These are a few of our favorite Ledger stories
The Ledger published a wide range of stories in 2025, ranging from business scoops to deeply reported exclusives to human-interest features. Here are a few that stood out to us.
Good morning! Today is Tuesday, December 23, 2025. You’re reading a special edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Hi everyone, it’s Ashley, the recently appointed managing editor of The Charlotte Ledger. We’re coming to your inboxes this morning with a special edition rounding up the Ledger editorial team’s favorite stories that we published in 2025.
I only joined The Ledger in late September, but still found it tough to pick three stories (that’s the number we limited ourselves to, although we cheated a bit by including a few “honorable mentions” at the end). Nevertheless, the idea was to highlight the stories we felt stood out and represented the depth and breadth of Ledger journalism.
Of course, there are numerous pieces The Ledger published this year that didn’t make the list that also represent the versatile and original Charlotte journalism we strive to publish every week. We’re excited and motivated to continue our mission of providing essential, newsworthy and interesting stories to Charlotte in 2026.
Thanks, too, to all of our contributors — many pieces from them appear on this list.
Until then, from all of us at The Ledger, Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Lindsey Banks, assistant editor:
The rapid fall of Sycamore Brewing: You might recognize this headline from a Ledger newsletter last week. Earlier this month, the co-owner of Sycamore Brewing, Justin Brigham, was arrested and charged with sex-crime felony charges involving a 13-year-old girl in Stanly County. The news of his arrest toppled Sycamore’s reputation and operations overnight — people stopped going to the South End taproom, grocery stores pulled products from its shelves, distributors stopped working with them and social media flooded with disdain and disgust for a once-beloved brewery, but also with questions about whether Brigham’s wife and co-owner and Sycamore employees should be punished for his crimes. The Ledger team worked on an in-depth piece that carefully reports how a serious criminal case can destabilize an entire business, tracing the ripple effects through ownership structures, contracts, employees, distributors and landlords. It’s rigorous, clear-eyed business journalism that helps readers understand how quickly a celebrated local success story can unravel, and why the answers aren’t as simple as a social media statement.
A few vans and a forklift moving inventory were spotted at Sycamore Brewing’s production facility on West 24th Street last week. (Photo by Lindsey Banks/The Charlotte Ledger) SNAP is back, but the crisis isn’t over: When Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were suspended last month, and 140,000 Mecklenburg County residents were without government assistance to put food on the table, the national issue was something we couldn’t ignore on the local level. I visited Charlotte’s largest food pantry, NourishUp, one afternoon, and shadowed a woman who was there shopping for food for her three children. I watched as Keona quietly placed cans of vegetables, boxes of noodles and fresh produce in her cart, almost as if she was afraid there would be a catch at the end of it. The relief in her body language as she walked out to her car was undeniable. She was very open and honest with me about her struggles, and I witnessed the real impact beyond the statistics of an issue that was affecting millions of Americans. On the other side, NourishUp shared their obstacles in serving more people than they’re equipped to serve, and how they pushed through them so no one who showed up would walk away empty-handed. This story was the kind of accountability journalism that doesn’t rely on abstraction — it asks what happens when aid disappears, who is expected to fill the gap (in most cases, nonprofits) and what that reveals about the fragility of systems many people assume will always be there.
When Iryna Zarutska was laid to rest: This story was very different from what The Ledger and other media typically produce. Back in August, the tragic stabbing and death of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s Blue Line shook the nation. It questioned the safety of the city’s public transit system and who is responsible for providing mental health services to those in crisis. Ledger executive editor Tony Mecia attended Iryna’s funeral, not to sensationalize her death or mine quotes from family members, but to learn more about the woman beyond the headlines. He spoke to no one, just observed quietly and respectfully. This story shifts the focus from crime to humanity, grief and loss — details that are often missing once a crime story becomes national news. It’s a reminder of journalism’s role not just in explaining what happened, but bearing witness to who someone was and the people who loved them.
Ashley Fahey, managing editor:
As The Pearl opens, where’s the affordable housing?: Michelle Crouch’s in-depth reporting around Atrium Health’s commitments to affordable housing at The Pearl innovation hub in midtown spurred plenty of discussion across Charlotte since this initial story published on Oct. 13. Michelle’s reporting over the years was a compelling reason for me to join The Ledger this year — her reporting is smart, authoritative, fair and holds important institutions to account. This story is a prime example of all of that — and, since its publication, has been a big topic of conversation among public officials and the Charlotte community at large. Since this initial piece, Michelle has continued to follow up on this story. As an editor on those later pieces, I can see how thoroughly Michelle thinks through every story and angle she pursues, even when it’s a seemingly rote follow-up.
A year after floodwaters recede, a community rises: I could be a little biased in picking this one, as it was the first story I edited as managing editor of The Ledger. But after reading it again a few months later, I contend it still deserves a place among the top stories from The Ledger in 2025. Hurricane Helene was personal for Lindsey Banks, The Ledger’s assistant editor, as she is from the North Carolina mountains. Sometimes, as journalists, there’s a hesitation to cover something close to us, for fear of it swaying our impartiality. But Lindsey was the right person to cover this story, which looked at how Swannanoa is still not fully recovered a year after Helene — she knows the community and its sensibilities, and she brought an empathy to the storytelling that made it stand out from other one-year hurricane anniversary stories I read. But she still approached it as any reporter ought to — asking the right questions and examining the facts — while also weaving in great narrative and nuance.
Lessons from two Charlotte centenarians: Beyond explanatory journalism and newsy enterprise pieces, The Ledger also frequently does features on interesting people, places and things in Charlotte. We have a great slate of contributors, many of whom are veteran local journalists, who regularly write for us. One of those people is Ken Garfield, who wrote this piece on two Charlotteans who are more than 100 years old. Ken has such a talent for storytelling, especially when he’s profiling people, and it really shines in this piece. The story made me smile and left me inspired. Ken uses quotes from the two women profiled to maximum effect while also using his own writing flair to fully characterize both Charlotte centenarians.
Tony Mecia, executive editor:
Graveyard of the Atlantic series. Mark Washburn’s thorough research and compelling writing gave us the perfect summer series, which examined tales of pirates, lost treasure and ship sinkings off the N.C. coast. The accompanying Instagram/TikTok videos also struck the perfect tone.
Finding purpose in an east Charlotte laundromat: I’m a sucker for a good story about an entrepreneur, but Lindsey Banks’ well-told profile of a 69-year-old laundromat owner on North Tryon Street sticks out as especially inspirational and uplifting. Lindsey traced his journey from feeling like a failure in his first few decades of life to starting a business with purpose: “I feel this sense of pride. I feel like I can push forward, and I can do so much more, and I can give back to the world.”
Why rage rooms are crushing it: Ashley Fahey’s examination of the business of rage rooms in the Charlotte region yielded plenty of fun surprises. Bonus: Don’t miss the video footage of Ashley working out her frustrations (with coworkers?) by demolishing a car hood and beer bottles with a baseball bat.
Honorable mentions:
Is Scout Motors about to sign a massive lease in Charlotte? An auto HQ for Plaza Midwood? (This turned out to be very true)
💻 We’re also counting down the top 10 most-read stories by Ledger readers on our Instagram and Facebook accounts.
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