◆ Independent · Investigative · Charlotte, NC ◆ No Sponsors. No Soft Questions. ◆ Est. 2026 ◆
A Matthews Developer Made $6 Million. Residents Want to Know How.
A Matthews developer bought a parcel of land for $1.86 million. The Matthews Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning that allowed him to build townhomes on it, over significant public opposition. Mecklenburg County then purchased the same land for $8.8 million to expand Idlewild Park. Garry Smith walked away with approximately $6 million. Now residents want to know who knew what — and when.
Charlotte is the new landing pad
Advocate Health announced the country's largest hospital drone delivery network. Charlotte is the launch city. Nobody's saying who it's for.
How Mecklenburg Is Using Budget Process to Quietly Protect Cop City
Mecklenburg County called it a pause. It wasn’t. At the March 24 capital-plan meeting, staff laid out a framework that would keep “underway” projects moving and give FY27 projects initial approval while the bigger review happened later. When residents asked whether that included Cop City, Commissioner Mark Jerrell didn’t answer the project question directly. He answered with process.