VOLUME 6 ISSUE 45 | WWW.NSJONLINE.COM | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2022
Biden: More competition in meat industry can ease food costs Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden met virtually with independent farmers and ranchers to discuss initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing competition within the meat industry, part of a broader effort to show his administration is trying to combat inflation. “Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism — it’s exploitation,” Biden said. On food costs, Biden is looking at possible violations of the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act, which was designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers. Meat prices have climbed 16% from a year ago, with beef prices up 20.9%. Some industry groups are pushing back against the administration’s planned oversight of the food industry. Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the coronavirus and higher costs for energy and labor are driving meat prices higher, not the corporate structure of the industry. Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council, said, “This looks like a solution in search of a problem.” He said the administration is using the food industry as a “scapegoat for the significant challenges facing our economy.”
Morning in North Carolina
Brodie Lavalette fishes in the Duck surf on the Outer Banks as the sun rises the morning of Dec. 29.
Quick court case to decide fairness of NC maps begins
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Arguments began Jan. 3, end Jan. 6
Records: Wrong Ohio Wright brothers plate flew through approval Columbus, Ohio The backward Wright Flyer that was at the center of an embarrassing license-plate mistake in Ohio last year flew through the approval process with little to no discussion, records show. The flipped around plane — dragging a “Birthplace of Aviation” banner from its front, rather than its back end — appeared to be there from the outset, according to emails and images from the 15-month design process. The Wright brothers’ historic aircraft was intended as a symbol of Ohio’s place in aviation history, but it turned into a punchline in October, after the new plate design was unveiled and people immediately noticed it was oriented incorrectly. “Y’all leave Ohio alone,” tweeted the Department of Transportation in North Carolina, where the Wright brothers took their famous first flight in 1903. “They wouldn’t know. They weren’t there.” Some 35,000 plates were produced before the wrong Wright Flyer was caught. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
US manufacturing activity slows to 11-month low in December Washington, D.C. Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed in December to an 11-month low with companies still combating supply chain problems. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reported Tuesday that its index of manufacturing activity fell to a reading of 58.7 in December, 2.4 percentage points below the November reading of 61.1. Any reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, which has recorded 19 straight months of growth going back to the spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit. The December reading was the lowest since a matching 58.7 in January 2021. The slowdown in December reflected a decline in both new orders and in production. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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CORY LAVALETTE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
By David Larson North State Journal
Just what is the NC Commission for Public Health and who sits on the board? The NCCPH has legal authority to alter K-12 vaccination requirements By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The N.C. Commission for Public Health (NCCPH) says it is the “public health rulemaking body for North Carolina” and is “authorized and directed by the N.C. General Assembly to adopt rules to protect and promote the health of the public and to adopt rules necessary to implement public health programs administered by the Division of Public Health.” According to its website, the NCCPH was created by the General Assembly in 1877 and was originally named the State Board of Health. It was renamed once, in 1973, and then became the Commission for Public Health in 2007. In August 2021, the members of NCCPH had entertained the idea of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students across the state. The commission met virtually on Oct. 15 and members of the body joked about what they referred to as anti-vax and mask “rhetoric,” in audio obtained exclusively by North State Journal. The NCCPH is the only body other than the legislature that can require inoculation changes for the state’s K-12 public schools. The commission has four members appointed by the N.C. Medical Society and nine by the governor. The members of the NCCPH serve four-year terms. N.C. Medical Society appointed members include Dr. Janelle Rhyne, an internal medicine and infectious disease specialist from Wilmington; and Dr. Douglas Sheets, an OB/GYN from Rutherfordton. Additionally, Dr. Ronald May, who serves as chair, is the vice president of Medical Affairs at CarolinaEast Med-
ical Center in New Bern and had been previously appointed to the NCCPH by former Gov. Beverly Perdue in 2010. All of the gubernatorial appointees currently on the board are Gov. Roy Cooper’s, as he is now into his second term. But who are they? Dr. Don Chaplin is an internist from the Burlington area. He was a Medical Society appointee. Chaplin’s term expired Nov. 30 of this year, so his seat is now vacant. Dr. Joseph Gordon is a veterinarian from Raleigh. He’s served for 10 years on the N.C. Veterinary Board. Dr. Venkata Jonnalagadda is from Greenville and is the medical director for the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. Gene Minton is licensed pharmacist, CEO and owner of Drugco Pharmacies, and serves on the N.C. Board of Pharmacy. He resides in Littleton. Dr. Jimmie “Wayne” Riggins is an optometrist from Fayetteville. He is currently an assistant professor at Campbell University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Michael Riccobene is a licensed dentist with 35 branches of his firm, Riccobene Associates Family Dentistry. He serves on the UNC Dental School Board of Advisors and is from Wilmington. George Sweet, Jr. was appointed as the Professional Engineer/Soil Scientist Member. He is from Saluda, worked for Duke Energy for 35 years and is on the Macon County Watershed Council as well as the Little Tennessee Watershed Association. Sharon West is a registered nurse who was first appointed by former Gov. Pat McCrory. As she is still on the commission, Cooper must have reappointed her, however, unlike See NCCPH, page A2
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s maps for congressional and state legislative seats are getting their brief time in court after the state Supreme Court ordered the Wake County Superior Court to render an initial decision on the fairness of the maps by Jan. 11. Arguments began Jan. 3 and will conclude Jan. 6. This decision will then almost certainly end up back in the state Supreme Court after the losing party appeals. After 2020 U.S. Census results showed N.C. had gained enough population relative to other states to earn an extra congressional seat, the stakes were raised further in the once-a-decade map-drawing process — one constitutionally assigned to the state’s General Assembly and with no veto threat from the governor. With GOP majorities in
both the state House and Senate, Republicans were able to direct the process and passed new maps into law. According to the liberal groups who have since sued over the maps, though, Republicans drew the maps in a way that would tilt the partisan balance too much to their advantage. Initially, there were two separate court cases against the new maps by left-leaning groups, but the court decided to combine the cases. Voter groups Common Cause and the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) claim in the suit that the maps are unfair in that they create 10 solid Republican seats out of 14 total seats in a state where neither party dominates statewide races. Some initial fireworks in the case surrounded the “optimized maps” that the NCLCV proposed to replace the General Assembly’s maps. NCLCV initially would not reveal how its maps were created and wanted the person in charge of the process to be shielded from See MAPS page A2
NCDHHS updates schools guidance in final days of 2021 Majority of changes deal with quarantine process similar to CDC updates By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — In the final days of 2021, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services updated the guidance for the state’s K-12 schools to conform with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently shortened quarantine timeframes. The StrongSchoolsNC Toolkit (SST) was updated on Dec. 30 and the majority of changes were made in the section dealing with quarantining processes. That section, titled “Handling Possible, Suspected, Presumptive, or Confirmed Positive Cases of COVID-19,” was revamped to bring the quarantine days down from 10 to five across the three exclusion-from-school categories of diagnosis, symptoms and exposure. There was no change to guidance related to skipping quarantine so long as all parties involved were “appropriately and consistently” wearing masks regardless of vaccination status. According to the SST, this only applies “to exposures in classrooms, other in-school settings, and school transportation” but not for “exposures during extracurricular activities, including athletic activities.”
If one or both of the parties was unmasked and unvaccinated See EDUCATION, page A2