Category: Charlotte, North Carolina Local News

CONCORD, NC – Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners have declared a State of Emergency as the winter storm moves in.

An emergency shelter opened Saturday night  at the Concord Active Living Center (formerly the Concord Senior Center) at 331 Corban Ave. SE in Concord.

The shelter is open to anyone who needs a warm, safe place to go.

Admission is first-come, first-served. Limited space is available. Meals will be provided with limited food options.

Visitors will receive a handout upon entering that covers safety, health and hygiene, meals and general shelter guidelines.

Other general shelter rules and information:

No weapons, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, vaping or smoking inside the shelter
Individuals must provide their own transportation to the shelter
Pets (cats and dogs only) will be housed in a Companion Animal Shelter Trailer. Please bring necessary food and medication for your pets.
Limited shower facilities are available

Items visitors should bring to the shelter:

Cellphone and charger
Necessary or required medications
Items brought to the shelter should be minimal, limited space is available
Consider bringing limited non-perishable food if you or a family member has a specific dietary restriction
Limited small activity items for children if they are accompanying you to the shelter

The shelter will remain open until further notice.

Earlier Saturday, the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners declared a State of Emergency on behalf of Cabarrus County and municipalities within the county.

“With this declaration, we can act quickly and decisively for an effective response throughout the county,” said Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners Chair Laura Lindsey, who signed the declaration. “We encourage all our residents to take steps to keep themselves and their families safe.”

The declaration allows Cabarrus County and municipalities to adjust staffing and services, deploy emergency resources and take other necessary actions to protect lives and property. It stays in effect until it is rescinded.

Also on Saturday, County officials activated an information hotline to provide updates to the community. Residents can call 704-920-COLD to hear recorded messages with information about shelters and warming centers. The line will be updated as new developments occur.

Cabarrus County parks will close for weather on Sunday (January 25, 2026). The closure impacts Frank Liske, Rob Wallace, Virginia Foil, Vietnam Veterans and Camp T.N. Spencer.

This festival celebrates fairy houses and fairies. Children dressed as fairies and gnomes visit Latta Nature Preserve and enjoy storytelling, crafts, activities and games. (Costumes are encouraged, but not required.)

The festival takes place rain, shine, or snow.

The highlight of the festival are the fairy houses along the Audubon Loop in Latta Nature Preserve.

You can find elaborate fairy houses for sale online, but we’ve heard from reliable sources that fairies much prefer houses that are created by children.

Permanent Fairy House Trail at Latta Nature Preserve

Did you know that fairy houses are on the Audubon Loop all year?

Children and families have been building fairy houses within Latta Nature Preserve for years.

Just go for a walk on the Audubon Loop, at any time of year, and you’ll see lots of them.

You’ll also see lots of forts, and you can build one too!

Double-Check Before You Head Out!

We make every effort to make sure that everything on Charlotte on the Cheap is 100% accurate.

However, sometimes things change without notice, and we are not always notified. It’s also possible that we can make a mistake. 

Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.

More Festivals

Check out a big list of fall festivals in Charlotte, or take a look at a few upcoming festivals here:

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor went ahead with its China trade deal, intensifying a feud with Prime Minister Mark Carney, a rising voice in the West’s pushback to Trump new world order.

Trump said in a social media post that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”

While Trump has waged a trade war over the past year, Canada this month negotiated a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products.

Trump initially had said that agreement was what Carney “should be doing and it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.”

Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance. Trump had commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that “Canada lives because of the United States.” Carney shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies. “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” he said.

Trump later revoked his invitation to Carney to join the president’s “Board of Peace” that he is forming to try to resolve global conflicts.

Trump’s push to acquire Greenland has come after he has repeatedly needled Canada over its sovereignty and suggested it also be absorbed the United States as a 51st state. He posted an altered image on social media this week showing a map of the United States that included Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba as part of its territory.

In his message Saturday, Trump continued his provocations by calling Canada’s leader “Governor Carney.” Trump had used the same nickname for Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and his first use of it toward Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said “there was a sense Trump showed more respect for Carney than for Trudeau. Now, after Carney’s visit to China and, even more, his widely celebrated Davos speech, which clearly outshined and upset Trump, the gloves are off.”

Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu” and he warned about coercion by great powers — without mentioning Trump’s name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the World Economic Forum.

The prime minister even spoke of a “rupture” between the U.S. under Trump and its Western allies that would never be repaired.

Trump, in his Truth Social post Saturday, also said that “China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.” In a later post, the president said: “The last thing the World needs is to have China take over Canada. It’s NOT going to happen, or even come close to happening!”

Carney has not yet reached a deal with Trump to reduce some of the tariffs that he has imposed on key sectors of the Canadian economy. But Canada has been protected by the heaviest impact of Trump’s tariffs by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. That trade agreement is up for a review this year.

In the fall, the Canadian province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff ad in the U.S. that prompted Trump to end trade talks with Canada. The television ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs. Trump pledged to increase tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10%. He did not follow through.

As for China, Canada had initially mirrored the United States by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.

But as Trump’s pursued pressure tactics, Canada’s foreign policy has been less aligned with the U.S., creating an opening for an improved relationship with China. Carney made the tariff announcement earlier this month during a visit to Beijing.

“The China trade deal is quite limited as is the U.S. deal with China on (semiconductor) chips. The China deal may grow, however. I expect Chinese interest in funding a pipeline to northern British Columbia,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto.

Carney has said that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. is complex and deeper and that Canada and China disagree on issues such as human rights.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US $2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, as are 85% of U.S. electricity imports.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

DALLAS (AP) — It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Friday as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to crank up that could bring snow, sleet, ice and bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half the U.S. population from Texas to New England.

Forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. Airlines canceled thousands of flights, churches moved Sunday services online and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, decided to hold its Saturday night radio performance without fans. Carnival parades in Louisiana were canceled or rescheduled.

At least 177 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow and more than 200 million were under cold weather advisories or warnings. In many places, those overlapped. Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.

“It’s going to be a big storm,” Maricela Resendiz said as she picked up chicken, eggs and pizzas at a Dallas store to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend. Her plans: “Staying in, just being out of the way.”

Ice, snow and sleet could begin falling later Friday in Texas and Oklahoma. The storm was expected to slide into the South with freezing rain and sleet. Then it will move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted.

Arctic air is the first piece to fall in place

Arctic air that spilled down from Canada prompted schools throughout the Midwest to cancel classes Friday. With wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) frostbite could set in within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.

In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41 Fahrenheit (minus 41 Celsius), Colin Cross cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.

“I’ve been here awhile and my brain stopped working,” said Cross, bundled up in long johns, two long-sleeved shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots.

Nationwide, more than 1,000 flights were delayed or canceled Friday, with well over half of them in Dallas, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. About 2,300 Saturday flights were canceled.

In Oklahoma, Department of Transportation workers pretreated roads with salt brine while the Highway Patrol canceled troopers’ days off.

The federal government put nearly 30 search and rescue teams on standby. Officials have more than 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets and 300 generators placed throughout the area the storm was expected to cross, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Ice could take down power lines and pipes could freeze

Once ice and snow end, the frigid air from the north will head south and east. It will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect because ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially if it’s windy.

In at least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia, a majority of homes are heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won’t happen again, and utility companies were bringing in thousands of employees to help keep the power on.

Pipes are also at risk.

In Atlanta, where temperatures could dip to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius) and stay below freezing for 36 hours, M. Cary & Daughters Plumbing co-owner Melissa Cary ordered all the pipe and repair supplies she could get. She said her daily calls could go from about 40 to several hundred.

“We’re out there; we can’t feel our fingers, our toes; we’re soaking wet,” Cary said. “I keep the hot chocolate and soup coming.”

Northeast prepares for heavy snow

The Northeast could see its heaviest snow in years.

Boston declared a cold emergency through the weekend, and Connecticut was working with neighboring New York and Massachusetts in case travel restrictions are needed on major highways.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont urged people to go grocery shopping now and “stay home on Sunday.”

Philadelphia announced schools would be closed Monday. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told students, “It’s also appropriate to have one or two very safe snowball fights.”

People are hunkering down

Stephen McDonald, who hasn’t had a home in three years, was hoping to get out of the cold in Jackson, Mississippi. But the Shower Power homeless shelter was adding spray foam insulation and ceiling heaters, keeping it closed until Saturday.

