North State Journal Vol. 5, Issue 7

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 7

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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

the Wednesday

NEWS BRIEFING

Kayleigh McEnany named White House press secretary Washington, D.C. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham will be assuming a new role as chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. She had continued to represent the first lady while also holding the titles of press secretary and White House communications director since June of last year.

She will be replaced by two women who are familiar names in Trump world. Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany will be joining the administration as press secretary, while Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah will be moving to the White House in a strategic communications role. Farah worked for new White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, both in his congressional office and later as spokeswoman for the House Freedom Caucus, before joining the Trump administration.

State Health Plan waives costs linked to COVID-19 treatments Raleigh State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced the State Health Plan will waive the cost of treatment for members diagnosed with COVID-19. It was previously announced that the cost associated with the testing of COVID-19 was also covered.

The State Health Plan covers over 727,000 teachers, state employees, current and former lawmakers, state university and community college personnel and their dependents. The member cost-share waiver for COVID-19-related treatments is effective immediately and runs through June 1, 2020.

Additional changes to medical and pharmacy benefits have also been made. Changes include expanded virtual access to providers, waiving prior authorizations for covered services related to COVID-19 that are ordered by a physician or are medically necessary, and waiving early medication refill limits on 30-day prescription maintenance medications.

For the Plan’s UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members, there will be no cost for the COVID-19 test, and copays and coinsurance have been waived.

Butner has most confirmed COVID-19 cases in federal prison system Raleigh As of Tuesday afternoon, the federal prison in Butner had the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 39 positive tests. In response, the Bureau of Prisons is securing inmates in their assigned cells/quarters to decrease the spread of the virus for 14 days. The BOP is coordinating with the United States Marshals Service to significantly decrease incoming movement.

Acting Navy secretary resigns after calling fired captain ‘stupid’ Washington, D.C. The Navy’s acting secretary resigned after a profanityladen broadside in which he called the fired commander of the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt “too naive or too stupid.”

At least 173 sailors aboard the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday, and about 2,000 of the 4,865 crew members had been taken off the ship to be tested.

Thomas Modly issued a written apology hours after President Donald Trump described his comments about Capt. Brett E. Crozier as “rough.”

Modly submitted his resignation letter after meeting with Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday.

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U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO BY ROBERT JORDAN, NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD PUBLIC AFFAIRS/RELEASED

North Carolina National Guard assists with medical equipment shipments N.C. National Guard Soldiers help distribute shipments from the Strategic National Stockpile to local health officials. The NCNG has been working with State Emergency Response partners on the COVID-19 pandemic.

NORTH

STATE

JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

Camp Lejeune teen is Military Child of the Year for Marine Corps ing roughly 100 hours to getting clearance and volunteers for the cleanup project.

Academically Cooper is inCAMP LEJEUNE — Big hearted 16-year-old Nikolas Coo- volved with the National Honper is devoted to helping his com- or Society and tutoring peers in munity and has been recognized Spanish and mathematics. Those activities have earned for his efforts this year Cooper recognition for in being selected Miliboth achievement in tary Child of the Year® for the Marine Corps.

The Military advanced placement courses and for leadThe Military Child Child of the ership in the Marine of the Year award each Corps Junior Reserve year recognizes six out- Year award Officer Training Corps standing young peo- each year (JROTC) in which he ple ages 13 to 18. There are six winners selected, recognizes 6 serves as a cadet staff sergeant. one to represent each outstanding In addition to JRbranch of the armed TOC, he is also presiforces — the Army, Ma- young dent of his class and is rine Corps, Navy, Air people ages involved with the LeForce, Coast Guard, and 13 to 18. jeune community’s RoNational Guard. tary Club.

The six finalists are There are Athletics is anothchosen from 35 semi-fi- six winners er area in which Cooper nalists selected by a excels. He participatpanel of judges. The selected, ed in varsity track and judges are chosen by one to cross-country teams unOperation Homefront’s til a heart condition disenior leadership and represent agnosis cut those activBooz Allen Hamilton, each branch short. Undeterred, a global technology and of the armed ities Cooper then became management consulting forces — the track team managfirm. er until doctors cleared Criteria for the award the Army, him to run again. Once includes a dedication to back on the track and scholarship, volunteer- Marine in shape, he helped his ism, leadership, extra- Corps, team place first in the curricular activities and region and seventh in how they balance the Navy, Air the state. challenges of military Force, Coast Other activities Nifamily life.

Guard, and kolas Cooper particiCooper is a junior at pates in include SemLejeune High School in National per Fi Fund Kids Camp, Camp Lejeune, North Guard.

Student Government Carolina. According to Association, St Francis a bio provided by OperXavier Church and Haration Homefront, he is the son Mary and David Cooper, riott B. Smith Library.

