Agent: Cocaine flown from Dallas to Charlotte

What followed was a sting involving 41 kilos of cocaine, a confidential informant and negotiations inside an Arby's on South Boulevard, according to an affadivit filed today.

A federal agent gave the account seeking warrants against Jorge Haro-Martinez and Hugo Luna for conspiracy to sell cocaine.

The agent said on Feb. 3, the informant received the cocaine, which was flown from Texas to Charlotte. Later that day, agents said Haro-Martinez set up a meeting. On Feb. 4, Haro-Martinez and Luna met the informant at the restaurant and arranged delivery, according to the affadavit.

Click here to read the document.

Their arrest, the papers say, happened after they gave their car to the informant. He drove off and met agents at another location. There, they loaded six kilograms - and 35 fake kilograms - into the car. The informant returned to South Boulevard and gave Haro-Martinez and Luna the keys, the papers say.

CMPD stopped the men in a traffic stop on I-77 southbound just past the Tyvola Road exit.

- Doug Miller

Could two Charlotte post offices close?

The U.S. Postal Service is considering consolidating two Charlotte offices, according to a recent filing with regulators.

The branches are:

- Arrowood at 11333 Granite St. (28241)

- Eastway Finance at 3040 B Eastway Dr. (28218)

No final decisions have been made, and 162 are under review, according to a news release.

Click here for the full list.

The statements says the latest list "updates a review process begun last summer that initially examined about 3,300 stations and branches in urban and suburban areas, focusing on facilities in relatively close proximity to one another where consolidations might be feasible without compromising customer access."

- Doug Miller

Dramatic aerial 9/11 photos released

The chief curator of the planned Sept. 11 museum says newly released photos of the World Trade Center terror are "absolutely core to understanding the visual phenomena of what was happening," the Associated Press reports.

AP says the aerial photos capture the towers' dramatic collapse, from just after the first fiery plane strike to the apocalyptic dust clouds that spread over lower Manhattan and its harbor.

The images were taken from a police helicopter - the only photographers allowed in the air space near the towers on Sept. 11, 2001. They were obtained by ABC News after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which investigated the collapse.

Click here for a full slideshow of images.

The network posted 12 photos this week on its Web site, all taken by ex-NYPD Aviation Unit Detective Greg Semendinger, who was first in the air in a search for survivors on the rooftop. He said he and his pilot watched the second plane hit the south tower from the helicopter.

"We didn't find one single person. It was surreal," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "There was no sound. No sound whatsoever, but the noise of the radio and the helicopter. I just kept taking pictures."

- Associated Press

Suit: CMS told secretary 'No Spanish'

Ana Ligia Mateo says in a lawsuit she was hired in 2006 as a bilingual secretary at Devonshire Elementary, which has a high population of Spanish-speaking parents.

But two years later, Mateo says, a new principal announced a 'No Spanish' policy.

After the announcement, Spanish-speaking parents with questions would request Mateo to translate, but Mateo says the principal and other staff members told her that was not allowed.

Mateo says she still spoke Spanish. Once, Mateo alleges, staff members told her they thought she empathized with Hispanic parents because she "crossed the border just like them."

Mateo, a Charlotte resident and U.S. citizen, says her employment was "effectively terminated" shortly thereafter.

Click here to read the lawsuit.

Mateo says Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools violated her civil rights and seeks damages.

- Doug Miller

Lewis: BofA lawsuit is 'badly misguided'

Update | 1:32 p.m. Former BofA CFO Joe Price calls allegations "utterly false." His statement is below.

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In response to the lawsuit filed today by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Bank of America, former CEO Ken Lewis and former CFO Joe Price, the following statement was issued by Mary Jo White of Debevoise & Plimpton, who is representing Lewis.

The decision by Mr. Cuomo to sue Bank of America, Mr. Lewis and other executives in connection with BofA's acquisition of Merrill Lynch is a badly misguided decision without support in the facts or the law. As the SEC correctly concluded recently based on the very same evidence,* there simply is no basis for any case against Mr. Lewis or any other individual.

There is not a shred of objective evidence to support the allegations by the Attorney General. Mr. Lewis and other BofA employees acted in good faith in the Merrill Lynch transaction, following the expert legal advice of counsel and in the best interests of BofA shareholders. The Merrill Lynch transaction - undertaken at a time of significant danger to our financial system - has also proven to be an unmitigated success for BofA shareholders. Mr. Lewis has been unfairly vilified by the political search for accountability for the financial meltdown.** This suit is not fair, it is without factual or legal basis, and we look forward to prevailing in a court where the facts and law do matter.

***

*In Litigation Release No. 21371 filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on January 11, 2010, the SEC noted the following: “According to the SEC's proposed complaint, Bank of America executives at various times discussed the firm's disclosure obligations with internal and external counsel. These executives are not alleged to have deliberately concealed information from counsel or otherwise acted with scienter or intent to mislead. Nor is any counsel alleged to have acted with scienter or intent to mislead. For these reasons, the SEC's proposed complaint does not seek charges against any individual officers, directors or attorneys. SEC staff has advised the Commission that, after a careful assessment of the evidence and all of the relevant circumstances, it has determined that charges against individuals for their roles in connection with proxy disclosure are not appropriate.”

** On December 9, 2009, while Mr. Lewis was still CEO and President of Bank of America, the Company sent the U.S. Treasury $45 billion, including accrued dividends, to repay the U.S. taxpayers' entire investment in the company as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

---

Joe Price, who is now the bank’s head of consumer banking, issued the following statement through his attorney, Bill Jeffress Jr.

The allegation that Mr. Price deliberately caused Bank of America to withhold from shareholders information they were entitled to know is utterly false. In truth, he did exactly what a responsible regulator would want and expect from a chief financial officer. He raised with the bank’s counsel, and with management both at the bank and Merrill Lynch, a concern whether existing public disclosures were adequate in light of what he leamed about projected losses for the fourth quarter at Menill Lynch. He made available to counsel all information believed by him or by them to be relevant to the issue. He listened to counsel’s advice, found it to be convincing, and followed it.

The complaint filed by the New York Attomey General makes allegations that are flatly contrary to the evidence and contrary to the conclusions of the Securities and Exchange Commission based on the same evidence. The Attorney General has misrepresented facts; he has selectively referred to facts thought to support his theory, while ignoring facts that contradict his theory; and he has drawn conclusions that a fair-minded regulator could not responsibly draw. Mr. Price denies the charges against him and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.

Read the complaint against BofA

Today, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a 90-page complaint against Bank of America, former chief executive Ken Lewis and former Chief Financial Officer Joe Price over the bank's Jan. 1 acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

• Read a PDF of the lawsuit here.
  

Read more from the Observer's Rick Rothacker here.

Inside county's social media blitz

Thirteen twitter accounts and nine facebook pages prove it: Mecklenburg County's all in on social media.

County officials ushered in the new era this week - adopting a seven-page document entitled "Social Media Strategy." The move reflects a trend toward what some are calling the "splinternet," the buzzword for an increasingly fragmented audience.

Basically, folks are steering away from a centralized web presence toward individual devices and social networks. (This blog getting a lot of hits over the term.)

Says Mecklenburg County:

"Public use of the internet is shifting to an environment of personal choice for the channel, device and interaction modes that suit the individual’s specific needs and preferences. Gartner, a leading information technology research firm, asserts “traditional government content and services are unlikely to entice citizens accustomed to compelling content and services from private providers and to community interaction.”

Click here to read the full "Social Media Strategy."

Here's a link to the county's sites.

- Doug Miller