Latest news with #N.C.
Axios
16-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
North Carolina bets big to land 2026 MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte
A $2 million grant from the state of North Carolina helped lure the 2026 Major League Soccer All-Star Game to Charlotte. Why it matters: It's part of a new era for the state, which has historically shied away from funding sports projects until recently. Now, sports betting revenue is being used to help attract major events. By the numbers: The $2,028,950 grant for next year's All-Star Game at Bank of America Stadium is one of three state-funded sports projects using funds from the Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund, which went live last summer. The grant "helps a lot," MLS Commissioner Don Garber says. "You need the support of your governments, both local and statewide, to come up with all the activities and branding and support and logistics and security." How it works: The Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund is run through the N.C. Commerce Department. It was established as part of North Carolina's 2023 law legalizing sports betting. The fund is fueled by taxes from sports betting in the state. Thirty percent of annual revenue from these taxes sustains the fund. Local governments and authorized local organizing committees may apply for grants from the fund. The Charlotte Sports Foundation is the local organizing committee that applied for the grant to bring the MLS All-Star Game to Charlotte. The grant total is based on the expected in-state spend by the organizers to put on the event, N.C. Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilley told reporters. The $2 million, which will be dispersed after the event, was allocated given the expected $6 million in-state spend for everything it takes to put on the MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte. In-state spend is different from economic impact, which accounts for other factors, including people staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. Between the lines: Putting on a week of festivities is more involved than hosting a single match or even a couple of matches in a short period. This will require additional staff and renting setup elements for possible events outside the stadium. Zoom out: This is the third event the state is using this fund for, along with: $2 million to the City of Winston-Salem for the NASCAR Clash race at Bowman Gray Stadium. $1.65 million grant to Richmond County for the NASCAR Xfinity, ARCA, and Truck series at Rockingham Speedway. The other side: Sports betting has provided the state with additional revenue, but it comes with concerns over gambling addiction. What we're watching: Secretary Lilley declined to comment on other events the state will use these funds for, but said there are more than 10 events it is considering, including some in Charlotte. "An event like this is the perfect example of how the state of North Carolina can partner with local people, particularly ones that are as organized and as strong as Tepper Sports and attract special events," CSF board of directors co-chair Johnny Harris says. Other events Charlotte could eventually host, he adds, include "maybe an [NFL] Draft ... maybe a Super Bowl." Harris, a prominent Charlotte developer and president of Quail Hollow Club, is experienced in bringing major sporting events to Charlotte. Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship for the second time earlier this year and the Presidents Cup in 2022. The big picture: The entire state benefits from the fund, not just major metros like Charlotte, Lilley says.
CBC
15-04-2025
- CBC
Former Vancouver teacher, St. George's School school named in claim alleging sex abuse
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. A retired Catholic school teacher with a record of sexually abusing boys at two Vancouver-area private schools is facing fresh allegations related to his time teaching at St. George's School for boys almost 40 years ago. A notice of civil claim filed April 7 in B.C. Supreme Court alleges Raymond Thomas Clavin groomed, sexually assaulted and raped plaintiff N.C. during the 1986-87 school year when N.C. was a Grade 7 student at St. George's. The claim also names St. George's as a defendant, saying the school "knew or ought to have known of the foreseeable risk of child sexual grooming and abuse that Clavin posed to the plaintiff." Clavin, 82, has a last known address in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland and is known to use the alias Ray Griffith, according to the court filing. N.C.'s claim alleges that "several St. George's administrators, educators and athletic coaches," who worked closely with Clavin, had the "full opportunity to observe his patterned grooming and abuse of boys." The claim alleges that Clavin frequently drove N.C. to and from basketball practice and games in isolation from other adults or students, had N.C. stay in his hotel room on a basketball trip to Toronto, and took N.C. on overnight visits and on a spring break ski trip. After spring break in 1987, N.C. refused to return to St. George's, according to the claim. Three other defendants named in the claim are Vancouver College, deceased Father John Kilty and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver (RCAV), which is the legal entity for the Catholic church. Clavin was previously accused of being a sexual predator by students at North Vancouver's Holy Trinity Elementary and Vancouver College schools. In 1994, he was convicted of two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault of students related to his time at Vancouver College, according to the claim. It says Clavin started working at Vancouver College in 1975. Last year, RCAV settled for an undisclosed amount with plaintiff "John Doe" for abuse he suffered as a six-year-old student at Holy Trinity. Doe testified that in 1974 he was raped by Clavin, the school's physical education teacher, and by Kilty, the priest who governed operations at Holy Trinity. RCAV admitted the abuse in the case but contested Doe's claim for punitive damages, which he said were warranted because of an ingrained culture that empowered pedophiles. N.C.'s claim says Kilty hired Clavin at Holy Trinity and that the two men "knew of each other's propensity to sexually abuse children and were organized in their sexual abuse of some children." N.C. alleges that Kilty knew that Clavin was a risk to children but failed to report Clavin to the RCAV or any authority, "enabling Clavin to continue his predations and ultimately abuse the plaintiff." "It was reasonably foreseeable to Kilty and the RCAV that if Clavin's propensity and predations were not reported to the secular authorities that he would continue to sexually abuse boys he encountered through his role as an educator or coach," the claim reads. Kilty died in 1983. St. George's said in an emailed statement to CBC News that the allegations contained in the lawsuit are "deeply upsetting." "Since the incident is said to have taken place over 40 years ago, the [s]chool today has little information about what is alleged to have [s]chool has engaged legal counsel to respond to the claim. It is the [s]chool's intent to treat the lawsuit and the claimant with the utmost respect and care. For reasons of privacy, we will not be commenting further at this time." In a letter dated April 8, flagging the lawsuit to the St. George's School community, head of school David Young wrote that the school was "unaware of any of the details stated in the lawsuit and [has] limited records from that period." St. George's is an independent school. The Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver said it "extends our heartfelt sympathy to all survivors of abuse." " [W]e hope the increased attention will encourage other survivors to come forward and seek the healing and support they deserve," said spokesman Matthew Furtado in an emailed statement. None of the allegations have been tested in court, and no responses have been filed.
