CharlotteObserver.com Most Recent Headlines
Two employees were injured overnight in an armed robbery at a restaurant in Hickory, police say.The robbery took place about 4 a.m. at the Coffee House, at U.S. 70 and U.S. 321. Two men, wearing bandanas, entered the restaurant and demanded money from the waitress/cashier.During the robbery, the suspects struck both the waitress and a cook. Two customers in the restaurant at the time were not inju ...
Local African-American businesses, especially small ones, need to help each other to improve economic conditions for their companies. That was one of the messages at a breakfast forum today on the state of African-American business in Charlotte.The session was part of Charlotte Black Expo '08, hosted by McCants Communications Group of Greesboro. McCants President Gerry McCants said he intends to t ...
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating a fatal shooting overnight in northeast Charlotte.Police have not determined if the shooting death would rate as criminal homicide. If they do, it would count as the 75th homicide of the year, surpassing last year's total.An argument between two men apparently led to the shootout shortly before 1:30 a.m. today in the 5300 block of Great Wagon Road, of ...
A youth shoots at another because of his rival gang tattoo. A gang member spray-paints a school wall.From extreme violence to simple graffiti, “gang-related” incidents are on the rise in Mecklenburg County, according to data collected by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.The number of gang members has remained steady since 2006 – at more than 1,800. But “gang-related activity&rd ...
Have an unusual or nontraditional Christmas tree decoration? E-mail a photo and tell us in a few sentences what makes it special. We'll run some of the best ones and award a prize for the top entry. Take the photo up-close so the details are clear. E-mail your picture as a JPEG to mygarden@charlotteobserver.com by Friday. Include your name, mailing address and a daytime phone number. Mail photos t ...
A Gastonia man is out an SUV, jewelry and money -- because he placed his trust in a man who offered to fix his vehicle, police say.A 51-year-old man told Gastonia police that he had hired a man to fix the transmission in his 1995 Jeep.The man said the suspect came to his house on Oct. 14, saying he would take the vehicle and fix it. But the suspect also convinced the man to give him two gold rings ...
People are having consensual sex in Columbia’s parks — but primarily in Granby Park along the river — and a loophole in the city’s ordinance has kept the city from prosecuting them.But City Council members approved an ordinance Wednesday that is expected to clear up any misunderstandings about what conduct is not allowed in city parks — spelling out in explicit language wh ...
Durham police say two men kidnapped a Bank of America manager this morning, put him in the trunk of his Mercedes and drove him to a branch of the bank at North Duke Street, a Durham television station reported.Police said the men, who had been driving a stolen car, approached the manager and his daughter on Pine Burr Place, according to WTVD. The daughter was left at the scene.When police went to ...
Cabarrus County authorities are looking for a boy who has been missing overnight.Alexander Lesko, an 11-year-old, was last seen about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night after leaving a friend's house to walk home. He went missing in the Harrisburg area, on Robinson Church Road near Tom Query Road.Authorities say Alexander was wearing a sweater with the letter "A" on it. He also was wearing jeans and Skech ...
Santa's elves were hard at work Wednesday, busily stuffing stockings that will go to more than 11,500 children in Charlotte.They'll work at their version of the North Pole – a chilly, abandoned Wal-Mart off Arrowood Road – until Christmas to make sure every child served by the Salvation Army Christmas Bureau gets a full stocking of goodies.But some of the roughly 50 volunteers – ...
Charlotte Bobcats managing partner Michael Jordan has been known to roll some dice and make the occasional wager on his ability to sink a 25-foot putt.But never, perhaps, did Jordan make a bet quite like trusting Sean May with the starting power-forward spot this season.For one night, at least, jackpot.May assembled a double-double, his first in 21 injury-filled months. That was the foremost of ma ...
The Carolina Panthers don't like barnburners.Offensive shootouts have rarely been their style. They are a team built to win 20-10, not to play a game where both teams score in the 30s and you hope to get the ball last.That's why the past three weeks have been so puzzling. Carolina (9-3) has allowed 22, 45 and 31 points in its past three games entering Monday night's home game against Tampa Bay (9- ...
Wake Forest has been a strong team this season with Jeff Teague. Wednesday night, the Deacons showed they're just as good without him, too. Saddled with a defender chasing him wherever he went, thanks to Indiana's box-and-one defense, Teague spent most of the night deferring to his teammates, and they obliged. No. 15 Wake Forest broke open a close game late in the first half and cruised to a domi ...
BASKETBALLBOYS
KANNAPOLIS BROWN 70, CONCORD ROBINSON 69
Robinson
11
17
23
1 ...
West Charlotte High swept individual honors on the All-MECA 7 4A football team. Running back
Scoot Simmons, a sophomore, is the offensive player of the year. Linebacker
Brandon Grier, a senior picked to play in the Shrine Bowl, is defensive player of the year.
Aaron Brand, who guided the Lions to a 9-4 record and the second round of the playoffs in his ...
Apparently, Jimmie Johnson is too good – in every meaning of the word.How else can it be that the guest of honor at this week's Sprint Cup championship festivities in New York City can be both underrated and underappreciated after winning three straight titles at NASCAR's highest level?Three years running, Johnson and his team have performed almost flawlessly when the championships have been ...
Tyler Smith had the first triple-double in school history, helping No.10 Tennessee romp to an 87-69 win against UNC Ashville on Wednesday.Smith finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Bulldogs (3-4), helping the Vols (6-1) give coach Bruce Pearl career victory No.400.Smith, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, got his 10th assist on Scotty Hopson's 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 47 second ...
