WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint

Charlotte's housing market is finally leveling-off after years of soaring prices left many potential home buyers on the sidelines. "We're not seeing what we saw last year and the year before," Tiffany Johannes, president of Canopy Realtor Association said. "But this year, we're seeing more of a normalized market out there."  Johannes appeared on WCNC's Flashpoint this week. Despite the slight slow...

The  U.S. Supreme Court  ruled against North Carolina Republicans Tuesday and said state legislatures don't have absolute power over election laws, and that state courts are constitutionally allowed to weigh in on those laws.  At issue in Moore v. Harper, a fringe legal argument called Independent State Legislature theory.  "I think the court felt that they were going to have to decide this questi...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson speaks with Senate leader Phil Berger regarding the General Assembly's final stretch of its legislative session. Berger discusses the top priorities of the General Assembly and more.

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory appeared on  WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint  with a simple message for Democrats and Republicans ahead of the 2024 elections: Wake up.  McCrory recently joined the  No Labels  campaign as the group's national co-chair. No Labels promotes bipartisanship and compromise, and organizers say the group is considering a third-option unity ticket in the 2024 presidentia...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with mental health advocates about the importance of Mental Health Awareness Month, including Dr. Jaren Doby with Novant Health and Fonda Bryant. All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Jo...

Various medical and physician groups have come out against a new bill in Raleigh that would restrict abortion after 12 weeks into a pregnancy. The  North Carolina Medical Society , the  North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society , among other groups have voiced opposition to the " Care for Women, Child, and Families Act ." "This bill is not medically sound. I think there's a lot of misin...

Democratic leaders say new abortion restrictions passed by the  North Carolina General Assembly  could energize their base going into the 2024 election. "I think that people need to understand the consequences of their local races," Drew Kromer, Chair of the  Mecklenburg County Democratic Party,  said. While Charlotte is heavily democratic, Kromer said democrats underperformed in recent elections....

Justin Parmenter is a  CMS  teacher and public school advocate. He says the new " Choose Your School, Choose Your Future " bill in the General Assembly offers the wrong kind of choice. "When your choices have a negative impact on the education that others are receiving, it's not just about your own personal choice. And so I think this approach is depleting resources that we really need in our trad...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with Sarah Hazel, chief sustainability officer for the city of Charlotte, on the city's strategic energy action plan. In 2018, the city of Charlotte adopted the plan with a goal to have all its fleet and facilities fueled by 100 percent zero-carbon sources by 2030. "When our city council adopted those goals, they knew that it was incredibly ambiti...

Charlotte's Mayor says the city's troubled transit agency has turned a corner. "I believe that we are heading in the right direction,' Vi Lyles said on WCNC's Flashpoint. The transit agency has been beleaguered with problems recently, including changes in leadership, several minor derailments on the LYNX Blue Line, and staffing problems.  "In the past 130 days, we have invested so much talent in t...

Republicans at the General Assembly are considering an abortion ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to  State Rep. Jason Saine , Chair of the NC House Republican Conference. "I think probably the number that we land on is somewhere around 12 weeks," Saine said on WCNC's Flashpoint. It's not clear what if any, exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother would be included in the bil...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with US Secretary of the  Department of Health and Human Services  Xavier Becerra about North Carolina's Medicaid expansion. North Carolina has 2.9 million enrollees in traditional Medicaid coverage. Advocates have estimated that expansion could help 600,000 adults.   "You've just given people peace of mind," Becerra said. "To all th...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson Mecklenburg County Commissioner Leigh Altman, who also sits on the Metropolitan Transit Commission about the ongoing CATS 'crisis' amid city leaders pushing for a billion-dollar transit plan. "If we don't find a way to ensure that CATS is a high-functioning, high-quality organization and go forward with these plans, we will lose billions of do...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson talks with former North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue on how both political parties are failing to mentor young women in politics. "We haven't done a real good job across the state, Republicans or Democrats, of growing our bench," Former North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue said. Later, Ben talks with State Rep. Zack Hawkins about sports betting, Med...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson speaks with Ben talks with Charlotte Center City Partners' CEO Michael Smith, & SVP of Economic Development James Labar. Smith laid out his organization's plans for Uptown over the next ten years. He envisions a more "complete" neighborhood, focused on residential growth and tourist activity, in addition to the business presence Uptown is alre...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with NC Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell and Iredell County Elections Director Susie Jordan about the status of election offices and equipment in North Carolina. Both agree the state could use more funding and resources. "So it's time to modernize. We didn't even have smartphones in 1998. So you can imagine that it looks more like Atari than...

Anderson Clayton, 25, is the newly-elected chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party , and she's ready to shake things up. "Our party is ready for change. I think that we are ready to have a generational shift, honestly," Clayton said, on WCNC's Flashpoint. Clayton, a former chair of the Person County Democratic Party, believes the party has neglected rural voters. READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.c...

On this episode of Flashpoint, Ben Thompson chats with Percy Mack and CMS board member Summer Nunn about the district's search for a superintendent. Mack explains how his firm has already received interest in the position while Nunn explains what CMS is looking for as it attempts to hire another full-time superintendent. BWP & Associates,  the consulting firm hired by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with Congressman Jeff Jackson, where Jackson admits his opinion on the recent Chinese spy balloon shifted after speaking to members of the U.S. military. "I started in a place of skepticism about the timeline for their decision-making and ended in a place of confidence that they handle this in the best possible way," Jackson said on...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson spoke to several city leaders about the transportation plan going forward and some of the skepticism lawmakers have toward the plan. "I think we have work to do to modify the plan in order to bring in the partners we need regionally and also to cooperate with the General Assembly on the referendum authorization that we need," Ed Driggs, city c...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, we're joined by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis! The North Carolina Republican has an extended conversation with Ben Thompson about the discovery of classified documents at the home of President Joe Biden, as well as documents found at the homes of former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. Tillis faulted the White House's lack of oversight acro...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with Mecklenburg County Commissioner Pat Cotham on the upcoming annual Point-In-Time Count, where volunteers will take to the streets to help understand the size and scope of the homeless population here in Mecklenburg County. "It's very helpful to gain this information so we can really identify and allocate resources from the county...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with Congresswoman Alma Adams to discuss the divided U.S. House. Rep. Adams strikes an optimistic tone, stating she believes there is room for agreement. "The Republicans are just barely in the majority, and we're barely in the minority," Adams said on WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint. "That gives us an opportunity to come to...

This week on Flashpoint, we take a look back at some of our best moments of 2022.

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson sts down with Sustain Charlotte's Meg Fencil about its CATS transportation wish list. Sustain Charlotte advocates for sustainable growth in Charlotte. Its Executive Director recently penned the "wish list" for change the group would like to see in 2023, starting with improving bus stops and making bus service more reliable. "Those are the basics. And th...