WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, Ben Thompson discusses the future of Uptown Charlotte with Mayor Vi Lyles. For much of the pandemic, Uptown was a ghost town. The vibrant foot traffic brought by the banks and other employers for decades evaporated overnight. In the last six months, companies have slowly brought back workers, but often on hybrid schedules. Restaurants, bars, and shops are reli...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson talks to Catawba College Political Science professor, Dr. Michael Bitzer about the primary results. Bitzer said conditions going into the general election favor republican Tedd Budd. "The president's party always loses seats, typically in midterm elections. Joe Biden's approval rating is low on economic issues, particularly inflation is at the...

North Carolina's primary election is just days away on May 17. Ben Thompson interviews Michael Dickerson, the director of elections for Mecklenburg County, about voter turnout, how you can vote and what officials are expecting come Election Day. In our second segment, Ben Thompson has a conversation with Stephen Billy, executive director of Charlotte Lozier Institute, which focuses on science and...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with Mecklenburg County Health Director, Dr. Raynard Washington about COVID in our community. Fresh off spring break and Easter vacations, health officials are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases. "We're experiencing sort of a spring bump here, and COVID activity is increasing in our community," Dr. Raynard Washington, Mecklenburg Coun...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson talks with Charlotte city councilman, Braxton Winston about running again for an at-large seat. "We have really taken that hands-off approach. And I think that's been fatal in this process," Winston, councilman at-large, said. Winston co-chairs the city's intergovernmental committee and is running for re-election. He said the city has lost sub...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson and NC congresswoman, Alma Adams talk Black Maternal Health week and what she's doing to push legislation for it. Rep. Adams is the co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and she's pushing the passage of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, which was reintroduced in February 2021, and remains stalled in th...

On this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with former NC Congressman, Robert Pittenger about his time along the Ukrainian border. Pittenger was in Bucharest planning a summer conference for the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum, which he currently serves as chairman. While there, Romanian officials took him to several refugee camps. "Let me just commend the multiple nonprofi...

On this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson starts our conversations with all the Charlotte City Council at-large candidates. First up is LaWana Mayfield. She is a former councilwoman who is running again, but this time as an at-large candidate. Next, Ben spoke with Sam Spencer, the former chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg planning commission. They chat about the 2040 policy map...

On this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks to former state representative (who is also now running again) Tricia Cotham about her battle with long COVID. Cotham previously served in the North Carolina General Assembly between 2009 and 2015. Cotham said she's battled COVID-19 on and off for the last two years. "January and February were the absolute worst," she explained. "March has b...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson spoke with an expert on the number of unaffiliated voters in North Carolina. Last week, unaffiliated voters in North Carolina finally outnumbered registered Republicans and Democrats in the state.  "This has been the trend that has been happening for several decades now," Dr. Michael Bitzer, political professor at Catawba College, said. As of...

Supporters of Charlotte's massive transit plan are eagerly hoping to get some consensus on the issue in the coming weeks.  "It's still the hope," Julie Eiselt, Charlotte's Mayor Pro Tem, said. Eiselt chairs the city council's Transportation & Planning Committee. The sweeping plan requires the involvement of surrounding cities and counties, as well as the approval of the North Carolina General Asse...

This week on Flashpoint, Ben Thompson talks to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board member and teacher after the district voted to make masks optional. In a new release, the school system said the  North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services StrongSchools Toolkit  was updated to coincide with the CDC guidance that states masks are no longer required on buses or vans operated by public...

In this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell as he tackles high hospital costs in the state. "Last fall, I had a procedure that took eight minutes, that cost $6,000," Dale Folwell, North Carolina State Treasurer, said. Long before Folwell suffered his own sticker shock, he was on a campaign to make the state's largest hospi...

On this episode of Flashpoint, Ben Thompson sits down with Mecklenburg County Health Director Raynard Washington. He explains that says now is a "good time" to begin the next phase of the pandemic,  beginning with rescinding the county's indoor mask mandate .  Washington said health officials will focus their response on those most vulnerable to a severe illness from COVID-19. But just as we saw w...

This week on Flashpoint, Ben Thompson discusses best practices for potential homebuyers in the Charlotte area. The Charlotte housing market continues to be one of the hottest in the country in 2022, according to Canopy Realty Association. "You're gonna have to be flexible. This is one of the most unique markets we've seen," Lee Allen, President of Canopy, said. Allen said all signs point to minima...

On this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks to two Charlotte Council members as they lay out a busy agenda during an election year. "Trying to do a lot of things at once, and doing them with a lot of funding at once is what makes this different than years past," district 1 councilman Larken Egleston said.   Later, Ben talks to a Catawba College professor who maps out the future of Nor...

On this episode of Flashpoint, we hear from an NBC News correspondent as they explain how the election outcome of Anson County could be a whole new outcome in the 2022 midterms. "What we're finding is a story of voter apathy," Antonia Hylton said. "A community that feels it's been ignored and mistreated in some cases." Anson County is one of seven counties across the U.S. NBC News will be focused...

On a new episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with incoming Mecklenburg County Deputy Health Director, Dr. Raynard Washington about COVID in the county. Washington said he's not planning any sweeping changes in the county's approach. "The level of transmission in our community remains really really high," deputy director Dr. Raynard Washington said. Later, Ben with state...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson speaks with Catawba College political science professor, Dr. Michael Bitzer about the NC primary being delayed. Candidate filing was put on hold this week after the North Carolina state Supreme Court issued an order that postpones 2022 primaries for two months. The ruling comes amid legal challenges to new Republican-approved congressional and...

On this episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Hunter Sáenz sits down with US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about what's being done to improve transportation and infrastructure in Charlotte and across the country. "We have communities like Charlotte, that are innovating, thinking about the future -- putting their money where their mouth is," Buttigieg said. "But they haven't had the...

On a special episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Sarah French talks with experts about the importance of maintaining good mental health. Guests include Jaren Doby, a therapist at Novant Health Psychiatric Associates, Christy Baker, The Director of Development with Hope Haven about what they do, and Dr. Robert Matlack, the creator of "Best Day Psychiatry and Counseling".   Later, Sarah sits dow...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson is joined by Kelly O'Brien, the chief advocacy and strategy officer for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance to discuss the Transformational Mobility Network . During the first segment, O'Brien discusses accusations that the project isn't inclusive of all stakeholders and addresses concerns about the future of the Red Line rai...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with Republican strategist, Larry Shaheen, about what results from the national elections mean for the midterm as well as his trip up to Raleigh to talk to lawmakers about the transformational mobility network. Later, Ben talks with city council candidate, Billy Maddalon about why he’s running. This and more on this week's episode of...

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson talks to Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt about the transformational mobility plan and ARPA funds that City Council approved. Last week, the council was updated on the Transformational Mobility Network, or TMN, a multi-pronged plan for transit and transportation. The plan includes having 110 miles of rapid transit corridors like the lig...

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks to Meet the Press moderator, Chuck Todd about NBC News’ County to County project and why Anson County is one of the counties they are focusing on. Todd thinks winning African American support in 2022 will be essential for Democrats.   Then, Ben talks to Catawba College political science professor, Dr. Michael Bitzer about what Anson County can sho...