General News

We are exposing women to COVID-19. We are killing women as they are trying to save us. — Dr. Michelle Meggs What are the gendered implications of COVID-19 for women doing the work that keeps many of us alive? At the front lines of this pandemic, women are overburdened, an unseen labor force that keeps […]

Who used to live in your house? When was your neighborhood built? Was your subdivision legally segregated? How’d your street get its name? Start wondering about where you live, and these kinds of questions are bound to crop up. And in a fast-changing, shiny “New South” city like Charlotte, it can seem like there isn’t […]

For a lay naturalist, springtime in the Uwharries can be exhausting. There’s a sense of urgency this time of year – the migrating birds and spring ephemerals come and go in a matter of weeks. I’ve resorted to multi-tasking. I’ve given up binoculars in favor of birding by ear. This allows me to identify the […]

This story has been updated to reflect plans Charlotte released following its publication. Across the Charlotte region, parks have been full and streets largely empty for the past several weeks, as people try to get out of their houses for fresh air and exercise while staying home from work and school. Other cities have been […]

More than a month into local stay-at-home orders and the shutdown of large parts of Charlotte’s economy, one area is clearly feeling the impact: public transit. As might be expected, ridership numbers have plummeted, both as a result of workers staying home and the Charlotte Area Transit System reducing hours. Transit agencies around the nation […]

[Information about crisis and support services for those experiencing family violence at the bottom of the article.] Encouraging people to stay home, avoid non-essential outings is the main strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, for those facing family violence, home can be anything but safe. Advocates across the country are concerned about an […]

Monday night’s rezoning meeting felt like most Charlotte City Council sessions from previous years, despite the mayor and staff sitting six feet apart and developers battling audio and video glitches in the remote setup. Council members heard proposals about denser developments in suburban enclaves. The biggest was a plan to transform Ballantyne Corporate Park from […]

The new release of a classic book about how Charlotte became so divided sheds light on the city’s enduring inequalities, and why those disparities are far from accidental. Whether you have more time on your hands without a daily commute or you’re looking for something to read that’s not about the novel coronavirus, UNC Press’s […]

Students lose 20% to 30% of their school year learning gains over the summer and research has found that students of color, students with disabilities and those from low income families experience greater summer learning loss than their peers — and now, the coronavirus pandemic threatens to compound these losses. The last day CMS students […]

There will certainly be scores of studies and articles for years to come about lessons for public administrators from how our multiple levels and units of government managed the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. An important place to start is asking the right set of questions. To assist me with this task, we have the good fortune […]