A seventh award given out is a Marine Corps first sergeant. He has three younger sisters of whom the Military Child of the Year® he looked after through his fa- Award for Innovation. This award is presented by Booz Allen Hamther’s deployments.

For fun, Cooper enjoys his two ilton and is given to a military Siberian huskies, running with child who has designed “a bold friends and running in the annu- and creative solution” to a local, regional or global challenge. al Marine Corps Half Marathon.

The awards ceremony was set Over the last year, Cooper has spent over 300 hours doing men- for April 2 in Arlington, Virgintoring and tutoring, as well as ia, but has been canceled due to working on community projects. the COVID-19 outbreak. Prizes One project Cooper organized for the winners include various was community debris clean- gifts from donors, $10,000 and a up around base housing, dedicat- laptop.

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

‘Unprecedented’ unemployment hits NC amid coronavirus shutdown

By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — Between March 16 and April 6, 445,101 unemployment claims were filed in North Carolina, according to the state’s Division of Employment Security, which is housed under the N.C. Department of Commerce. Of these claims, at least 388,404 were directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown. Larry Parker, government and public relations manager for the DES, told North State Journal that this number is likely even higher because, in the early days of this period, they did not provide that category as an op-

tion for those filing claims.

“It’s definitely unprecedented,” Parker said. “We didn’t have 400,000 claims in a month during the recession. It took us a month to reach 100,000 claims in the recession. So for us to hit over 400,000 in just a few weeks shows you the amount of traffic that’s coming through our site.”

Much of the economy has been shut down after Gov. Roy Cooper’s “stay-at-home” order to combat COVID-19 infections, and this has led to a glut of unemployment claims.

Three economics professors, writing for the personal finance See JOBS page A2

Military in NC see COVID-19 cases

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal FORT BRAGG — According to a social media post by U.S Army installation Fort Bragg, the base currently has 12 positive COVID-19 cases, with two new cases reported by Cumberland County Health Department on March 28.

“The two positive individuals are a Department of the Army Civilian and their spouse (who had recently traveled out of country). They are isolated in their off post residence,” the Facebook post reads.

The post also says that Cumberland County Public Health is handling the investigation and will notify anyone who might need additional monitoring and testing.

In another Fort Bragg Facebook update on March 31, it was announced that new guidance had been released by the Department of Defense directing individual military installations to no longer release the numbers of COVID-19 cases present on their bases. The case reporting blackout is to “protect Operational Security,” but bases are to continue working with local health officials.

Fort Bragg has a population of 52,280 active duty soldiers and 62,962 active-duty family members. Additionally, there are 12,624 reserve and temporary-duty students, 8,757 civilian employees and 3,516 contractors. All of these groups make Fort Bragg the largest base in terms of population in the country.

Fort Bragg troops who are or will be coming home from countries which pose a high COVID-19 risk, like Afghanistan, are required to comply with an immediate 14-day quarantine.

Barracks and tents have been supplied for soldiers who may need them and the USO of North

Carolina has been providing those in quarantine with a steady supply of drinks, snacks and items to address personal hygiene needs. Fort Bragg and the USO have helped keep the quarantined soldiers entertained with game consoles, gym equipment and movies.

Fort Bragg troops will be deployed in the coming week to areas like New York and Washington State where COVID-19 cases are high. Units from Fort Bragg See COVID-19 page A2

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

A2 WEDNESDAY

4.8.20 #227

“Esse quam videri”

THE WORD: UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE

It’s Easter week! Across the globe, many are suffering from the hardships thrust upon them by the coronavirus outbreak and resulting shutdown. The holiest week in the Christian calendar begins with suffering and ends with triumph. A classic hymn, “Low in the Grave He Lay,” is undoubtedly popular because of its musical transition from melancholy verses to an exultant refrain. Many hymnals title the song as “Up from the Grave He Arose” because so many know the chorus.

Similarly, we all know the ending to the Easter story. But before the triumphant resurrection, there was death and waiting.

Luke 24: 2-3 (KJV) 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

Visit North State Journal online! nsjonline.com North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

President Donald Trump listens as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a conference call with banks on efforts to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, at the White House, Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Neal Robbins Publisher Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Cory Lavalette Managing/Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor Emily Roberson Business/Features Editor David Larson Associate Editor Lauren Rose Design Editor

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site wallethub.com on April 2, said that based on U.S. Department of Labor data, North Carolina has had the second-highest rate of unemployment increase in the nation, with a more than 6,000% jump since the end of 2019. Only Louisiana has fared worse.

“Prior to the week of March 16, we were averaging about 3,000 per week,” Parker said. “You can see that in one day, on a Sunday last week, we had over 16,000 — more than five times what we typically do in a week, we did in one day.”

