Briefing for Tuesday November 3: Vegetarian comfort food to commuter rail

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS THE PANTHERS WON IN OVERTIME AND IT ALMOST KILLED ME AND THIS MORNING I’M FEELING LIKE THIS. OK, sorry, back to your regularly scheduled newsletter.

One of the biggest pieces of vacant land in University Research Park is about to get a new office development. In something called “Project Gator,” Duke Energy is set to build a new hub for engineers and technicians on about 95 acres. The utility company bought the land off Research Drive last year for $4.5 million and has now applied for a permit for a construction office on site. Duke wouldn’t tell me how big the building will be or what it will look like, but it’s expected to be a model for regional planning across the country. An unknown number of jobs will be relocated from around Charlotte up to the University City area when it’s done. I like the location for this type of facility and am glad to see the research park grow.

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 62. Fog early, then cloudy. 20% chance of rain. 
Today’s Stat: 20,200. Seating capacity at Time Warner Cable Arena, which just turned 10 years old.
Today’s Job: Director, Executive Compensation at Sealed Air Corporation. Apply.
Today’s Charlottean: Julie Fagan, author of the Peanut Butter Fingers healthy food and fitness blog, for her awesome fall photography.

ORIGINALS

Charlotte’s guide to meat-free comfort food [Levans]
Being vegetarian doesn’t mean you just have to eat leaves, and Katie shows you how you can indulge your comfort-food craving while staying within the rules. Think veggie burgers and dogs and even buffalo cauliflower.

Will there ever be commuter rail between Charlotte and Lake Norman? [Dunn]
If you’re a regular I-77 commuter you’ve probably heard and/or dreamed of the commuter rail line that’s been planned between Charlotte and the Lake Norman area. For now it seems to be dead in the water, but maybe our former mayor-slash-U.S. Transportation Secretary can make something happen.

Growing tech companies Peak 10 and AvidXchange are hiring. View 12 interesting job openings [Williams]
Both are making big moves in the Charlotte market and are hiring for good-paying jobs. Jobs include fields including sales, marketing and software engineering.

From costumes to choreography: Behind the scenes at Charlotte Ballet [Levans]
The skill of these artists and athletes is amazing to me. And going to a behind-the-scenes rehearsal did nothing to diminish the magic for Katie.

Check out these top 9 arts events in November [Happenings CLT]
Highlights include a reception for an internationally acclaimed Cuban painter and a black tie fundraiser hosted by the Young Affiliates of the Mint.

Digi-Bridge is working to bridge the gap in access to technology [Maddrey]
While a teacher, David Jessup saw the divide between what students needed and what they had access to in schools, and is now making sure they can get their hands on technology. See details of an upcoming fundraiser.

6 airbnb spots for an easy staycation [Wilson]
You don’t have to go far to pick up a relaxing vacation spot. Sign me up for anything that says “penthouse pad.”

TALKING POINTS 

Today is Election Day. If you don’t know your polling place you can go here and look it up. Vote for mayor, City Council and school board. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

RuRu’s Tacos + Tequila will franchise and expand [Agenda/Instagram]. They want two more Charlotte locations in the next six to 12 months. Also they just celebrated their first birthday.

We got more rain yesterday than we had in seven years [Panovich/Twitter]. 2.87 inches over the calendar day marks the most since 2008.

SignUpGenius makes an acquisition [Web]. The Internet scheduling company bought one of its biggest competitors as the industry consolidates. Big year for the Charlotte company. They’ve also moved to a new Ballantyne HQ and grown staff by 50 percent.

Sonja Gantt hired as CMS foundation director [WCNC]. The long-time anchor will now focus on finding donations to support the public school district. The foundation has been around for awhile but has been largely inactive for years, and has the potential to support schools that don’t have a lot of private fundraising power themselves.

Panthers move to 7-0 [Panthers/Twitter]. Hope y’all make it to work on time.

You probably can’t get a bottle of water into Bank of America stadium but these protestors managed to sneak in a banner and full rappelling gear. Get after it.

– Andrew