Briefing for Tuesday September 1: Ladies’ restrooms to spiked cold press

I spent an hour over at Packard Place last night with executives at the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra talking about how to make their offerings more relevant to a younger audience. Someone asked: If the Charlotte symphony went away, would you miss it? 

Thought-provoking question. I like that I live in a city that has a top-notch symphony, even if I really only interact with it at Pops in the Park once in awhile. Maybe I should get more cultured. If you don’t have enough information to answer the question, consider coming out to Symphony on Tap in about two weeks. Free admission, free food, beer and Beethoven. Tickets here.

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 88. Sun and clouds. 10% chance of rain.
Today’s Stat: $907,000. This is what it would cost the city of Charlotte to bring all of its employees above a $15 minimum wage. The city’s current minimum wage is $13, or an annual salary of about $27,000.
Today’s Job: National Account Manager for Boston Beer Company. Apply.
Today’s Charlottean: Dr. Robert Anderson, nationally recognized foot and ankle surgeon, for treating athletes as patients first [Jones/Observer].

ORIGINALS

The best and worst ladies’ restrooms in Charlotte [Gross]
As a runner, I find myself strategizing about bathroom breaks more than I think is normal. Mary has you covered with intel about where you should drop your drawers in our fair city.

Charlotte Croissant Wars: 4 bakeries blind taste-tested and ranked [Levans]
I’ve always believed that one can survive off of food brought into a newsroom. The sheer volume of bread product brought in yesterday would give you enough calories to give it a go. I love how all three of us were on pretty much the same page on the plain croissants. The chocolate ones, not as much.

Is the Mountain Island Lake sandbar getting too dangerous? [Dunn]
Just in time for the end of summer, a good old-fashioned debate on whether boats should slow the heck down or whether swimmers should watch what they’re doing. Probably the answer is both.

7 things you didn’t know about Charlotte Mecklenburg Library [Levans]
Civic assets like parks and greenways and libraries are important to a thriving city. And one of the good things about our library system is that they try to be a comprehensive resource beyond just books. Katie’s got a good list of things you can do with your library card that don’t involve bringing home a paperback.

Meineke’s 32-year-old CMO on launching a national campaign from Charlotte [Dunn]
I love it when I hear about cool, high-profile things coming out of Charlotte. This story from the Meineke car car center company is an example. Not sure they’ll succeed 100 percent in eliminating the fear and mistrust inherent in taking your car in to the shop, but I hope they give it a good shot.

The Cellar: The best bar in Charlotte to actually have a conversation [Thomas]
As I age, I’ve grown less willing to elbow my way to the bar and shout to the person standing next to me. So I can appreciate a bar with the vibe that The Cellar is bringing.

City Smart: State unemployment benefits to streetcar ridership [Team]
Glad this out state legislators for accusing unemployed people of sitting on their hands in a year where school is more than a week into session and there’s still not a budget in place. What do we pay you people for? Honestly. Throw me a bone here.

September theatre picks: La Cage Aux Folles to Beauty and the Beast [Beck]
No shortage of high-quality shows to go see over the next 30 days. Scope out the Agenda picks, plus some options to the north and south.

Goodbye Selwyn Cleaners, hello One Life Raw Juice Bar [Williams]
Ted spies a note on the door of the cleaners and introduces us to spiked cold press.

TALKING POINTS

NoDa Brewing has an opening date for its new facility [Thomas/Charlotte Business Journal]. I’ve been watching this come together through their weekly emails, and it’s going to look pretty great. Oct. 1 is the big day.

Battle of the Carolinas likely to come back to BofA Stadium [Scott/Observer]. Hope this week’s UNC-USC football game is a good one, because the schools are already deep into talks to host two more games in Charlotte.

Your commute cost you an extra grand last year [Jeffrey/Triangle Business Journal]. Researchers found that Charlotte drivers spent 43 hours stuck in traffic, burning $963 in unneeded fuel. Are they sure that wasn’t just one week on I-485?

Food Truck Friday site could give way to new regional headquarters [Boye/Charlotte Business Journal]. The corner of South Tryon, Camden and Park is primo land. And Dimensional Fund Advisors is looking for something just like that.
 

Get after it. Can’t wait to see you at the #WTFWeVote/Axios Charlotte mayoral forum tonight.

– Andrew