New company launches scooter fleet in Charlotte + Changes coming to Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative

Happy Friday! Hey folks, KJ here, wishing you a happy end to the work week.

On Sunday, the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer are publishing a special report on how corporate landlords used piles of cash to become North Carolina’s biggest homeowners. Watch our trailer for the series here.

Noteworthy: Charlotte just dumped regulation changes for short-term rentals, citing recent legal cases. The move to drop increased rules for Airbnb, VRBO and similar rentals follows a recent court case in Wilmington, reports Gordon Rago.

1. New company launches scooter fleet in Charlotte, including free wheelchair attachment

A new e-scooter company is making its Charlotte debut — and rides are free for the month of May.

Helbiz is the latest scooter company to bring its wheels to the Queen City. Charlotte will also be the first U.S. city to offer Helbiz adaptive vehicles, company representative Vivian Myrtetus said in a statement. The wheelchair attachments and three-wheel sit-down scooters are available by request.

Prior scooters have been controversial in Charlotte, with the City Council spending months debating new regulations a couple years ago. In January 2019, the Charlotte City Council voted to ban scooters from some sidewalks in parts of uptown, as well as cap e-scooter speeds and charge scooter companies a per-unit fee.

Learn more about the Helbiz scooters with this story from Hannah Smoot.

2. Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative will see changes after previous director resigned

Leaders of the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative offered more detail about how its $250 million investment will be spent and tracked.

They described a “decentralized” approach that will not include an executive director role after the initiative’s first pick resigned before ever starting. In early February, Kimberly Henderson was named the initiative’s top leader. Just a day later, local media reported on controversy surrounding her handling of fraudulent unemployment claims while leading Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services.

“Transformation doesn’t come without trial and error and initiative, but we ought to be glad to do it,” Mayor Vi Lyles said Thursday. “It took us a long time to honor and respect the history of this community and it’ll take us a long time to get some of that changed.”

You can read more from Lauren Lindstrom’s article here.

3. With six rounds to go, what will the Panthers do in the NFL Draft?

In case you missed it, the Carolina Panthers selected Charlotte native and North Carolina State offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu with their first pick last night. You can get to know Ekwonu with this pre-draft profile from Jonathan M. Alexander.

With six rounds to go tonight and tomorrow, what else can you expect from the Panthers?

Don’t be surprised if Carolina tries to trade up into the second or third round, Scott Fowler writes on Twitter. But it may be hard for the Panthers to reach a deal. Currently, their next pick is No. 137 in the fourth round.

“If the Panthers can get a Day 2 pick, they must choose best available player at either quarterback or edge rusher — their two remaining biggest needs,” writes Jonathan M. Alexander. “... Quarterback Malik Willis, who the Panthers liked, is still there. So are Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder, Sam Howell and Bailey Zappe, who all came in for top-30 visits this past month.”

4. Davidson College names a new president with deep North Carolina roots

Douglas Hicks was named the 19th president of Davidson College on Friday, marking a homecoming for the religion scholar and dean of Oxford College of Emory University. Hicks, an ordained Presbyterian minister and Davidson alum, begins his new role Aug. 1.

“Davidson changed my life,” Hicks said. “There, I grew up. I had the opportunity to learn in new ways, to meet students from across the country, to play varsity baseball in my first year, to study abroad in Madrid, to meet an incredible group of friends and to be challenged by wonderful teacher-mentors, whom I consider lifelong friends.”

“I’m excited to return as president and even more excited about the future that we will build at Davidson,” he said.

Read more from Joe Marusak.

5. Some bonus reads heading into the weekend

The 7 Wonders of Charlotte: An updated list of the city’s most breathtaking places, from Théoden Janes.

It happens to the best of us. Here are some restaurant meals to cure a hangover in Charlotte, from Molly Weisner and Kristen Kornbluth.

Lidl to debut 10th Charlotte-area store as part of latest expansion in grocery wars, from Catherine Muccigrosso.

---

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading! If you don’t already, subscribe to the Charlotte Observer here. If you’re already a subscriber (thanks!), download our iOS or Android app to get connected.

Stay updated with us at charlotteobserver.com, and follow along on Twitter and Instagram to see more from us. Thanks for reading!

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? You can sign up here.

This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 2:50 PM with the headline "New company launches scooter fleet in Charlotte + Changes coming to Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative."

KJ Edelman

The Charlotte Observer

KJ Edelman was an Audience Growth Producer for The Charlotte Observer, where he was a writer of the Afternoon Observer and an occasional taste-tester for CharlotteFive. A native of Pennsylvania, KJ previously worked as a media reporter at Mediaite. He earned his B.S. at Syracuse University.