Local News Roundup: CMS vacancies as first day approaches; frustration over transit planning; Cooper to speak at DNC; Trump and Vance in NC

Featured at WFAE

We’re just days from the start of classes for Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, and the system still has hundreds of teacher vacancies. How does CMS plan to address them?

Matthews Mayor John Higdon is still voicing his frustration with the $25 billion mobility plan for the Charlotte region and its plan to provide Matthews with bus rapid-transit service. This comes in the same week that Cornelius commissioners voted to support the new transit sales tax. We’ll bring you up to date.

This week, Democrats from all over the country gathered in Chicago for the DNC, including many representatives from North Carolina. Gov. Cooper was among them. We’ll hear what role he played in support of the Harris/Walz ticket.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance were in Asheboro this week for Trump’s first outdoor rally since the assassination attempt earlier this summer.

And, Charlotte’s newest professional sports team sells out its home opener.

Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into these stories, and more, on the Charlotte Talks’ local news roundup.

GUESTS:

Erik Spanberg, managing editor for the Charlotte Business Journal
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time.” Curtis is also a contributor to a new book “We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices on Justice for Black Men”
Mary Ramsey, local government accountability reporter for the Charlotte Observer
Ely Portillo, executive editor at WFAE News

Read the rest atWFAE
Aug232024 TAGS: , , , , ,

Looking to the future, with a nod to history at the DNC

Featured at Roll Call

It is fitting that President Joe Biden was the opening night star at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He is the party’s past and present; and the policies he touted in his presidency, the appointments he has made, have shaped the future of the country.

The man from Delaware got his moment in the sun after offering a path to his vice president, Kamala Harris, putting his stamp on the 2024 ticket after outsmarting pundits and poohbahs. Those fantasizing about mini-primaries and an open convention while publicly and not so gently nudging Biden’s exit, stage right, got it wrong, underestimating Scranton Joe and not for the first time.

The president got his chance to place front and center the accomplishments of his administration, which are plenty. He must have smiled when Republican nominee Donald Trump recently tried to steal the spotlight by taking credit for a Biden administration cap on insulin prices. So, he set his record straight.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Aug212024 TAGS: , , , , , , ,

Purple Ballot: NC perspectives on the Democratic National Convention

Featured at WUNC

The Democratic National Convention is underway in Chicago this week.

In the latest edition of our Purple Ballot series, co-host Jeff Tiberii sits down with a panel of reporters and political analysts to discuss the Democratic Party’s platform, key issues, and campaign strategies leading up to the election.

We’ll also follow the North Carolinians on tap to speak at this week’s convention, including Governor Roy Cooper.

Guests

Colin Campbell, Capitol Bureau Chief, WUNC

Mary C. Curtis, columnist, Rollcall.com and host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”

Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst, John Locke Foundation

Abby Vesoulis, reporter, Mother Jones

Read the rest atWUNC
Aug202024 TAGS: , ,

Local News Roundup: Debby wreaks havoc in NC; Diorio to retire; Truist to sponsor PGA at Quail Hollow; and more

Featured at WFAE

On the next Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup …

Tropical Storm Debby began wreaking havoc on the Charlotte area Thursday with flash flooding, power outages, flight delays and cancellations. A state of emergency is in effect for North Carolina. The weather is also behind the cancellation of campaign stops by Kamala Harris and JD Vance.

Longtime Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio has announced that she’s retiring next year. Diorio made the announcement Thursday, saying she plans to leave her position by July 2025.

We have an update to a story we discussed back in June in which two Mecklenburg County Commissioners blocked a Pride proclamation from being put on the commission’s meeting agenda for procedural reasons. The commission voted this week on Pride proclamations. We’ll bring you up to speed.

Truist Bank, headquartered in Charlotte, is the new sponsor for the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club starting in 2026. We learn more.

If you’re a soccer fan in Charlotte you got BIG news this week with the announcement that Charlotte FC has signed Tim Ream, a Premier League defender who is also on the U.S. men’s national team, to its roster. What will this mean for Charlotte FC?

The Carolina Panthers announced this week that quarterback Bryce Young will sit out the first preseason game Thursday against the New England Patriots. The starter in the quarterback role will instead be Jack Plummer. Why this move? We discuss.

Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into those stories and more, on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.

GUESTS:

Steve Harrison, WFAE’s political reporter
Joe Bruno, WSOC-TV reporter and host of The Political Beat
Erik Spanberg, managing editor of the Charlotte Business Journal
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time.” Mary is also a contributor to the new book “We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices on Justice for Black Men”

Read the rest atWFAE
Aug112024

The Olympics Meet the Culture Wars: Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting have been pulled into the long, ugly history of sports sex testing

Featured at Slate.com

How Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting—two women boxers fighting in the gender category they were assigned at birth—became the targets of trans panic and subject to another round of “but is she woman enough?” at the Olympics.

Guest: Rose Eveleth, reporter and host of the podcast Tested, from NPR and CBC.

Read the rest atSlate.com
Aug112024 TAGS: , ,

Why It Had to Be Walz: What is the Minnesota governor bringing to the ticket?

Featured at Slate.com

How Minnesota Governor Tim Walz slipped past VP-favorite Josh Shapiro and joined Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket.

Guest: Guest: David Faris, associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and author of The Kids Are All Left and It’s Time to Fight Dirty.

Read the rest atSlate.com
Aug112024 TAGS: , , ,

Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee —what does this mean for Black voters?

Featured at WFAE

On the next Charlotte Talks, we discuss the sea-change in enthusiasm among Democrats since President Joe Biden announced his decision not to run.

The ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket has been remarkable in the speed with which the party threw its support to her. But what impact has this had on a key Democratic constituency — Black voters?

Polls in recent months showed that Biden was losing support among Black voters, leaving Democrats worried. Would Democrats lose Black voters to third candidates or Donald Trump?

But Harris may be the key to keeping the support of Black voters with the Democratic Party.

We’ll hear from a panel of Black voters to learn about their thoughts and perspectives on a Harris presidential ticket, and what it means for women and people of color.

GUESTS:

Bakari Sellers, former S.C. lawmaker, attorney and author
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”
Christine Edwards, founder and principal consultant of Civility Localized

Read the rest atWFAE
Jul302024 TAGS: , , ,

Olympic Gymnastics is Back. But Is It Better? The problem has always been bigger than Larry Nassar.

Featured at Slate.com

How physical and emotional abuse from coaches still persists in American gymnastics.

Guest: Molly Henseley Clancy, sports writer for the Washington Post.

Read the rest atSlate.com
Jul302024 TAGS: ,

The DEI Smear Against Kamala Harris: New candidate, same old playbook.

Featured at Slate.com

Calling Kamala Harris a “DEI hire” is both sexist and racist, and despite the GOP leadership’s pleading, it has quickly emerged as a favored line of attack from the right.

Guest: Dr. Brittney Cooper, professor of gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University

Read the rest atSlate.com
Jul302024 TAGS: , , , ,

Equal Time: A history of the gay right

Featured at Roll Call

When it comes to the politics of LGBTQ+ rights in America, the narrative that one party is pro and the other con has taken hold. But the truth is more nuanced — and interesting.

“Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right” takes readers from the 1950s to the present day, offering comprehensive and enlightening information. It introduces characters and organizations that stayed true to conservative values while championing same-sex marriage and helping to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

When the issue of gay rights is as relevant as ever, historian, commentator and Equal Time guest Neil J. Young offers insights into why so many gay conservatives continue to align with a party whose election-year rhetoric sees them as an enemy of American values.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jul302024 TAGS: , , , ,
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