© Alex Slitz/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS Andrea Roberts, left, jokes with Sara Robinson, as she leaves the kitchen with an order at the French Quarter in Charlotte. The uptown restaurant has seen its lunch crowd return, for the most part.
Hey, everyone!Drew here. Hope your Thursday’s been treating you well.
Don’t forget: early voting in Mecklenburg County starts today! Here’s a rundown of the 24 locations around Charlotte where you’ll be able to cast your ballot. Same-day voter registration is also available at each location.
I know I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity to vote early, you should too!
Here’s your news for today. Have a good one!
1. Mother of murdered 18-year-old demands that accused killer, 15, be tried as adult
Tianna Nelson is seeking justice.
In May, her 18-year-old son, Kashawn Johnson, was shot and killed during an apparent robbery attempt in north Charlotte. Nelson’s been attending hearings for one of the accused killers, a 15-year-old boy. She was led to believe the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office would ask the juvenile court judge hearing the case to transfer it Superior Court to try the accused as an adult.
But five months after her son’s death, Nelson said she learned this week that the prosecutor’s office intends to press for the lesser charge of second-degree murder. The change could keep the case in juvenile court and might lead to the teenager’s release from a state-run youth development center in a matter of months.
“Tell me you think this is an ethically and morally correct decision,” she says she told Assistant District Attorney Glenn Cole on Monday.
DJ Simmons and Michael Gordon have the latest from a protest Nelson led yesterday.
2. Violence on an ordinary grocery run: A Charlotte firefighter emerged a hero.
A local firefighter’s grocery run turned into a matter of life or death.
Michael Cunningham was shopping at the Harris Teeter in the Berewick Town Center when a fight broke out in the parking lot. Two men were fighting as Cunningham walked out of the store and one man, police would say later, pulled a gun on the other.
Cunningham warned bystanders to not get any closer and called 911. Then shots were fired. Cunningham can be seen in a video from that day, obtained by The Charlotte Observer, running towards the victim and pulling him away.
“I lifted up his shirt and saw the gunshot wound, and I applied pressure and told him to take deep breaths,” Cunningham said.
Kallie Cox highlights the firefighter’s remarkable actions.
3. Charlotte logistics company adding 100 jobs as it moves its HQ to South End
South End seems the like the place to be if you’re a company in Charlotte at the moment.
Armstrong Transport Group becomes the latest business to move its operations into the area. The third-party logistics company will double it’s office space and add 100 jobs with its move to Vantage South End towers, it announced today.
Armstrong CEO Brian Mannsaid in a statement that the new office space will help retain employees and develop community relations, after working together remotely because of the pandemic.
Other notable companies to recently relocate to Vantage South End include the online lender Lending Tree and Brightspeed, a broadband and telecommunications company.
Hannah Lang brings you the latest on the company’s move.
4. Inside uptown’s journey back to life: Major deals signal economic health
If you haven’t been to uptown Charlotte since the pandemic broke out, you’ll probably notice is a lot different than you remember.
Work from home’s changed office life drasticallyand many companies and local businesses in uptown were left wondering what their next move was. Now, more than two years later, uptown is coming back to life.
After seeing a significant drop during the height of the shutdown, the volume of sales of office, commercial, retail and multifamily now exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to commercial real estate experts and a Charlotte Observer review of Mecklenburg County property records.
Uptown is slowly returning to a version of its former self.
Gordon Rago takes a deep dive into the efforts to bring the hustle and bustle of uptown back.
5. Some more stories to read
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