Committee meetings to discuss athletic eligibility will be open to the public, Superintendent Peter Gorman said this afternoon, reversing a decision from last month to close them.Gorman said part of the reason for the change is to set an example in a district that wants athletes’ parents to be honest.”Part of it is perception,” he said.The 24-person volunteer committee, which meets for the first time Thursday, will analyze ways to prevent athletes’ parents from using false addresses when enrolling their children. The panel will also study how diligent Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools should be in verifying students’ addresses.Gorman appointed the committee after a three-month Observer investigation that led to the suspension of three district employees, the dismissal of 10 ineligible players from their teams, the removal of three more athletes pending reviews, and the forfeiture of one team’s season.Recommendations are expected by May. New rules would likely take effect before August, when the 2008-09 athletic season begins.Gorman said he talked to several members of the panel, which includes athletic officials, coaches, educators, parents, lawyers, ministers and business leaders. Some of the members worried that the media’s attendance could change the discussion, he said. Others didn’t mind, especially since Gorman had promised to update reporters after each session.It’s possible portions of the meetings could be closed if the panel discusses particular individuals, Gorman said.Gorman said, legally, he still believes the entire meetings could be closed. But he thinks a “hallmark” of his time in Charlotte is that he’s willing to reconsider his opinions.

N.C. officials have fined a Cabarrus County care center $12,000 after an autistic boy drowned when he wandered away.The center violated rules that put residents’ safety in “immediate and serious jeopardy,” investigators found. They declined to release details of the incident, citing a federal rule that prohibits release for up to 90 days.The $12,000 fine against RHA Howell Care Center-Clear Creek is a “Type A” penalty, the most serious the state can assess, said Jim Jones, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services.”There’s no way to put a price on a life, but it’s a way to penalize a facility for failing to do what it was supposed to,” Jones said. “The facility needed to take immediate corrective action, as well as put a system in place to prevent this from happening again.”The state report, released Monday afternoon, also said the center could be dropped from the federal Medicaid program unless it corrects the deficiencies within two weeks.On Jan. 27, 10-year-old Brandon Parrish Johnson left the center on the Cabarrus-Mecklenburg county line. He was found later in a nearby creek.In a preliminary report, state medical examiners determined the cause of death was accidental drowning and said Brandon’s autism was a contributing factor.In a letter to the center, state regulators said the facility violated state laws on the rights of clients. It also said the center violated federal rules governing intermediate-care facilities for people with mental retardation.The regulation it cited says a facility “must develop and implement written policies and procedures that prohibit mistreatment, neglect or abuse of the client.”RHA Howell officials were unavailable for comment. Center officials met with parents Thursday to discuss the death and precautions taken since then to keep residents safe.Jackie Miller of Charlotte attended the meeting. Her severely autistic 16-year-old son stays at the Clear Creek center.”That’s all, $12,000?” she said.During the parent meeting, Miller said, RHA Howell officials talked about improvements they were making to the campus off N.C. 24/27 (Albemarle Road).”And you can’t protect a 10-year-old little boy?” Miller said in Monday’s interview.She said her son once wandered away from the center and almost reached Albemarle Road, about a half-mile away.The center, which has 120 beds for adults and children, is operating at capacity. A “Type A” fine for a mental health facility with 10 or more beds can range from $1,000 to $20,000.”I can’t tell you what percent (of centers) receive this fine,” Jones said. “I think $12,000 speaks pretty well for itself.”The maximum fine for a Type A penalty had been $10,000, but the state legislature recently doubled that limit.The state inspected about 3,000 mental health facilities in 2006-07, nearly twice as many as in the previous year, Jones said.”When you do more surveys, you’re going to find more problems,” he said.If the Howell Center does not correct deficiencies the state found in its Jan. 28 inspection, terminating Medicaid “would be the next step,” Jones said.Under federal rules for centers participating in Medicaid, the specifics of the state report cannot be released for 90 days, or until the state determines the center can stay in the Medicaid program.Terminating Medicaid means the center would lose all federal Medicaid reimbursement.”If a facility is cited for (immediate jeopardy), this goes along with the citation. If nothing else, it’s to compel their immediate attention to fix it,” Jones said.The center has until Feb. 13 to respond to the recommendation that it be dropped from Medicaid. In its response, the center must say when the deficiencies will be corrected; but they must be corrected by Feb. 19.The center has until Feb. 26 to appeal the $12,000 fine. — STAFF writer Pam Kelley contributed. — Gail Smith-Arrants: 704-786-2185

