

It’s the first stop of several locations chosen to mimic President Obama’s itinerary. The Romney campaign is billing the speeches as prebuttals or rebuttals to Obama’s speeches.

SOCIETY Charlotte is a free monthly magazine celebrating Charlotte’s philanthropies and the people who support them. The magazine will be published by Tribute Communications, which is owned by Paige Roselle and Craig Moon, retired Publisher of USA Today.

The goal of the monthly magazine is to publish exciting and informative news and photos about Charlotte’s philanthropic events. “Charlotte is such an impressive city and a large part of that is our philanthropy. Our community deserves a publication that truly focuses on these organizations and their supporters,” Roselle said.

Among the details that the city of Charlotte thought were worth keeping secret about the upcoming Democratic National Convention: what color to paint a new police command center; the location of fire and building inspectors at Time Warner Cable Arena, and a squabble between police and federal authorities over when to hold a meeting.

Last fall, the Observer requested six months of emails by some city officials related to the convention. The city released heavily blacked-out emails, some with entire paragraphs redacted.

Charlotte – Mecklenburg school (CMS) district’s interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh has proposed a three percent raise for all employees.

Hattabaugh wants the county to give the district $27.5 million more to pay for the raises. the interim’s budget includes $16.5 million in cuts. Positions will be cut and a few people ill be laid off. Hattabaugh will use some of that money to help pay for raises. The district has come up with enough money to fund a 1% raise but not a 3% raise.

A study commissioned by the Charlotte Sports Commission says the region would be out $2.1 billion dollars and 23,000 jobs if all amateur and professional sports disappeared. The report will likely be used to encourage public investment in a new stadium for the Charlotte Knights Uptown.

A baseball player might “swing for the fences,” but economist John Connaughton says he was conservative in estimating the impact of sports on the Charlotte region.

Two young boys are dead after being hit by a truck in Charlotte while walking with their father to a nearby daycare center. Police say the children, who were 1 and 5 years old, were hit by a delivery truck Wednesday morning in west Charlotte while walking to the center.

The brothers were taken to a nearby hospital where they were later pronounced dead. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and the North Carolina Highway Patrol are conducting an investigation

Frequent fliers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport could soon get through security a little faster, as the Transportation Safety Administration rolls out its PreCheck expedited screening program in Charlotte.

The TSA said Wednesday that it will expand the program, which has been tested at seven airports, to about 30 more airports across the country. The agency didn’t give an exact timetable, but said it expects to complete the expansion this year.

“From Columbus, Indiana, the three-time and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, entering his 14th year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala, Tony Stewart.

“From South Bend, Indiana, a winner of 15 races and 49 poles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, entering his 11th full year of Sprint Cup racing, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army / Quicken Loans Chevrolet Impala, Ryan Newman.

Former WSOC-TV reporter Ken Ward died early Wednesday morning, WSOC-TV confirms.  He was 44-years-old. More >