NC HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR COVID 19 CONTINUE DOWNWARD TREND: At least 842,637 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 10,926 have died since March, according to state health officials. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday reported 2,541 new COVID-19 cases. At least 1,647 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Sunday, marking the fifth day in a row that hospitalizations have declined. As of Friday, more than 1.1 million first doses and more than 608,000 second doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been administered in North Carolina. Some Triangle county health departments have had to reschedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments as some doses were not shipped last week due to snow and ice that hit much of the country.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article249415830.html

2 MORE NC RESIDENTS CHARGED IN CAPITOL INSURRECTION: Two more North Carolina residents — including a Davidson County woman accused of being part of a right-wing militia group — have been arrested in connection with the violent Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol. They were identified in newly released court documents Friday as Laura Steele, 52, of Thomasville, and Lewis Easton Cantwell, 35, of Sylva. Steele was one of six new alleged members of the right-wing group from three states who were arrested and charged with breaching the Capitol. The other included her brother, Graydon Young of Englewood, Fla., and two married couples: Kelly and Connie Meggs of Dunnellon, Fla.; and Bennie and Sandra Parker of the Cincinnati area. Cantwell, who had a midday hearing Friday in Asheville’s federal courthouse, is charged with storming the Capitol, destroying property, refusing to leave and interfering with a police officer and attempting to disrupt a government activity, among other crimes.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article249365625.html

GOP MOVE TO MAKE PROGRAM EVALUATION DIVISION PARTISAN DRAWS CRITICISM: The nearly 15-year-old unit said to have saved the state millions, known as the Program Evaluation Division, has more than a dozen staffers. They will be replaced by partisan staff tasked with similar duties in the coming weeks. Legislative leaders did not say whether staff would be laid off or transferred. Democrats aren’t alone in their discontent with the sudden change. Former Republican Rep. Craig Horn, who worked closely with the division as a chair of the committee that oversees it, said he was disappointed in the decision to eliminate the division. Turcotte announced on Twitter Monday morning the elimination of the division, saying since its inception, it has saved the state some $38.6 million annually, plus an additional $37.7 million. “My concern is that we’ve got a system of government now that is depending too much on belief and not on science and not on evidence,” Turcotte said.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249287710.html

GOP BILL WOULD PUNISH CITIES FOR CUTTING POLICE BUDGETS: Republican lawmakers want the state to discourage local governments in North Carolina from cutting funding for law enforcement. North Carolina state Sen. Chuck Edwards unveiled legislation Monday that would reduce state funding to any local government that cuts spending for its police or sheriff’s departments. The goal is to make it more difficult for local officials to heed calls to “defund the police” and shift money to social services and other programs. Edwards’ bill, Senate Bill 100, would apply to cities, towns or counties that cut salaries or other expenses for law enforcement by more than 1% of the government’s budget that year. “The Police Funding Protection Act seeks to encourage cities and counties not to defund their law enforcement agencies,” said Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican from Lumberton who is co-sponsoring the legislation.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249266455.html

RESOURCES FOR SCHOOL HEALTH, SAFETY MUST BE PART OF IN-PERSON MANDATE: North Carolina’s school students and teachers are better off when learning and instruction are going on in a classroom. But, amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, the State Senate legislation mandating it for most public schools (public charter schools are NOT included) lacks the funding for the necessary additional instructional staff to assure effective learning. There aren’t the appropriate health safeguards to assure schools aren’t hazardous and dangerous. No one should be required to risk their lives – and that is NO exaggeration – to fulfill some legislators’ political agenda. If it’s more than political posturing, there should be the money in the legislation to do things right. Opening schools takes more than waving some paper in the legislature and passing a mandate that lacks backing to get the job done.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/editorial-resources-for-school-health-safety-must-be-part-of-in-per...