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VOLUME 5 ISSUE 15
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
18,860 COVID-19 patients presumed to be recovered Raleigh The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said that nearly 15,000 COVID-19 patients are presumed to have recovered from the virus as of June 1. NCDHHS estimates a median time to recovery of 14 days for non-fatal COVID-19 cases who were not hospitalized and 28 days for hospitalized cases. Estimates are used since patient-specific data on the actual time to resolution of symptoms are not available for all COVID-19 cases. NSJ STAFF
PATRICK SEMANSKY | AP PHOTO
NC House Speaker urged Gov. Cooper to call National Guard while filming in downtown Raleigh
President Trump visits historic church damaged by vandalism President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John’s Church across Lafayette Park from the White House Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Part of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night.
Raleigh N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) urged Gov. Roy Cooper to deploy the National Guard Saturday night while filming rioters and protesters setting fires, breaking windows, and firing weapons. He posted the eyewitness video to social media. “I am witnessing utter lawlessness firsthand in downtown Raleigh,” Speaker Moore said in one of several videos taken from his residence in Raleigh Saturday night. “The senseless destruction of businesses and property must be stopped at once. I am calling on Gov. Cooper to immediately send in the National Guard. As I am posting this I literally am hearing semiautomatic gunfire, hearing glass windows being smashed and shouts from rioters. Unbelievable this has not been stopped.” NSJ STAFF
U.S. Secretary of Labor visits state Mooresville U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia traveled to Mooresville where he joined business leaders for a roundtable discussion on reopening the economy safely. Secretary Scalia also toured a local Lowe’s store, met with frontline employees and discussed the reopening process with Lowe’s leadership team. “It was great to visit North Carolina today to hear from those who have been working through this pandemic as well as those who are excited to get back to work,” said Scalia. “I’m encouraged by the careful steps being taken by so many businesses to protect workers and customers as the economy begins to reopen.” NSJ STAFF
Cooper: Scaled down RNC convention ‘a necessity’ as deadline looms Raleigh In a new letter sent to RNC officials, Gov. Roy Cooper said he will not provide a guarantee that a full in-person convention will be allowed in Charlotte in August. Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said on Twitter, “we hope to still conduct the business of our convention in Charlotte, but we have an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business.” An RNC Convention spokeswoman told NSJ, “We intend to conduct the business of the Republican Party here in Charlotte and will continue to make health and safety a top priority.” In a letter last week, RNC officials said they needed to know whether a full-capacity convention would be allowed by June 3.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Fitness facility owners meet with Lt. Gov. Forest; say they can’t make it much longer By A.P. Dillon North State Journal CLAYTON —At the Fit4Life Gym in Clayton, almost two dozen owners of fitness clubs, dance studios and gyms from across the state held a meeting attended by Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. For over an hour, participants aired their frustrations and asked repeatedly why their industry is being kept shuttered by Gov. Roy Cooper’s Phase Two order. Fit4Life is owned and operated by Edward Smith and his wife, Robin. The pair are just two of many who formed the Reopen NC Health Clubs group on Facebook. The in-person attendees of the meeting held at Fit4Life sat socially distanced from one another but connected by the impact the governor’s orders are having on their lives and businesses. Frustration came from many attendees over the “contradictions of who can open, how and why.” Craig Cadogan and Danny Richani are a married couple
who live in the Wilmington area with their 11-year-old daughter. The pair are franchise owners of a HotWorx Infrared Fitness Studio which they opened on Feb. 14, just before closures across the country began due to the coronavirus outbreak. “We put all our life’s savings into it, because we believe in it,” Richani said. The couple has had to sell property and a family heirloom in order to stay afloat. Cadogan says it has been a “punch to the gut.” Richani and Cadogan both said they were proponents of flattening the curve and had even shut their gym down a few days before Cooper’s mandate was announced. Richani said they “wanted to make sure everyone was healthy and safe.” Cadogan and Richani said that they did receive $19,000 in federal PPP loans, but that money went to paying employees who depend on them and the gym’s rent. That left the couple with hard choices to make. See GYMS page A2
NSJ STAFF
A.P. DILLON | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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Fit4Life owner Edward Smith describes the preparations he made in anticipation of opening under Gov. Roy Cooper’s Phase Two order to Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.
Raleigh responds after weekend of protests turn violent Mayor declares state of emergency and curfew, while activists call for police chief to resign By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — The widespread civil unrest spreading across the nation did not skip over the Tarheel state, with every major city in North Carolina seeing peaceful protests and some seeing violence in response to the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, at the hands of a white police officer. The state’s capital city may have been hardest hit. While the gatherings in downtown Raleigh during the day on
Saturday and Sunday (May 30 and 31) were peaceful, and many families with young children were present, the crowds at night clashed with police. The storefronts along Fayetteville Street and the surrounding city center area were looted and vandalized both nights. Many Raleigh residents were glued to the television all Saturday night as they watched areas they frequented being set on fire or with looters clearing out the merchandise. The destruction drew an impromptu cleanup crew of locals the next morning. “All Saturday night I just watched it on TV, and it was just devastating to see what they were See RALEIGH page A2
US cities erupt in more violence as Trump urges governors to stop riots By Zeke Miller The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned up the pressure on governors to quell the violence set off by the death of George Floyd. As cities around the U.S. witnessed a seventh straight night of both peaceful demonstrations and bursts of theft, vandalism and attacks on police, the president amplified his hardline calls of a day earlier, in which he threatened to send in the military to restore order if governors didn’t do it. “NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD,” he tweeted. “The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart. Act fast! Don’t make the same horrible and deadly mistake you made with the Nursing Homes!!!” In New York on Monday night, people smashed shop windows near Rockefeller Center and breached the doors of Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street despite the first curfew in the city in decades. Police said nearly 700 people were arrested and several officers injured in the overnight violence. More than 20,000 National Guard members have been called up in 29 states to deal with the violence. New York is not among them. De Blasio has said he does not want the Guard, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he will not send it into the city against the mayor’s wishes. Some protesters framed the burgeoning movement as a necessity after a string of killings by police. “I fear for my safety every time
I get in the car to go for a drive. I fear of getting pulled over. I fear for all 10 of my brothers’ and sisters’ lives, for my parents’ lives!” 19-year-old Amari Burroughs of Parkland, Florida, said Tuesday as she prepared for another proSee TRUMP, page A2