WCNC Charlotte To Go – Details, episodes & analysis

The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) is asking residents to weigh in on a major transportation blueprint that will shape how the region moves for the next 30 years.

The 2055 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) lays out a comprehensive roadmap for transportation projects across the Charlotte area, including roadway expansions, transit corridors, and bicycle and pedestrian routes. The plan focuses on projects that are both needed and financially realistic, relying only on anticipated funding from federal, state, and local sources through the year 2055.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/traffic/charlotte-transportation-leaders-seek-public-input-2055-metropolitan-transportation-plan/275-647399e4-3cfa-4aab-a98d-c243aa03a471

Plus, we're connecting the dots on a major pay raise for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and how it could have a ripple effect across the NFL. 

And finally, meteorologist Chris Mulcahy has the latest Weather Impact forecast ahead of a hot and humid weekend across the Carolinas. 

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Weeks after the former principal of Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte suddenly left her role, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has announced who will take on leadership of the school.

In a video shared on YouTube Wednesday afternoon, the district announced that Susan Nichols would become the new principal for Ardrey Kell. Nichols currently serves as principal at Charlotte Engineering Early College, which is one of the district's charter schools.

Nicols' biography on the CEEC website shows she has 27 years of experience as an educator and is originally from Winston-Salem. She earned her undergraduate degree in K-12 Spanish and French Education from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and began her career there.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/education/ardrey-kell-high-school-principal-6-18-2025/275-55020cd3-54e9-4778-aa1f-31f1bf58ecfd 

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Eight people have been arrested in connection with a mass shooting that killed one person and injured 11 others in Catawba County on June 1, investigators said. The arrest of the final suspect being sought was announced early Friday morning.  

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday that Garon Nathaniel Killian was charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the case. He remains in jail under a $200,000 bond. Killian was also arrested for his alleged role in shooting into a crowd in a parking lot in April. On Thursday, a judge revoked Killian's bond in that case, which had already drawn the ire of law enforcement officials, who called it "infuriating" that someone with his violent history was out of jail to begin with. 

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/mass-shooting-investigation-underway-hickory-catawba-county/275-7e490614-1d20-46f0-9ed2-d9fae22cf0c9

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Fire crews in McDowell County are working to contain two fires early Friday morning.

As of the 5:30 a.m. update Friday, officials confirmed fire crews had made good progress on the Crooked Creek fire and North Fork fire.  In a previous update, the McDowell County Emergency Management Administration said the Crooked Creek near Old Fort had spread to 200 acres and was 15% contained. The 5:30 a.m. update did not contain acreage and containment numbers, but officials said officials are working to get updated information.  

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/wildfire-mcdowell-conty-north-carolina/275-4b362012-e151-4505-86f0-5eaa8afa6971

PLUS: American Airlines flight 5342 midair crash | The latest here: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/national/all-flights-halted-at-reagan-national-airport-due-to-plane-crash-potomac-river-dc/65-e2090f2d-0bca-4a4c-944c-215a6398a52d

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education leaders voted to raise the district's minimum wage for staff.  

With the board's approval on Tuesday, some of the changes will start in February.

The vote comes after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district worked with the firm Hurd Isenhour Lopes (HIL) Consultants in fall of 2023, having a compensation review for classified pay grades 1 through 9. This review looked at pay for both hourly and salaried employees across 390 different classified job titles across the different pay grades. The district said compensation for certified employees -- like teachers -- were not included in the study.  

The changes will be made during multiple phases over a several-year span, pending funding. 

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/education/cms-vote-minimum-wage-increase/275-1b302d2c-f788-41c2-b9e5-ec28868ddd2a

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders are set to vote on Tuesday on whether to raise the district's minimum wage for staff.  

With board approval, some of the changes will start in February.

The vote comes after CMS worked with the firm Hurd Isenhour Lopes (HIL) Consultants in fall of 2023, having a compensation review for classified pay grades 1 through 9. This review looked at pay for both hourly and salaried employees across 390 different classified job titles across the different pay grades. The district said compensation for certified employees -- like teachers -- were not included in the study. 

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/education/cms-vote-minimum-wage-increase/275-1b302d2c-f788-41c2-b9e5-ec28868ddd2a 

Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, is still seeking to reverse the outcome in the race for a seat on the state Supreme Court, even after two recounts showed Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs narrowly winning the election. Riggs remains on the court while the legal battles play out.

Litigation in state and federal court should decide the outcome of Griffin's efforts to have roughly 66,000 ballots thrown out. If the legal challenge succeeds, Griffin's lawyers say it would probably result in him claiming the seat. That would expand the high court's current 5-2 conservative majority.

The fight in the nation's ninth most populous state over the Supreme Court seat is being considered in two court systems. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Monday about whether federal or state courts should handle the case.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/north-carolina-politics/north-carolina-supreme-court-race-unresolved/275-6dfa4a74-ee5f-4c5c-85f0-7ea8f5b14ba4 

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

President Donald Trump is expected to visit western North Carolina on Friday in his first visit to the area during his second term as president, according to Buncombe County officials.  

The area was devastated by Hurricane Helene in late September, killing more than 100 people in the state and leaving thousands without shelter.  

Details on the presidential visit are limited, but Buncombe County officials released a statement on Thursday warning residents to be ready for increased traffic from 11-2 p.m. on Friday. 

Full story: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/trump-to-visit-western-nc-in-first-visit-as-president/275-45afb19e-9075-42f7-b4a8-587967af3951

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Newly obtained search warrants connected to the disappearance of Madalina Cojocari reveal that, at least early on, the investigation centered around "believed sexual exploitation" of a minor child victim. Further warrants also unveiled more information about what investigators found as they began digging.

The warrants, obtained by WCNC Charlotte, also reveal, that in the days after Madalina Cojocari was last seen, her mattress, clothing, Halloween costume and family photos were burned in a fire pit outside a Cornelius home. 

The warrants say a carpet from the home's upstairs spare bedroom was also burned. Madalina’s stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, said during his trial in May of last year that Madalina’s mother Diana Cojocari was burning things more often during that time.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/madalina-cojocari-new-warrants-evidence-1-22-2025/275-efe8c78b-4ed3-47fc-b5c4-b1b97cfb4bb5

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

It's a snowy and icy Wednesday in the Charlotte area, after winter weather moved through on Tuesday. Now, the focus shifts to the chilly temperatures and road conditions during the morning commute.

Several school districts in the area are closed or operating under remote learning Wednesday, but despite the road conditions, many people still have to head into work. The WCNC Charlotte team is tracking the latest to help you stay weather aware as you start your day.

More weather news: https://www.wcnc.com/weather/

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with news that impacts you from the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Pandora || TuneIn || Google Podcasts || iHeart

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.