Tasnim Shamma

Last weekend, volunteers for both campaigns knocked on doors and called voters to get them to head to the polls. There were also some big names in the area – at least for President Barack Obama.

Do you generally sit out elections? An arm of the liberal group, MoveOn.org, may have found a way of shaming you into voting. Between now and Election day, it's mailing out millions of  voter "report cards" to residents of swing states like North Carolina. 

It's pretty simple. On the left, a bar graph compares the number of times you voted with the neighborhood average in the last five general elections. And then on the right, you get graded based on voting history. 

There are only about 100 restaurants in all of Lancaster County, South Carolina. That's not a lot and some  residents say they routinely cross county and state borders to get some breakfast or lunch. It's tied to the state's prohibition on restaurants serving alcohol on Sundays. Next week, residents will vote on whether to allow restaurants serve alcohol on Sundays.

The effort has been led Elissa Boyet. She didn’t know about the prohibition when she moved from Charlotte to Lancaster County in 2008.

The slightest change in support can tip the North Carolina vote in favor of President Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

An Elon University poll released this week shows they are in a statistical dead heat heading into the final week of campaigning. They are appealing to an electorate that’s undergone significant change. U.S. Census figures show minorities accounted for 35 percent of North Carolina’s population growth in the last decade.

So we looked at the influence of the minority vote and the challenges Romney has in capturing it.

In the ongoing cross-border competition for jobs, Charlotte is losing yet another company to South Carolina.

Just last month, it was photo-sharing company Shutterfly abandoning Charlotte for Fort Mill.

On Tuesday, Physicians Choice Laboratory Services announced it is moving to Rock Hill, where it will double its workforce. The drug testing company opened in 2009 and now has 150 employees in Charlotte. 

Mark Farris, the economic development director of York County, says it’s only natural.

Cabarrus County Democratic Chairwoman Grace Galloway admits she’s not happy with 8th District Congressman Larry Kissell and has not outright endorsed him. In response, members of the party's local executive committee wants to remove her from office. 

If you ride the bus in Concord and Kannapolis, you’ll soon be seeing some big changes. The cities’ joint bus system called Rider Transit will be getting eight new hybrid-electric buses with free WiFi hotspots. There will also be service on Sundays starting in October 2013 and several improvements to bus stops, including a doubling of the number of shelters, solar-powered street lights and improved security system.