DEJOY IS MERELY A TOOL IN TRUMP'S EFFORT TO DISRUPT THE ELECTION: Louis DeJoy, the Greensboro businessman and GOP mega-donor, may think of himself as a big shot with a lofty federal government appointment – U.S. Postmaster General. But to President Donald Trump, DeJoy is just another convenient bit-player in his dangerous and unrelenting effort to disrupt the 2020 elections. So far in North Carolina, it appears that request for mail-in ballots are both being handled expeditiously by local Elections Boards and mail service has been delivering requested ballots in a timely manner. Regardless, President Trump is determined to concoct an election crisis and plant distrust. First, he raised unfounded suspicions of potential fraud in connection with mail-in voting. Then he comes to North Carolina and tells voters to break the law – calling on voters to cast ballots by mail and then on Election Day try to vote again – to see if efforts to double vote are detected. He’s sought to raise doubts about the legitimacy of counting votes cast whether those delivered by mail or cast in person at early voting sites.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-dejoy-is-tool-in-trump-s-effort-to-disrupt-the-election/19280490/

IVANKA SWOOPS IN AT NC FARMER'S MARKET, JUNIOR IN HENDERSONVILLE: Ivanka Trump visited the N.C. State Farmers Market in Raleigh Thursday to tout a U.S. Department of Agriculture program meant to provide hungry families with food boxes during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the 2020 presidential election less than two months away, the Trump campaign, and members of the Trump family, are showing a renewed focus on North Carolina, which is expected to be a swing state. Donald Trump Jr., one of the president’s sons, also was in North Carolina on Thursday, visiting Hendersonville. Thursday’s visits come on the heels of dual Trump family visits Tuesday, when the president held a rally in Winston-Salem, and Eric Trump, another son, visited High Point. Last week, the president stopped in Wilmington to name it the nation’s first World War II Heritage City. During a late August visit to Mill River, the president announced he was setting aside another $1 billion for the food box program, bringing its total to $4 billion.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article245623110.html

DEM GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT OVER ABSENTEE BALLOT "CURES": Several Democratic groups sued on Tuesday demanding that North Carolina block a provision requiring residents to cast their vote over from scratch if a witness fails to sign or provide an address on the envelope containing their absentee ballot. State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said in a memo last month that envelopes lacking a witness name, signature or address are declared “spoiled," and a new ballot must be mailed to the voter. The requirement violates the state constitution, in part because it places an undue burden on the right to vote for those without the required witness information, the lawsuit filed in Wake County court says. It argues that the registered voter could miss out on voting due to delays in receiving a new ballot.
https://www.wral.com/democratic-groups-sue-to-seek-fixes-for-more-nc-ballots/19276442/

NC HOSPITALIZATIONS DUE TO COVID 19 ARE DOWN TO 830: At least 176,901 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,890 have died, NC DHHS reported. The number of completed COVID-19 tests increased by 32,079 Sunday to 2,442,950. About 6% of the tests were positive as of Saturday, the latest date available. The number of those in the state hospitalized for COVID-19 decreased by one on Sunday to 830, according to DHHS. The last time the COVID-19 hospitalization numbers were so low was on June 16, when 829 people were hospitalized. Hospitalizations continued to increase thereafter and peaked at 1,236 on July 29.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article245530830.html

DURHAM POLICE DREW GUNS ON 3 CHILDREN AT APARTMENT COMPLEX: More than 100 people came together Friday night to speak out after Durham police officers recently drew their guns on a group of Black children at an apartment complex. Three children — ages 9, 11 and 15 — were playing tag at Rochelle Manor Apartments when five officers pointed guns at them and told them to freeze, two of the children have told media outlets about the Aug. 21 incident. Officers handcuffed the 15-year-old boy, they said. “I don’t want to have to be scared when I go outside,” Jaylin Harris, the 15-year-old, told those gathered outside Durham City Hall on Friday. “I want to be free.” In a statement Sunday, Police Chief C.J. Davis expressed remorse and said officers had approached the children with their guns drawn because they were responding to a report of a man with a gun who had been involved in an earlier shooting.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article245502800.html