This week, in the interest of transparency, we've shared lists of the top-paid employees within Mecklenburg County and the public school system. Today, we're sharing the City of Charlotte.

Why it matters: Local government must pay leaders enough to retain talent while still being good stewards of tax dollars.

See the top three:

1. Marcus Jones, city manager

• $451,932.89
• He's the CEO and visionary. Charlotte City Council votes on policy. The city manager carries out those decisions.

2. Haley Gentry, aviation director

• $305,145.23
• Once an intern, Gentry today is the top boss, running one of the world's busiest airports.

3. Brent Cagle, interim CEO of Charlotte Area Transit System

• $302,874
• Cagle has turned around the city's transit agency as interim CEO. Upon taking the helm in late 2022, Cagle said he discovered delayed maintenance and a "culture of silence" within the organization. Ridership is up, and reliability has improved under his watch.

The full list of the highest-paid city employees

A state of emergency is in effect across North Carolina as Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida today.

Why it matters: The western North Carolina mountains around Asheville will get the worst of it, and Charlotte could see around 4-6 inches of rain, per our news partners at WBTV.

State of play: National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg said in its Wednesday forecast discussion that "the potential for major to catastrophic flooding over parts of our forecast area is looking more likely," WLOS reports.

• Parts of the mountains could see 15-20 inches of rainfall through tomorrow afternoon, according to WLOS meteorologist Meghan Danahey, with Asheville getting about 8-12 inches.
• Already, a possible tornado was seen in Blowing Rock last night, downing at least 50 trees around Chetola Resort, per the Watauga Democrat.

Keep reading for more information on the storm's size and potential threats

We're driving even more in Charlotte than we did before COVID, a new analysis finds.

Why it matters: The data doesn't bode well for a city with rapid transit striving to lower emissions and become more walkable and bikeable.

By the numbers: Average daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per capita increased 12.3% across the 100 biggest U.S. metro areas this past spring compared with the same period in 2019, per a report from StreetLight Data, a transportation analytics firm.

• VMT rose 21.1% in Charlotte and 26.6% in Raleigh.

The bottom line: "It's not just that [VMT] is back up, but we're actually seeing a bit of an acceleration compared to the previous couple of years," Emily Adler, director of content at StreetLight, tells Axios.

• "So that suggests that we're not peaking, that whatever efforts we've strived for to keep VMT down, they're not quite working — or they're not working yet."

See how other cities compare

🗳 Former President Trump visited Mint Hill for an event focused on jobs and trade. (WBTV)

🌊 The fifth house this year has collapsed along the Outer Banks coast. It's the third to do so in less than a week. (WBTV)

🔬 Gené and Fred Klein donated $10 million to the College of Science at UNC Charlotte, which will be named Klein College of Science, according to a university press release. The former Science Building will be Klein Hall.

🏁 Charlotte Motor Speedway has opened its campgrounds for hurricane evacuees. Check-in is at the Camping World Racing Resort office (6600 Bruton Smith Blvd. in Concord) or call 704-455-4445.

🎤 Rapper Petey Pablo discussed his North Carolina heritage and inspirations before being inducted into the NC Musical Hall of Fame. (WUNC)

💼 Check out who's hiring now.

1. Senior Technical Engineer at Stork Exchange.
2. Development Director and Donor Engagement at ANSWER Scholarship, Inc.
3. Data Operations Lead at Old Well Labs.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a job.

Fingers crossed, this hurricane won't rain on our parade. There are tons of events happening this weekend around the city.

🎷 Tomorrow: Listen to live jazz and grab a cocktail from Eighty Eights during its grand opening. | Free | 5pm | Details

🎊 Saturday: Enjoy a block party in LoSo with live music and vendors. | Free | 10am-3pm | Details

🥰 Sunday: See Alex's first overall draft pick (in fantasy and her heart) Joe Burrow at Bank of America Stadium. The Carolina Panthers will also be in attendance. | $69+ | 1pm | Details

25 things to do in Charlotte this weekend

Blink. Chances are, you haven't done that in a while. Now, focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

• If you do that every 20 minutes, you're following what eye doctors call the 20-20-20 rule.

Why it matters: More than 18 years of our adult lives are spent online, data suggests. That's not great news for our eyeballs.

How it works: When we stare at a screen, we forget to blink and our eyes dry out.

20-20-20 briefly jolts people away from devices and redirects their focus on something else, relaxing eye muscles and encouraging hydrating blinks.

• Plus, patients who follow this rule are "generally happier."

More of the doctor's orders

News you can use from our partners.

• 🍂 Embrace fall flavors at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza + Craft Bar. The cranberry goat cheese spread, apple + walnut salad, and apple + walnut pizza — all limited-time creations — bring the rich, comforting tastes of autumn to your table.

The Axios Charlotte team has spent the last few days with our Axios Local colleagues in downtown Minneapolis. It's a nice city and has inspired some ideas for me to bring back to Charlotte:

1. I'm a big fan of that Mississippi River. I'm joining the turn-277-into-a-river club. We can use 10% of the transit sales tax for water taxis to get around. That still leaves a good amount for roads and rail.
2. Charlotte needs a quirky, weird invention. Minnesota, the birthplace of Spam, has Spam merch in the MSP airport. We need something like that. I don't know what it is yet, but y'all will figure it out.
3. Yeah, yeah, Mall of America has a SpongeBob rollercoaster. But SouthPark is just as good a mall, if not better. Make SouthPark a landmark. We'll bring in tons of extra tourism revenue for the city. I'll be in touch with the Historic Landmarks Commission and Simons about this.
4. The connectivity here in Minneapolis is on another level. Both the transit and the buildings are connected via sky bridges. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Charlotte is capable of such logistics.