Enlarge Sgt. Carlos Zapata greets his daughter Kylie. Photo: Charlotte Observer

Posted: March 28th, 2012 Lee Howard

• About 30 members of the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, returned home March 23 after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Over 100 members of the 145th Airlift Wing were activated in early November to provide support for the ongoing war on terrorism in the Middle East.
• A midday rally against President Obama’s health-care requirements drew hundreds to the federal courthouse uptown last Friday. Speakers urged the audience to rise up against what they described as a threat to religious freedom. Critics took aim at a new rule that requires employers to offer free birth control to employees.
• Extra police will remain at several Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools this week. Tweets and Facebook posts about gang violence led to beefed-up security at Vance, West Meck, West Charlotte, Myers Park and Harding high schools last week after a 17-year-old Vance student was shot to death.
• Conservative blogger Tara Servatius found a picture online depicting President Obama dressed in drag with a bucket of chicken between his knees. She thought it would be a good illustration for her “Meck Deck” blog discussing the president’s decision to speak out against N.C.’s proposal to ban same-sex marriage. The former WBT talk show host resigned last week in the wake of the ensuing outrage.
• On March 31, 100 Black Men of Greater Charlotte will partner with Community Blood Center of the Carolinas to co-host an inaugural “Sickle Cell Awareness Community Blood Drive.” The event is part of a new CBCC program aimed at increasing the number of African American donors to support area patients with sickle cell disease. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CBCC Charlotte Center, 4447 South Blvd.

Posted: March 14th, 2012 Lee Howard

• Mayor Anthony Foxx and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Coalition for Housing hosted an Interfaith Summit on affordable housing and homelessness. The event drew more than 300 people Friday to the Park Expo and Conference Center. Those gathered represented almost 100 area churches. The featured speaker was The Rev. Floyd Flake, a former New York congressman and the pastor of Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York who spearheaded a renewal of the Jamaica neighborhood in Queens. According to The Charlotte Observer, the Rev. Flake cautioned the hundreds of elected officials, agency executives and spiritual representatives that they had to put differences aside, act fast and produce clear results. "Nobody wants to climb on a train that's stopped in the middle of the tracks," he said. Click here for Observer photos from the event.

• Affordable Housing and Homlessness were the topic on WFAE's Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins on Tuesday. Among those interviewed about the state of the homeless and efforts to help: Mike Rizer - Chairman, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Coalition for Housing; Dr. Maria Hanlin - Executive Director, Mecklenburg Ministries; Kelly Lynn - Director of Development at Charlotte Family Housing; and David Levine - Director of Media, Serve Charlotte's Homeless. Click here to listen to the program.

• Sibusiso Monguni led the combined choirs of Mallard Creek High School and his Hlanganani! 2012 Unity Tour Honors Chorus of South Africa for an impromptu performance of a traditional African song and dance at Mallard Creek High Friday. Friendship Missionary Baptist Church is hosting the African students for a month-long visit. The choir performed for the public at Missionary Baptist Church on Beatties Ford Road Monday. 

• Most North Carolinians oppose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, new poll results show. The amendment will be on the May 8 ballot. The survey found 54% of N.C. residents opposed the constitutional amendment and 38% supported it. 

• CLT Blog is hosting "282," a weekly TV news show about hot topics in Charlotte and beyond. Recently, the show featured discussions on the importance of minority voter turnout for the 2012 election with Rod Garvin, who is on the leadership team for the Hip Hop Caucus in Charlotte, and social entrepreneurship with Charles Thomas of Queen City Forward, a nonprofit that helps social entrepreneurs use business strategies to solve social problems.

Posted: March 7th, 2012 Lee Howard

The CIAA swarmed into Charlotte last week with a kickoff luncheon at the Charlotte Chamber on Wednesday. The CIAA is a basketball tourney for traditionally African-American colleges. It marked its 100^th anniversary last week. As many as 200,000 are believed to have attended. Last year’s economic impact was more than $44 million.

Temple Beth El’s Rabbi Judy Schindler has been a fixture on the Charlotte scene for years, working on causes from eliminating homelessness to championing the right of same-sex couples to marry. Because of her “tireless and often courageous work” in the glare of conflict, Schindler has been named Charlotte's 2011 Woman of the Year by a committee of past winners of the 56-year-old award.

A state constitutional amendments panel met last week to "prepare an official explanation of the proposed Marriage Amendment” to the N.C. Constitution that will be put before voters in the May 8 election.

Some of Charlotte’s largest community and family foundations are about to provide nine public schools in West Charlotte with $55 million extra dollars. Project L.I.F.T. is intended to help some of the city’s most troubled schools.

First Lady Michelle Obama was in town last week as part of the CIAA tournament festivities to promote her “Let’s Move!” Initiative. It’s a health and fitness program she’s spearheading to help stem the tide of childhood obesity.

The lounge in Myers Hall at Johnson C. Smith University, along with the stairwells to each of the dormitory’s four floors, have been transformed into an artistic showcase for African-American women with powerful messages. Courtesy of a $1,000 grant from Duke Energy, local artist Lena Hopkins-Jackson created a mural she calls “Tapestry” for the women’s dorm.

Posted: March 5th, 2012 Lee Howard

At the offices of Norcom Development near Uptown, Lane McKinney answers the door. Through his closely cropped hair is a noticeable patchwork of fresh scars on the top of his head. In tie and slacks, he could be just another real estate broker with a bad haircut. But he’s not.

McKinney served four tours of duty in the Army’s Special Forces in Afghanistan. He’s been stateside about a year, working with returning vets who need help making the transition.

About 6,000 have already made the trip back from the Middle East to Mecklenburg County. An undetermined, but no-doubt larger number are on their way.

And their biggest challenge? Finding a job, says McKinney, 31, who is still on active duty but working as a liaison between returning service people and Charlotte-based Norcom on a project called Charlotte Bridge Home.

The nonprofit formed to help military people acclimate to civilian life. Many vets find getting employment, medical assistance, housing and support services a difficult path to navigate.

The nonprofit just won a $50,000 grant from the Foundation for the Carolinas. Norcom’s President Tommy Norman launched the effort almost 1 ½ years ago, and it has since caught the attention of other sponsors, including Wells Fargo and Goodrich. The goal eventually is to raise $1 million for local vet assistance.

“Many of these (veterans) are so young, they’ve been through so much, and you can only imagine what they’re going up against now that they’re home,” says Norman, who served in Vietnam in the Army’s Special Forces from 1966-71.

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