Charlotte Talks With Mike Collins WFAE

Charlotte business leaders say Bank of America Stadium needs upgrades for Charlotte to be a “big league city.” Mecklenburg County Commissioners approved a one-cent tax increase to help cover the $2.5 billion budget voted on this week. And a new ad about the North Carolina governor's race gets national attention.

In the new book, author Garrett Graff tells the story of D-Day from those who experienced it firsthand.

Many believe our politics and our government are broken — both sides seem able to agree on that. Part of the problem may be that our 18th-century system isn’t a good fit for 21st-century realities. Law professor Maxwell Stearns has analyzed our democracy, looking at what works and what doesn’t.

On the next Charlotte Talks, a conversation with three of the nine members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education about the challenges they face and about their goals and priorities.

The housing market is making it very difficult for first-time buyers to find a home they can afford. Some are taking a different approach: rent-to-own. Is this a good idea? Are there pitfalls to be aware of?

The city of Charlotte has an agreement in principle with Norfolk Southern to use its tracks, which may pave the way for commuter rail to Iredell County. The Silver Line to Matthews may be dead. Street Takeovers are once again a problem in Uptown. We’ll talk about the latest on CMPD’s efforts to curb the issue. Those stories and more.