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Tag: Melody Greene

  • N.C. toy store owner says impact of Supreme Court tariff decision is unclear

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal.

    A toy store owner in Charlotte says after the past year’s tariffs, “you kind of become numb to it.”

    “You have to run your business,” Dan Weiss, owner of Harper and Skyler’s Toys and Sweets, said. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal

    • It’s unclear what the ruling means for local businesses that had to deal with the tariffs 

    • The owner of Harper and Skyler’s Toys and Sweets in Charlotte sells a variety of items other than toys in order to keep his business afloat 

    • Regardless of the ruling, owner Dan Weiss says he’s keeping a level head about the future 


    Weiss says it’s unclear what this ruling could mean for his business or the industry in general. Over the last year, he absorbed most of the extra costs due to tariffs.

    “Some prices I kept the same. I again, 20% of the stuff in the store might have went up in price, but for the most part, we ate a lot of it. We kept our pricing the same and we tried to not burden the customer,” he said.

    The justices ruled that the president does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but other Trump duties, including on goods such as aluminum and lumber through the Trade Expansion Act, were not part of the case considered by the Supreme Court and still remain.

    Trump responded to the Supreme Court ruling in a press conference Friday afternoon, saying, “Their decision’s incorrect, but it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives that have been approved by this decision. You know they’ve been approved by the decision, for those that thought they had us.”

    Weiss has dealt with surcharges from companies and discontinuation of some items because of tariffs, but in the short term, he said, “You’re not going to get money back. I’m not going to see money back.”

    “And if it happens, it’s going to be years down the road,” Weiss said. “Today and tomorrow mean nothing.”

    That’s why he’s focused on the day to day of his business.

    “I have to run my business the way I run it. I have to order the way I order. I have to get products. The way I get products, whether they’re 10% more, 20% more, or I’m getting a check back next week, it doesn’t affect what I do day to day,” he said. 

    Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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    Melody Greene

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  • Charlotte business owner it’s still slow after Border Patrol operations

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been two months since U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were in Charlotte and other North Carolina towns and cities, and a Charlotte laundromat owner says his business remains down. 

    What You Need To Know

    • It’s been two months since U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents conducted operations in Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham

    • The immigrant community saw huge impacts in Charlotte with everything from low school attendance to businesses temporarily closing

    • A laundromat owner says the return to normalcy for his business is slow.


    Weekends are the busiest time at North Tryon Laundromat, but owner David Rebolloso says even for a weekday things are slow right now.  

    “We used to be very busy, but as you can see right now, there’s nobody in here,” Rebolloso said. “As you can see, the parking lot, it’s, it’s pretty much empty, but we get so busy that, people could not park in here.” 

    It’s been two months since Customs and Border Patrol’s Charlotte’s Web Operation came through the city and right in front of Rebolloso’s business.  

    Since then, his bottom line is still being impacted.

    “It’s down half, at least 50%,” Rebolloso said. “I’m making the same amount with two locations what I used to make in one location now making a pretty much the same, but with two locations.”

    He opened his first laundromat location nine years ago. 

    CharlotteEAST, a nonprofit that serves the east side of Charlotte, says there are roughly 420 independently owned businesses in their area, and “nearly all were impacted in one way or another from CBP.”

    In a survey with 90 responses, there was “an average daily loss of $2,500 in revenue.” 

    They say no businesses in the area they serve shut down during the Border Patrol’s operations, but they estimate that nearly half closed temporarily. They say “business is slowly picking back up to pre-CBP pace but still lower than 2024.”  

    Rebolloso says knowing customers that got picked up by Border Patrol and seeing what his community went through two months ago, things still aren’t the same. 

    “I’m hoping that things will stabilize, and maybe it’ll pick up a little bit, you know, but it’ll never go back to the way things used to be,” Rebolloso said. 

    He says he hates to be pessimistic, but calls what he sees happening sad.

