Charlotte

Music offered Arsena Schroeder a way out from the lucrative path set before her. In college, she interned with financial firms and spent a summer on Capitol Hill, but she began to realize that  the high-powered executive lifestyle was not her calling. She was the first in her family to finish an undergraduate degree, but after that point she abandoned the path everyone expected her to follow. 

During the summer of 2015, a Charlotte woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger. She believes she knows who her attacker is, but for the past three years she has struggled to find justice. A year ago, she took her story to WFAE, the NPR affiliate in Charlotte, and they decided to turn her journey into a podcast.

A controversial charter school bill passed in the General Assembly on Wednesday. The bill would allow four municipalities outside Charlotte to run their own charter schools.

Amazon’s recent announcement to establish a new headquarters in North America has ignited a frenzy of proposals from various cities. 

Yesterday Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts lifted the midnight curfew that had been in place since Thursday evening. Demonstrations in Charlotte have been largely peaceful over the weekend even after family members and law enforcement released video footage of the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Host Frank Stasio speaks with Adam Rhew, associate editor at Charlotte Magazine and a freelance journalist, about the video footage, the mood in Charlotte and next steps for both the investigation and the demonstrators.

The NBA announced that the 2017 All-Star Game will not be held in Charlotte as planned.

The decision comes after state lawmakers did not make enough changes to the law known as House Bill 2 to satisfy the league. It could cost the state more than $100 million in economic impact and the decision will be a factor in the gubernatorial race between incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic challenger Roy Cooper.

After more than 15 years touring as a musician, Greg Humphreys decided it was time to slow things down. He took a break from his career as a solo artist to focus on other things he'd put on the sidelines. He eventually moved to New York City, got married and had a kid.

The transgender community has received greater visibility in pop culture with the stories of Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner in recent years. And in North Carolina, the Charlotte City Council recently passed an ordinance to include non-discrimination protections for LGBT individuals.

But despite the progress, 2015 also saw a record number of murders of transgender people, specifically women of color.

The Charlotte City Council passed an ordinance to include non-discrimination protections for the LGBT community.

Although the expanded protection includes a variety of changes, the most controversial measure allows transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

The city council voted 7-4 in favor of the ordinance expansion, but Governor Pat McCrory and other Republican legislators have indicated the state may intervene.

Historian and author Mary Kratt grew up in the countryside surrounded by trees, the occasional quail hunter and not much else. As a little girl she spent a lot of time on her own and became a keen observer of her surroundings and other people, and she says that’s exactly why she is a successful poet today. 

Kratt has authored six poetry books and a number of books and essays on Charlotte history.

Harry Golden is no longer a household name in North Carolina, but at one point he was likely the most famous North Carolinian in the country. Golden was a Jewish-American writer who grew up in New York City’s Lower East Side in the early 1900s.

Innovation is thriving across the state of North Carolina and communities are becoming more intentional about providing spaces that nurture creative thinking.

  In North Carolina, two million families live without adequate housing. 

Under different circumstances, Tommy Rieman could have been charged with a DUI when he got drunk and drove into a tree. But because he's a veteran he was enrolled in the state's first Veterans Treatment Court, a program designed to give support rather than punishment.

This chapter of Rieman's story starts in Iraq, 2003.

"Before the war started we were in Iraq, calling in air strikes you know?" he remembers. "I was 21, 22 years old. You're on top of the world."

The Levine Museum of the New South recently unveiled a historic exhibit that spotlights the LGBTQ community of Charlotte. 

North Carolina could see fewer hits like Iron Man 3 or Homeland filmed in the state. That’s because tax incentives that encourage the film industry to make movies here are set to expire in January. Some lawmakers are trying to pass a measure that would give grants to the film industry to keep production companies here. But while budget negotiations are underway, time is running out to pass legislation.

Bank of America discriminated against more than 1,000 black job applicants, a U.S. Department of Labor Judge held Monday.

The ruling ordered the bank to pay $2.2 million dollars to applicants who were turned down for positions in Charlotte. Host Frank Stasio talks to Charlotte Observer banking reporter Andrew Dunn about the case.

Lee Ann Brown splits her time between New York City and Marshall, North Carolina, but she has a special love for her southern home.