Ben Bradford

Cleveland County commissioners take a bit of an unusual vote last night at a public hearing. The commission approved tax incentives to lure a new business to Shelby—that part’s pretty standard. The strange part is that they don’t know what the business does.

Commissioners and documents just refer to the company as Project Gnome. Even commission chairman Ronald Hawkins doesn’t know the identity.

“I prefer not to know the details about the project, other than that there will be jobs [and] they will be good jobs,” Hawkins says.

If you’re looking for music and entertainment, the Charlotte Area Transit System might not be the first place that comes to mind. But CATS is becoming quite the producer.

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North Carolina House Republicans presented Monday afternoon their proposed budget for the next two years. In total, the budget spends $20.6 billion.

“In the first year we spend around $12 million less than the Senate and around $188 million less than the governor,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The state and Mecklenburg County are once again at odds over who should control hundreds of millions of dollars of Medicaid funds for mental health services.

A Cabarrus County newspaper has reported one of the largest drug busts in years. According to the Independent-Tribune of Concord, two tons of marijuana were seized in April, as part of an FBI investigation into an international drug ring running through the county.

A recently shuttered coal plant sits on the Catawba River in Gaston County, and state environmental officials say it’s seeping heavy metals precariously close to Charlotte’s water supply. This week, the N.C. Division of Water Quality added that coal plant to a lawsuit against Duke Energy—the plant’s owner. The state has had evidence of violations for two years, but declined to act until recently.

When it comes to the technology industry, Charlotte isn't usually listed as a hub. That title goes to places like Silicon Valley, New York, Boston and Seattle. But, Charlotte shows a lot of promise in the emerging technology field known as "Big Data."

When billionaire David Murdock opened the North Carolina Research Campus five years ago, his goal was to create a global biotechnology center in Kannapolis and to replace the thousands of jobs lost when Cannon Mills—formerly the city’s largest employer—closed. Murdock has poured upwards of $600 million into development of the NCRC, but today, there are only a handful of companies and few jobs compared to his sweeping vision. This week, Murdock donated another $50 million to the endeavor. Outside of Murdock’s millions, there are few signs of growth, but many are still betting on it.

Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee wants council to approve a property tax increase to help fund a Capital Improvement Plan.

Otherwise, the budget he proposed Monday night looks  pretty much like last year's budget. It totals just just under $2 billion, or 1.5 percent above this past year. That increase accounts for an estimated rise in costs and a slight pay raise for city employees, but otherwise keeps spending the same as last year. Here’s the full breakdown:

In their fight to retain control of the Charlotte airport, the city council paid Bob Hazel of consulting firm Oliver Wyman $150,000, to study the airport and conclude the best form of governance—the current form of city control or an independent authority, as state lawmakers are pushing for. Hazel said an authority, and the city council didn’t like that answer. They told him so at Monday’s council meeting.