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

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

Still No N.C. Governor-Elect as Voting Charges Echo Trump’s Claims

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nov. 8 was weeks ago, and yet the election’s aftermath continues. On the national stage and in the headlines, the winners, losers and those who barely made a dent are unhappy and are doing something about it, from recounts to tweets to repeating debunked conspiracy theories of hordes of illegal voters.

In North Carolina, folks are saying, “Welcome to the club!”

 

North Carolina’s Endless Gubernatorial Race


CHARLOTTE, NCPat McCrory officially files for a state-wide recount… with challenger Roy Rooper still leading with more than 6,100 votes. McCrory says it’s the only way to make sure voters have confidence in the results. Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis breaks it down.

Local News Roundup: Reaction To Donald Trump’s Election; Other NC Election Results; CMS Magnet Vote

North Carolina voters played a big role in the outcome of the presidential race, but the governor’s race is still too close to call.  Our panel of reporters will look at that, and at some of the other shakeups and outcomes in state-based races.  Also, CMS takes a vote on the magnet school lottery, and the Hornets are off to a flying start.  

Will tough presidential contest spill into NC governor race?


CHARLOTTE, NC — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are spilling over into North Carolina’s governor’s race. Our political contributor, Mary C. Curtis, weighs in on how the presidential candidates are impacting North Carolina’s gubernatorial race.

In North Carolina, LGBT Bill Is Political and Personal

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It doesn’t take much to re-brand a state. Ask North Carolina.

Here’s the formula: Have the general assembly call a special session to pass a law that revokes an LGBT-anti-discrimination ordinance approved by the state’s largest city — plus throw a few other restrictive goodies into the package. Then wait for the headlines that compare you unfavorably to Georgia, whose governor just vetoed a related “religious freedom” bill. You then become the headquarters for boycotts and petitions on one side and thankful prayers on the other. And, just like that, watch a once touted label as a progressive outpost in the South disappear.

– See more at: http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/north-carolina-lgbt-bill-political-personal#sthash.zKuDL6WC.dpuf

North Carolina attorney general dislikes laws he must defend

Roy Cooper wants everyone to know how he really feels. That must be why he wrote a column lamenting why and how he thinks his home state of North Carolina is moving in the wrong direction – that, and perhaps he’s trying out for a gubernatorial run in 2016.