VOLUME 5 ISSUE 16
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
State passes 1,000 COVID-19 deaths Raleigh Monday’s update from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services indicated the state surpassed 1,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus. “These are very concerning numbers,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen earlier this week. NCDHHS is also updating guidance on who should be tested for the virus, including those recently who have recently been in crowds not practicing social distancing. Mecklenburg County continues to lead the state in confirmed cases by county, followed by Wake, Durham, Forsyth, and Guilford. The number of people presumed to have recovered from the virus stands at 23,653. NSJ STAFF
Charlotte stops funding police chemical agents amid protests Mecklenburg County The Charlotte City Council voted to stop funding chemical agents for police use. The measure passed in a 9-2 vote Monday night after being introduced by councilman Braxton Winston, who was arrested during one of the protests. The police department has spent $103,000 on chemical agents in 2020, city budget director Ryan Bergman said. “It’s one step toward defunding the entire police department,” Tin Nguyen, an organizer and attorney, told the Charlotte Observer. Council member Ed Driggs, who voted against the ban, called it a “gratuitous dig at police.” While the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office announced it would stop using tear gas in protests, citing tensions with the community, a local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police slammed the decision as “dangerous” following the vote. “Without their use, this city would be on fire, and injuries would be much greater,” they said in a Facebook post. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Insurance telemarketers fined $225M for a billion robocalls Washington, D.C. Federal regulators proposed a $225 million fine, its largest ever, against two health insurance telemarketers for spamming people with 1 billion robocalls using fake phone numbers. The Federal Communications Commission said John Spiller and Jakob Mears made the calls through two businesses. Seven state attorneys general also sued the two men and their companies in federal court for violating the federal law governing. The fine is not a final decision. Spiller and Mears will have a chance to respond. ASSOCIATED PRESS
States jockey to host Trump as he accepts GOP nomination Washington, D.C. Several states are vying to host President Donald Trump when he accepts his party’s nomination in August. Nashville, Tennessee, and several cities in Florida are among those said to be in the running. Also being considered are venues in Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Arizona. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has called his capital “the best place in America to have a convention” and GOP officials scouted the location along with Savannah, Ga. last week. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has spoken with RNC officials and volunteered several cities, including Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami. “We would like to have it,” DeSantis said. He also criticized Gov. Roy Cooper for turning down over $100 million in business. ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANUEL BALCE CENETA | AP PHOTO
Congressional Democrats take a knee inside the U.S. Capitol House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, and other members of Congress, kneel and observe a moment of silence at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall, Monday, June 8, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Democrats split on push to defund police by some civil rights activists and a handful of progressive House Democrats. Protesters over the WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pres- weekend also painted “DEFUND ident Donald Trump and his al- THE POLICE” in large yellow lies have seized on calls to “de- letters on a street close to the fund the police” as a dangerous White House. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, example of Democratic overD-N.D., a white moderate who reach. Key Democrats, including pre- lost her 2018 reelection bid, said sumptive presidential nominee “defund the police” is “a horriJoe Biden, are distancing them- ble name” that misconstrues the selves from the “defund” push, goal. “By starting with the word which some supporters say is a symbolic commitment to end sys- ‘defund,’ you’ve left the impression that you are temic racism and shift doing something policing priorities rathmuch more radical er than an actual plan to than what needs to eliminate law enforce- “I support the done,” said Heitment agencies. energy behind be kamp, a leader of the Facing increasing One Country Projpressure to weigh in, it. I don’t know ect, which is trying Biden addressed the is- what that to help Democrats sue in an interview with substantively connect better with “CBS Evening News.” rural voters. “I don’t support de- means. As “This year has funding the police. seen the lowest I support condition- I’m talking to crime