N.C. regulators have approved Duke Energy’s proposed 7.2% rate for this state in a ruling that will raise the typical residential customer’s bill an average of $7 a month. Last summer, Duke announced it was seeking a 15% rate increase in North Carolina. The proposal, and a similar one in South Carolina, met immediate protests from consumer and business groups as well as the state agencies a ...

Shares of The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (NYSE:BWC) closed Friday at $25.50, up 54 cents. The company announced a $75 million contact early in the day. That 2.2 percent gain lead Charlotte stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74 points to close at 12,660. These stocks gained value: •Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) closed at $29.60, up 55 cents. •Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) closed at $44 ...

Charlotte lounge Loft 1523 says it's shutting down in a Facebook post. Elizabeth-area bar Loft 1523 announced on its Facebook wall that it will close down operations this weekend. Owner Adam Whalen writes, “48 hours from closing this chapter... Can't wait to see some old friends this weekend and as always make some new ones.” A send-off party is planned for the lounge located at 1523 ...

Rea Contracting, a division of Lane Construction Corp. of Charlotte, has been awarded a $2.9 million contract to resurface nearly eight miles of roadway in Orange County. Work can begin as early as April 2, and it is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 10, the N.C. Department of Transportation says in a news release. The Orange County deal was one of 31 contracts totaling $85.5 million awarded ...

Long-term mortgage rates reversed a three-week trend of setting new record lows, rising modestly this week. The weekly rate report from Freddie Mac (OTC BB:FMCC) says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.98 percent in the week ending Jan. 26, up from 3.88 percent the previous week. It is still the eighth consecutive week the average rate on a 30-year fix has stayed below 4 percent. A year ...

Expect to see more film crews in and around Charlotte soon. According to Deadline Hollywood, cable channel Cinemax recently green-lit Banshee, an action drama from Alan Ball, creator of HBO’s cult vampire series True Blood. Cinemax has ordered 10 episodes for Banshee, and filming in and around Charlotte should start this spring, says the online magazine. The plot focuses on “an ex-con ...

Lake Norman's Aquesta Bank reports net income in the fourth quarter of $78,000, up from a $2,000 net profit for the same period a year ago. The bank, based in Cornelius, says the improvement over the final three months of the year can be attributed to improving net interest margins. Net interest income grew to $1.8 million during the quarter, up from $1.6 million in the same period a year earli ...

Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. returned to profitability in the fourth quarter, notching $2.2 million in net income, or 11 cents per share, an improvement from a $9,000 net loss in the same period a year ago. The company is the parent of Yadkin Valley Bank, which operates under multiple brands, including American Community Bank, Piedmont Bank, High Country Bank and Cardinal State Bank. It earned ...

Sonic Automotive Inc. has been recognized by MicroStrategy Inc. for outstanding performance with its business-intelligence applications. Charlotte-based Sonic was saluted in the mobile business impact category for the development of an iPad application that allows management to monitor sales and operating performance across the company’s 119 dealerships. The app combined internal and external ...

It has been almost three years since Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive Jim Rogers turned an idea into a regional economic force. It began with an inaugural meeting in April 2009 of industry leaders, the Charlotte Regional Partnership and the Charlotte Chamber. The goal: Turn a cluster of businesses with similar interests into a regional, then national, then global player in a range of energy secto ...

The Stonecrest at Piper Glenn parking lot lights were back on Friday night.

The Lancaster Sheriff’s Office is investigating an attempted robbery that happened Friday afternoon.

Deondra Scott lost her right arm, and nearly her life, at a boat party on Lake Norman in June 2011.

Students at a local high school are dealing with the shock of losing their principal unexpectedly Tuesday morning.

City Council voted 10-1 on Monday to approve new ordinances that will give police more power to stop and search people during the DNC and prohibit camping on city property.

A waterfowl rescue group is offering a $1,000 reward to find out who is shooting and killing geese with razor-tipped arrows in northern Union County.

The Democratic National Convention is fast approaching and so are possible changes for protesters.

Heading to the post office just got a little pricier.

US Representative Gabrielle Giffords announced she will resign from congress this week.

A man wanted for cutting off his electronic monitoring device was captured on Sunday.

Test results by the FDA found that 11 shipments of orange juice stopped at the U.S. border were positive for carbendazim.

Teens' neurologist gives stress-related diagnosis; families of affected want more environmental tests.

Questions about getting fit and keep the weight off? Join us for a Twitter chat at 1 p.m. ET Monday with registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Di ...

The number of Americans being screened for colon, breast and cervical cancers still fall below national targets, health officials said.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals won approval Friday for its long-delayed diabetes drug Bydureon.

Business and social media leaders teamed up Friday to tackle the transmission of HIV from mothers to babies.

A new test predicts lung cancer deaths, long work hours increase depression and high heels make you walk funny.

Paula Deen, who announced her diabetes recently, was caught digging into a cheeseburger recently. Is it OK to take a meal off a healthy diet ...

Experts believe physical activity is important to keep joints flexible, improve balance and strength and reduce pain, the researchers noted.

When making pulled chicken, it's hard to beat the two-ingredient simplicity of simmering chicken breasts in a bottle of barbecue sauce.

Style guru Tim Gunn raised some eyebrows and some questions this week when he told TV viewers he hadn't had sex in 29 years.

Police in pre-dawn sweeps Thursday arrested two top former executives of the now-defunct French company at the center of a breast implant sc ...

A New York obesity campaign uses an altered photo to link big sodas with obesity and diabetes. It's the latest shock ad to raise questions.

The rate of home births in the United States has made a dramatic upturn since 2004, reversing a trend of decline throughout the 1990s.

Activist Erin Brockovich has started investigating an illness that's caused facial tics and verbal outbursts among teens in Le Roy, N.Y.