Attorneys in Lisa Greene’s sentencing trial are expected to battle today over the convicted murderer’s fate. Greene also left open the option of begging jurors to spare her life.A dozen friends and family members testified on Greene’s behalf Monday.A jury convicted Greene, 42, of Midland, last week of starting a house fire Jan. 10, 2006, that killed her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8. Now those same jurors must choose her sentence: life imprisonment or death by lethal injection.Some relatives told jurors they don’t believe Greene set the fatal fire. Others said a death sentence would only bring more pain to a family that’s already grieving.Greene didn’t testify during her two-month trial. But Monday her attorneys left open the possibility of letting Greene testify before she’s sentenced.The defense attorneys said early Monday they were wrapping up their arguments.But they asked for a 15-minute recess in the afternoon to ask their client if she wanted to present any other testimony.At the end of the day’s testimony, only one of Greene’s family members remained on a list of witnesses defense attorneys had said beforehand they wanted to testify.Presiding Judge Robert Bell asked whether Greene’s attorneys wanted to add to the list.”Not for now,” defense attorney Robert Campbell said.Bell then said he expects to hold a hearing today to decide what aggravating factors jurors can consider and what mitigating factors defense attorneys can present to them before they deciding her sentence.To choose execution, jurors have to find that aggravating factors — conditions that make a particular murder worse than most — outweigh mitigating factors presented by defense attorneys.State law forces prosecutors to choose from a list of 11 aggravating factors.The judge will choose which ones he deems relevant in Greene’s case.When pressed by Bell, Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shanley said she may ask jurors to consider three factors: that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; that Greene knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person, using a potentially hazardous device; and the murder was part of a course of action that included other crimes of violence.Campbell said the defense team would consider presenting at least one mitigating factor: that Greene has no significant history of prior criminal activity.But under state law, jurors can consider any mitigating factor they deem relevant.If the sentencing hearing keeps to its current schedule, jurors may start deliberating this week.

The deaths of two people in a northwest Charlotte house fire early Monday and a woman found dead along a road in Huntersville may be connected, police said Monday evening.Police said the woman found off Howell Ridge Road in Huntersville Monday had stayed in the house on Patricia Ryan Drive in Charlotte that was destroyed in a fire earlier that morning.Two bodies were found inside the house, so badly burned that police said they couldn’t identify their genders. No identities were available Monday.Firefighters responded to calls about a blaze at the two-story house in the Oakdale community, northeast of Brookshire Boulevard, around 3:40 a.m.”The fire conditions were pretty overwhelming when we first arrived at the scene,” said Charlotte Fire Department Capt. Rob Brisley. Firefighters had to bring lumber to reinforce the structure of the home in order to protect the rescuers from being hurt, Brisley said. He estimated damage to the house at more than $100,000.Neighbors told reporters at the scene that a family of four lived there, but no information was available on other residents.”Who lives there, who was home overnight is one of the many questions we’re trying to answer,” Brisley said. “We’re early in the investigation.”At 8:15 a.m., while investigators from the Charlotte Fire Investigation Task Force and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were still responding to the fire, a passing motorist about eight miles north in Huntersville noticed an abandoned white Toyota Camry that seemed suspicious.The car was on the side of Howell Ridge Road, a small street off Beatties Ford Road just north of the intersection with McCoy Road. The motorist saw a woman’s body about 50 feet from the car and flagged down a passing police officer.James Thomas, who lives across Beatties Ford Road, told WCNC-TV, the Observer’s news partner, that he heard a gunshot and then three smaller shots about 5:45 a.m. Monday.Huntersville police Capt. Michael Kee said the woman died of at least one gunshot wound to her upper torso.Her body had no burns, he said. Police later discovered that the car was registered to the house on Patricia Ryan Drive”We’re still trying to figure out who was where last night,” Kee said.Kee said police have no motives in any of the deaths and are investigating all three as homicides.During the investigation, police blocked traffic for about eight hours on Beatties Ford Road from McCoy to Hambright roads in Huntersville, jamming traffic on Hambright all day.