numbers in ing federal aid to police people about our Country’s rebased on whether or not the concept, corded history, and they meet certain basic now the Radical Left standards of decency, I’ve gotten Democrats want to honorableness and, in three different Defund and Abanfact, are able to demondon our Police,” strate they can protect explanations.” Trump declared on the community, everybody in the community,” NAACP President social media. “Sorry, I want LAW & ORBiden said. DER!” Other opponents Derrick Johnson The House GOP of the movement incampaign arm sent clude Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a former presidential out emails condemning “defund candidate and one of two black the police” and connecting it to Democratic senators, and Rep. Democratic candidates. “No industry is safe from Karen Bass, D-Calif., head of the Democrats’ abolish culture,” said Congressional Black Caucus. NAACP President Derrick Michael McAdams, a spokesman Johnson, in an interview, also de- for the National Republican Conclined to endorse calls to defund gressional Committee. “First they wanted to abolish private health the police. “I support the energy behind insurance, then it was capitalism it. I don’t know what that sub- and now it’s the police. What’s stantively means. As I’m talking next, the fire department?” Democrats on Capitol Hill unto people about the concept, I’ve gotten three different explana- veiled a sweeping proposal Monday that did not include plans tions,” said Johnson. Republican pollster Frank to strip funding from the police. Luntz, who thinks Democrats The package limits legal protecare well-positioned to win over tions for police, creates a nationthe political center this fall, said al database of excessive-force enDemocrats risk their advantage counters and bans police choke by embracing policies viewed as holds, among other changes. The radical following the death of changes, if enacted, would have massive implications on policing George Floyd in Minneapolis. Municipal officials in Min- in the U.S. neapolis have endorsed the “defund the police” language backed See DEMS page A3 By Steve Peoples The Associated Press
Governor rolls out guidelines for reopening schools Cooper says schools will only reopen based on metrics taken July 1 By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — During a COVID-19 briefing on June 9, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced the roll-out of guidance for the reopening of the state’s schools, potentially set for August. Cooper was joined by State Board of Education Chairman
Eric Davis and state school Superintendent Mark Johnson for the announcement. The governor said that “opening schools will depend on our health metrics.” The guidance document, which is about 26 pages long, states that the determination of whether or not schools will reopen will be based on the state’s COVID-19 metrics taken on July 1. “We very much want school buildings open. But we won’t be reckless with such an important See SCHOOLS page A2
NC-based Classical Conversations helps lead nation’s homeschool boom COVID-related school closings create potential ‘tipping point’ for movement David Larson North State Journal SOUTHERN PINES — There’s never been a better time for homeschool advocates in North Carolina. Since 2013 there have been more homeschooled students in the state than private school students, and if homeschooling were counted as a school district, it would be the third largest, right after Wake County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg. And now, the school closings and economic disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic are creating conditions that could further escalate this trend. A Southern Pines-based company, Classical Conversations, is at the forefront of this growing movement, not just in North Carolina but across the nation, of parents pulling their children from government-run schools and taking a more active role in their education. Leigh Bortins started Classical Conversations in 1997 as a gathering of 11 teenage boys in her Winston-Salem basement. Now, a couple decades later, one of those boys, her son Robert Bortins Jr, is the current CEO, and the company has moved out of the basement and is now in 43 countries and every U.S. state, with 8,000 students just in North Carolina. Robert Bortins told NSJ that the growth of CC has tracked closely with a boom in homeschooling nationwide, as it’s gone from being seen as fringe to mainstream, with around 5% of the school-aged population now homeschooled. He believes the country is reaching a tipping point where more people will see it as a viable option for their families. “Homeschooling has been growing about 4 to 8% a year for a
while now, but I’ve seen it really, in the last 3 or 4 years, become more of a mainstream option, where it went from, ‘I could never do that,’ to, ‘Oh, I have a friend who does that.’” Bortins said. He said the COVID-19-related shutdown of schools is also creating a lot of interest and growth, with up to 5 times more recruitment calls per day since the shutdowns. He also cited a Real Clear Opinion poll that said about 40% See HOMESCHOOL, page A2