    “There’s optimism as an immigrant, as a migrant, there’s an optimism that things are going to get better if we work hard, you know, and if we strive and do what we’re supposed to do, life is going to get better. You know, the country’s getting better. We’re building the country, you know, and, and then we reached this point,” Rebolloso said.  

    Rebolloso says he and many others in the Latino community keep up with Spanish news where they’re consistently updated with immigration stories across the country, like in Minneapolis.

    “This young lady that was killed a few days ago, I don’t why. God works in mysterious ways. I think her name really is going to carry on for a very long time. Do good, be good. Do good, be good. That’s all we can do,” Rebolloso said. 

    Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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    Melody Greene

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  • Charlotte man reflects on neighborhood changes since Helene

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite his neighborhood being hit by Helene last September, Christopher Olivares feels blessed.

    What You Need To Know

    • With the one-year anniversary of Helene this weekend, a community in Charlotte is reflecting on the past 12 months 

    • A neighborhood on Riverside Drive on Mountain Island Lake experienced damage and flooding last year

    • After Helene, the area was a hive of activity, every house seemed to have people at it cleaning out and assessing the damage  

    • Today, some of the damage remains, but only a few families are left living in these homes 


    “As much as it kind of sucked for us, we are the lucky ones. We could rebuild, and it was expensive, but we have a home,” Olivares said.

    The neighborhood on Riverside Drive on Mountain Island Lake in Charlotte was once filled with dozens of homes and a sense of strong community. It now stands with some empty lots, damaged homes and only a few families who decided to rebuild and stay.

    “I mean you feel very alone, it’s quiet, which has its pros and cons,” Olivares said. “But at the same time, it’s so empty that you’re kind of the last man standing.” 

    It’s been 12 months since Helene’s impacts swept through this neighborhood. Olivares says he had no idea what was coming.

    “You never expect it to be as bad as what they were saying. We ended up having from the base of our garage to the height 11 feet, 8 inches of water, so almost 12 feet from the bottom of the garage,” Olivares said. “Not including the elevation of water depth in the yard where the river normally is to the house. There’s probably another 6 feet there.” 

    This neighborhood flooded before in 2019, so neighbors warned him it was best to evacuate.

    “More than anything though, I’m a husband and a father and trying to get everybody out of the house, but also not panicking and trying to reassure everybody that it’s going to be OK, that was the primary goal in the moment,” Olivares said.

    It took eight months to rebuild, but there’s still work to be done in his backyard.

    “Coming up on the one-year anniversary, everybody has their own way of dealing with stuff. For me I just didn’t want to think about it,” Olivares said. “I’m ready to just move on.”

    As for what’s next, there’s still some uncertainty.

    “We’re still dealing with it truthfully. I mean the fact that there’s still houses standing that are going to go down. We have to think, how long until it doesn’t feel like a post-disaster area down here. I don’t know. Is that going to be another year? Is that going to be three more years?” Olivares said.

    One year later, his neighborhood is different.

    “Now there’s no community, except your like one or two neighbors that you’ve gotten really tight with and that’s great. But the community that was here won’t exist again,” Olivares said. 

     

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    Melody Greene

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  • Farmers in N.C. are working with a nonprofit to grow climate-resilient crops

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ben Geiger of Garden Window Farm is harvesting black-eyed peas, aka southern peas, this week.  

    What You Need To Know

    • Weather in North Carolina can be unpredictable, and that leaves farmers left to adapt to whatever nature throws their way

    • But now, a group of farmers is working with a nonprofit to grow climate-resilient crops

    • A farmer in Denton, North Carolina, is harvesting southern peas this week


    “These are the pods once they’re mostly dry. But you can see we’ve got some of different colors,” Geiger said. “This is a blue-ish gray pod.”  

    He’s working with the Utopian Seed Project, an Asheville-based nonprofit, to test crops that will be climate resilient. 

    “Having seeds and crops that are resilient to our weather extremes is the best way to adapt to a changing climate,” Geiger said. 