The volume of contact with the state’s DES has been so high, both online and by phone, that they have had to upgrade their servers and add many more call center workers. In a sign of the level of disruption to overall employment in the state, the additional call center workers have been sent over by the N.C. Works program, also overseen by the Department of Commerce. This office, according to Parker, used to be known as the “unemployment

office” because they “are really there to help people find work.”

In short, the rush of phone calls from people out of work from the shutdown are being answered by others out of work from the shutdown.

Ray Starling, general counsel for the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, addressed the state House’s COVID-19 Economic Support Working Group on April 7 and shared with them some of the data they are receiving from their national partners.

He told them that, “a staggering 1 in 4 businesses have already shut down. Among those who haven’t shut down yet, 40% report it is likely they will shut temporarily this week or next week.”

The N.C. Chamber’s president and CEO, Gary Salamido, told NSJ that what the state’s business community is looking for at the moment is certainty.

“They want to protect their people and retain their employees, so as much certainty as they can have on what to expect, the better they are able to plan and find ways to do that,” Salamido said.

At the moment, the N.C. Chamber reports a negative “circular pattern” where “consumer sentiment is completely disrupted,” which has a negative impact on consumer spending. But consumer spending “accounts for 70% of U.S. GDP,” and “the key to consumer spending is employment,” which has taken a drastic hit.

One regulation has been temporarily lifted, the 10-day waiting period to allow employers to challenge the claims. An executive order from Cooper waived the “work search” requirement on the weekly filings. If the filer has been impacted by coronavirus, whether or not they are looking for work, they are instructed to mark the “yes” box saying they have been searching.

“It’s very difficult to go out there and find work right now, so it certainly makes it a lot easier on these hundreds of thousands of people who are out of work due to COVID-19,” Parker said on the work search being waived. “I think anybody who has been impacted by COVID-19, whether you’ve been laid off or had your

hours reduced, should certainly apply for unemployment; that’s what it’s there for.”

Parker said the unemployment trust fund had a $3.8 billion balance before the pandemic, and all the initial claims from COVID-19-related job loss will come from that. Beyond that, DES is waiting for guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on how to fund everything from the CARES Act, which for some filers could provide an additional $600 a week and 13 weeks of benefits.

“We have not been here before and there is not a scenario in recent memory that compares, so it is challenging to forecast what a recovery will look like,” Salamido said on how the state will pull out of the crisis. “The NC Chamber team is in close contact with our membership, and we continue to share feedback with our state’s leaders in an effort to make that transition as certain and as smooth as possible. What I do know is that North Carolinians are strong and North Carolina’s business community is resourceful. We will get through this by working together.”

COVID-19 from page A1 and the U.S. Army North will be assisting FEMA in those hard-hit areas.

Heading into Easter, Fort Bragg will conduct religious worship services virtually on Facebook Live on the “Fort Bragg Religious Support Office” Facebook page. Additional information and schedules of services can be found on the main Fort Bragg Facebook page.

The 82nd Airborne also announced that “All American Week 2020,” which had originally scheduled for May18-21, has been canceled. All American Week involves a series of events to celebrate the history of the 82nd Airborne Division’s past and present paratroopers.

The Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point saw its first COVID-19 case on March 30.

“Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point confirmed the first positive COVID-19 test result on MCAS Cherry Point, March 30, 2020.

The patient was quarantined at home after returning from travel outside of the state, became symptomatic and was tested at the clinic,” tweeted the MCAS Cherry Point account.

According to a follow-up tweet, health officials determined that the transmission was travel related.

Prior to the case being reported and the individual being isolated, the base had already implemented “Health Protection Condition Charlie (HPCON-C)” as directed by Marine Corps Installations East, following guidance from the Department of Defense.

In the information posted by

ANDREW HARNIK | AP PHOTO

This photo provided by the U.S. Army shows large tents The 82nd Airborne Division has established to provide accommodations for up to 600 soldiers, shown March 17, 2020 at Fort Bragg, N.C. the air station, HPCON-C means that there are multiple confirmed cases of a disease, there is evidence of sustained community transmission or a report of multiple unlinked confirmed cases of disease such as 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), that people have been infected with the virus, and the spread is increasing.

According to the air station’s website, 53,000 people, including active duty and retired Marines, the civilian workforce, and their

families, make up the total Cherry Point-related population.

“I want you to know I appreciate the efforts of everyone in the Cherry Point family to remain vigilant during this difficult time.

This is not fun for anyone. But continued determination by each and every one of you will enable us to endure this unprecedented challenge and get back to our normal lives as soon as possible,” said Col. Mikel Huber, the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Air

Station at Cherry Point, in a message on Facebook.

Under HPCON-C, access to the air station has been restricted to two main entries and exits. In addition, the air station is observing health safety measures like social distancing and teleworking. Cherry Point has also reduced the capacity or hours of operation of a number of the services on campus.

