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First in an occasional series.

By Kathleen [email protected]

Tell me its cooled off out there, says the woman behind the

counter at Tonys Ice Cream in Gastonia.

Nah, not even close. At 7:30 p.m., the sunlight hasnt begun to soft-

en, the bank clocks have barely backed down from 97 degrees. The

red booths lining the walls inside are still filled with the fast-dinner

crowd, little kids hurrying to finish that last bite of hot dog to reach

the promised land of ice cream.

The hard part isnt deciding to end a hot day with ice cream at

Tonys. The hard part is deciding how.

The board lists 29 flavors, made in the brick factory across the

street. Then there are issues like banana split or hot fudge cake. Hot

fudge sundae, pineapple sundae, strawberry sundae or nut sundae.

Pint, cup or cone. Or maybe a milkshake, mixed in a tall waxed cup,

long spoon and straw jabbed through a final scoop of ice cream

packed on top.

A SWEET EVENING

AT TONYS ICE CREAM

PHOTOS BY JEFF WILLHELM [email protected]

Outside, the summer night is dark and humid. But the air conditioning is humming inside Tonys Ice

Cream in Gastonia, and the freezers are stocked with 29 flavors of frozen happiness.

What do summernights mean to you?

When the sun goes downand the heat subsides, asummer night can turn mag-ical. In coming weeks, Ob-server writers and photog-raphers will celebrate sum-

mer nights in the Carolinasthrough stories and photos.

You can help.E-mail us a comment

about what summer eveningsmean to you. Maybe you likestargazing, or sitting on yourfront porch and watchingfireflies.

Your comment can be afew words or a sentence but no longer than a sen-tence. You can also post acomment to this story online.

Well take all of the com-ments and assemble theminto a story. Leave your nameon the comment and well tryto credit everybody who

contributes.Want to e-mail your sub-mission, including photos?Send to editor Steve Gunn [email protected] for submissions:July 7.

Tashina Azures jaw drops as her chocolate shake arrives, topped

with a scoop of ice cream. With her is Alex Bolick, left.

WHATS YOUR

FAVORITE ICE CREAM

SPOT?

Wheres your favorite spotto get a scoop? Share itwith the rest of us onInsight, the Observers newFacebook application.theobserverinsight.com

SEE TONYS, 4A

85o 63o

Forecast: Partly sunny and mild withisolated thunderstorms. 10C

GEDDINGS RELEASEDFROM PRISONAttorneys for Kevin Geddings

plan to ask a federal court in

Raleigh today to

nullify the convic-

tion of the former

N.C. lottery com-

missioner, who was

released Wednesday

from a federal pris-

on in Georgia. He had been con-

victed of failing to disclose con-

sulting payments. 1B

Kagan confirmation l ikely,both parties agreeSupreme Court nominee Elena

Kagans confirma-

tion appeared al-

most certain

Wednesday as she

spent a third day

telling Senate Judi-

ciary Committee

members that she has no ideo-

logical agenda. 5A

House OKs sweepingbanking regulations

Nearly two years after a WallStreet meltdown left the econo-

my reeling, the House passed a

massive overhaul of financial

regulations on Wednesday that

would extend the governments

reach from storefront thrifts to

the executive suites of Manhat-

tan. Senate support for the bill

remained in flux. 5A

Surprise at WimbledonFor the first time in eight years,

Roger Federer wont be in the

final. 1C

Elizabeth Edwards:Leaving was terrifyingElizabeth Edwards called the

decision to leave her

philandering hus-

band terrifying butsaid she plans to

sell the couples

sprawling Chapel

Hill house and move

on with her life. 1B

This summers hottesthair trend: BraidsWith several variations French

braids, side braids, rope braids

and fishtails you can try a

different style every day of the

week. 1D

Kagan

Geddings

Edwards

TODAYS MUST-READS

Spoiled flight: A container of

spoiled meat on an Atlanta-to-

Charlotte US Airways flight led to

an unsavory surprise for pas-

sengers. 2B

Not just a mall: Visitors to East-

land Mall on its final day talk

about what theyll miss most. 1B

Roger Federer: Losing is not

something Im used to.

