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How a quiet bank executive built lavish life on stolen money


Tagged with:

mecklenburg, n.c. state, wachovia

Published June 13, 2010 at 5:50 a.m.

Scott Welch accumulated. He bought golf carts and landscaped extravagantly and turned a modest ranch house into a striking estate. He had a log cabin playhouse built for his children and a pier built for his speedboat. And all of it was not terribly notable for a Wachovia executive in the midst of the Charlotte banking boom ... Welch himself seemed unremarkable - quiet and well-liked by most neighbors and colleagues, a family man who took his children to sporting events around Mooresville and

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Soaring demand strains CMC psychiatric hospital


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mecklenburg

Published June 13, 2010 at 5:48 a.m.

Growing demand on Mecklenburg County's mental health system has made it harder for dangerously ill patients to get the help they need, an Observer investigation found ... With perennial overcrowding at the county's 66-bed psychiatric facility, some patients who threaten themselves or others are instead given medicine and sent home - sometimes with disastrous results ... Since March, advocates have pointed to the case of Kenny Chapman as evidence that the mental health system is overwhelmed.

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Mikal Hill is All-Observer player of year


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mecklenburg, unc

Published June 12, 2010 at 10:20 p.m.

Mallard Creek junior Mikal Hill, who committed to South Carolina before his sophomore year, is the 2010 All-Observer player of the year ... The Observer annually names all-star teams for its entire 125-school coverage area in North and South Carolina (All-Observer) plus area teams in Mecklenburg County (All-Mecklenburg) and its coverage area outside Mecklenburg (All-Region) ... Hill is also player of the year in Mecklenburg County ... A 5-foot-10 shortstop, Hill hit .566 with seven home runs, 39

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N.C. runoffs: Big bucks but little interest


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mecklenburg, unc

Published May 9, 2010 at 9:41 p.m.

In North Carolina's last statewide runoff, in 2008, fewer than 2 percent of voters went to the polls ... Turnout in Mecklenburg County was so low - half of 1 percent - that each vote cost taxpayers $121 ... Now a fraction of N.C. voters will return to the polls on June 22 to nominate candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and other races. The elections will cost as much as $5 million ... Are they worth it? ... "It seems to me it's pretty hard to justify runoffs given the very low voter

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3 big uptown events? No worries, officials say


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mecklenburg, nascar

Published May 9, 2010 at 7:35 p.m.

They’re coming – thousands of NASCAR fans and celebrities on Tuesday; one of the nation’s biggest conventions and more celebrities Friday through Sunday; and a major swim event, with an Olympic hero and international media, from Thursday through Sunday ... And most of this happens in three-block area of central Charlotte ... A few years ago, that might have been a recipe for traffic gridlock ... “But not any more,” said Moira Quinn, CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. “We’re

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Not very social, is it?


Tagged with:

mecklenburg, mecklenburg's

Published May 9, 2010 at 6:59 p.m.

The city of Charlotte wants to use Facebook and Twitter to get its news out to the public ... But, unlike Mecklenburg County and most large N.C. cities, Charlotte doesn't want people talking back publicly on its pages ... City officials fear they'll be sued on free-speech grounds if they delete the kind of nasty comments commonly hurled in online forums. Instead, they say they'll let only city staff view citizens' comments - which Facebook's privacy settings allow - and they'll encourage people

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Teens struggle to pay for funeral


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mecklenburg

Published May 9, 2010 at 4:55 p.m.

Three weeks ago, Tonya Lockhart's children fulfilled their dying mother's final wish. Now they're worried they won't have the money to lay their mom to rest ... Lockhart was diagnosed with cervical cancer in April 2009. As her health worsened, she told her children she wanted them to graduate from high school ... After spring break, Lockhart was admitted for what would be her final stay at Presbyterian Hospital. A week later, in the hospital's chapel, North Mecklenburg High School held an early

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Man killed in shooting outside nightclub


Tagged with:

mecklenburg

Published May 9, 2010 at 3:07 p.m.

A man was shot and killed outside a northeast Charlotte nightclub early Sunday morning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said ... Luis Manuel Rodriguez Contreras, 21, had just been escorted out of La Zima Bar Mexicano, near Eastway Drive and North Tryon, by bar security. There had been an altercation inside, police said, and several people left with Contreras ... He was with several other club patrons in the parking lot at about 12:55 a.m. when the shooting occurred ... Contreras was shot at least

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Charlotte sports official dies of cancer


Tagged with:

mecklenburg, n.c. state

Published May 9, 2010 at 6:51 a.m.

Charlotte's Bob Lawing - who helped keep order on the football fields and basketball courts of the Carolinas and throughout the country - died Thursday of cancer ... Lawing, 58, was a former football and basketball referee in the ACC who had been an NFL official since 1997. He also worked for his family's T.R. Lawing Realty Inc ... As a student at East Mecklenburg High, Lawing began officiating when he was 14 in the Myers Park Trinity Little League program ... After graduating from N.C. State,

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Acclaimed CMS magnets face new fight


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mecklenburg

Published May 9, 2010 at 1:05 a.m.

Even as the magnet programs of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bask in new national acclaim, the families that support them fear for their future ... Federal grants that brought in millions to the programs are gone. The county money that fills the gap is shrinking. The extensive - and expensive - busing system that makes magnets accessible to low-income families is a prime target for budget cuts ... On Tuesday, the school board will decide whether to save up to $5 million by scaling back

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