WFAE Talks

Tom Bullock stayed through the end of this past week's Charlotte City Council meeting, and he (and his editor) are glad he did as a surprise debate unfolded. Tom also discusses his preparations for interviewing Diane Rehm, while Lisa Worf discusses legislation that's giving many colleges angst.

Environmental reporter David Boraks joins WFAE Talks for the first time. He talks about the dispute between Tesla Motors and Charlotte-area dealerships. The dealerships say Tesla cars can be sold in Charlotte, as long as dealers sell them. Tesla wants to having its own car lot and sell directly to the public, but many state laws across the country protect dealers from that kind of competition. We’ll also discuss recommendations for Common Core in North Carolina. A committee is recommending only small changes after much legislative and public debate more than a year ago. Plus, the potato field that on I-77 Friday morning.

Of course, we discuss HB 2. Specifically, we take you behind the scenes of our coverage of this week's developments, and Tom Bullock discusses comparisons to a 1990s Colorado law that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down. We also talk about the Patrick Cannon tapes released this week that show the former Charlotte mayor taking bribes.

It's our 70th edition of WFAE Talks. Greg, Lisa, and Tom discuss North Carolina's gubernatorial and U.S. Senate general election races, plus the looming 12th Congressional District Democratic primary between incumbent Alma Adams and Malcolm Graham. They also discuss the movement in Matthews to explore secession from CMS. And speaking of CMS, district officials made a big mistake with its community student assignment survey.

Greg, Lisa, and Tom discuss the March 15th primary, House Speaker Tim Moore's call for a special session to strike down the bathroom provision in Charlotte's updated non-discrimination ordinance, and a $1 million fine for UNC-Chapel Hill because it accepted too many out-of-state students.

The headline says it all: It's been a crazy week for politics in the Carolinas. Greg, Lisa, and Tom discuss it.

Common sense tells you that our politics are polarized. In fact, so does the use of "common sense." Reporter Tom Bullock discusses a story he produced on the topic that's both entertaining and informative. Reporter Michael Tomsic spent time in Winston-Salem this week covering the voter ID trial. He'll discuss how arguments inside the courtroom are different than the public relations spin by groups on both sides of the debate. Plus, the debate over expansion of Charlotte's non-discrimination ordinance to include LGBT people. The most controversial provision of an expansion would let transgender people use the bathroom of their choice. Before Council formally takes up the issue again, a city outreach effort includes the use of actors to portray different views on the topic.

Lisa Worf first reported in November on a new teaching method called No Nonsense Nurturing that's being utilized at Project LIFT schools in CMS. This week, No Nonsense Nurturing became the subject of intense national attention after NPR aired a version of Lisa's story on Weekend Edition Sunday. Lisa, Greg, and Tom discuss the teaching method and some of the shoddy reporting by other media outlets that followed up on her story. Speaking of Project LIFT, it's board this week had its only public meeting of the year. Lisa covered the meeting and will tell us about it. Plus, Tom discusses his story on tax-deductible donations to non-profit political groups.

In this edition of WFAE Talks, Greg, Lisa and Tom discuss Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts’ promises, the CMS student-assignment debate, and Tom’s upcoming story about Muslim life in Charlotte.

Envision these scenarios for the 2016 election: Americans for Prosperity coordinates campaign strategies with Gov. Pat McCrory's re-election campaign. Or, Moveon.org does the same thing for the campaign of his likely Democratic challenger, Attorney General Roy Cooper. While such coordination is prohibited on the federal level, a recent ruling by the North Carolina Elections Board says state law allows it. WFAE's Tom Bullock reported on the ruling this week, and he talks about it more in this podcast with News Director Greg Collard and reporter Michael Tomsic. They also discuss: - The McCrory campaign's offer to give donors (minimum $5) a bumper sticker that says I don't believe the Raleigh News & Observer . - A new statewide newspaper (seriously). - Gun control and North Carolina gun laws.

If you care about the debate over Syrian refugees and what's happening in Syria, you will want to listen to this episode. Tom Bullock discusses his reporting on the debate, and his experience as a journalist in Syria. He was part of a NPR team that interviewed Syria President Bashar al-Assad. We’ve also posted pictures Tom took of Syrian monuments, some which have since been destroyed by ISIS.

Republicans held the Charlotte mayor's seat for 22 straight years. That run ended in 2009. As the city's Democratic and unaffiliated voter rolls grow, do Republicans have a chance at winning the seat again? Plus, Sarah Delia discusses her interview with musician Ben Folds. And our newest reporter is...well, you'll have to listen to find out.

This edition of WFAE Talks has Sarah Delia, Lisa Worf, and Greg Collard in the studio. Sarah discusses her experiences in covering the reaction to video from South Carolina that showed an officer flip a student over in her chair and then dragging her. That officer has been fired . Also, they discuss some of the races up for grabs in Tuesday’s election.

You wouldn't expect someone to be named chairman of a county's elections board when posting on social media statements such as: “To hell with the Lesbos, Queers, Liberals and baby killers.” Or, “God Bless the Confederate States of America," -- and then noting it's been "illegally occupied" since 1865 . Yet, this summer Malcolm "Mac" Butner became chairman of the Rowan County Board of Elections. That changed Thursday, when the state Board of Elections removed him by a 3-2 vote. Reporter Tom Bullock discusses this story and how Butner was named to the position in the first place. Plus, Lisa Worf discusses the process the CMS Board is going through in redrawing boundary lines and expanding magnet schools.

The North Carolina General Assembly finally ended its session this week, but not before some lawmakers tried to sneak through controversial legislation concerning the authority of local governments and charter school funding.

Reporters Michael Tomsic and Duncan McFadyen join News Director Greg Collard on this episode of WFAE Talks .

Greg, Lisa and Ben discuss the politics surrounding a religious advertisement featuring Governor McCrory. The group responsible for the ad says it mistakenly mischaracterized the governor’s upcoming address to a religious gathering called The Response. They also discuss early effects of the region’s drought, school grades, and graduation rates. Oh, and one more thing: It’s Ben’s last appearance on WFAE Talks .

For the last month, WFAE's Gwendolyn Glenn has been covering jury selection and testimony in the Randall Kerrick trial. She joins Greg Collard and Lisa Worf to discuss the trial and offers some of her behind-the-scenes observations.

In this episode, the trio of WFAE's Greg Collard, Lisa Worf and Ben Bradford discuss lawmakers' tardiness in approving a state budget and the uncertainty that's giving school districts. The Charlotte area finally meets a federal ozone standard, but probably not for long. Plus, we discuss our upcoming coverage of the Charlotte mayor's race and a package of candidate interviews that we're calling The 15th Floor .

It's been a very busy week for WFAE's newsroom. The removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina's capitol grounds dominated our coverage, but there were other stories. Among them: Mecklenburg County commissioners deciding to leave a Confederate monument alone, and a jobs announcement that turned into a political rally of sorts for lawmakers to expand the economic development incentives program known as JDIG.