As Americans celebrate July Fourth, recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings restricting freedoms loom. Journalist Mary C. Curtis, Political Analyst Steve Rao and Professor La’Meshia Whittington comment on the high court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade regarding abortions, Miranda v. Arizona on suspects’ rights to sue and a New York law on gun regulation.
‘What Next’ podcast: What Texas Can’t Forget
One tragedy replaces another in the headlines—that’s just how things go.
The Texas state Legislature isn’t scheduled to convene until January 2023, when the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde will no longer be fresh in people’s minds, and the momentum for changing Texas’ gun laws will be long gone. One state senator, however, won’t accept that.
Guest: Roland Gutierrez, Democratic Texas state Senator for District 19, which includes Uvalde.
Jul032022
Local News Roundup: COVID vaccines for the very young; Bruton Smith remembered; NC’s first case of monkeypox
COVID-19 vaccines are now available in Charlotte for children 6 months to 5 years old for the first time. We’ll talk about where you can get them.
This week marks two years since a shooting on Beatties Ford Road, with still very few answers.
NASCAR Hall of Famer and founder of Charlotte Motor Speedway Bruton Smith died this week at the age of 95. We’ll talk about his long and sometimes controversial life in motorsports.
At this week’s City Council meeting, south Charlotte residents spoke out about a plan for developveloping apartments in their neighborhood.
The NBA draft starts Thursday. What are the Hornets’ prospects? We’ll get a rundown on that and what the organization plans to do after their anticipated new head coach backed out of the job.
And North Carolina sees its first documented case of monkeypox.
Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into those stories and all the week’s top local and regional news on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.
GUESTS:
Erik Spanberg, managing editor for the Charlotte Business Journal
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”
Claire Donnelly, WFAE health reporter
Seema Iyer, chief legal correspondent WJZY Queen City News
Jun242022
Careless adults take note: ‘Children will listen … children will see’
“Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see
And learn.”
At his death late last month at the age of 91, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was praised for writing for character rather than the hit parade. Playwright Arthur Laurents, who worked with him on several productions, once said that Sondheim “writes a lyric that could only be sung by the character for which it was designed.”
However, the audience for his work is everyone.
At this moment, the words of “Children Will Listen” from “Into the Woods” sadly resonate in a country where children are learning the wrong lessons from adults who should know better.
In Michigan, family, friends and classmates are mourning Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling, killed in an attack in a place that should be safe — high school. A 15-year-old was charged in the murders at Oxford High School, and in a rarity, his parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter for what prosecutors said was behavior that made them complicit.
“Guide them along the way
Children will glisten
Children will look to you
For which way to turn.”
Dec092021
Pandemics and gun violence are real life, not ‘theater’
Perhaps Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky needs a refresher course on the meaning of the word “theater.” His GOP colleague Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas could listen in.
The former recently initiated a verbal brawl with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease specialist who has been providing information and advice to guide Americans dealing, along with the rest of the world, with a deadly pandemic. The latter accused anyone proposing the consideration of gun restrictions, in light of two horrific mass shootings in the space of a week, of “ridiculous theater.”
Now, I realize the term “theatrical” can be used as an insult hurled at someone accused of exaggeration, but what is happening in America is a fact. So let me offer my own definition: “Theater” is the thrill of escaping from it all in a darkened hall with a group of strangers, to see and hear professionals act or sing or dance, and to be uplifted by the experience, if only for an hour or two.
And it’s something we’ve been deprived of during this past, very long year amid the pain of COVID-19, with deadly gun violence that has not abated as a backdrop, and so much more.
Mar262021
Mary C. Curtis: Mass Shootings Revive Debate on Gun Control
CHARLOTTE, NC – In a week, mass shootings in Atlanta and in Boulder, Colorado have shaken the nation. While rates for many crimes fell during the pandemic year, gun violence worsened.
Is there an explanation or solution to mass violence in the country?
WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis discusses more.
You can catch Mary C. Curtis on Sunday nights at 6:30 PM on WCCB Charlotte’s CW discussing the biggest issues in local and national politics and also giving us a look at what’s ahead for the week.
Mar242021
Biden and Beto are like night and day — except when they’re potato-potahto
OPINION — It was a difference in styles and generations. In a Carolinas swing, first there was Beto O’Rourke with a town hall at a brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina — more like an informal gathering among many new friends. The next day there was Joe Biden with a large crowd at a historically black college in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
It was a day and a world apart last week, though in both cases, supporters uniformly praised a certain quality in their chosen candidate — authenticity.
Hopes for 2020 run high in these two states, and the stakes are real for both parties.
Sep052019
New Talks on Gun Control Policy in America
CHARLOTTE, NC — The push for new gun legislation is growing in the United States following numerous mass shootings over the past month. Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on the gun debate.
Sep042019
After gun massacre, Charlotte is now ‘one of those cities’
OPINION — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “Now we’re one of those schools.” That’s what a University of North Carolina student, in more sadness than anger, told a local radio station after a gunman killed two and wounded four others on her campus on Tuesday. And now Charlotte, a city already experiencing a spike in homicides, is “one of those cities.”
In the city and state, there is shock, plus questions. A suspect is in custody, but that doesn’t provide answers about why it happened and what can be done to keep it from happening again.
That this latest incident did not make it to the top spot in many national news outlets speaks to how commonplace such incidents have become and how frustrated many citizens are. Is the answer more mental health resources, more “good guys with guns,” more regulations and background checks, or something else?
May022019
A Deadly Shooting at UNCC, and a City in Shock
CHARLOTTE, NC — A shooting at UNCC leaves two dead and four wounded. A city that has seen a sharp rise in homicides this year is now grappling with a horrific shooting that adds Charlotte to the list of cities where a school is the setting for gun violence. A suspect is in custody, but that doesn’t provide answers to the questions of why it happened and what can be done
May012019
