Briefing for Thursday October 1: New NoDa Brewing location to banned books

Monday afternoon I participated in Community Building Initiative’s “Charlotte in Black & White… and More” bus tour. It was a two-hour neighborhood tour through Center City, Westside and Eastside Charlotte narrated by John Howard of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Committee’s Historic District Commission.

They gave us some demographic stats from the city’s Quality of Life report but stressed there’s more to the stories in each neighborhood than the perceptions, stereotypes and misunderstandings we see on paper or hear in the news. “How do we tell the story of our own community beyond income or crime or teen pregnancy?” asked City of Charlotte Community & Commerce Manager Tom Warshauer. “Your worth is more than the money that you earn.” I strongly recommend participating next time the tour is scheduled.

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 67. 70% chance of more rain. 
Today’s Stat: 2.457. People per square mile in Charlotte.  
Today’s Job: Senior Project Engineer at Amazon. Apply.
Today’s Charlottean: Susana Cisneros, a UNC Charlotte professor of Spanish, for helping students empathize with and understand obstacles facing speakers of foreign languages in an immersive Spanish poverty simulation.

ORIGINALS

Everything you need to know for opening night at NoDa Brewing’s new location – NoDa North End [Williams]
NoDa Brewing’s new location opens today. They’re kicking off the grand opening with Pink Pint Night in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They’ll have a silent auction, live music, food trucks and even an exclusive pink beer. Proceeds benefit the Levine Cancer Institute’s Project PINK, which funds mammograms for uninsured women.

What 16 Charlotte middle school students think about the future [Dunn]
Andrew spent some time with middle school students and asked them what Charlotte will be like when they’re 30. I love that one kid predicts the future of Charlotte will be “robots killing people because it’s the future.” Yikes. Most predictions skewed towards the negative, which is a little alarming, and several included flying cars. Also interesting: I don’t know what any of their favorite apps are.

Thrown Together Potters hosting 2-day sale at Free Range Brewing this weekend [Levans]
Six North Carolina artists pooled their resources together to host bi-annual events that showcase their work. They’re in Charlotte this weekend and will have live music Friday night at Free Range Brewing. Please don’t break anything, you hooligans.

7 books Charlotteans have called to be banned [Dunn]
Happy Freedom to Read Week! I was actually unaware that people still try to ban books considering we have this thing called the Internet where anything banned in a book (sex and homosexuality, in the case of this list) is readily available online. Also, what did To Kill a Mockingbird ever do to you?

Move Loot is opening its warehouse for a huge furniture sale this weekend [Levans]
The e-commerce startup changing the way people buy and sell new and used furniture online is opening up the warehouse to celebrate its one-year anniversary in Charlotte. Prices average 50 to 70 percent off retail and delivery is free within a 50-mile radius on purchases of $100 or more. Did I mention I’m moving into a new place? Impeccable timing.

Vintage Charlotte Winter Market applications are open [Dollard]
Amy Herman is a force of nature and her VTGCLT brand of events is not to be missed. The summer market drew a crowd of more than 3,100 people to shop for handmade and vintage goods from local artists and designers. Have something cool to sell? The call for vendors closes Sunday night.

It’s your Eastside story – show up to write it [Blackman]
The Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program is hosting candid public dialogues to collect resident feedback about proposed development projects on the east side (referred to by some developers as Charlotte’s “middle east”). The final list of proposed projects for the Central/Albermarle/Shamrock area will be presented tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at Midwood International & Cultural Center.

What is Montessori? It’s not all peace tables and rain sticks [Stone]
Brittany dispels some myths and explains the foundation of a Montessori education, which includes freedom to move about the room at will, students from multiple grade levels in one class, a peace table (for conflict resolution) and the occasional rain stick (used to draw attention without yelling). I knew none of this.

October theatre picks: Dracula and Bad Jew [Beck]
Collin pulled together a list of 14 different shows in and around Charlotte. I’m hearing excellent things about “Lunch at the Piccadilly,” which is a poignant story of aging set in a retirement home.

TALKING POINTS

Hurricane Joaquin could bring – wait for it – more rain for Charlotte [Marusak/Observer]. Don’t be fooled by yesterday’s sun. We’re gearing up for another rainy weekend. Ugh.

Charlotte ranks high in large-city economic growth  [Martin/CBJ]. We’re #6 overall (just ahead of Raleigh at #9) with Austin, Miami and Fort Worth taking the top three spots. Notably, Charlotte was #1 for growth in number of businesses.

Stolen Homer story goes viral [Pitkin/CLCLT]. Ryan Pitkin’s story for Creative Loafing about Joe Gillespie, the man who “borrowed” the Charlotte Knights’ mascot costume last week and became an instant celebrity, has gone viral. It’s been picked up by Deadspin, Fox Sports and other outlets. Must read.

Stonewall Station civil land plans approved [Thomas/Agenda]. Plans include 456 apartments units with a rooftop sky lounge, parking deck, Whole Foods and 7,420 square feet of additional retail space. A massive Panthers mural is proposed for the parking deck.

Panthers star Charles Johnson opening a restaurant in Fourth Ward [Instagram]. It’ll be in an old firehouse that was purchased for $1.6 million. Johnson announced it with a shot of the renderings on Instagram.

Muddy River will start selling bottles on site today [Instagram]. North Carolina distilleries can now sell 1 bottle of distilled spirits per person per 12-month period. Muddy River is celebrating tonight from 4 to 9 p.m. with a ribbon cutting and light snacks from The String Bean. Tours start every hour beginning at 6 p.m. 

I hope you soaked up all the sun we got yesterday because it looks like it’ll be gone for a while. 

– Katie