Friday night’s forecast called for lows near freezing. “Your hands get frozen solid, and they hurt real bad,” said McDonald,. “It’s not good.”

At the University of Georgia in Athens, sophomore Eden England was staying on campus to ride out the weather with her friends, even as the school encouraged students to leave dorms and go home because of concerns about losing power.

“I was texting my parents and we kind of just realized that whether I’m here or at home, it’s going to suck either way,” England said. “So I’d rather be with my friends, kind of struggling together if anything happens.”

Hindu Center of Charlotte, 7400 City View Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina, is presenting a Republic Day Celebration on Sunday, February 8, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is a rescheduled date.

Republic Day is a national day in India that celebrates India becoming a republic in January 26, 1950, when it adopted the Constitution of India.

Guests are encouraged to wear orange, white and green, the colors of the Indian flag.

Double-Check Before You Head Out!

We make every effort to make sure that everything on Charlotte on the Cheap is 100% accurate.

However, sometimes things change without notice, and we are not always notified. It’s also possible that we can make a mistake. 

Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.

Upcoming Events in the Charlotte area

Check out our full events calendar, where you can enter any date, or look at the events for the next few days here:

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Where is WINK?

When Wink the cat goes missing, Sofie’s & Gregor’s comfortably dull lives unravel. And their therapist, Dr. Frans, is NO help! Wink’s disappearance unleashes strange desires, domestic anarchy and personal transformations no one could predict.

Join us on this darkly comedic journey of self-exploration, growth, and quests for happiness. Jen Silverman’s WINK is a highly theatrical and entertaining exploration of the thin line between savage and civilized.

“Boldly creative, smartly crafted and very, very darkly comic.” — Steve Murray, Broadway World

Double-Check Before You Head Out!

We make every effort to make sure that everything on Charlotte on the Cheap is 100% accurate.

However, sometimes things change without notice, and we are not always notified. It’s also possible that we can make a mistake. 

Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.

Upcoming Events in the Charlotte area

Check out our full events calendar, where you can enter any date, or look at the events for the next few days here:

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POSTED BY
Jody Mace

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Looking for new ideas to keep kids busy at home?

We have ideas!

To start with, here are some fun, educational websites for kids.

But, eventually, it might be in everyone’s best interest for kids to take part in some non-screen activities, and that’s where this list comes in.

None of these activities require hard-to-find instructions, or any unusual material. Most of the stuff you need will be around your house already. Most of these ideas are for inside, perfect for a rainy day, but a few involve time outside too.