TOM LOVELOCK AP

Ask Amy ............5DBusiness..........10AClassified ..........6CComics ..........4-5DEditorial............12AHoroscope ........4DLottery ...............2AMovies................3DObituaries .........4B

Sports.................1CTV........................ 3DDeliveryAssistance or toSubscribe.....800-532-5350To subscribe toOnTV magazine...... 877-800-1335

75THURSDAY JULY 1, 2010 charlotteobserver.com

+

Price varies by county C D E F

READ BY

1 MILLION+

IN PRINT

AND ONLINE

2010 The Charlotte Observer

Vol. 141, No. 182

+

questions on the Bobcats and NBA free-agency. SPORTS5

By Jim [email protected]

The Democratic National Committee an-nounced Wednesday that Charlotte is one offour finalists for its 2012 convention, putting thecity closer than ever to landing a national politi-cal gathering.

Its a huge deal, Mayor Anthony Foxx, aDemocrat, said Wednesday night. The 2012Democratic National Convention carries a sig-nificant and positive economic impact and willalso put our city, our region and our state on aninternational stage.

Charlotte will compete with Cleveland, Min-neapolis and St. Louis. The party is expected tochoose a site by the end of the year.

A convention would be an economic boon.Denver officials estimated the 2008 Democraticconvention brought the area a $266 million eco-nomic benefit.

We have a great opportunity, and were go-ing to put everything we can to try to win thisthing, said Tim Newman, CEO of the CharlotteRegional Visitors Authority.

Skeptics say nobody should get their hopes

Charlotte

a finalist

for Dems

in 2012City joins Cleveland, Minneapolis,

St. Louis as potential host cities for

Democratic National Convention.

SEE FINALIST, 4A

By Tom Breen

And Jay ReevesAssociated Press

NEW ORLEANS With hurricane-whippedwaves pushing more oil onto the Gulf of Mex-icos once-white beaches, the governmentpinned its latest cleanup hopes Wednesday on ahuge new piece of equipment: the worlds larg-est oil-skimming vessel.

The Taiwanese-flagged former tanker namedthe A Whale is the length of 312 football fieldsand stands 10 stories high. It just emerged froman extensive retrofitting to prepare it for theGulf, where officials hope it will be able to suckup as much as 21 million gallons of oil-fouledwater per day.

As the monstrous vessel made its way towardthe Gulf Coast, large waves churned up by dis-tant Hurricane Alex left Alabama beaches splat-tered with oil and tar balls the size of apples. Therough seas forced most smaller skimming boats

SEE OIL SKIMMER, 6A

Gulf to get

help from bigoil skimmerChoppy seas from Hurricane Alex

could hamper the clean-up efforts.

COMING FRIDAY

A full-page hurricane tracking map that you cansave and use to track tropical storms for 2010.

By Stella M. [email protected]

A former Bank of Americabranch manager in Charlotte,charged last month with tak-ing bribes, recently worked

for Wachovia as a fraud spe-cialist the latest twist in anelaborate mortgage fraudcase.

The revelation about VicHenson came in federal court Wednesday. Following hercase, the prosecutor and a de-fense attorney sparred overwhether to allow another de-fendant in the case, who is aflight attendant, to fly inter-nationally for work.

Prosecutors dont want Sa-rena Mobley to leave thecountry because she, likeHenson, potentially faces a

long prison term on severalcharges. Mobley, who is alsoan actress, received $200,000as a kickback on the fraudu-lent $1.5 million sale of one Waxhaw house, court docu-ments allege.

Mobley and Henson areamong 35 defendants in acomplex mortgage fraud case

involvingpricey homes

in Mecklen- burg andUnion coun-ties. So far, 25have agreedto plead guil-ty, the first inNovember

2008. On Wednesday, Mob-ley and Henson were in courtto hear the charges againstthem and have conditions oftheir release set.

Henson, 41, was indictedlast month on conspiracy,fraud, bribery and other

Bribery suspects job:Bank fraud specialistIronic job for former

Charlotte banker, one

of 35 people charged

in mortgage scam.

SEE FRAUD, 4A

Henson

DAVIE HINSHAW [email protected]

A Charlotte firefighter helps a motorist retrieve items from her flooded car

after the water receded on Hawthorne Lane near Central Avenue Wednesday

afternoon. Along with the rains came lower temperatures. Story, 1B

FLOODED STREETS, LOWER TEMPERATURES

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1A-1st-Jul01-Final-Asection-01-1