Michael Graff

Johnny Jennings' legacy: CMPD chief announces retirement and reflects on 33 years — including this tumultuous final lap - The Charlotte Optimist CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings will retire on Jan. 1, 2026 with a $305,000 severance package that's broken up in several pieces.

New one tonight charlotteoptimist.com/cmpd-chief-j...

PGA Championship 2025: Adding to Quail Hollow's 'woodpile' - The Charlotte Optimist Johnny and Johno Harris reflect on Charlotte, golf, Rory McIlroy — and the future

On building up a city, a family legacy and a storied golf tournament. We are here today, and drinking in all CLT has to offer! @michaelngraff.bsky.social #thecharlotteoptimist #thequeencity #PGA #QuailHollow

charlotteoptimist.com/pga-champion...

It’s true what they say about Johnny Harris, at least the part about how you can hear him coming long before he arrives. He’s still a freight train, although maybe a little more polished and patient now in his late 70s than he was in his 30s. On Good Friday morning last month, five days after he was in Augusta to witness an electric Masters finish, and three weeks before the PGA Championship at his home Quail Hollow Club, his voice rumbled down the hallway like a Harley. And when he walked into the library to greet me, I thought the lights might flicker. He asked me where I wanted him and his son, Johno, to sit. I asked where might be most comfortable for him. “I don’t care,” he chuckled in a classic drawl that smashes I don’t into Ion. “I’ll sit wherever you tell me to.” I suggested the couch. “Well, two of us on the couch doesn’t look very good,” he said. He pointed to the card table on the other side of the room, and so that’s where “wherever you tell me to” would be.

lol'd at this @michaelngraff.bsky.social lede about one of Charlotte's most powerful men charlotteoptimist.com/pga-champion...

Charlotte's not an awkward teen anymore - The Charlotte Optimist A street-level look at life in Charlotte in 2025.

Always read @michaelngraff.bsky.social (which will be much easier to do if you sign up for The Charlotte Optimist). Fantastic debut piece: charlotteoptimist.com/charlotte-wo...

Thank you for taking the time to read it!

Charlotte's not an awkward teen anymore - The Charlotte Optimist A street-level look at life in Charlotte in 2025.

Just read inaugural essay by @michaelngraff.bsky.social - charlotteoptimist.com/charlotte-wo...
It’s a wonderful piece of writing. Subscribe and you, too, can read the Charlotte Optimist, a weekly Sunday column - helping to keep ties alive to my beloved former city 💕👑🌷

Journalist Michael Graff brings gratitude to your inbox with new publication The Charlotte Optimist's first story will be published on May 4.

"I hope it lasts a long time," says @michaelngraff.bsky.social.

It’s about time some of the real journalists in #CLT took their city back. Hell yes, @michaelngraff.bsky.social this is something I am genuinely excited to see!

Why I’m launching The Charlotte Optimist - The Charlotte Optimist Hello. Maybe you’re here because you’ve followed my work over the years, or maybe you’re hungry for new ideas for local media, or maybe you arrived by mistake and you’re already trying to close the wi...

My bud @michaelngraff.bsky.social launched The Charlotte Optimist today ... it's for Charlotte, but the way Mike writes, it'll be for everyone. Sign up now.

charlotteoptimist.com/why-im-launc...

Thank you for this, Ally. Means a great deal to me to see good Charlotte folks like you respond like this. Have high hopes.

Why I’m launching The Charlotte Optimist - The Charlotte Optimist Hello. Maybe you’re here because you’ve followed my work over the years, or maybe you’re hungry for new ideas for local media, or maybe you arrived by mistake and you’re already trying to close the wi...

This from @michaelngraff.bsky.social will be worth it.

Excited about this one. But I’d also be excited to subscribe to a @michaelngraff.bsky.social project about most anything.

A Graff substack comparing the consistency of oatmeal brands? Sign me up. A new Graff project about the hidden joy of formica? I’ll be an inaugural subscriber.

What is journalism, and why does it matter? - Nieman Storyboard Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Schmich's new podcast, plus Livingston Awards and local storytelling in Charlotte, North Carolina

Our Friday newsletter: How do you define journalism?

