Shortly after all the media buzz earlier this year that the Al Mike's building in Fourth Ward was for sale, friends/business partners Steve Hood and Srini Mannava visited the beloved restaurant and quietly put in an offer for the property.

"I basically jumped out of my skin and said, 'We cannot let this go,'" Hood, an architect, told Axios.

• The duo officially bought the building in March 2022 for $1.58 million under their LLC, 24th Street Partners, property records show.
• We reported about the Al Mike's building going up for sale earlier this year, so I thought I'd check in with the new owners.

Maintaining Al Mike's as-is is a priority, the new owners say. Except for some eventual structural improvements to the building (a new roof and new balusters out front, for instance), nothing will change. 

"Charlotte needs to preserve some of its history," Mannava said.

• Hood is no stranger to preserving old buildings. He bought the old brick building that houses Haberdish on North Davidson in 2012, after all.
• "I think it would be a criminal offense to make any changes," to the Al Mike's building, Hood said.

Why it matters: Charlotte loves shiny new things — tall buildings, hot chain restaurants, retailers with cult followings. But new development often comes at the expense of some of our long-standing classics.

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If you're on the hunt for a new job, here are 19 to get you started.

• Lead Line, Prep, and Pastry Cook at Night Swim Coffee. Apply.
• Assistant Theatre Instructor at Charlotte Country Day School. Apply.
• Visual Arts Specialist at UNC Charlotte. Apply.
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Visual Arts Specialist at UNC Charlotte.

• Company overview: North Carolina’s urban research university is a diverse and inclusive institution with local-to-global impact that transforms lives, communities and industries.
• In this role: Provide graphic design services and brand management to the School of Nursing for a broad range of media.
• Must-have: Bachelor’s degree in a related field from an accredited university and at least two years of professional visual/graphic arts experience required.

Interested? Apply here.

🎙 Ely Portillo, a former Charlotte Observer reporter, is joining WFAE as the station's senior editor of news/planning, effective Oct. 31. (Twitter)

• Portillo has worked at UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute since 2019, most recently as the director of research engagement. He's contributed regularly to WFAE and other media outlets over the years.

🗞 The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh's News & Observer have launched an opinion page dedicated to conservative viewpoints. It’s called The Point. (Observer)

• The McClatchy newspapers are also launching a weekly newsletter in North Carolina that recaps center-right opinions, McClatchy opinion editor Peter St. Onge writes.

🏙 Rick Thurmond, former Charlotte magazine editor, will become the new chief marketing officer at Charlotte Center City Partners, CCCP CEO Michael Smith announced last week.

• Thurmond joined CCCP in 2016 and most recently was the organization's SVP of community development.

Teachers are the backbone of any school, and Charlotte Country Day is no exception.

• What this means: Educators tap into their own passions to help students reach their full potential.

Watch a quick video where six Country Day teachers share why they teach and what they value most about the profession.

Catawba Brewing is closing its production facility out in Morganton, a blow to the western North Carolina town, Nola.com reported last week.

• The brewery's new owners plan to move production down to New Orleans.

Flashback: Last year, Made By the Water (a holding portfolio of Wiregrass Equity Partners) bought Catawba from the Pyatt family, who founded the brewery in 1999, per CBJ.

• Made By the Water merged with Faubourg Brewing in September, WSOC noted. Faubourg is based in New Orleans — and owned by the same family (the Bensons) that owns the New Orleans Saints.
• That month, the Benson family and Wiregrass vowed to make New Orleans "the cultural hub of the craft beer industry in the Southeast," Nola.com reported.

In Morganton, production staff members have now been told they will be paid through Nov. 4, and bar staff was told the facility will shutter, per WSOC.

Zoom out: Morganton, located northwest of Charlotte out in Burke County, has experienced somewhat of a revival after being devastated by the loss of textile manufacturing, then by the Great Recession.

• Catawba had become "a central part of that town's economic and cultural life over the past two decades," Nola.com reported.

Of note: It's unclear how the Morganton facility's closure will affect operations at Catawba's brewery in Charlotte, which opened in 2017. The company did not respond to a request for comment.