Nice gesture by NBA referee
David Guthrie (who lives in Charlotte) to acknowledge a blown call when
Gerald Wallace was knocked to the floor while chasing
Kevin Durant into the corner. Nicer still that lead official
Joey Crawford apologized to Bobcats coach
Larry Brown for not helping Guthrie on a tough call. It was be-true ...
N.C. State is beefing up and speeding up at the same time. And North Carolina may have landed one of the nation's best high school athletes.The Wolfpack has received football commitments from massive (6-foot-7, 350 pounds) defensive tackle Tyson Chandler of North Plainfield, N.J., High and all-purpose back Morgan Alexander of Cartersville (Ga.) High.The Tar Heels have a commitment from Alexander's ...
On the NetTigers know close gamesClemson will enter ACC play with plenty of experience in close games. The Tigers edged Illinois 76-74 Tuesday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. They also own wins by one point against Charlotte and four against Temple.Free throw shooting, a huge problem in past seasons for Clemson (8-0), hadn't been much of an issue for the Tigers this season until Tuesday. They shot 6 ...
A Minnesota judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the NFL's suspension of Vikings star defensive tackles
Kevin and
Pat Williams for violating the league's anti-doping policy, but the players' status for Sunday's game at Detroit remained uncertain.Hennepin County District Judge
Gary Larson issued the temporary restraining order at the players' request, ...
Running back
Jonathan Dwyer thought he might be in for a big season when run-first coach
Paul Johnson took over at Georgia Tech.He had no idea just how big.Dwyer was named both the ACC's player of the year and its top offensive player Wednesday after a regular season in which he led the league in rushing as the featured back in Johnson's spread-option offense.Boston C ...
Charlotte Observer: Living Here
(By Ed Czekaj, Special to the Observer) EDITOR'S NOTE: The tumultuous events of 1968 changed America forever. To mark the 40th anniversary, we are publishing recollections.In the spring of '68, I drove with friends from New Jersey to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Wow. In June at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York I paid my respects to the fallen Robert F. Kennedy. I had just graduated from Rutgers i ...
(Associated Press) Older people who are depressed are much more likely to develop a dangerous type of internal body fat – the kind that can lead to diabetes and heart disease – than people who are not depressed, according to a new study co-led by an N.C. researcher.The connection goes beyond obesity and suggests some biological link between a person's mental state and fat that collects ...
(By Jennifer Rothacker, jennifer@momscharlotte.com) Tammy Garlock knew the moment her son died.It was June 12, and she and her husband, John, were eating lunch together when John got a phone call. Brian, 17, had been turning left on N.C. 51 in Pineville when two cars heading the opposite direction slammed into his Honda Civic. The couple raced to the hospital.As the Garlocks drove, Tammy was sudde ...
(By Michael Browning, Miami Herald) EDITOR'S NOTE: This article first appeared on Nov. 30, 1995, and I've republished it on Nov. 30 for some years now. Here's a fresh one to put on the fridge. Michael Weinstein, features editorI need a pane of slow glass, 14-year thickness.Slow glass appears in a haunting science-fiction story I read years ago.Slow glass, in this story, was an invention of the nea ...
(Kathy Haight, khaight@charlotteobserver.com) It's time to dig out the crayons and paint for the Observer's seventh annual Holiday Card Contest. We invite children ages 4-17 to enter original artwork reflecting the holidays. Seven winners will have their work published on the front page of the Observer. Who's eligible?There are four age categories: 4-7; 8-11; 12-14; 15-17.When is it due?Entries mu ...
(Rachel Sutherland, rsutherland@charlotteobserver.com) “Project Runway” season four winner Christian Siriano is respectfully humble about the show that pushed his career into overdrive. “(It) opened every amazing door for me. I skipped five years of the fashion industry,” he said recently. The designer, who staged his first solo runway show at Fashion Week in September and ...
(By Kim Ossi, McClatchy-Tribune) The holidays are coming, economy woes or not. The upside is that stores are offering killer deals on Black Friday and beyond. Here's something you really can't talk yourself out of, because everyone has to shower: Head to your local Lush store (www.lush.com for locations) the day after Thanksgiving and for every $40 you spend on their handmade soap and beauty produ ...
(By Kim Pierce, The Dallas Morning News) St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur Made from elder-tree blossoms hand-picked in the foothills of the Alps, this beguiling spirit in a sleek art deco bottle teases your senses. Its haunting flavor skirts the edges of lychee, lemon peel and sandalwood and makes you want more. Mixologists at The Ritz-Carlton in Dallas combine it with dry sparkling wine to make Fe ...
(Steven Brown, sbrown@charlotteobserver.com) The couples out on the dance floor aren't the only ones feeling the music. The bass guitarist tucked away at the big band's back corner is also in the groove. His head rocks side to side in time to the music. His feet tap. Playing the bass line – the music's foundation – isn't the only way he holds things together. He calls out a cue to help ...
Today Finish the guest list. If anyone is bringing a dish, find out what it will be.Choose the menu, including turkey size. Figure on 1 to 1 1/2 pounds uncooked turkey per person.Make a copy of this checklist and hang it in a handy place. (Print out extra copies at www.charlotteobserver.com/food)Assign cleaning chores.Thursday Clean out the refrigerator, freezer and cupboard. Get ruthless: Discard ...
