Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: Panthers May Move HQ To SC; New Candidates For 9th District

The news in the 9th Congressional District continues as candidate filing opened this week in the 9th District’s new race. This comes after the State Election Board ordered a new election because evidence of election fraud was uncovered. We’ll discuss the latest on who is putting their name in the hat.

We’ll also give you an update of the ongoing investigation into the 9th District, including new details from search warrants released this week.

Carolina Panthers Owner David Tepper went across state lines to meet with Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina this week, and McMaster says the state will be working on legislation to help the team to move its corporate headquarters and practice fields to the state. What implications will this have for the future of the team and the stadium in Charlotte, and what is Charlotte’s response?

In addition to a possible move, the Panthers say that Bank of America Stadium is overvalued by as much as $485 million and the value should be cut.

A nationwide college admissions cheating scheme was made public this week when dozens of people were charged with fraud at universities around the country. North Carolina was not immune, as Wake Forest University’s volleyball coach appeared on the list of those in the case.

Charlotte Talks host Mike Collins and a panel of journalists cover those stories and much more on the Local News Roundup.

Guests:

Ely Portillo, reporter for the Charlotte Observer

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com and WCCB

David Boraks, reporter for WFAE

Steve Harrison, WFAE’s political reporter

How big and little lies, plus cash, prop up the ‘American dream’

OPINION — In the 1944 film “Gaslight,” a greedy Charles Boyer, trying to convince his rich, naive wife Ingrid Bergman that she is insane, dims and brightens the gaslights in their home, while insisting it is a figment of her imagination. Today, the term “gaslighting” has come to mean that same psychological manipulation.

America is being “gaslighted.”

How else could it maintain an unshaken belief in the “American dream,” that if you work long enough and hard enough, you can achieve anything? In order to believe in the triumph of a meritocracy, a country with an even playing field, you must ignore the lobbyists, PR specialists and boatloads of money that smooth out any rocky road for a select few. And your mind must obliterate every bit of this country’s history.

College Admissions Scandal and What it Reveals

CHARLOTTE, NC — The rich and privileged already have advantages when it comes to admission to elite colleges and universities. It is known that the best way to guarantee a slot for your child is making a huge donation to the school, and that children of alumni are favored with points for being a “legacy” student. Now, this advantage goes even further, as federal prosecutors have charged celebrities, business leaders and college coaches in illegal schemes that include bribery and falsifying application to buy spots in elite institutions. (Mary C. Curtis)

WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis offers more perspective on how the scandal worked and what’s next for those involved