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INSIDE ▼ Charlotte seeks budget input
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PAGE 2A Friday, March 20, 2026 • Vol. 26 • No. 11
thecharlotteweekly.com
@southcltweekly
Sustain Charlotte launches challenge to reimagine I-77 South CHARLOTTE – Sustain Charlotte has launched a public design challenge to imagine new possibilities for the I-77 corridor through Charlotte.
“Reimagining 77 South: A Vision for Repairing and Reconnecting Charlotte” is intended to spark ideas about how the corridor could reconnect neighborhoods, improve mobility for all and create healthier public spaces. The initiative comes as the proposed I-77 South toll lane project has been temporarily
paused. Community members are invited to submit visual concepts showing how the corridor could better serve Charlotte’s neighborhoods, environment and future growth. Ideas may include freeway caps or tunnels, parks and greenways, new walking and biking connections, restored waterways or other approaches that reconnect communities and improve quality of life. “For decades, highways built through cities
divided neighborhoods and limited opportunity,” said Shannon Binns, founder and executive director of Sustain Charlotte. “This challenge invites local residents to imagine what it could look like to repair past harm and reconnect our communities, as so many other cities have already begun to do.” Selected submissions will be displayed at a free public exhibit on April 13 at the Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City, as part of a free public event called “How the Cities
We Build Shape How We Live,” featuring “Happy City” author Charles Montgomery. Sustain Charlotte encourages submissions from professional and amateur designers, students, classrooms, artists and community members. Professional experience is not required. Hand-drawn sketches are welcome. The submission deadline is April 6. Visit sustaincharlotte.org/reimagining-i77-south-charlotte/ for submission details.
Tornadic activity, missing TSA Companies partner with workers tax airport, travelers CMS to
support music programs
Providence High School receives instruments thanks to a partnership among CharlotteMecklenburg Schools, Charlotte Mechanical and Vera Guitars. Photo courtesy of Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools
CHARLOTTE – Charlotte Mechanical and Vera Guitars collaborated to donate more than two dozen instruments to support music education in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Leaders JD Mazuera Arias and the Rev. Rodney Sadler joined airport workers and unions March 12 to protest American Airlines market share at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. They called on the city to negotiate a lease with American Airlines that will improve passenger safety and reduce employee turnover, by ensuring workers earn fair wages and benefits. Photos courtesy of 32BJ SEIU
By Alan Wooten Contributor
(The Center Square) – Severe weather piled into an already taxed airport issue with missing TSA workers March 16, causing Charlotte Douglas International Airport to nearly double flight cancellations of the previous seven days.
The airport had 433 cancellations and 663 delays on March 16. The airport, like many across the country, is battling having enough Transportation Security Administration personnel, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security working without pay during the partial government shutdown. At one point during the storm in the morning, a ground stop was ordered for safety reasons. Power outages were multiple in the area, and an EF-0 tornado was confirmed. The combination was tough on travelers. Nationwide, estimates are 1 in 10 not showing up. Several reports include former TSA workers saying they had to find other permanent work. The partial government shutdown began Feb. 14 after a Jan. 30 deadline was not met and an extension was given, impacting thousands of Transportation Security Administration personnel. TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, the 1/12th of the congressional budget yet to be funded. For context between the politicians’ polar opposite blame, Democrats have demands for reforms on immigration enforcement, a desire to separate agencies within Homeland Security, and accountability. Republicans
Airport workers have been organizing with SEIU for years to fight for safer working conditions and fair pay. They have participated in civil disobedience, rallied, petitioned employers, testified before city council, and even gone on strike. They are demanding that the city negotiate a lease that sets the standard for good jobs and safe travel.
believe the department as constructed for cohesive consideration of national threats does not need changing, and the House of Representatives has already passed bipartisan funding that isn’t able to get past Senate Democrats. Charlotte Douglas had 244 cancellations and 2,853 delays over the seven days ending March 15, according to tracking platform FlightAware. The last time the airport had so
many cancellations in a single day was Jan. 25-26, when more than 1,600 over two days were halted by a major winter snowstorm. Numbers were not as high though similar impact was evident at Raleigh-Durham International and Piedmont Triad International in Greensboro. RDU had 85 cancellations and 216 delays; Greensboro had 29 and 45, respectively.
CHAPLAINS DEPLOY TO INDIANA, ILLINOIS AFTER TORNADOES CHARLOTTE – The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is deploying crisis-trained chaplains to Illinois and Indiana after deadly tornadoes swept through parts of the Midwest.
The storm system spawned tornadoes across several states, killing an elderly couple in the Indiana community of Lake Village and injuring others. Chaplains will go to some of the hardest-hit areas, including Kankakee County, Illinois and Newton County, Indiana, to provide emotional and spiritual care.
Chaplains were also deployed earlier to communities in Michigan after the same storm system caused widespread damage there, killing four people and injuring more than a dozen others. “Storms like these leave more than physical damage. They leave people grieving and searching for hope,” said Josh Holland, vice president of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. “Our chaplains are there to walk alongside those who are hurting, offering prayer and sharing the comfort that comes from Jesus Christ. Even in the midst
of life’s storms, we want people to know that God is a refuge and shelter for those who turn to Him, and that they are not facing this difficult time alone.” Chaplains continue to minister to families affected by recent winter storms in Corinth, Oxford, and New Albany, Mississippi, and West Monroe, Louisiana. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team also continues to offer emotional and spiritual care to families who have been forced to flee their homes in wartorn Ukraine.
Representatives from the companies visited Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology, Rocky River High School and Providence High School on March 10 to deliver string instruments, including electric basses and acoustic guitars, along with accessories such as cases and amps. “As a musician myself, and someone who comes from a family of musicians, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful music can be in shaping confidence, discipline and creativity,” said Dan Dyszelski, co-founder and chief financial officer of Charlotte Mechanical. “We’re an employee-owned company that believes in investing in the future of our community. Partnering with Vera Guitars to support local school music programs is deeply personal for me. It’s about making sure students have the same opportunity to discover what music can mean in their lives.” Vera Guitars shares that vision and hopes their donations help equip students with quality instruments that make music programs more accessible and sustainable. “At Vera Guitars, we believe music changes lives,” brand executive Jeff Zirkle said, noting that supporting schools and music programs is part of who they are. “We’re grateful to partner with Charlotte Mechanical to put instruments into students' hands and support music education in our community. This is an ongoing commitment for us, and we’re excited to see the impact it will have.” The initiative provides instruments that support classroom instruction, ensemble performance and skill development. The organizations aim to remove barriers to participation and ensure more students have consistent access to the tools they need to explore their creativity, build confidence and engage in music. “Hopefully, these donations will encourage more participants and help students have a consistent sound across the ensemble,” said David Vergato, an orchestra and guitar teacher at Providence High School. Christopher Myers, principal at Providence High School, said the donation is great for students and teachers. “It validates all the hard work they are doing not only at Providence High School, but throughout CMS,” Myers said. Charlotte Mechanical and Vera Guitars plan to make additional donations to more schools. Justin Pierce, CMS director of arts education, said the collaboration has been amazing. “We were able to work with Charlotte Mechanical to put together some much-needed instruments for programs around the district,” Pierce said.