NC'S POSITIVE TEST RATE FOR CORONAVIRUS DOWN TO 4.2%: At least 872,176 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 11,502 have died since last March, according to state health officials. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,027 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down from 2,093 new cases reported the day before. At least 1,179 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Saturday, down from 1,226 reported the day before. As of Thursday, the latest day for which data are available, 4.2% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. More than 1 million people in North Carolina have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine as of Thursday. A total of 2.7 million doses have been administered statewide.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article249767108.html

RALPH HISE IS TRYING TO SMOTHER RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: Hogshead said that H196, which passed the state House and Senate on Thursday, would essentially require the HOPE program to maintain 100 smaller rental programs — one in each county. “It will be chaos, which is the last thing we need in a program that folks are really counting on,” Hogshead said. “It’s about delivering these funds where the need is across the state, and yes, that’s going to require work,” Hise said in an interview with The N&O. Samuel Gunter, executive director of the N.C. Housing Coalition, a nonprofit affordable housing advocacy organization, opposes the provisions in H196. He told The N&O in a phone interview that the most important thing right now is speed. “When we come down with resources, we want to attach all of these strings and make it very difficult for individuals to access it,” Gunter said. “It becomes incredibly difficult for folks to access the help they need in a timely manner.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249697408.html

REPUBLICANS PUSH BILLS TO INCREASE SPECTATORS AT SPORTING EVENTS: High schools and colleges would be allowed to fill up their stands to half capacity during the coronavirus pandemic under a bill approved Wednesday by the state House. The state Senate has passed its own bill expanding capacity at school events. And both Republican-controlled chambers are pushing ahead with separate legislation that could bypass the Democratic governor. The House voted 77-42 to allow up to 50% capacity at indoor and outdoor sporting events and graduations at UNC System schools, community colleges and K-12 schools. The bill comes after Gov. Roy Cooper recently eased COVID-19 restrictions to allow up to 15% capacity at indoor venues and 30% capacity at outdoor venues.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249669078.html

MADISON CAWTHORN EXPOSED FOR A LIFETIME OF FALSEHOODS: Cawthorn said a close friend had crashed the car in which he was a passenger and fled the scene, leaving him to die “in a fiery tomb.” Cawthorn was “declared dead,” he said in the 2017 speech at Patrick Henry College. He said he told doctors that he expected to recover and that he would “be at the Naval Academy by Christmas.” Key parts of Cawthorn’s talk, however, were not true. The friend, Bradley Ledford, who has not previously spoken publicly about the chapel speech, said in an interview that Cawthorn’s account was false and that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreckage. An accident report obtained by The Washington Post said Cawthorn was “incapacitated,” not that he was declared dead. Cawthorn himself said in a lawsuit deposition, first reported by the news outlet AVL Watchdog, that he had been rejected by the Naval Academy before the crash.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249592343.html

BILL REQUIRING IN-PERSON LEARNING RELIES ON LUCK NOT REALITY: The leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly treat legislation like a wish to the genie in the lamp. The demands in legislation, like requiring in-person classroom instruction for most public schools will instantly happen because, poof, the bill becomes law. For this legislation to work, several assumptions that are far out of the control of mere mortals – even esteemed and powerful state legislators – must align. The reality, as legislators have been repeatedly shown over the years but refused to acknowledge, is that commands for action require understanding, planning, communication, resources and consensus. For some reason, legislators who often crow that local governance and decision-making is their strong bias, feel this one-size-fits-all solution is best. This legislation prevents communities from making their own assessment of local needs and conditions to make these sensitive decisions.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/editorial-bill-requiring-in-person-learning-relies-on-luck-not-real...