The Dispatch
Two people have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman who died from an apparent overdose last year. Prosecutors in Davidson County are using a recent law to hold drug dealers more responsible for their actions
On Dec. 27, law enforcement responded to a 911 call reporting a possible overdose. When they arrived officers found 39-year-old Eva Beckom dead in a tent in a wooded area near the Walmart Express on U.S. Highway 64. A toxicology report later revealed the cause of death was a drug overdose caused by acute fentanyl toxicity.
Thank you for supporting local journalism with your subscription to The Dispatch
Chip Hughes & John Bell
In late 2020, a veteran soldier was in a mental health crisis. Distraught, he left his home in the family RV, his wife convinced it would be the last time she saw him. A Charlotte-based veterans organization, The Independence Fund, who had provided suicide prevention training to him in the past, attempted to assist the veteran through local law enforcement.
The first county law enforcement department The Independence Fund reached was understaffed, overstretched, and was understandably concerned over the potential threat their force may face with a combat-experienced veteran in a mental health crisis. They were unable to appropriately respond. Fortunately, the veteran was physically in the next county over, where a combat Veteran deputy was on his shift that night. Out of shared military experience, this deputy felt for his brother-in-arms and volunteered to stay on duty until this was resolved – a key element in the de-escalation of this cris
The Associated Press estimated the Bathroom Bill cost North Carolina more than $3.7 billion in economic activity. Author: Brandon Goldner Updated: 6:52 PM EDT April 5, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. As Major League Baseball moves its All-Star Game from Atlanta in protest of Georgia s controversial new voting law, current and former Charlotte politicians say the current blowback reminds them of the fallout after the passage of North Carolina House Bill 2, known as HB2 or the Bathroom Bill.
Signed into law in 2016 by former Gov. Pat McCrory (R), HB2 required transgender people to use restrooms in public places based on the gender in their birth certificate and not by the gender they identified with.
Smokey Blue Bar-B-Q thrives off-grid in an electronic society
Bob Saar
for The Hawk Eye
In this day of electronic communication lanes that are wide open 24/7, Derrick Middleton is a businessman who lives what you might call a hand-to-mouth life: he smokes up some mean barbecue.
But his customers have no way of knowing when or where Smokey Blue Bar-B-Q s blue trailer will be on any given day, so it s all word-of-mouth.
Middleton s home base in Burlington is, more or less, the Shell gas station at Roosevelt Avenue and Division Street, where he parks his bright blue smoker-trailer and serves up tasty lunches: slow apple- or cherrywood-smoked barbecue with southern sides.