Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: Proposed City Budget; CMPD Updates Body Cam Policy; 9th District

On this edition of the Charlotte Talks local news roundup-

The proposed budget for the City of Charlotte was presented this week by City Manager Marcus Jones. The budget features a revenue neutral property tax rate but even so, with the county’s revaluation, many homeowners could see an increase in their property taxes. The budget also raises pay for some city workers, raising the minimum hourly pay to $16/ hour and offers raises for police. We’ll talk about that and the other major items in the budget.

Early voting ends Friday for the 9th Congressional district special election, and the primary is coming up May 14th. We discuss the final debate this week and where the candidates stand now.

CMPD has updated its policy about body cam video and how it is accessed after an incident. This comes weeks after the Danquirs Franklin shooting and the controversy that followed over the department only releasing short clips of video. We’ll provide an update.

The bill that would incentivize the Carolina Panthers to move across the border into South Carolina passed on Thursday, but not before lawmakers went down to the wire with a vote. We’ll discuss what the Panthers will get for moving, and what team owner David Tepper said about the vote earlier this week.

Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters will go through those stories and much more on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.

Guests:

Erik Spanberg, managing editor for the Charlotte Business Journal 

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com and WCCB 

Katie Peralta, reporter for the Charlotte Observer 

Steve HarrisonWFAE’s Political Reporter

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

Opinion: It’s the Action of Youth That Shames Lawmakers

It was partly partisan politics that drove protesters and counterprotesters in the global “March for Our Lives” on Saturday. Many who traveled to Washington or their town squares demanded action on school safety, gun control and more.

But to Washington lawmakers, of both parties and on either side of the gun issue, who just managed to pass a $1.3 trillion omnibus bill to keep the government running that same week and may not pass any other major legislation for the rest of the year, it was a rebuke.

That day had to feel bigger than a one-time event driven by the violence that has touched too many young lives. “These kids,” whether you praise or curse them, were actually doing something, and acting more grown-up than the adults.