1. Team USA makes history early at Olympics
Mirai Nagasu has become the first American woman — and third overall — to land a triple Axel in the Olympics, accomplishing the rare feat in the women's free skate at the team competition in Pyeongchang.
The 24-year-old from Montebello, California, skated first of the five women and led off her routine with the triple Axel just 21 seconds in. The feat drew huge cheers from the crowd at the Gangneung Ice Arena. Japan's Midori Ito and Mao Asada also landed triple Axels during the Olympics. Nagasu completed a flawless routine, pumping both fists as she finished and got a standing ovation from the excited crowd. She received a personal-best score of 137.53. The United States earned the bronze medal in team figure skating. Watch the spectacular moment here.
Shortly after, Jamie Anderson overcame immense winds to claim her second gold medal in women's snowboard slopestyle one day after 17-year-old Red Gerard wom the men's event. The action pics back up later Monday with luge, freestyle and alpine skiing and snowboarding, including Shaun White's Pyeongchang debut.
2. NACA's 'Achieve the Dream' event in Charlotte extended by extra day due to high demand
Affordable home ownership is now within reach for thousands of people in Charlotte. Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) hosted its “Achieve the Dream” event over the weekend. Organizers say the event turned out to be more successful than they thought. The event in Charlotte, which started on Thursday, has drawn an overwhelming amount of people, all to take advantage of NACA’s “Best in America” mortgage special. NACA is a nonprofit organization that grew out of the recession of 2008 when people were losing their homes to foreclosure. NACA’s new program works with area banks, like Bank of America, to reduce mortgage rates for home buyers who can’t afford traditional mortgages. About 5,000 people have attended this event so far hoping that they can qualify for a low-cost mortgage and own their own home.
“This is the first time ever that low to moderate-income people, minority individuals can get the best mortgage in America and to get into true home ownership that’s affordable for many, many years,” said Bruce Marks, founder and CEO of NACA. Check here for information on the event.
3. Trump's budget will ask Congress not to spend all the money from last week's deal
The 2019 budget that President Trump will send to Congress Monday will attempt to "bend the trajectory down" on trillion-dollar budget deficits — even after Trump agreed to eliminate the spending caps in a budget deal last week, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday. "Just because this deal was signed does not mean the future is written in stone, " Mulvaney told Fox News Sunday. Trump's second budget proposal could be among the most important policy blueprints of his administration. Also on Monday, Trump will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure proposal to shift $200 billion over the next decade from other federal programs to pave the way for $1.5 trillion for roads, bridges, waterways and railways.
4. Three charged with violent assault, robbery of elderly Union County man
Three people have been arrested in connection with the violent assault and robbery that left an elderly man in critical condition Saturday night in Union County. According to the Union County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a call in the 4800 block of Bigham Road near Waxhaw. When deputies arrived, they found the victim, described as a man in his 70s, unresponsive inside the home.
Investigators determined that Eddie Glenn Lowery, 30, his mother, Patricia Kay Benton, 49, as well as 34-year-old Elisha Chaney Hicks, who is the girlfriend of Lowery, formed a plan Saturday to visit the victim at his home. Police said that the suspects lived just a few doors down from one another, and that Lowery was known to visit the victim's home.
Deputies said the three suspects went to the victim's home and attacked him with a baseball bat when he opened the door. He was struck multiple times before the suspects robbed his wallet. The trio then broke the window of the victim's car and stole cash from inside, deputies said. Click here for a list of charges the suspects are facing & to view their mugshots.
5. Students to donate over 400 stuffed animals to children's hospital for Valentine's Day
Students from York Comprehensive High School’s student council spent Sunday afternoon preparing over 440 stuffed animals to deliver to children at three Charlotte-area hospitals for Valentine's Day.
School officials say it's all part of a two-month project to provide comfort to children in need of an extra boost. Over 80 students and community members gathered at Carolina Place's Build-A-Bear to make over 440 stuffed animals. The students will deliver the stuffed bears to Levine Children's Hospital, Novant Heath's Hemby Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte "provides a safe, affordable and caring 'home-away-from-home' for the families of children receiving treatment in Charlotte-area medical facilities," according to their website.
