Top Charlotte Area Local News Stories
Source: MedleyStory
Race fans said gas prices are still affecting how they choose to travel.
A price of regular is down in the Charlotte area more than a quarter compared to last year.
But as they left the speedway, some race fans said they're still budgeting more than ever to make the trip possible.
Tye Long drove in from Ohio and gave up his RV.
"The price of gas just got to be a little bit heavy to run that back and forth between Ohio and here," Long said. "So we sold the RV and just rent a trailer now."
Cabarrus County tourism officials believe hotel occupancy was ahead of last year, but officials numbers are not yet available.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 16:51:23 -0400
There is a new warning out for anyone looking to buy a car -- police are looking for a man who they said is offering to help, then taking off with people's money.
Jaylece Ramey admits that she wast totally fooled by the man who told her he could find her a great deal on an SUV at an auction if she gave him a little money up front.
"I gave him a buyer's fee for $150," Ramey said.
It wasn't long before he called to say he had her car.
"(The) only thing he needed was $1,000 and some change for taxes and tag," Ramey said.
Three months later, her driveway is still empty.
"I've never seen a car," she said.
By the time Ramey went to police, she had lost $1,400 and she isn't the only one.
Another woman, who is a friend of Ramey's, lost $1,000 to the same man and police have heard from a third woman also.
"They end up paying him various amounts of money for several different reasons in which he tells them he needs money for this or that," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Detective Tara Blakeney.
Blakeney said the victims didn't pick up on a red flag that could have been right there in front of them -- the man told all of them women that his name was Tony Stark. Tony Stark is the character in the superhero movie "Iron Man."
This may a clue that he really wasn't who he seemed to be.
Blakeney hopes she finds out who Tony Stark really is, but in the meantime, she said there may well be others who fell for his sales pitch.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 16:47:57 -0400
Police arrested a Shelby teen for having sex at a kid’s fun park.
Officers arrested Clayton Lutz, 16, at Bubba’s Fun Park in Forest City.
An off-duty officer caught him in a tunnel play area during a lock-in this weekend.
Lutz is charged with first-degree statutory sex offense.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 16:40:46 -0400
A man who used to run a group that encouraged people to stay safe while boating on Lake Norman was arrested, accused of boating while drunk.
As expected, boat traffic has been nonstop with thousands of people coming and going throughout Memorial Day weekend.
Channel 9 rode with wildlife resource officers and Sgt. Barry Rowell on Lake Norman as they looked for a number of boating violations.
Officers found operators without their registrations or broken fire extinguishers, but Rowell said every stop they look to see if a boat operator is intoxicated.
On Saturday night, Nate Davis, the former chairman of the Lake Norman Marine Commission was arrested for operating a boat while intoxicated.
The commission promotes safety and responsibility on the water.
Chanenl 9 spoke to Davis on the phone. He said he was out for a ride with some friends. He told Channel 9 he had three to four drinks earlier in the evening but was not drinking while operating the boat and he does not believe that he was intoxicated.
He said he was exercising his right to refuse a Breathalyzer and believed there was no probable cause to stop him.
“The only time they are arrested is when we feel like we have enough evidence that we can convict them in court,” Rowell said.
Davis was previously arrested on drunken driving charges in May 2010.
It could be months before a committee recommends new safety standards for renting boats on Lake Norman.
The committee was created after a woman lost her arm in a boating accident on the lake last June.
The boat was rented by a man who had never driven one before and it raised concerns about inexperienced drivers.
One committee member told Channel 9 this weekend that he hopes to have the guidelines ready for this summer.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 16:03:22 -0400
Channel 9 got an exclusive behind the scenes look as Democratic National Convention officials plan for President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at Bank of America Stadium in September.
Channel 9 anchor Natalie Pasquarella went along with the head of operations as the crew prepares for tens of thousands of people who will fill the stadium in just months.
It’s a lot to think about for DNC Chief Operating Officer Theo Lecompte and his operations team.
“Making sure that what we see in the plans, does it really work in the space?” Lecompte said.
Lecompte took Pasquarella through the stadium one week ahead of the officials media walk-through.
He is inside the stadium at least once a week leading up to the president’s speech in September.
That is when the stadium, which holds 74,000 people, will be full of delegates, media members, the public and the president.
“What is the toughest thing to prepare for operationally?” Pasquarella asked.
“It’s just making sure that everybody can get in here and get to their sets and get back out safely and efficiently,” Lecompte said.
