BERGER'S "RELIEF" PACKAGE RAISES INCOME ELIGIBILITY FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS: Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said parents are at “their wit’s end.” The checks, which are being called “extra credit grants,” would be given to parents who filed taxes. For those who didn’t file, they would be able to apply for the grant, which is a flat amount regardless of how many children are in the household. $335 checks would be issued by Dec. 15. Part of the proposed bill also includes raising income-eligibility caps for opportunity scholarships, which are vouchers for private school. Republican leaders have said private schools opening for all-in-person learning this school year are an important school choice for parents. The state reopened in Plan B, which allows local school systems to decide how to operate with remote or a mix of remote and in-person learning with restrictions.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article245416500.html

FITNESS CENTERS OPEN IN DEFIANCE OF PHASE 2 RESTRICTIONS: Planet Fitness is reopening some gyms in North Carolina this week, despite a coronavirus executive order that keeps gyms closed. Crunch Fitness is also reopening gyms, ABC11, The News & Observer’s news partner, reported. And O2 Fitness says on its website that several locations in North Carolina are open as of Aug. 28. A spokesperson for Gov. Roy Cooper, Dory MacMillan, said in an email that Cooper would talk Tuesday about the next phase of easing restrictions on businesses, which would take effect later this week. The changes would come a week earlier than previously announced. A state Justice Department letter in June said indoor gyms should be open to people who use them as part of a medical treatment plan. Planet Fitness told members it will not require members to show documentation of medical need.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article245378940.html

NC LEADERS SHOULD BE MODELS OF PUBLIC TRUST, NOT RULE DODGERS: It is past time that North Carolina move away from the notion that government service was an opportunity, with access to insider information, to exploit it for personal and partisan gain. Lewis said he wanted to “put an unfortunate chapter behind me.” He apologized for his mistakes. But his statement didn’t apologize for abusing the privileged role he’d been granted by voters for the more than 17 years he served in the legislature. He should apologize to those voters for failing the trust they placed in him and for abusing his office and campaign to help himself. The General Assembly in particular and more broadly state government, needs a thorough examination of ethics standards for legislators, all other elected and appointed state and local officials. Citizens must be assured that the only interest of public officials is the betterment of the state and its people NOT their personal political and economic enrichment.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-n-c-leaders-should-be-models-of-public-trust-not-rule-dodgers/19250498/

RONNIE LONG RELEASED AFTER BEING WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED FOR 44 YEARS: In the mid-1970s, Long was a 20-year-old Black man living in Concord when he was accused of raping a white woman. He was convicted in 1976 by an all-white jury that included members who had connections to the victim — the 54-year-old widow of a former textile executive at Cannon Mills, the town’s biggest employer. Long was sentenced to 80 years in prison. His release comes as the country — and Long’s home state — find themselves engaged in a renewed debate over how Black men and women are treated by police and the courts. Long’s attorneys have said that more than 40 fingerprints collected from the rape scene were never shared and did not match Long’s. Semen samples also were never disclosed to the defense. They later disappeared.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article245291955.html

TILLIS NOT INVITED TO SPEAK AT RNC, SAYS CRAZY GUN COUPLE "EVERYDAY PEOPLE": Some of his fellow senators are speaking, portions of the convention were held not far from Tillis’ home in the Charlotte suburb of Cornelius, and he’s facing a close re-election campaign this fall against Democratic former state legislator Cal Cunningham. But Tillis said he has no hard feelings over not being given time to address an audience of conservatives around the country. He referenced some of the non-politicians who are speaking, like the St. Louis couple who made national news for drawing guns on protesters who came into their neighborhood, and said he’s glad the RNC is putting “everyday people” on screen and “not just a stream of politicians with all these prepared statements.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article245224710.html