    Several years ago, Geiger owned a food truck, then started a farm in Denton in 2020.  

    “[I] just got real interested in sourcing local ingredients and then kind of went down a rabbit hole of growing them myself,” Geiger said.

    He says now he’s fairly hooked on farming.  

    With this project, he’s contributing to growing ingredients that can withstand the volatile nature of weather.

    “Having more resilient plant varieties is definitely very important as we see more weather extreme events,” Geiger said. 

    The Utopian Seed Project uses crossbreeding to take different varieties to create hybrid versions of crops. Then Geiger can select and refine the seed collection. This year he grew three to four varieties of southern peas.  

    “These are the black-eyed peas that we’ve already shelled and harvested,” Geiger said.  

    With the southern peas that performed best, he’ll take those seeds and grow them again next year for a higher yield. 

    “It’s great. I’m very excited to be able to share our progress with the other growers. We have little groups that we’re able to share our successes, failures, what’s doing the best. Being able to collaborate and be in these groups with other plant breeders and seed savers,” Geiger said. “It makes me feel like there’s good progress to be had.” 

    Geiger has also been growing climate-resilient collard greens with seeds from the Utopian Seed Project.

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    Melody Greene

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  • Mental health expert shares tips on how to cope with seeing violent videos

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You might have seen videos of acts of violence come across your social media feed recently. Dr. Nicole Clark, a Spectrum News national mental health correspondent, says our psyche isn’t used to seeing trauma on an endless loop.

    What You Need To Know

    • Recent acts of violence have dominated national and local headlines, including the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail, school shootings and Wednesday’s murder of political activist Charlie Kirk  

    • Experts say consuming trauma can affect people in different ways, causing feelings of numbness, sadness, anxiety or depression 
    • Dr. Nicole Clark, a Spectrum News national mental health correspondent, shares the different ways to deal with seeing violent videos  


    “You see it and now you can’t unsee it and you need to process what you’ve just seen,” Clark said. “It is a shock to the system. It is not something that we expect to see, so it can be very challenging, and it challenges our world view.”  

    Challenging our worldview can be disorienting.  

    “We, at the heart of who we are, believe that people are good and that the world is a safe place. When we see graphic images; it challenges that viewpoint and makes us question our sense of safety and our sense of identity in this world,” Clark said. 

    When trying to cope with these challenging moments, Clark says it’s important to recognize what you are feeling.   

    “Note that you are having a change on the inside, either in how you’re feeling, how you’re thinking. You may notice a change on the outside. Maybe your palms are sweaty, your heart is racing,” Clark said. 

    Then, she says, take action like talking to a family member, friend or professional counselor. 

    “If you need to do something about this in terms of limiting your news consumption or donating to a cause that you feel passionate about or even volunteering. Taking action helps you regain a sense of control,” Clark said.

    If you continue to consume trauma, Clark says you’ll know if you’re facing a mental health issue or condition when it affects your quality of life.

    “You’re having flashbacks, you’re having nightmares. You’re anxious, you’re adjusting and modifying your behavior. You are not enjoying yourself. You are not experiencing health in your relationships. This issue is taking over your life. That is when you know it is time to seek help,” Clark said.

    For mental health help you can call or text 988 lifeline to talk to a crisis counselor. 

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    Melody Greene

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  • NASCAR legend Humpy Wheeler died this week

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The former president and general manager of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Howard “Humpy” Wheeler Jr., died this week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Howard “Humpy” Wheeler Jr., a well-known figure in NASCAR and the Charlotte community, died this past week

    • Wheeler was from Belmont and created the idea to start a motorsports management program at Belmont Abbey College

    • 18 years later, more than 60 students are pursuing their degrees. Belmont Abbey expanded its motorsports management program recently and now students can earn a master’s degree

    • In lieu of flowers, the Wheeler family asked memorial donations be made to the program in Wheeler’s name


    The 86-year-old was known for his contributions to NASCAR and in the community.