The traffic flow has improved considerably near Rock Hill after an early-morning wreck snarled Interstate 77 for more than an hour.A wreck involving an overturned vehicle clogged two of the four lanes on northbound Interstate 77 for part of the morning commute. The wreck, which happened about 6 a.m., was near the Sutton Road exit (exit 83).All lanes have been reopened, however, and normal traffic flow is being reported. There are some slowdowns in the area, but those are expected to dissipate shortly.

Temperatures soared to springtime levels today, but a cold front is on the way for the Charlotte metro region.And an even colder air mass appears to be targeting the Carolinas later this weekend, bringing a return of arctic air for early next week.In the meantime, we’ve been able to put away the coats and sweaters today. It’s been a breath of springtime across the Carolinas. Temperature this afternoon reached an unofficial high temperature of 73 degrees at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, the warmest so far in this young year. It is short, however, of the record high for the date of 78 degrees.There has even been an 80-degree reading today, in Columbia.Off to our west, trouble is brewing. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., is predicting a “high” risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this evening. That “high” risk designation is used only a few times a year, and it signifies the strong threat of a tornado outbreak this evening from northeast Texas to western Kentucky.By 5 p.m., there already had been numerous reports of large hail and wind damage from storms in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.The low pressure system and cold front responsible for the severe weather threat will move eastward Wednesday and cross the Carolinas. By that time, however, forecasters think the atmosphere will not be as explosive. They predict a few thunderstorms, but not a widespread outbreak of severe weather.Rainfall will not be very heavy in most areas, with an average total of one-quarter inch predicted.Thursday and Friday are forecast to be nice days, with sunny skies and daytime highs in the middle to upper 50s, a few degrees above normal.But computer models are predicting the arrival of colder air by the weekend. High temperatures by Sunday and Monday might be struggling to reach the lower and middle 40s — a reminder that winter is not finished.For a complete look at winter, check http://weather.charlotte.com/US/NC/Charlotte.html.

In an operation they called “Coop Bowl,” five law enforcement agencies made 33 arrests Sunday morning after a raid on a cockfighting operation in northwestern York County, officials said.They seized about 30 roosters, including one dead and two wounded birds, plus more than $4,000 in cash, according to York County Sheriff’s Capt. Stanley Wells.Officers also served a warrant for driving under suspension, and one suspect was charged with second offense possession of marijuana, he added.The roosters had metal spurs fixed to their talons, and evidence indicated they had been injected with a stimulant to make them fight more aggressively, Wells said.”I think they knew what they were doing,” Wells said of the operators. “They were professional. I have reason to believe this wasn’t their first time.”About 20 deputies with the Sheriff’s Department, plus officers with the State Law Enforcement Division, the Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, the York Police Department and a canine unit set the operation in motion at about 5 a.m.They had been working on the case for three weeks, Wells said.About 11 a.m., they swooped down on two cockfighting rings at a house on Howell Road, Wells said. More than a half-dozen people fled on foot, but a SLED helicopter and a DNR aircraft helped track down all but one or two of them, Wells said.”I believe we got there right after the first or second fight,” he said. “It was not as bloody as it would have been if we came later.”Cockfighting is a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a $1,000 fine or one year in jail in South Carolina, Wells said. A second offense, also a misdemeanor, carries a $3,000 fine or up to three years in prison. A third offense is a felony, with a $5,000 fine or up to five years in prison.In North Carolina, cockfighting has been a felony since 2005.All of those arrested in York County were charged on their first cockfighting offense.”It’s not like drug dealing, where you get tips,” Wells said.”The people we are dealing with are very close-knit. You don’t hear too much talk about cockfighting.”