Aside from managing the huge crowd, another big priority in planning is power.
“We have to bring in supplementary power. We’ll have some generators outside in the parking lots here powering the media, powering our lights and our needs. So, we need to bring in a lot of supplemental power,” he said.
As Lecompte took Channel 9 crews closer to the field, he showed what a basic layout on the field will be: the stage, seating for delegates and positions for local and national media.
In the stands will be public seating. All of these plans are subject to change.
Planning an event of this magnitude is familiar for Lecompte. He worked the 2008 DNC in Denver when President Obama spoke at Invesco Field.
The main stadium changes in Charlotte will begin about four days before the president’s speech.
“There will be a number of crew and staff over here, building our stage, media risers and all the different things that will go on the field, laying all the cable, putting up all the lights. All of this will be happening prior to Thursday in order to get it ready,” he said.
A little more than a week after that, the Panthers will host a game in the stadium. So, the DNC crews will have to have the stadium clear and back to how the team left it.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 15:15:14 -0400
A California church is planning to put up a billboard in west Charlotte, offering an apology to homosexuals for North's Carolina's vote in support of Amendment One.
The amendment, passed on May 8, defines marriage between a man and woman as the only union legally recognized in the state.
The billboard will stand off Billy Graham Parkway near Interstate 85. It's paid for by the Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego.
The billboard will read, "Missiongathering Christian Church is sorry for the narrow-minded, judgmental, deceptive, manipulative actions of those who DENIED rights and equality TO so many in the Name of God."
Eyewitness News spoke with church leaders via Skype today, who said they first displayed a similar billboard in San Diego in 2008, after the Prop 8 marriage amendment passed in California.
After Amendment One passed in North Carolina, images of their old billboard resurfaced online and went viral.
Alex Roller, one of the church's pastors, said, "As we began receiving emails and phone calls thanking us being encouraged by it from all across the country, even Canada, then we thought what if we put up the billboard again in response to Amendment One, not in San Diego but there in North Carolina."
David Hains with the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte said he disagrees with what the church's billboard represents and says the voters of North Carolina took a clear stance on defining marriage as between a man and woman.
"I'm proud of what the people of North Carolina have done and what they said on May 8," said Hains. "It's disappointing that Christians would call people names, but I have no apologies for what the people of North Carolina said."
The church is now collecting donations in hopes of adding billboards around the city, including uptown Charlotte. Their goal is to keep the billboards up for as long as possible, which means they could be standing when the Democratic National Convention comes to town in September. It's an idea Ralph Belk with the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party supports.
"We were very much against the amendment and felt like it was an attack on civil rights," said Belk. "Anyone who's willing to help us continue that conversation and show that there is support still for civil rights I'm in favor of that."
The church fronted the money for the $3,000 billboard. But will be collecting donations online to keep the billboard up longer. For now, it's scheduled to stay up for three weeks.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 14:43:10 -0400
Darlene Zenwick uses auto drafts to pay bill and says it is super convenient. The money transfers from your bank account every month to pay things like cellphone bills and mortgages.
But increasingly, Zenwick and others have discovered auto drafts can be a costly nightmare.
"I felt as though they had tricked me,” Zenwick said.
She said she had closed her accounts at a Florida Fifth Third bank. But then a month later, she was slammed with $560 overdraft fees after the bank paid several auto drafts from her closed account.
“When an account is zero and it’s closed, you expect that’s the end of the relationship,” she said.
In a letter, Fifth Third told Zenwick if auto drafts arrive for payment it could reopen her account and make the payments. "It felt like I had been robbed," she said.
But turning off and stopping auto drafts can seem impossible.
Jerry Nasworthy canceled dental insurance auto drafts, but the company kept taking money from his account, he said.
The bank told him it could not stop the payment.
“Once they started that, they don’t stop it,” Nasworthy said.
Consumer groups said many big banks ignore federal rules that require banks to stop auto payments and no agency is enforcing it.
“I think it’s outrageous that consumers are having problems exercising their legal rights,” said one consumer activist.
And yet, most customers are told they have to close their bank accounts to stop it.
The best protection may be to avoid setting up auto drafts entirely.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 13:31:30 -0400
Police said it took 15 rescue workers to help save a person who flipped their car over and slid about 300 feet.
Firefighters in Gaston County had to shut down York Highway near Little Mountain Road Monday morning as they worked to flip over the SUV around 2 a.m.
Photos sent to Channel 9 from Crowder’s Mountain Fire and Rescue show debris from the accident covered the road.
