Steve Harrison

1 week ago | wfae.org | Steve Harrison

With it appearing likely the full General Assembly will approve Mecklenburg County’s roads/transit bill, Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Mark Jerrell said Thursday he wants his colleagues to vote on Sept. 3 to place the 1-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot. The tax increase would pay for the multi-billion-dollar transportation plan. Jerrell’s comments came after the state House overwhelmingly this week passed Republican state Rep.

1 week ago | wfae.org | Steve Harrison

The North Carolina state House on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow Mecklenburg County voters to decide whether to raise the sales tax by 1 cent to pay for a multi-billion-dollar roads and transit plan. Going into the legislative session this year, supporters of the bill said it had a 50-50 chance of being approved. But Mecklenburg Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham’s bill — known as the PAVE Act — passed the full house 102-6 on second reading.

1 week ago | wfae.org | Steve Harrison

Michael Swerdlow is one of Florida’s biggest developers. Now in his early 80s, he’s been building across the state and the nation since the 1970s. He walks with a cane and smokes Camels. “Built a lot of buildings, as you can see,” he said, flipping through a book highlighting the Swerdlow Group’s projects. “Over 5,000 apartments. Over 4,000 single-family homes.

1 week ago | wfae.org | Steve Harrison

Michael Swerdlow is one of Florida’s biggest developers. Now in his early 80s, he’s been building across the state and the nation since the 1970s. He walks with a cane and smokes Camels. “Built a lot of buildings, as you can see,” he said, flipping through a book highlighting the Swerdlow Group’s projects. “Over 5,000 apartments. Over 4,000 single-family homes.

1 week ago | wfae.org | Steve Harrison

Nine years ago, Mecklenburg County commissioners made a crucial decision: They selected the Miami Beach-based Peebles Corporation to redevelop Brooklyn, a historically Black neighborhood that was destroyed in the 1960s in the name of urban renewal. The symbolism was clear: A majority-Democratic county commission chose a prominent Black-owned company to rebuild a Black neighborhood whose destruction remains a stain on Charlotte’s history.