Headlines for week ending: Sunday, January 10 2010

(1.08.10) State looks at wining, dining of ABC execs
RALEIGH — The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has widened a probe into possible violations of liquor laws across North Carolina in the wake of a company’s lavish holiday dinner for the Mecklenburg County ABC Board. The liquor company Diageo spent $12,700 on the Nov. 18 dinner for 28 ABC Board employees and their guests at Del Frisco’s, a high-end steakhouse. The bar tab alone came to more than $4,900, including $1,000 for four bottles of Dom Perignon.

(1.07.10) CLT opens 4th runway
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte/Douglas International Airport opened its fourth runway early Wednesday morning, with the 9,000-foot concrete strip expected to untangle congestion during stormy weather and high-traffic times. The new runway, which is adjacent to Interstate 485, will initially be used only during good weather when pilots can land without instruments. It will become fully operational on Feb. 11, giving the airline’s dominant carrier, US Airways, more ways to keep its largest hub flowing.

(1.07.10) Price of gas takes a leap
CHARLOTTE — Filling the gas tank in your vehicle is more painful this week, and not just because you’re shivering in the bitter cold while standing at the pump. You’re probably wincing at the price of gas, which is climbing rapidly in this first week of 2010. AAA Carolinas says the price of a gallon of regular gas has climbed about 7 cents in the past week, to an average of $2.69. The increase is actually about 12 cents since Christmas.

(1.06.10) Agents: ABC board, liquor company broke N.C. law
CHARLOTTE — State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents said Tuesday the Mecklenburg County ABC Board and liquor company Diageo broke state laws at a holiday dinner for the board where guests sipped Dom Perignon and the company picked up the officials’ $9,334 tab. The report also details several other meals for Mecklenburg board members or employees paid for by liquor companies. One distiller treated board Chair Parks Helms and CEO Calvin McDougal to lunch at the Ritz Carlton the day before the Nov. 18 dinner at Del Frisco’s steakhouse.

(1.06.10) Law firm hires McCrory as a public policy consultant
CHARLOTTE — Fourteen years as Charlotte’s mayor has proven a powerful resume-booster for Pat McCrory, who plans to put his experience to use in a new job: He’s joined law firm Moore & Van Allen as a public policy consultant. McCrory started Monday as the Charlotte firm’s senior director of strategic initiatives. In that full-time position, he’ll focus on helping clients on energy, the environment, transportation, governmental affairs and other issues and public policies.

(1.05.10) Council drills utility on rise in water bills
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities said faulty electronic transmitters could be causing some unusually high water bills, but the department believes the vast majority of bill spikes are due to people using more water than they realize. Faced with an increase in customer complaints about high bills, the Charlotte City Council asked Monday night whether the system is working, and what they should tell constituents.

(1.04.10) Mecklenburg leaders to push smoking ban expansion
CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg County officials said Thursday they would push to expand a statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants that goes into effect during the weekend. Speaking at a news conference, County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts and Health Department Director Dr. Wynn Mabry said they would look into proposals to ban smoking in other local workplaces and the entrances to buildings.

(1.04.10) At JCSU, Ron Carter is off to a swift start
CHARLOTTE — His assistant calls him “Microwave” - a name that’s caught on not only on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University, but also a few miles away in uptown. Even Ron Carter can’t help but grin at its mention. Microwave. Yes, says the president of JCSU. It speaks to his intensity and need to accomplish things quickly. And no, it is not inaccurate. In just more than a year, Carter has begun to transform this 142-year-old institution, raising admission standards and reaching out beyond the iron gates that surround the university.

(1.04.10) Killings in Charlotte fall to 21-year low
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte hit an extraordinary milestone in 2009 - recording fewer homicides than it has in 21 years. The rate of killings is down, too: It appears to be the lowest since police began keeping uniform crime statistics in 1977. Large cities across the country are reporting declines in homicides, a striking development in light of predictions crime would rise in a bad economy. In fact, the homicide decline is part of a general downward trend nationally in violent crime in the past decade.

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