The Big South Conference has added HBCU football elite to its ranks. North Carolina A&T’s departure from the MEAC is complete, as the seven-time Black College Football National champions prepare for their first season in the Big South. The Aggies were selected third in the preseason poll, but for head coach and defensive coordinator Sam Washington, the transition is ongoing.

The musical theater dream continues for Bryson Battle. The June graduate of Hickory Ridge High School earned Best Actor at the 12th annual National High School Musical Theater Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards, on July 15. The prize also includes a $25,000 scholarship.

Charlotte FC’s inaugural head coach was introduced to the media and supporters on the one-year anniversary of the club’s brand launch. The 36-year-old Spaniard arrived the night before to take on a new challenge, one that will certainly require a lot of espresso, which is his caffeine of choice. “I have always wanted to experience what it is like to live in such a multicultural and multinational country where everyone has the possibility to live the American dream,” Ramírez said.

Jail shattered Kristie Puckett-Williams’ remaining sense of self-worth. Drugs and alcohol had dulled the pain of domestic violence. Crime supported her habit, which landed Puckett-Williams in the Mecklenburg County Jail for “months,” she said. Facing a cocaine trafficking charge in 2009, she took a plea deal to avoid giving birth in lockup, and twins Kade and Kaiden were born premature five days later. They spent 21 days in neonatal intensive care. “It took a huge toll on my already fragile mental health state,” Puckett-Williams said. “I entered into the system as a victim of severe domestic violence. None of the system’s responses to that violence promoted any healing or transformation of that trauma. The only thing it ever did was exacerbate and compound that trauma.”

Gabriele Cunningham is ready for the Olympics. The 23-year-old Mallard Creek High alumnus will compete in the 100-meter hurdles at the rescheduled Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which run July 23 through Aug. 8. The women’s 100-meter hurdles final is scheduled for Aug. 2 at 11:50 a.m. in Tokyo (10:50 p.m. on Aug. 1 in Charlotte). She leaves for Japan on July 24, and the community held a surprise sendoff at Mallard Creek over the weekend to wish her luck. Now comes the challenge.

After Lockdown: Life for the Formerly Incarcerated examines hurdles that many, if not most, people face once they are released from jails and prisons.

When Saichelle McNeill hears “no,” she believes “yes” is around the corner. McNeill, 43, faced an avalanche of “no” upon release from federal prison in September 2015 after a 27-month sentence for improper preparation of an income tax return, wire fraud and identity theft in Greensboro. She’d left behind a life with a six-figure salary and two homes. McNeill, who now lives in Charlotte, figured she’d return to her job at Kraft Foods since the crime wasn’t work-related. “Thinking that all things are fair, I hoped when I returned home, I could at least go back to the manufacturing world because my crime had nothing to do with what I was doing in the workplace,” she said.