Briefing for Monday October 26: Eastland Mall to Doc Porter’s Distillery tours

Big night for the Panthers in prime time last night. Our city looked nice, too. The Sunday Night Football crew showed off Romare Bearden Park’s fountain, the Firebird statue, Charlotte Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Hall of Fame to the national audience. The announcers joked about the Uptown versus downtown thing. Plus the Panthers got the win. 

I’m a sucker for seeing the Duke Energy Center all lit up on TV but this time it caused quite the stir online. Turns out the NBC folks shot video of the tower on Friday, when it was lit up in green for Myers Park High. That coincidentally is the Eagles primary color. Whoops. Panthers 6-0! 

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 63. Overcast. 20% chance of rain.
Today’s Stat: 12. Percent decrease in median household income in Mecklenburg County since 2008..
Today’s Job: Assistant Manager at Amazon. Apply.
Today’s Charlottean: Sarah Stevenson, founder of the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum and an advocate for the city’s west side for decades, as she nears her 90th birthday [Helms/Observer].

ORIGINALS

Let’s go back to square one on Eastland Mall [Dunn]
The eastside site should be a “go big or go home” proposition and there’s growing sentiment that what Charlotte is planning there isn’t forward-thinking enough. The City Council will be briefed on the current plans to turn the former mall site into a mixed-use area anchored by a public school, and if they follow the lead of the planning commission, they’ll be highly critical. 

One local woman wants to create a curated online market exclusively for handcrafted Carolina goods [Levans]
“Covet Atelier” is going to be a one-stop online shop for local artisans — kind of like a more locally relevant Etsy (though the founder doesn’t consider it that). 

5 things being developed on South Boulevard you can see out your apartment window [Dunn]
If you’ve got an upper-level apartment, you can stick your head out the window and see a handful of construction projects getting underway and changing what South Boulevard will look like. These range from to a new mixed-use complex to a medical office building to the Atherton Mill overhaul.

INSIDER: Doc Porter’s Distillery will open November 6. View tour information [Williams]
Cliff notes version: You can book a tour online right now. $10 and you get a tour, a tasting and a shot glass to take home. Ted really knows his hard liquor and he says the vodka is good. 

We can’t afford to make the wrong choice: Making a case for re-integration of CMS schools  [Williams]
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is in the early stages of figuring out how to reassign students, and Bea tells us that the district doesn’t have to look that far in its past for ideas. She attended West Charlotte High at a time of diverse hallways and intense school pride.

Charlotte beer and candy: A treat, not a trick [Wells]
Get fancy and pair your Halloween treats with a local brew. Orange slices and Birdsong Lazy Bird sounds incredible.

What my Charlotte ‘job’ has in common with Robert DeNiro and the French [Walker]
Adult internships are a thing in Charlotte and in Hollywood right now. Sherri tells us how her “job” has helped her tremendously.

What’s up with that Taco Hut on 3rd and Tryon? [@thetrolleywalk]
No frills. Just tacos. Trolley takes us on a tour of the great addition to our Uptown street food scene.

Winning CLT appetizers, not on the appetizer menu [Wilson]
These orders are a little unorthodox but they get the job done. Now I want a spiked milkshake.

TALKING POINTS 

Demolition by the Dowd Y is underway [Agenda/Instagram]. A 180,000-square-foot office/retail building is going in there. Should be done late next year.

Charlotte ranks poorly in wage growth inequality [Hendee/CBJ]. Our city was in the bottom 10 in terms of the disparity between wage shrinkage on the lower end and wage growth on the higher end.

Bar mobile payment startup TabbedOut expanding to Charlotte [Web]. They’re hiring a “City Launcher” to take their technology into our restaurants and bars.

Regions Financial buys BlackArch [Rothacker/Observer]. The Charlotte investment bank will be keeping its name and leadership and will operate as a subsidiary. 

My driveway was cleared of leaves on Friday and is now completely covered again. Thanks, fall. Get after it.

– Andrew