What really happened with Myers Park football + Pink robots delivering coffee in Plaza Midwood
Good afternoon Charlotte, and welcome to the weekend! Hannah Lang here, coming at you live from a Plaza Midwood coffee shop on what can only be described as a nearly perfect North Carolina day: sunny but not hot, without a cloud in the Carolina blue sky...
Speaking of which, hope you’re gearing up for one of the biggest events in N.C. sports history this weekend. For the sake of journalistic objectivity, I won’t share who I’m rooting for here, though anyone who’s read my author profile, Twitter bio or visited any of my social media pages in spring 2017 might have a good guess.
One more note: I’m a lifelong prank hater (a trait made worse by the great Roy Williams retirement debacle of 2021), so no April Fool’s jokes here. Here are your local headlines:
1. 11 kids, 3 houses and parents saying they wanted to help: What happened with Myers Park football
The parents of Myers Park quarterback Lucas Lenhoff have found themselves at the center of one of the biggest high school sports controversies Charlotte has seen in recent years.
Steven and Carla Lenhoff told The Charlotte Observer that they moved 10 kids, along with their son, from Southern California, Texas and Georgia to Charlotte last year to play high school football.
They were not trying to create a national powerhouse or break any rules, they said, when they rented three houses in the Myers Park district for the students to live in.
Langston Wertz Jr. dives deep into the scandal that led to Myers Park High School to forfeit all 2021-22 football games. Get the inside scoop here.
2. ‘Critically worried’: Mecklenburg County commission candidates clash over education
A forum-turned-debate at the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg unearthed disagreements between candidates running for the Board of County Commissioners, with education serving as the most contentious point.
Four candidates, including two incumbents, spent time Thursday trying to undercut Jennifer De La Jara, a school board member running for a county commissioner seat.
- In her opening remarks, commissioner Vilma Leake told the audience that education should be top of mind for the county. “The school board is failing children who look like me,” said Leake, who is Black and a former member of the school board.
“Those lives, as they continue to go on, what will be their future?” said Commissioner Pat Cotham, referring to Black students at underperforming schools.” We are critically worried about this and the public is as well.”
The Board of County Commissioners includes six district representatives and three at-large members who represent the whole county. Every incumbent other than Ella Scarborough, who is on medical leave and is not expected to return, is running for reelection — politics reporter Will Wright has the story here.
3. Mary Collins was missing before murder: Why her family says change is needed
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Two years after the brutal death of 20-year-old Mary Santina Collins, her family and supporters in Charlotte are calling on legislators to implement reforms that could help others like her.
North Carolina, they say, needs a third alert system — similar to Amber and Silver alerts for children and seniors — specifically for when an adult with a disability goes missing and may be in danger.
Collins was found dead and hidden in a mattress in a NoDA apartment on April 4th, 2020. It took five days for the police to find Collins when she went missing.
Her family has said the CMPD detective on Mary’s case when she was reported missing did not act quickly enough when searching for her. The lack of an extensive search for Collins, they say, might have cost her her life.
Charlotte Observer’s public safety reporter Kallie Cox explains the details here.
4. Meet Geoffrey: A pink heart-eyed robot that now delivers coffee in Charlotte
Plaza Midwood residents and workers can now get their morning or mid-afternoon jolt of coffee delivered to them by luggage-sized Eco-friendly robots.
Yep, it’s those little pink robots with the heart eyes you may have seen wheeling around the neighborhood.
- They’re made by Toronto-based Tiny Mile, which is partnering with the city of Charlotte for a two-month trial of the delivery service.
- And they’re named in honor Geoffrey Hinton, one of the godfathers of AI, or artificial intelligence.
The robots will deliver food and drinks from Undercurrent Coffee. Undercurrent doesn’t use third-party delivery services like Doordash or UberEats, said owner Todd Huber. The robots will work better for his business, he said.
Breaking news reporter Jonathan Limehouse explains why Tiny Mile came to Charlotte — and how you can get Geoffrey to bring you your next latte — in the story here.
5. Oh, and about that basketball game...
Gov. Roy Cooper said it himself: the Duke vs. UNC final four match-up means North Carolina is the center of the college basketball universe this weekend. If you missed it this morning, the Observer (and our friends in Triangle) have you covered with everything you need to know about Saturday night’s game:
- Why the Tar Heels could beat the Blue Devils and spoil Coach K’s retirement tour, and why the Blue Devils could send the Heels packing, both according to columnist Scott Fowler.
- How to manage when you’re a die-hard Duke fan married to a Carolina fan, or vice versa, according to five Charlotte couples, from features reporter Théoden James.
- Our list of 10 places to watch the matchup in Charlotte from service journalism reporter Evan Moore.
Whatever the outcome, it’s sure to be a heck of a game. Don’t have a favorite team? You can always borrow a tactic from U.S. Rep. David Price — who represents both campuses — and root for “the team in blue.”
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This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 4:15 PM with the headline "What really happened with Myers Park football + Pink robots delivering coffee in Plaza Midwood."