Only one person was inside the car.
Medical personnel treated that person on the scene.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 11:44:34 -0400
A popular home security company has a warning for customers Monday morning.
CPI Security emailed its subscribers in Plaza-Midwood to keep an eye on people going door-to-door claiming to be part of the company.
They said the person will asked to upgrade the homeowner’s system without an appointment.
CPI reminds customers that it never just shows up unannounced.
They ask you to call them right away if someone shows up at your door.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 11:21:50 -0400
The Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway finished 400 laps in the fastest time yet – three hours and 52 minutes.
Kasey Kahne earned his third win at the Coca Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race.
"Our team is solid. Our car is solid. Mr. (Rick) Hendrick gives us everything we need to win races and run up front," Kahne said. "I just knew for myself I needed to step up."
And he did just that. Kahne crossed the finish line almost five seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch was third and series point leader Greg Biffle finished fourth.
For Kahne, it was his first win at Hendrick Motorsports.
Danica Patrick, the first woman to drive in the race since Janet Guthrie in 1976, was five laps down in 30th -- her best finish in three career Sprint Cup races.
Businesses around the speedway received a major boost in customers over the last few days.
Cabarrus County visitor’s officials said each race brings about $100 million to the area.
Families make the trip to the races a week-long visit, spending hundreds at hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
“For the region, it’s a huge economic impact. It’s bringing thousands of people, not just from our area. Most of them are coming from the southeast from all across the country. So it helps put Concord, Cabarrus County and the Charlotte region on the map,” said Cabarrus County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau representative John Agresti.
The city of Concord sees the biggest economic impact from race week.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 10:59:40 -0400
People from all across the Charlotte area are remembering our veterans who gave their lives to protect our freedom.
A local charity that supports military families held a special event for all families to enjoy this Memorial Day.
With American flags in hand, people of all ages attended the Patriot Festival at Symphony Park.
“I’m a veteran, three years in the Navy,” said Mike Ackerman. Ackerman said he came to meet new friends and fellow veterans.
“We have a lot of stories to tell. That’s what keeps us together,” he said.
The highlight of the event came as members of the Ranger Group Veterans Parachute Team flew through the sky.
“It makes you feel so good when you land and people come out and they say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ It means so much to our military,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Elliott, who led the team.
Elliott spent 25 years in the Army, including time with the 83nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
He now travels the country to pay tribute to our military servicemen and woman.
“Right now, while we’re here having a great time, our soldiers are over there making sure we’re free,” Elliott said.
Nine Family Focus is one of the sponsors of the Patriot Festival.
The Patriot Charities raises money to help other nonprofit groups that help military families, like the USO and Wounded Warrior project.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 10:36:42 -0400
Two weeks after a deadly shooting in southeast Charlotte, the victim’s mother helped police rack down the suspect.
Edward Hicks was on the run for two weeks since Nakio Cousart was fatally shot on Zircon Street in the Grier Heights neighborhood.
It was the third shooting in the neighborhood in just two weeks.
On Monday morning, Cousart’s mother called police and said Hicks was at a motel on Nations Ford Road.
Channel 9 spoke to Cousart’s mother and brother who both said they are relieved the man they call a “cold-blooded killer” is finally behind bars.
Cousart’s cousin, Shawana Currence, stood just yards away from the memorial that marks the spot where Cousart was shot.
“The shooting made me very angry because he helped to change my life,” Currence said.
Another memorial sits just a street away in the front yard of Cousart’s mother’s home.
His family told Channel 9 that Cousart was killed in a setup, orchestrated by Hicks after an argument that had been brewing for weeks.
They said it was fitting that Hicks’ arrest came from a tip generated by Cousart’s mother.
A rally was held recently to end violence in the neighborhood after the latest shootings.
Curtis Roseborough said Hicks’ arrest does little to bring back the man so many remember fondly and simply as Kio.
“He was a good friend,” Roseborough said.
Hicks is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail.
Of the other two shootings, the homicide of Ronald Martin remains unsolved.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 09:46:42 -0400
The National Hurricane Center reports Beryl is weakening and predicts it will move back out to sea by Wednesday.
It was downgraded to a tropical depression Monday afternoon with winds at 35 mph.
A storm must have wind speed between 39 mph and 73 mph to be considered a tropical storm.
Residents in the Charlotte area can expect wet weather from Beryl on Monday late afternoon into Tuesday. Eyewitness News meterologists are predicting about a half inch of rain for the area.
