1 big thing: Diversity fuels Concord's growth

Kim DeLaney, owner of HaZi Enterprises, in front of her CBD products.

2. Take a day trip up north

3. It's "Con-CORD"

Cool jobs around town

4. Speed reads

Photo illustration of a brain with race car tires.

5. A week in review: Phew!

6. 🗓 Put this on your calendar

🌀 The loop (we're keeping you in it)

7. We didn't start the fire 🔥

Billy Joel on stage at the Bank of America stadium. 

Hello, Monday. It's Danielle. For much of today's newsletter, I'm focusing on Concord, Charlotte's northern neighbor that's rapidly changing.

☀️ Weather: A mainly sunny sky with a high of 86°.

🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Taylor Bryant, Brittany Lane, Lorne Lassiter, Michelle Spreitzer and Kristen Shiring.

Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 826 words — a 3-minute read.

Editor's note: The fourth story in Friday's newsletter contained a typo — the business behind the little seed library is Crown Town Compost.

Charlotte

Picture of the Charlotte skyline with CLT written across it.

Axios Charlotte, anchored by Michael Graff and Emma Way, gets you smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in your backyard.

Axios Charlotte

1 big thing: LGBTQ+ Republican council candidate aims to push his party

Republican City Council candidate Kyle Luebke

2. Sunflour's fifth location hopes for end of 2022 opening 

3. Take that, Atlanta

4. Four-letter words, neighborhood style

Happier car buying and selling is here

5. A busy week in Charlotte

6. Trump and Biden in N.C., plus other speed reads

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and Former President Donald Trump

7. Celebrating our furry friends

☀️ Weather: Sunny, with a high of 79.

🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Allison Baker, Ashley Burlingame, Anissa Burton, Gordon Holzberg, Jenna Johnson, Rebekah Taff, Jewel Warlick, Sharon Wooten and Miranda Zolot.

Situational awareness: Charlotte City Council will vote tonight on spending $12.4 million on seven affordable housing projects, using its Housing Trust Fund.

Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 971 words — a 3.5-minute read.

1 big thing: Charlotte clinic at the center of the abortion debate

Abortion clinic volunteers hold signs and umbrellas

2. You probably had COVID

3. COVID on the rise again

4. 🗓 Events for your calendar

Eat chicken, help veterans

5. 🚤 Lake season is here

6. Queens athletics moves up + other speed reads

7. Shirts that helped Ukraine

Charlotte FC head coach Miguel Ángel Ramírez

☀️ Today's forecast is 74° and sunny.

🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Deirdre Allen, Linda Gallehugh, Leslie Marsicano, Aneil Mishra and Laura Solitario.

🍻 Situational awareness: If you enjoy sipping a cold one at a brewery, Legion Brewing's newest location on West Morehead Street opens today. 

Or if you prefer to do so by the water, so does Drift on Lake Wylie.

Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 752 words — a 3-minute read.

1 big thing: Voters in the dark on campaign finance

2. James "Smuggie" Mitchell's murky comeback bid

City Council candidate James "Smuggie" Mitchell

3. 🍽 Meal deals

4. Things to do this week

5. Davidson's new president and more speed reads

CLT's 🔥 cars

6. Pampering time

7. 🧹 A clean sweep

🥳 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Chuck Clifton, Courtney Fain, Jill Goodrich, Leigh Pittman, Sean Rush Jr., Kate Weaver and Kari Winters.

💵 Situational awareness: Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones is expected to unveil his proposed budget for the 2023 fiscal year today at 5pm. 

Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 919 words — a 3.5 minute read.

1 big thing: Real estate money pours into local elections

2. The race for Mecklenburg's top prosecutor

Campaign sign for Tim Emry and other local candidates

3. Do your civic duty 🗳

Illustration of I Voted stickers, piled on top of one another. 

4. Steph Curry is finally a Davidson grad

5. This week in Charlotte

6. Kendrick Lamar and other speed reads

Advice from CLT leaders

7. Bao buns and tacos 😋

Weather: High of 87° with afternoon showers or thunderstorms likely. 

🎁 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Katherine Buehler, Cherie Clark, Rush Coe, Tricia Harrison, Austin Karp, Jaclyn Lenez, Jen McGivney and Judy Robertson.

Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 945 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🍕 I'm getting ready for my favorite seasonal tradition: Election night pizza. 

National

North Carolina judges ruled Friday that the state's latest photo identification voter law is racially biased and discriminates against Black voters, violating their equal protections. 

Why it matters: This is the second time North Carolina has had a voter ID law overturned by the courts. In 2016, a federal appeals court blocked a similar 2013 law because it violated the Constitution and targeted Black voters with "almost surgical precision." 

The big picture: Two of the trial judges on Friday declared the December 2018 law unconstitutional, finding the law intentionally discriminates against Black voters, violating their equal protections.

Lawyers for the voters who sued over the law said it suffered from the same racial defects as the 2013 law. 

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Nathaniel Poovey wrote that the voter ID law falls in line with the state constitution and received support from several Black legislators and the citizens voting for the constitutional referendum, AP notes.

What they're saying: The law “was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters,” Superior Court Judges Michael O’Foghludha and Vince Rozier wrote in the majority opinion. 

“Other, less restrictive voter ID laws would have sufficed to achieve the legitimate nonracial purposes of implementing the constitutional amendment requiring voter ID, deterring fraud, or enhancing voter confidence,” they write.

North Carolina judges strike down state’s voter ID law as racially biased

This is the second time North Carolina has had a voter ID law overturned by the courts for racial bias.

North Carolina

Policymaking

North Carolina judges <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="ruled" data-vars-click-url="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g3xeOQDgEHtoEfHI4_44zjy4SgzCnKxA/view" data-vars-content-id="1540569f-8701-4a28-b03b-20aa2f4d66fe" data-vars-headline="North Carolina judges strike down state’s voter ID law as racially biased" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g3xeOQDgEHtoEfHI4_44zjy4SgzCnKxA/view" target="_blank">ruled</a> Friday that the state&#x27;s latest photo identification voter law is racially biased and discriminates against Black voters, violating their equal protections. Why it matters: This is the second time North Carolina has had a voter ID law overturned by the courts. In 2016, a federal appeals court blocked a similar 2013 law because it violated the Constitution and targeted Black voters with &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="almost surgical precision" data-vars-click-url="https://apnews.com/article/759cff36bb3740708a706debf8d30773" data-vars-content-id="1540569f-8701-4a28-b03b-20aa2f4d66fe" data-vars-headline="North Carolina judges strike down state’s voter ID law as racially biased" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://apnews.com/article/759cff36bb3740708a706debf8d30773" target="_blank">almost surgical precision</a>.&quot;

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

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North Carolina judges strike down state’s voter ID law as racially biased

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