Monday Afternoon Round-up

Over here at the bustling world headquarters of Charlotte magazine, we're wrapping up the March issue, which is shaping up to be our biggest issue in years. What recession? To tide you over, here are a few mini-blog items of note:

John Cleghorn, the BofA exec who's leaving the bank for the ministry and who was artfully profiled by Ken Garfield in our January issue, has been called to a church.

While everyone, including us , has been delving into the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's problems, apparently the Philharmonic is enduring a few troubles of its own. It cancelled its upcoming concert , and future concerts are under review.

The new "Super Nikko" is, as they say, off the hook. We went for a late dinner Friday night after the South End gallery crawl, and I thought I had walked into an Atlanta or Miami club. It's several times the size of the former location (it moved across the alley, from Factory South to the Arlington) and was packed with more beautiful people than I knew existed in Charlotte.

Artist Willie Little, whom we profiled so long ago that the story isn't even in our archives, is back in town with two shows. In Mixed Company is up at Levine Museum of the New South , and it portrays, through an installation, the "privileged conversations" that occur privately between members of the same race. And his mixed-media works are on display at Joie Lassiter Gallery . Little was one of the first residents at the McColl Center for Visual Art and has gone on to exhibit in many important galleries and museums throughout the world. 

Finally, gotta give props to The Charlotte Observer for its fine coverage of the sheriff mess. This has been local government and politics in all its glory and flaws, and the daily paper has been there every step of the way, trying to make sense of it all.