    “It’s the end of an era. Humpy’s the type of guy, I mean he was known all over NASCAR as the top promoter,” said Scott Padgett, former mayor of Concord and friend of Wheeler. “He was always a perfect gentleman. He appreciated the way that we helped him do his job as a promoter.”   

    Wheeler was a visionary in NASCAR. He made the sport more entertaining.

    “The first night race we had with lights at the speedway was another big deal, that was Humpy’s idea, ‘Let’s light up the track.’ It shows up better on TV, and he was thinking about that,” Padgett said.

    Padgett said Wheeler believed in bringing big names to the races.

    “He was promoting not only this speedway, but the whole sport and it paid dividends as the sport has grown so much,” Padgett said. 

    He was respected in the NASCAR organization.

    “The ideas that he had at this speedway spread to other speedways that copied what he had done,” Padgett said.

    Another legacy project of Wheeler’s was higher education. He helped start a motorsports management program at Belmont Abbey College. 

    “Thinking of a motorsports program at a college was way out of the way that NASCAR had been,” Padgett said.

    The college is mourning the loss of Wheeler as well. 

    “We almost take for granted people like Humpy in our culture and in America. These individuals that can have ideas, but make them reality,” said Philip Brach, vice president of college relations at Belmont Abbey.

    Lucas Laager gets to benefit from Wheeler’s idea. He’s a senior motorsports management major. 

    “We were able to meet a driver, a number of team members, throughout the industry from marketing to mechanics to team managers,” Laager said.

    He says he’s loved the sport since he was a teen and having the chance to experience a program like this is special. 

    “We wouldn’t be here without him. His impact on the school is something tremendous. He really was the visionary behind having a degree that combines a passion for racing with gaining business acumen that’s applicable in real life,” Laager said.

    The program covers a range of racing from NASCAR to Formula 1 with the goal of setting students up for success.

    “The experience we gain here, the connections and just the understanding of the sport as a whole is vital to getting introduced and being able to secure a position. It’s a big differentiator for us,” Laager said.

    Wheeler’s love of racing lives on at Belmont Abbey.

    “It’s incredible to be a part of his legacy and carry that forward,” Laager said.

    “It’ll be a long time before people forget Humpy Wheeler — a long time. He leaves a legacy of being a visionary, being bigger than life, being always there. You just thought he would live forever,” Padgett said.

    In lieu of flowers, the Wheeler family asked that memorial donations be made to the Belmont Abbey motorsports management program in Wheeler’s name.

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    Melody Greene

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  • Here’s how farmers in the Carolinas are dealing with unpredictable weather

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    CHESTER, S.C. — Katherine Belk started farming in 2017. The owner of Wild Hope Farm said she thinks about the weather all the time. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The weather in the region has been all over the place this summer. From the hottest of heat waves earlier in the summer to buckets of rain more recently

    • It’s left many farmers dealing with impacts to their crops

    • A farmer in Chester, South Carolina, says she handles the weather the best she can


    “I like working, and I love tough problems, and I’ve never met a harder problem than farming,” Belk said.

    This year those problems include the high temperatures in July and heavy rain in August.

    For many farmers in the Carolinas, like Belk, it’s all in a day’s work.

    “Because of the kind of variability in weather these days, we’ve invested heavily in the high tunnels. These allow us to grow year-round,” Belk said.

    Growing inside high tunnels usually protects plants but can cause issues with runoff when it consistently rains. 

    “We’re trying to prevent erosion, so right now what we’re trying to do is laying some drainage pipes on either end of the high tunnel,” Belk said.

    The last several weeks produced several inches of rain, which damages uncovered crops.

    “You can see clearly that this bed is eroding. You can see where the water, the heavy rains, where the soil was moved from the bed,” Belk said.

    At Wild Hope Farm they grow in succession, so the next round of crops will hopefully be healthier, but handling the impacts of weather can be difficult.

