VOLUME 5 ISSUE 34
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Trump, Pence to make consecutive visits this week Greenville President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will each visit cities in eastern North Carolina this week. President Trump is scheduled to host a campaign event in Greenville at the Pitt-Greenville Airport on Thursday, Oct. 15. He made his first campaign appearance since testing negative for COVID-19 on Saturday in Florida. Vice President Pence will host a campaign event on Friday, Oct. 16 in Selma. NSJ STAFF
Tillis on Capitol Hill after clearance to end virus quarantine Raleigh Sen. Thom Tillis attended in person the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday, one day after his doctor told him he could end his self-quarantine for COVID-19. Tillis, who announced his positive coronavirus test Oct. 2, released a letter from his physician telling him he had fulfilled all the criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end his isolation. Tillis has said his symptoms were mild and ended within a few days of his virus announcement. Tillis, a Republican seeking reelection next month, had been at his North Carolina home through Monday, when he delivered online opening comments at Barrett’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member.
TOM WILLIAMS | POOL VIA AP
Amy Coney Barrett testifies at Supreme Court confirmation hearings Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michelle Obama, LeBron James team to help boost early voting Washington, D.C. A voter initiative led by Michelle Obama is partnering with a similar group founded by NBA star LeBron James and other prominent black athletes and entertainers to sponsor events in major U.S. cities starting next week to generate excitement about voting early for the Nov. 3 election. “Millions of Americans have already cast their ballot. Making your plan to vote early is critical,” Mrs. Obama said Tuesday. “It’s now up to us to do everything in our power to get our friends and family ready to vote early and safely together. We can’t leave anyone behind.” Mrs. Obama repeated her endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a lengthy new video message that was sharply critical of Republican President Donald Trump. In-person events are planned for Atlanta; Charlotte; Detroit; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Orlando; and Philadelphia. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
State Board of Education approves revisions to K-12 Strong Schools Toolkit Raleigh The N.C. State Board of Education approved updates to the health and safety guidelines in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services school guidance toolkit. The revised guidance for K-12 schools now includes language that “suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases” must be reported by school officials to their local health department. The health department then will reach out to close contacts and begin tracing efforts. In addition, should one child in a family test positive or be symptomatic, they must learn remotely and their siblings must also quarantine. Most of the Oct. 8 revisions center on testing. A.P. DILLON
Personal property, political signs destroyed and vandalized in multiple counties Cars spray-painted with profanity and the word ‘racist;’ billboards shredded; signs stolen
created the sign tell North State Journal it has been vandalized, painted or broken at least 20 times in the past two months. The parties maintaining the Olive Chapel Road sign resorted to using a trail camera to By A.P. Dillon keep tabs on the sign. On Sept. North State Journal 1, the camera coverage paid off. RALEIGH — Vandalism has A young male driving what apnot been limited to just political pears to be a Silver or light-coland campaign signs this election ored SUV is seen standing in year. Across the state, reports of front of the sign spray paintsuch vandalism also include per- ing it. On another occasion, two sonal residences and political young females were recorded tampering with the sign. party offices. The Apex Police In a Cary subdivision Department indicatin Wake County, two ed a number of recars parked in a famiports have been takly’s driveway were cov- “I don’t en from neighbors in ered in orange spray the area, but no suspaint and the word “rac- understand pects have yet been ist” was painted on the this kind of identified in that side of one of the vehicase. cles. The family’s two- thing. You’re Only one arrest car garage was also hit not going to pertaining to sign with orange spray paint change my vandalism has been with the words “F*** mind that made in the Apex Trump.” area so far. 18-yearThe homeowner did way.” old Caroline Quinn not want to be identiGayle was arrested fied but said that he was on Sept. 17 by Apex stunned vandals would Cary Police in connecattack his home over a homeowner tion with the vandalsign. A camera on the whose car and ism of a Trump camfamily’s home caught paign sign near Olive the vandal in the act garage were Chapel Road. Gayle of sneaking up to the spray-painted had sprayed profanhome just before 3:30 ity on the sign. She a.m. on Oct. 6. To date, was charged with inthe police have no susjury to personal property, a Class pects. “I don’t understand this kind 1 misdemeanor, instead of the of thing,” said the homeowner. state statute governing political He added that it was unnerving signs. Under North Carolina state to see the person caught on camera sneaking around his front law, it is a Class 3 misdemeanyard and said, “You’re not going or for a person to steal, deface, vandalize, or unlawfully remove to change my mind that way.” This is just one instance of a political sign that is lawfully private property being attacked placed under this section. The by vandals. Destruction of polit- sentence for defacing or stealing ical signs and banners started as a political sign can be up to 20 early as the primary season and days in jail and a $200 fine. In neighboring Holly Springs, continued on into August. In the Apex area of Wake a “Wake Strong” yard sign supCounty, a large wooden sign lo- porting law enforcement was cated on Olive Chapel Road in stolen from a front yard in the Apex has also been a target for vandals. The individuals who See VANDALISM, page A2
GOP favored to hold NC legislature with fewer Dem opportunities to flip seats in 2020 Democrats need to seize 5 Senate seats and 6 House seats to win control By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — In 2018, Democrats were able to break a Republican supermajority in both chambers of the N.C. General Assembly by flipping nine seats in the House and six in the Senate, mostly by focusing on the state’s quickly growing suburbs. This election, Democrats have their eye on taking the majority outright in at least one chamber, but this goal may be more elusive, with fewer viable pickups and the need to defend some of their gains from
close races two years ago. The Republicans have held a majority in both chambers of the state legislature since 2010 when a wave of conservative opposition to then-President Barack Obama put the party in power of both chambers for the first time since 1870. This control has been maintained in the 10 years since, but Democrats say they see an opportunity to take back control. “In 2018, we broke the Republican supermajority in the Senate. In 2020, we’re pushing that momentum even further and we’re poised to take back the Senate,” the North Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus declared on their website, saying their mission “is See LEGISLATURE, page A3
White House Coronavirus Task Force member shares COVID-19 testing, flu updates By Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — For the past seven months, the coronavirus pandemic has touched every corner of American life and even reached the halls of the West Wing. Yet during that timeframe, the president’s Coronavirus Task Force has worked to bring government and private industry together to develop tests, vaccines, and guidance for the nation. Recently, North State Journal interviewed Adm. Brett P. Giroir, M.D., who was appointed in 2018 as assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Giroir leads development of HHSwide public health policy recommendations and oversees several core public health offices, including the surgeon general. Giroir is a pediatric critical care specialist and physician scientist who has served in a number of leadership positions in the federal government as well as academia. Before taking the role in the Trump administration, he served as executive vice president and CEO of Texas A&M’s Health Science Center. “In February and March, we only had sophisticated referral laboratories. Today, we’ve done over 120 million tests and easily do over 1 million tests per day,” Giroir said, following an announcement of the BinaxNOW distribution to all 50 states. BinaxNOW is a what medical professionals call a “point-of-
care” test, meaning it does not require instrumentation to test the samples. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the test with particular emphasis on vulnerable populations. The See TASK FORCE, page A2