Arts and Life

'Public Enemy' Wraps Up A Criminally Good Saga
Neither director Jean-Francois Richet's style nor star Vincent Cassel's swagger falters in Public Enemy Number One, the exhilarating follow-up to Mesrine: Killer Instinct. With its shootouts, prison breaks and wild flights of ego, the saga's second half was sure to be watchable. It's also smart, funny and incisive -- about the criminal and his era. (Recommended)

A Family Torn Asunder Takes The 'Last Train Home'
Frequently moving and quietly enlightening, the documentary Last Train Home is about love and exploitation, sacrifice and endurance. Director Lixin Fan follows a single Chinese family from 2006 through the financial downturn of 2008. The parents work at garment factories in Guangzhou city; their teenage children live in an impoverished village and see their parents only once a year.

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Philanthropists And Businesses Unite To Help CMS
Charlotte philanthropists, business and community leaders will soon begin studying how to best help Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools with contributions. They're forming a committee called the CMS Investment Group to come up with a model to boost the graduation rate and narrow the achievement gap between white and minority students.

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Factory Orders Edge Up; New Jobless Claims Fall
Orders to U.S. factories managed a slight gain in July, boosted by as a surge in demand for commercial aircraft. Meanwhile, the number of people requesting unemployment benefits declined for the second straight week, but the overall level remains high.

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A Look At I-485's Past,
Future Development
If you're trying to get a head start on the Labor Day weekend, you know by now that just getting home - or getting out of town - can be a challenge. I-485 isn't much fun at rush hour, especially on the southern end.

It's been 22 years since construction began on the 67-mile outerbelt. And I-485 planners did not envision the road as it is today.

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CHA Tries To Evict Resident Commissioner
A resident member of the Charlotte Housing Authority is facing eviction. Lucille Puckett has served on the CHA commission since last December. CHA spokeswoman Deborah Clark says the agency began eviction proceedings against Puckett because she met with someone at her home in Dillehay Courts who was banned from CHA properties.

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Why We've Given Less To Pakistan's Flood Victims
Americans have given $25 million so far to help victims of Pakistan's flood disaster -- far less than the U.S. donations made in the immediate aftermath of other major disasters. Experts cite the relative lack of news coverage, attitudes toward Pakistan and the nature of the disaster itself.

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Gaza Youth Yearn For Normalcy, Haunted By War
Almost three-quarters of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are younger than 30. Most have never left the tiny, Hamas-ruled coastal territory, have never met an Israeli, and have never known a time when there wasn't a conflict outside their doorstep.

Headlines

Headlines

Furniture mogul Mitchell Gold talks about his mission to end what he sees as religion-based prejudice against the gay community, Friday on WFAE's Charlotte Talks.