    “Incredibly frustrating,” Belk said. “I woke up at 4, just stressed about the weather. The fact that we’re going to be like two weeks behind on our fall plantings.” 

    Tough weather conditions even impact the distribution side of farming. Belk sells at farmers markets, community-supported agriculture and wholesale.

    “When our crops are suffering, we have fewer yields, lower yields, and it means that we make less money from whole-selling,” Belk said.

    That’s why she says it’s crucial to support local farmers and even restaurants that sell locally grown food.   

    “It is just really, really challenging to grow, to farm in today’s weather climate and so we need all of the support we can get, and it really does make all the difference to have the community at your back,” Belk said.

    She said to support farmers, go to farmer’s markets. Buy local produce, eggs and meat. 

    This time of year, with hurricane season, conditions for farmers can be unpredictable. Last year with Helene, Wild Hope Farm lost about 80% of its fall crops.

    Belk said there’s not much you can do to prepare for weather like a hurricane, so the farm is hoping for the best this hurricane season.

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    Melody Greene

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  • Charlotte doula supports moms in the community

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kajarra Caldwell is picking up food, books and other necessities at a pantry at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson, North Carolina for a pregnant client. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Research shows moms-to-be have better birth outcomes when they have doulas
    • A professional doula provides support before, during and after birth

    • Kajarra Caldwell is a doula and a senior perinatal community health partner for CityBlock Health

    • She goes above and beyond to help low income women as they navigate motherhood


    “Before I come to pantries, I always ask members a little more about themselves. I like to surprise them with the simple things such as books. She loves books, so she’s going to be amazed when she sees the books,” Caldwell said.  

    Caldwell works as a doula and Senior Perinatal Community Health Partner for CityBlock Health. She says this role aligns with her passion. “Just wanting to help people. I’ve been helping people since I was a youngster,” Caldwell said. 

    She helps pregnant women in several ways, both virtually or in person, before, during and after birth to meet the needs of women. This includes attending appointments, educating them about the birthing process, lactation and postpartum depression, and helping with their nutrition. 

    “It’s important that moms are eating nutritionally during their pregnancy. Sometimes members are high risk, so they can’t work, so it puts pressure on the families that we serve because we cater to low-income families, and this is just a blessing to them,” Caldwell said. 

    She says low-income mothers are a group that needs more support from everyone.  

    “I think that we need to start paying attention to our mothers or our pregnant individuals or women that just had a baby and ask them, ‘What do you need? How can I better assist you?’” Caldwell said. 

    The client she’s picking up and dropping off food for today doesn’t have transportation. Caldwell assists in any area necessary because addressing their most basic needs is important.  

    “The first time I went to her, she literally had nothing,” Caldwell said. “They deserve to be able to eat what they like and what they want.”  

    After spending a decade working in mental health, she felt called to this work because she saw the impacts of when a pregnant woman wasn’t able to feed her baby and ran out of formula. 

    “She called a system that she thought she could call when she needed help for the formula and the system came and they took her baby,” Caldwell said. “It made me think, what could I have done in that situation to help the member?”

    So she made a promise to never see that happen again and fulfills that goal in her role. 

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    Melody Greene

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  • Asheville business rebuilds after being washed away during Helene

    Asheville business rebuilds after being washed away during Helene

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    ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A mess of concrete blocks and the foundation are all that remain of Asheville Tea Company. The building was washed away during floodwaters from Helene.

    What You Need To Know

    • Many people have watched the viral video of a building in Asheville washing down the river before getting split in half by a power pole

    • That building was Asheville Tea Company along the Swannanoa River

    • We spoke with the owner who tells us what’s next for her company after the devastating loss


    “The entrance to the building was right here and the sidewalk still survives. There was a set of steps that went up right here, into the building,” Jessie Dean said. 

    Dean started this business in 2016, but only moved to this location less than a year ago.  