John Cleghorn, a senior vice president at Bank of America who used to write speeches for CEO Hugh McColl, was called Sunday to be the new pastor at Charlotte’s Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church.His hiring, pending approval by the Presbytery of Charlotte, makes Cleghorn, 46, part of a growing group of local people called to be pastors after careers in other fields.”There’s a sense of call, which requires you to ask yourself: `What is the best and highest use of my abilities?’ ” Cleghorn said to explain his decision to shift to the ministry. “God just opened the doors for this to happen.”Entering the clergy is actually Cleghorn’s third career. He was a reporter for the Observer, mostly covering business, for six years. He’s been at Bank of America for 18 years and will leave his post — senior vice president for corporate communications — in March.While at the bank, he attended Union-PSCE of Charlotte at Queens University — an extension of the Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, a Richmond, Va.-based seminary for the Presbyterian Church (USA).Cleghorn, who got his Master of Divinity degree there last April, joins ex-business executives and educators who have become Presbyterian pastors in Gaston and Union counties after studying at Union PSCE.To accommodate the schedules of second- and third-career students, the school holds many night and weekend classes.Cleghorn has been active in the Presbyterian Church for years, serving as a lay leader at Charlotte’s Covenant Presbyterian. For the past year, he’s also volunteered as the assistant to the pastor — leading worship, giving sermons, teaching adult Sunday school — at Caldwell Memorial, a 95-year-old church in the Elizabeth neighborhood.Linda Schick, co-chair of the pastor search committee, counted as a plus his background in business and journalism.”He had life experiences,” she said. “They weren’t pastor experience. But it helped that he has shown great leadership in different roles.”On Sunday, members of Caldwell Memorial gave Cleghorn a standing ovation. The Rev. Charles MacDonald, 78, has been interim pastor since 2002.The church almost had to close in 2006 because of dwindling membership. But it’s now growing, with 115 people on the rolls. Said Cleghorn: “It’s an excited, hopeful community.”

Arson is being blamed for the Friday fire that destroyed a Morganton radio station that was home to one of the industry’s top Southern gospel radio personalities.John Whisnant Jr., a three-time winner of Southern Gospel DJ of the Year award, says investigators told him the fire was possibly set to cover up a burglary at WCIS-AM (760).A charred foundation and two walls are all that remain at the site, which was insured, he says.”The building was ransacked, with drawers pulled out of file cabinets and desks,” says Whisnant, who is co-owner with his father, John Sr., and brother, Jeff.”Whoever did it was looking for cash. When they didn’t find what they were looking for, they torched the place. It’s heartbreaking. Fifteen years of work up in flames.”Burke County fire officials could not be reached Sunday.News of the fire has become the talk of the Southern gospel music industry nationwide, due to postings on popular Web sites like Singingnews.com. and Sogospelnews.com.As a result, offers of financial assistance have come from radio stations across the United States and Canada, Whisnant says.”You don’t realize how many friends you’ve got until something like this happens,” Whisnant says. “My brother and I were talking about how easy it would be to quit. … But we’ve come to realize it means so much to the community.”Burke County Emergency Services responded to the fire on Bost Road at 2:30 a.m. Friday and had it contained by 5:15 a.m.A cost assessment has not yet been done, but the building itself was valued at about $119,000, Whisnant says. The family purchased the station in 1993, and broadcast music seven days a week, from dusk to dawn.The building was also home to The Whisnants, a popular Southern gospel group that lost 3,000 CDs and DVDs in the fire.The goal now, Whisnant says, is to get the station back on as quickly as possible, possibly by the end of the month.In the meantime, he’s keeping a sense of humor. “I always said those awards I got for DJ of the year would make great kindling and it looks like I was right.”

Dear readers,Today we are presenting winners of our 2007 Carolina Snapshot reader photo contest.Thanks for submitting so many photos! We received more than 1,000 images. The final 20 photos attracted 4,695 votes from readers. The top vote getter, Mark Sward, will receive a $100 Best Buy gift certificate. The winner of the Observer’s editor pick award, Rusty Rhodes, will also receive a $100 gift certificate from Best Buy.The slideshows have been a very popular Charlotte.com feature, generating more than 568,000 page views.SLIDESHOWS: Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Final Results