WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint
Each week, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson moderates a conversation with newsmakers and community leaders about politics in Charlotte - and across North Carolina and South Carolina.
Episodes
Amid pro-Palestinian protests on the campuses of UNC Charlotte and UNC Chapel Hill, debate continues over their impact on student life.
At UNC Charlotte, school officials accused some protesters of vandalism and disruption of classes and final exams.
On WCNC's Flashpoint, two sides disagreed with each other.
As Back the Blue N.C. raises funds for the families of four officers killed while they were trying to serve a warrant at an east Charlotte home Monday, the group's leader is calling for reform.
"I would say our judicial system definitely needs to change," CEO Lindsay LiCausi said on WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint.
LiCausi said violent offenders are being let out of jail too often, posing a threat to neighborhoods and police officers.
...Republican governors in southern states are pushing back against United Auto Workers' effort to organize automotive factories.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is among those saying unions could lead to layoffs and fewer investments.
"The reason why the latest effort is happening is largely because of the success that the UAW had with its strike last year against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis," Steven Sylvia, professor at A...
"In certain parts of North Carolina, it's almost impossible to find child care at this point," U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
Charlotte's mayor is expressing renewed optimism that CATS' Red Line commuter rail line will come to fruition.
The line, which has been discussed for more than 20 years, would stretch from Uptown to Mooresville.
"Here we are decades later talking about this, so I am enthusiastic about the concept that we can make this happen this time," Vi Lyles, Mayor Charlotte, said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
Nine years after the mass shooting at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston killed nine Black parishioners, South Carolina still doesn't have any hate crime legislation on the books.
"It's going to take strong leadership, people would backbone, willing to do what's right," State. Rep. Wendell Gilliard said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
"It's not the way we should lead. We've actually been down this path before here in North Carolina, and we paid in immense economic costs," Stein, North Carolina Attorney General, said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is also running for governor, suggested at a campaign event in Cary this month that transgender women should be arrested if they use women's restrooms. At an event in Greenville, Robinson they should ...
Nearly four years after the Charlotte MOVES Task Force first recommended a multi-billion dollar transit plan to city council, casual observers might wonder if any progress has been made.
City and state leaders have occasionally made news by weighing in on the plan but, so far, the plan's promise of transit, trail and road expansion has made little public progress.
"It's not that nothing has happened. I think we underestimated all th...
The Charlotte Black Voter Project is working to turn around a recent trend at the polls: A "precipitous drop" in Black voter turnout.
"In 2023, you had over 200,000 Black registrants in Mecklenburg County and only 71,000 Black voters cast their ballot," Colette Forrest, the group's founder, said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
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A little more than a month before the North Carolina Primary, Salisbury attorney Bill Graham has a warning for his fellow Republicans: don't nominate Mark Robinson.
"I'm sick and tired of losing," Graham said on WCNC's Flashpoint.
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Graham is facing Robinson for the Republican nomination in the governor's rac...
Barring some unforeseen circumstance, Jordan Lopez will represent State House District 112 in the General Assembly starting next year. Lopez, who would serve east Charlotte, is running unopposed in the primary and general election.
The 25-year-old said a "sense of urgency" drove him to run now.
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