News About Town: For the last 13 years the volunteer base of the Matthews Fire & EMS Department has relied on the “D Shift”, a Monday through Friday shift of career firefighters and EMS providers, to supplement emergency response coverage. This past Sunday (December 30), was the end of the D Shift era for the department as 24 career firefighters and EMS were scheduled alongside with the 60+ members of 3 volunteer shifts: A, B & C. The addition of 10 of those department members is a direct result of the property tax increase in 2018.

News Around Town: According to several websites, Matthews averages 44 inches of rain a year, while US Climate Data shows Charlotte usually receives 41.63. Hurricanes Florence and Michael filled the rain gauges and then some, as has an unusually rainy December. As of mid-December, the area has been well above the rainfall average with over 55-inches of rain…and it’s been raining steadily for the past couple weeks. 2018 is already the fifth-wettest year on record in the contiguous U.S. and in the top ten wettest years (since recording began) for the Charlotte region.

One Fun Thing: The super (non)scientific results are in, and we are here to present them in pie chart form because 1) PIE, and 2) charts make everything that much more official looking. If the last Monday of 2018 were an emoji it would be {drumroll} ClaSleCo! Clapping+sleeping+coffee all in one form. …now where is that button on the screen? Big shout out to “Heartsy Eyes” and “Waving Goodbye”; both worthy additions.