100 Activities for Kids Stuck at Home

1. Have your child create an “imaginary pet.” Have them describe all its characteristics and capabilities, and draw a picture of it.
2. Make a rubber-band powered boat.
3. Create a tin can phone. Directions here.
4. Order some sidewalk chalk from Amazon (or Michael’s, or Staples) and draw pictures on the driveway. Maybe they’d like to write encouraging messages for neighbors to read as they pass. Start over again after it rains.
5. Wash the car together. It can be fun, and you know you need to get that pollen off anyway.
6. Jump rope! Teach your kids some of the old jumping rhymes you remember, or find some through Google or YouTube. With just two people, you can tie one end of a rope (clothesline works well) to a railing and let one person turn while the other jumps. You can even learn to jump Double Dutch, if you dare!
7. Lead a nature walk in your own yard, or while walking on your street. Tell children the names of plants, bugs, and birds you know.
8. Make paper chain garlands and hang them up to decorate the living room. If you don’t have construction paper, cut up a magazine. Try out a fancy version — like a garland of shamrocks.
9. Get the kids to help string up holidays lights or create bright decorations.
10. Learning to use a yo-yo, and to master new tricks. A yo-yo trick book might help you get started.
11. Make paper dolls and dress them with scraps of fabric
12. Make carnations out of tissue paper. This is a fun spring activity.
13. Teach your kids a skill that they will need, like cooking simple dishes, doing laundry, or some easy home maintenance
14. Make slime. Here are some recipes.
15. Make tie-dyed t-shirts. Here’s a kit with everything you need except the t-shirts.
16. Freeze your own popsicles out of fruit juice.
17. Play in the sprinkler if you have a yard.
18. Have a dance party
19. Call friends and family members. On the phone. With voices. Like we did in the olden days.
20. Teach the kids a simple magic trick. 
21. Give the kids a paper bag filled with random objects and have them create a skit together, using all the objects.
22. Play indoor bowling. Put a small amount of water in used water bottles and screw the lids on tightly. Then use any kind of ball that’s not too hard. (Obviously, be mindful of your surroundings and your kids’ enthusiasm.)
23. Draw portraits of each other, then take photos of each person with their portrait.
24. Get out of the mindset of teaching your kids things, and have them teach you something. Let them show you something that they are experts in and that you know nothing about. (By the time they’re 13, that will be everything.)
25. Write in a journal together every day. Write about what your day is like, what the challenges are, what the fun things are. One day when your kids have children or grandchildren they can tell them about these days.
26. Put your very small child inside a large (open) cardboard box with crayons. Let them decorate the inside of the box.
27. Paint with cotton balls. Put a dab of paint in each hole in a muffin tin. Then attach a clothespin to a cotton ball and put one on each dab of paint. Kids can use the clothespin as a holder to paint on paper.
28. Make homemade instruments. Here are some ideas for easy DIY instruments for kids.
29. Put an object in a paper bag and have your child try to guess what it is just by touch. Then have your child put an object in the bag and you guess. 
30. Very young children (2 and under) love this: on a very warm day take them outside with a bucket of water and a big paintbrush and let them “paint” the outside of the house. Or give them a big sponge to “wash” the house.
31. Make your own butter. It’s actually really simple. Put heavy cream in a jar with a lid. Shake the jar until butter forms. It’ll be a while, 15 or 20 minutes. It’s an arm workout. When that happens, just pour out the liquid, which is buttermilk. What’s left is butter. Then, you can add some salt or herbs to the butter for flavoring.
32. Play Kick the Can. If you don’t remember the rules, here you go.
33. If you have more than one child, encourage them to each secretly do a kind thing for the other. Whether it’s making a homemade toy, or preparing a favorite snack, or doing a chore for the other, doing it as a surprise makes it more fun.
34. Plant sunflower seeds. They are pretty easy to grow and their towering height and giant blooms make them fun for kids.
35. Create your own bingo cards and play bingo. 
36. Make a time capsule. 
37. Decorate t-shirts with permanent markers.
38. Build a bridge or tower with toothpicks. To make it easier, put a tiny bit of clay or play-dough on the tips of the toothpicks.
39. Let your kid rearrange the furniture in his or her bedroom, with help. Just moving a bed from one spot to another can seem like an adventure.
40. Learn to juggle. Start with beanbags if you have them so that you’re not chasing after balls too much. Here are simple instructions.
41. Create a family tree.
42. Paint each other’s nails.
43. Play hopscotch.
44. Bake and decorate cookies.
45. Look through old family photo albums, either from when the kids were littler, or from before they were born. Maybe your high school yearbook. Let them laugh at your haircut.
46. Make a homemade jigsaw puzzle by cutting up the front of a cereal box or a greeting card.
47. Try some origami. It’s easy to find instructions online and you can use any kind of paper, in a crunch.
48. Do stamp art with vegetables. Just cut them in half, dry them well, and dip them in paint.
49. Make puppets from paper lunch bags if you have any around. No lunch bags? Try socks. 
50. Make a blanket fort. 