Plus: Mary Schmich revisits Studs Terkel's "Division Street," Livingston Award finalists, @michaelngraff.bsky.social's stories about Charlotte, and @nazriahi.bsky.social's ode to rejection.

niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/25/w...

#storytelling

Hats off to Easter, the only holiday that doesn’t end with fireworks in our neighborhood.

We live across the street from an Airbnb that’s kinda tucked behind a house, and let me tell you, people are not at their best when they arrive at a destination they can’t find.

My latest: The lawyer, the organizer, the priest, and the sheriff As the Trump administration ramps up deportations, my city is contending with the limits of its ability to protect its immigrant community. Plus, a political throwback to 1996 and some other good jou...

This week's edition of my newsletter features stellar journalism and storytelling by @allisonbsalerno.bsky.social, @cmgreer.bsky.social, @saragentzler.bsky.social, @mckenziefunk.com, @michaelngraff.bsky.social, @jeffreybillman.bsky.social, @natedimeo.bsky.social and others, plus my own latest story.

A Charlotte Regulator Gets DOGE’d A Charlotte lawyer—and lifelong Republican—with decades of blue-chip legal experience got the axe at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Jack Cobb, a lifelong Republican with decades of blue-chip legal experience, gave up a lucrative role in private practice role in 2024 to take a federal consumer-protection job. Then Elon Musk took a chainsaw to his agency. @michaelngraff.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social

Thank you, Jodie! And many thanks to Tommy for sharing.

A Charlotte Regulator Gets DOGE’d A Charlotte lawyer—and lifelong Republican—with decades of blue-chip legal experience got the axe at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The second, by my pal @michaelngraff.bsky.social, on a lifelong Republican who lost his job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cha...

SouthBound Government Podcast · Updated Monthly · The South … What is it? Movies, books, songs, myths and legends have tried to explain this part of the United States. SouthBound, a new podcast series from WFAE,...

Two DOGE stories for you this morning ... the first one, via my SouthBound podcast, on a UNC Charlotte professor whose team lost a grant on counseling for sexual violence in the LGBTQ community:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

EB White’s lovely “wind the clock” letter to a reader, written 52 years ago this week. lettersofnote.com/2012/01/06/w...

@lettersofnote.com

an orioles mascot stands in front of a crowd of people ALT: an orioles mascot stands in front of a crowd of people

Happy Opening Day!

Inherit The Courtyard - Charlotte Magazine During that long season, we found ourselves and each other in intimate spaces

“The city can be a lot.”

What I wrote a year ago.

www.charlottemagazine.com/inherit-the-...

John Feinstein, sports commentator and best-selling author, dies at 69 He had a long affiliation with The Washington Post and wrote books including “A Season on the Brink,” about Indiana University men’s basketball coach Bob Knight.

RIP John Feinstein. It’s hard to imagine what a breakthrough A SEASON ON THE BRINK was when it came out in 1986. It gave me and countless others a new idea of what sportswriting could be.

www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

This from @michaelngraff.bsky.social is gonna be good. Sign up.

Mr. @michaelngraff.bsky.social, one of the best writers, editors, and people I know, has a new project in the works, and you should sign up for it here: charlotteoptimist.com

Education Department employees placed on leave for attending diversity training Several employees began receiving leave notices late Friday.

Missed this amid the fire hose of news: The Trump admin is now putting Education Department employees on administrative leave for simply attending a diversity training offered by the agency. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Party like it's 1992: The Washington Commanders are back, and Richmond is cheering It's been 33 years since we had something to cheer for.

Wrote a little something the other day www.axios.com/local/richmo...

The Governor of NC has called for a GOP Supreme Court candidate to concede after I revealed for @propublica.org that Jefferson Griffin was trying to overturn his election loss by seeking to toss 5.5k military ballots--which is exactly the same way that Griffin has voted in the past. #ncpol

The magic of teammates Plus my weekly shareables: how (not) to make chili, the joy of museums, and 24 hours in a diner

Before the football resumes: Here's my latest newsletter, featuring great work from @greenwell.bsky.social and @mcsweeneys.net and Jason Isbell ... plus the thread connecting David Lynch and Bob Uecker.

tommytomlinson.substack.com/p/the-magic-...