Agenda for Monday June 1: One Charlotte woman’s personal abortion story

Katie here. I avoid Independence Boulevard basically all the time except to get to Bean Vegan Cuisine and my grandparents’ house. Yesterday I carted my boyfriend all the way down Independence to Cheraw, South Carolina to meet my 90- and 92-year-old maternal grandmother and granddaddy because I think just standing in the presence of 60 years of faithful marriage is something worth doing on a Sunday afternoon. It was big and good and heart-filling.

I came home to day six of no internet connection in my apartment (Time Warner, you are my nemesis) and just when I wanted to melt down I remembered my grandparents don’t even have a computer let alone an internet connection and they appear to be just fine. Since I can’t go fully internet-free and hand write this for you, I’m coming at you live from the Harris Teeter on Central, adequately connected to the internet and to the reminder that the big good things in life outweigh the stupid little disconnected ones.

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 85. A few thunderstorms likely, 60% chance of rain. 
Today’s Stat: 70. New speed limit on I-485 as of last Thursday.
Today’s Job: Account Manager at Saturday. Apply. 
Today’s Charlottean: Jimmy Margiotis for a lifetime of service in his family’s restaurant John’s Country Kitchen, which closed its doors on Saturday after 38 years on Central Avenue.

ORIGINALS

Charlotte woman shares her abortion experience and reaction to NC HB 465
We received an anonymous op-ed in response to the N.C. Senate Thursday vote that tentatively passed a bill that will require women to wait 72 hours before getting an abortion. The honest piece paints a hauntingly intimate and detailed portrait of a hotly debated experience few have lived but all should hear.

Eating wrong in Uptown, volume III
You’re eating wrong in Uptown again and @thetrolleywalk is here to set things straight in our ongoing eat here, not there series. We see your Dean & Deluca, McDonald’s and Subway and raise you Bar Cocoa, King’s Kitchen and Ri Ra.

Joe’s Doughs is what happens when a touring musician gets bored and needs a hobby
I finally dropped by The Daily Press on Saturday after months of stalking this pop-up doughnut shop on Instagram. Joe Pepe is a producer, songwriter and professional traveling musician who decided making doughnuts would be his hobby. I got candied lemon, white chocolate with cranberries and pistachios, and jalapeno cheddar.

Amelie’s in South Charlotte is open… and coming soon to Park Road Shopping Center
Beloved French bakery Amelie’s opened its second Charlotte location in a massive 7,000-square-foot spot in Carmel Commons shopping center and Gi risked life, limb and vanity to be there when the doors opened at 7am on Saturday. They’re also planning a Park Road Shopping Center location by the end of the year and all I can say is: salted caramel brownies or bust.

Insta-famous: Charlotte social accounts of people you follow online but don’t know in real life
You know what they eat, how they take their coffee and their workout of choice. You’ve seen their kids and where they vacation and probably inside their homes and yet… you’ve never actually met. Welcome to the world of online notoriety. Take a look at 15 Charlotte insta-celebs who have substantial online followings.

Welcome to the Space Volcano: Touring Skookum Digital Works
Skookum’s 15th-floor headquarters oozes personality from the custom door signs on every room to the one-of-a-kind wall murals. They’ve also got a nap room, snacks on snacks on snacks, and weekly deliveries from BREWPUBLIK. Oh, and they look down on Michael Jordan’s penthouse rooftop patio next door. Not bad.

Red Ventures CMO Dan Feldstein drains buzzer beater at Duke Camp. Instagram goes nuts.
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the fact that executives pay $10,000 to learn team-building techniques at a 5-day Duke basketball camp for campers aged 35 and up is that Dan the Man Feldstein totally nailed this last-second shot to win in overtime and Ted wrote all about it. 

TALKING POINTS

92-year-old Charlotte woman sets marathon record. Charlotte Observer reports Harriette Thompson, grandmother of 10, ran the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in 7 hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds, making her the oldest woman to ever complete the 26.2-mile distance.

So long empty surface lots. 3rd Ward is getting two more apartment complexes. Ascent, a 340-foot high-rise, is bringing 300+ units and 5,000 square feet of retail space to the corner of 3rd and Poplar. Circa is a smaller mid-rise on Graham between MLK and 3rd. Agenda Briefing.

27 years after construction started, I-485 is (basically) done. Charlotte Observer reports that Friday’s opening of the last 5.7 miles of the 67-mile loop around the city will ease traffic tension in the area.

WFAE looks back at notorious former Charlotte resident, CPCC student and Al Qaeda member Samir Khan. A controversial provision of the Patriot Act is set to expire today unless the Senate acts, and WFAE reports that it was likely used here in Khan’s case.

Have a great Monday, and may we all be as chill as Jay the chihuahua at Common Market Plaza Midwood.

– Katie