    “This space was actually the first space that was our own space. We had been in a small business incubator program, which was wonderful. Then we graduated from that and we moved in here. We had just set up all of our equipment and manufacturing processes and shipping and fulfillment processes and our offices. Everything was here,” Dean said. 

    But then came powerful flood waters from Helene, washing away Asheville Tea Company down the Swannanoa River. Its ultimate demise captured in this now viral video.

    “It provided me with some sense of closure or understanding of what had happened, but it was also something that’s just been like playing on a loop in my mind ever since. It’s just really hard to watch,” Dean said. “You know, we just put a lot of heart and soul into the space and the products that we made. It’s really heartbreaking to see it all strewn about.” 

    Bits and pieces of her company are sprinkled throughout Biltmore Village, even as far as nearly a mile down the road. 

    “It’s really, really sad. There’s a part of me that’s like, you know, happy to see them. It’s like little old friend peppering around, all around Asheville and Biltmore Village,” Dean said. 

    She’s now left figuring out how to move forward, but her mission remains clear. 

    “We want to keep doing the work that matters to us in the world, which is working with local farmers and making great tea for our customers. We do plan to rebuild, it’s just going to be a long road,” Dean said.

    Jessie says she’s received donations from farmers after Helene and hopes to sell teas during the holiday season. She encourages people to continue donating to all small businesses in the region impacted by Helene. 

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    Melody Greene

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  • Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission asks for more time

    Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission asks for more time

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    ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Asheville has gone through many changes in the past 50-plus years, and Priscilla Robinson has watched as her city transform. 

    “This space is where the three-story apartment, my three-story apartment that I once lived in, used to be,” Robinson said.  

    That lot is now vacant but used to house an apartment building until the 1960’s when Robinson and her family were told by Asheville’s Housing Authority they needed to move.   

    What You Need To Know

    • Two years ago, Asheville and Buncombe County made the historic decision to create a Community Reparations Commission

    • The commission recently made 38 recommendations on how reparations should be allocated to Black residents

    • The commission is going before Asheville’s City Council Tuesday, August 27 at 5 p.m. to ask for a six-month extension to adequately address all of the areas where reparations are needed


    “My family was told that we were going to be relocated to better living conditions because many of the apartments were blighted,” Robinson said. She said it was a positive experience to move into a new apartment, but that quickly changed.

    Robinson’s family and many other Black families, Black homeowners and Black businesses were uprooted during a process called “urban renewal.”   

    Urban renewal negatively impacted many aspects of life, including education, economic development and housing.

    “It took away unity. It took away community. We were forced to move – and I say we as a whole – to other communities. For those who could go out and repurchase, [they] were forced to move into communities where they were not accepted,” she said.

    Priscilla said reparations is about making amends. “Urban renewal was like a big wound and the wound has never healed. Reparations would actually begin the healing process,” Robinson said. 

    Dewana Little is a fourth generation Asheville native and the Community Reparations Commission chair. Her great-grandparents lost their home during urban renewal and that impacted intergenerational wealth.  

    “There was a real economic impact. My mom’s generation was in public housing, and I even spent some time in public housing,” Little said. “I was fortunate to have opportunities and people that opened doors for me to be able to transition out.”  

    She said everyone doesn’t have those opportunities, which is why reparations is about breaking down barriers. 

    The commission is looking for a six-month extension to address all areas where reparations are needed.   

    “There has not been enough time for us to really dig deep into the policies and practices that continue to perpetuate harm on Black people,” Little said. “The marginalization, the issue, has been far greater than a two-year time line.”  

    The Reparations Commission recently made 38 recommendations to the city and county of how reparations should be allocated. A few of those recommendations include settlements of $148,000 given to families and businesses negatively impacted by urban renewal, establishing a health care subsidy fund, requiring mandatory training of public servants in criminal justice, and providing job training and educational support for Black students after high school.  

    Asheville Community Reparations Commission meetings are every third Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center Banquet Hall.  

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    Melody Greene

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