Nov. 17 headlines: CharlotteFive gets Chiquita sign taken down from NASCAR building*
*OK, we probably had nothing to do with it, but we’d like to believe our call last week put pressure on Chiquita to take it down.
We’d wondered for a while why the Chiquita sign had stayed on the NASCAR Plaza building for so long.
Last week, we called to ask why the sign hadn’t been taken down and when it might be removed. We received a swift “No comment.”
Management won't tell us why the Chiquita sign is still up on NASCAR bldg. So let's crowd source: Your theories? pic.twitter.com/eMYPLpRjYJ
— CharlotteFive (@CharlotteFive) November 10, 2015
@Charlotte_Five Top secret banana peel hoarding for new NASCAR series “Mario Kart Cup”
— Daniel Revivo (@danielrevivo) November 10, 2015
Apparently “No comment” meant “This weekend.”
The sign was taken down Sunday — just a few days after our inquiry — bringing an end to Charlotte’s nearly four-year banana love story that went rotten when Chiquita split earlier this year.
https://twitter.com/BourbonGuru/status/666566458441392129
@Charlotte_Five Maybe they slipped up and forgot the story's appeal
— Ely Portillo (@ESPortillo) November 16, 2015
This is Charlotte’s version of finally cropping your ex out of your Facebook photo 10 months after you broke up.
Charlotte’s relationship with Chiquita was a fiery, passionate one that flamed out quickly.
Three years ago, we celebrated the unveiling of the sign after throwing $22 million in state and local incentives at the Big Banana. In January, it was acquired by two Brazilian firms and we learned that Chiquita would be leaving us. Just like that.
Charlotte seems to have finally moved on from Chiquita — except for that $500,000 it owes to each the city and the county, and the $1.5 million it owes to the state.
But at least now the city doesn’t have to look at pictures of its former fling.
In other headlines …
– Gov Pat joined more than a dozen other governors in asking Obama to not send Syrian refugees to their states in response to Friday’s Paris terror attacks. Thing is, it doesn’t seem like the governor has a whole lot of power in stopping refugees from coming into the state.
– Construction started on the I-77 toll lanes Monday, but people aren’t done trying to fight the plan. House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday that he’ll name a special select committee to review the options with the Interstate 77 toll contract.
– Jonathan Jones on the Cam Newton touchdown dance backlash: “Newton is a young, successful black man celebrating through culturally relevant means.” A must read.
– Another must read from Scott Fowler: Chancellor Lee Adams, son of Cherica Adams and former Panther Rae Carruth, turns 16 and is “surviving and thriving.”
– The Hornets will have a NBA D-League (read: minor league) team in Greensboro and, according to At The Hive and some trademark filings, the team will either be called the Attack, Buzz or Swarm. That’s too bad — We were hoping to #BringBacktheBobcats.
Photo: Todd Sumlin/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Nov. 17 headlines: CharlotteFive gets Chiquita sign taken down from NASCAR building*."