Charlotte Talks With Mike Collins

On the local news roundup, Charlotte City Council’s safety committee focuses on transit security and debates the return of red light cameras, Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney says he won’t resign following a vote of no confidence by the town board, and the Hornets are in the final stretch of their most successful season in years.

On the next Charlotte Talks, a story of the courage and tenacity it sometimes takes to open doors. It’s a story set in 1950, before Martin Luther King, Jr. was a household name, before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. It is the story of a man taking a stand against discrimination who ended up on the front lines of the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott, and it is a story told by his daughter, an award-winning journalist.

Americans are working longer than ever, but many say the workplace isn’t built to support them. Sixty-four percent of workers over 50 report seeing or experiencing age-discrimination. Twenty-two percent say they are being pushed out of their jobs because of their age. Since those 55 and older are the fastest-growing age group in the labor force, what does this mean for the workforce? How can older workers stay competitive?

On the next Charlotte Talks, we look at a newly released Mecklenburg County Health Department report on infant mortality. The findings are a mix of good and bad news. Overall birth outcomes have improved, but disparities remain, especially for non-Hispanic Black infants compared with non-Hispanic white infants. We’ll hear about the progress and what’s being done to address those disparities.

After years of lurking in the shadows, sexual predators now make the headlines. From abuse in the Catholic Church to the Me Too movement to the Epstein Files, the public and the media now push for answers and accountability. But what about survivors? How are they experiencing this moment? We hear from them.

After two high-profile stabbings on the Lynx Blue Line train, questions about safety on public transit remain front and center. We sit down with CATS interim CEO Brent Cagle to ask what’s changed, what hasn’t and what riders can expect now.

Major education news in North Carolina as the Leandro case is overturned, NCDOT opens an information center about plans for the I-77 toll lanes, Artemis II opens a new era in American space travel with a North Carolinian on board, and the South Carolina women's basketball team is back in the Final Four for the sixth straight year.

Former U.S. surgeon general and founder of The Together Project, Dr. Vivek Murthy, joins Charlotte Talks for a conversation on connection, belonging and how we care for one another in this moment. We'll be exploring the national crisis of loneliness and how communities across the country, and here in Charlotte, are responding.

Under state law, public records requests are supposed to be completed quickly. Despite that mandate, agencies and governments across North Carolina often take months to respond, and even then, the records can be incomplete — limiting transparency. More on a new effort to shine a light on the problem.

As we approach the end of another school year, a conversation with CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill. She recently recommended a $2.1 billion budget, meaning they might soon ask the county commission for nearly $699 million — about $31.1 million more than last year — despite a frozen state budget and federal cuts. How is she navigating it all?