Meteorologist John Ahrens said expect heavy rain and possible lightning to hit the Charlotte area around 4 p.m. Monday.
The National Hurricane Center reported Beryl made landfall in northeastern Florida late Sunday night.
By Monday morning, the storm had settled over north Florida and south Georgia, threatening to wipe out Memorial Day events.
Beryl's strong winds knocked out power across the region. Some wind gusts were reported at 50 miles per hour.
In Jacksonville, Florida a power company reported 21,000 customers without electricity.
On Georgia beaches, officials warned vactioners about dangerous rip currents.
Sunday, Tybee Island lifeguards conducted 48 rescues because of rip currents. It was the island's second-busiest day on record.
Tourists vacationing on Jeckyll Island for the holiday weekend stayed inside their hotels.
The biggest threat for most of southeast Georgia is flooding. Beryl could bring anywhere from 4 inches to 12 inches of rain in that area.
Follow WSOC-TV Weather on Facebook for constant updates.
Published: Mon, 28 May 2012 07:41:06 -0400
Troopers in North Carolina are taking new steps to educate drivers about the dangers of texting and driving.
They have designated June as "No Texting, Just Driving" Awareness Month.
The new campaign is focused on all drivers with a keen focus on teens.
Troopers plan to spread the message by using posters as well as radio and television announcements.
Drivers who are caught texting behind the wheel face a $100 fine.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 23:28:37 -0400
A jet ski accident on Lake Wylie Sunday left two people injured.
Officials were patrolling the lake when they noticed two injured people in the water around 3:30 p.m.
They were taken onto a fire boat where they were stabilized.
Later they were transported to a nearby hospital.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 21:56:29 -0400
Residents are in a fury with Catawba County leaders for making an exception to an existing rule.
Protestors were allowed to demonstrate Sunday against a pastor who made anti-gay comments during a sermon on Mother's Day.
County ordinance requires groups to submit a request for a permit to use public grounds 14 days ahead of their planned event.
In this case, the county said it only got the request four days before the protest.
Because of that, several people who publicly support Pastor Worley said they want to know why county officials made an exception.
An email campaign this week demanded answers and called for commissioners to step down for bending the existing county rules.
In a statement, county attorney Debra Bechtel said this case raised questions about the Constitutionality of the county's 14-day review process for requests to use public grounds.
But for some that answer was not good enough.
"I think we as Catawba County citizens have the right to know how they went around the book and I'm opposed to it," said one resident.
In response, county officials said they are reviewing the existing ordinance, but no suggestions on changing it have been presented yet.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 18:01:41 -0400
A Lancaster man died when he crashed his motorcycle Saturday afternoon.
Troopers said Ricky Baker, 57, ran off Highway 97, hit a ditch and overturned his motorcycle.
The Herald in Rock Hill reports that Baker was thrown off his Harley Davidson.
He was wearing a helmet, officials said.
Baker died at a nearby hospital.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 18:00:58 -0400
Catawba County sheriff's deputies were on hand Sunday for what has been called the largest protest in the county in decades.
Nearly 2,500 people gathered outside of the Justice Center in Newton.
Most of them spoke out against Providence Road Baptist Church Pastor Charles Worley. He pastors a church in Maiden.
In a sermon, the pastor suggested getting rid of homosexuals by putting them behind an electric fence.
The vast majority of people at Sunday's protest condemned the comments.
"I just can't believe that Jesus Christ would be about the kind of hate that we were hearing. It's important for all of us to stand up against that," said Liz Snell, a protester from Vermont.
Across the street from the main protest, counter-protesters from a church in Georgia stood up for some of the pastor's comments.
"I don't totally agree with some of the extra-biblical things he said, but as far as homosexuality being a sin, I believe that," said protester Brad Cheatham.
Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid said two citations were handed out Sunday. One was given to a pastor from Georgia who used a bull horn, but there were no arrests.
Reid said a couple of protesters showed up at Providence Road Baptist Church even though they were asked not to.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 17:58:01 -0400
A woman shot in the head during a robbery attempt at a Dollar Tree Friday night has been released from the hospital.
Police said a man approached Hannah Utter, 20, working at the store on University City Boulevard and demanded the store's deposit bag.
According to officials, when Utter turned her head, the man shot her. They said the position of her head may have saved her life.
Police are still searching for the suspect.
Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 10:47:30 -0400
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Published: Sun, 27 May 2012 10:33:49 -0400
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