51. If you have wax paper, scavenge for some leaves or flowers, put them between two pieces of wax paper. Add very small bits of crayons, or yarn, or pretty much any almost-flat object. Then put a piece of newspaper over the top sheet of wax paper and have an adult iron the two pieces of wax paper together. 
52. Make play dough. Add 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and some food coloring into a pot. Cook over a low heat, and keep stirring until it’s no longer sticky. Take it off the heat and let it cool for 30 minutes.
53. Make a memory jar and have everyone write down a memory (or dictate one) that they don’t want to forget. Make this a family tradition.
54. If you have non-carpeted floors, have the kids put socks on their feet and hands and play “dogs on ice.” 
55. Make a board game. Use any piece of cardboard for the game board, using markers to draw up the board navigation. Use pieces from other games or any small objects you have around the house, as the game pieces. 
56. Repurpose those boxes your deliveries are coming in as robots or rocket ships.
57. Make a picnic. Lay out a sheet or blanket on the floor, or outside if you have a yard, and eat some fun picnic food.
58. Make a treasure hunt. First hide the prize, which can be anything. It doesn’t have to be something new. Then hide a clue to the hiding spot of the prize somewhere else. And work backwards until you have 10 or so clues.
59. Blow bubbles with liquid you make out of dish soap. You can make bubble wands by cutting rings out of plastic lids.
60. Grab some papers that you haven’t recycled or shredded yet, crumple them up into “snowballs” and let the battle begin.
61. Yarn bomb a piece of furniture.
62. If you have a dog, teach the dog a new trick. If you don’t have a dog, have the kids teach each other new tricks.
63. Teach your kids your favorite song from when you were a teenager. Find it on Spotify.
64. Play 20 questions.
65. Play Marco Polo in a room without a lot of trippable obstacles. Blindfold one kid and have him or her find you or the other kids.
66. Make a collaborative drawing. One person draws a shape, and then the next, and the next, taking turns until the picture is “done.”
67. Or make a collaborative story the same way. Each person tells one line of the story, letting it go in unexpected directions.
68. Facetime with grandparents or other relatives. (OK, this one does involve a screen.)
69. Better yet, write actual letters to relatives!
70. Play classic games like “Follow the leader,” “Red Light, Green Light,” “Simon Says,” and “Leap Frog.”
71. Teach your kids classic card games.
72. If you’re lucky enough to have bubble wrap around, put it on the ground and let the kids stomp on it.
73. If you have balloons around, blow them up and challenge the kids to keep them up in the air.
74. Learn Morse Code.
75. Create an indoor obstacle course, or an outdoor one if you have a yard.
76. Put on your fanciest clothes and have a tea party.
77. Have a scavenger hunt.
78. Learn to do Cat’s Cradle with string.
79. Camp out in the living room (or the backyard if you have one) in sleeping bags.
80. Play charades.
81. Play jacks. Here’s a retro set that includes instructions. 
82. Make sandwiches and cut them into fancy shapes with cookie cutters.
83. Create a race track for toy cars on the floor with painter’s tape.
84. Use painter’s tape to create a “web” in a doorway. Have your kids crumple up paper and try to throw it through the web.
85. Make a collage by cutting up pictures from a magazine. Or cut up really small pieces from the pictures and make a mosaic.
86. Make string art by “drawing” a design on paper with glue, and then putting yarn on the glue.
87. Play the quiet game, seeing how long they can be quiet. Just kidding. That’s a mean game.
88. Make decorated bookmarks out of cardboard.
89. Play I-Spy, looking for objects that a certain color or that start with a certain letter.
90. Play restaurant, where the kids are the wait staff. Have them bring you play food. Send it back, saying that it’s not cooked right. (Trust me on this one. It makes it more interesting.)
91. Play this memory game. Say a name. Then the next person says that a new name and the name you said. Each person adds on a new name, trying to remember the whole sequence.
92. Trace your kids’ hands and have them color them in, turning them into something other than hands. The traditional result is a turkey. But it can be almost anything.
93. Create a town out of cardboard boxes if you have any around.
94. Turn off the lights, get out a flashlight and make shadow puppets, either with your hands, or by drawing animals on cardboard and cutting them out. Here’s a book with some ideas for shadow puppets.
95. Give the kids five objects and have them make up a play or story, using each object.
96. Make paper airplanes.
97. Make a family magazine by writing stories and drawing pictures about shared experiences. Include an advice column, where your child is the advice-giver. 
98. Have a contest to see how high they can build a LEGO tower.
99. Make a flip book. Remember those? Draw a picture in the corner of each page of a drawing pad, changing the picture just a little bit from page to page, so it looks like the figure is moving.
100. Paint your kids’ faces. Or let them paint yours.

Double-Check Before You Head Out!

We make every effort to make sure that everything on Charlotte on the Cheap is 100% accurate.

However, sometimes things change without notice, and we are not always notified. It’s also possible that we can make a mistake. 

Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.

More Events for Kids

Check out our huge list of upcoming events for kids in the Charlotte area, or look at a few of them here:

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