An April 3 Facebook message

by Huber noted that tents had been erected next to an auto resale

lot on Roosevelt Blvd.

“MCAS Cherry Point personnel are working with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing to build a temporary living area that may be used to house healthy Marines and Sailors should our permanent housing barracks be necessary to support quarantine requirements,” Huber’s message said. “This is a proactive effort that will provide the air station expanded living capacity in the unlikely event it is needed.”

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Trump, Dems clash on boosting mail-in voting during pandemic NSJ staff WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump and Democrats are bickering over how to provide voters with safe and secure access to a ballot as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the U.S. and threatens to extend into the fall, affecting the general election.

With another economic rescue package in the works, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, says she wants money to give more voters the chance to cast their ballot by mail.

In recent weeks, as Democrats nationwide have argued the country must prepare for voting largely by mail, Republicans have objected to or blocked expansions of such voting in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

“It shouldn’t be mail-in voting. It should be you go to a booth and you proudly display yourself,” Trump told reporters Friday evening. Earlier this week on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” he claimed the Democrats had a plan “that if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

Health officials are warning that the virus has the potential to return with a second wave during the next flu season, putting voters and poll workers in a dilemma where fulfilling a civic duty means putting their health at greater risk.

Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington already provide registered voters with a ballot in the mail for all their elections, according to a Congressional Research Service report. California and Utah are among the states that give counties the option of mail-in voting.

Proponents say it can improve participation, particularly with voters who have to work on election day, go to school or have mobility issues, such as the elderly or the sick. It could reduce the number of poll workers needed, as well as the long lines that often arise during a presidential election.

“It just makes us more democratic,” Pelosi told reporters this week. “It just gives more people the opportunity to vote. So that is something we would like to see.”

Trump contends fraud would increase with more mail-in voting, declaring, “I think a lot of people cheat.”

Some Republican-led states have come to embrace the format, arguing it can be done securely and is cheaper and fairer than in-person elections. Utah, a GOP stronghold, is a recent convert to mail-in voting.

Evidence shows it is Republicans, rather than Democrats, who are most

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Tens of thousands of medical workers across the United States are suddenly out of work as operating rooms and doctor’s offices go dark, casualties of urgent calls to prioritize coronavirus patients at overwhelmed hospitals and of the economic waves the crisis is churning.

Even as hospitals scrounge for professionals from the industry to treat the burgeoning numbers of people with COVID-19, others are on the sidelines as elective procedures, diagnostics and appointments are canceled or postponed.

For instance, many nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania have been laid off, even though they are particularly critical to the coronavirus response because they can help intubate patients and manage them on ventilators.

“I certainly never thought there would be a day as a nurse that I would be filing for unemployment, so it’s quite surreal for all of us,” said Jess Poole, a nurse anesthetist who, until a couple weeks ago, worked for an anesthesia practice in the Pittsburgh area.

Big-city physician and specialist groups, tiny independent hospitals from Oregon to Connecticut, and big multistate hospital systems such as Steward Health Care are seeing big dropoffs in revenue and laying off or furloughing hundreds of workers.

A tally of out-of-work medical professionals is elusive, since the coronavirus began taking a devastating toll on jobs only in mid-March. Many institutions have said nothing publicly, quietly making cutbacks, and the monthly jobs report issued Friday by the federal government showed 42,000 job losses in health care — just a small indication of what’s to come, because the government surveyed employers before the heaviest layoffs hit.

Not all states release that data in real time, although Minnesota reported that from March 16 through March 31, more than 13,600 health care practitioners or

State Supreme Court ruling leaves agreement intact

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

JOHN FROSCHAUER | AP PHOTO

In this March 10, 2020, file photo, wearing gloves, a King County election worker collect ballots from a drop box in the Washington State primary, in Seattle. likely to vote by mail, said Michael McDonald, a University of Florida professor who tracks balloting.

State and local governments are responsible for determining whether or how to offer mail-in voting. A few bills introduced during the current session of Congress would require states to allow for early or mail-in voting for federal elections. Others would require states to allow mail-in voting during national emergencies and authorize the funds to help defray the costs.

The $2.2 trillion rescue package that Congress passed included $400 million for states to invest in the next election so they could expand early voting, move to mail-in voting, or increase safety measures at polling sites.

NSJ reported last month on a lawsuit, filed by Washington, D.C. attorney Marc Elias and left-leaning organizations, aiming to overturn laws passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Roy Cooper in response to the Ninth Congressional District ballot-harvesting scandal. The law restricted who could apply and complete absentee ballot request forms and instituted criminal penalties for violating absentee ballot laws.

If that law is overturned, North Carolina elections could see usage of ballot harvesting measures such as those used in the 2018 election scandal as well as in states such as California.

A week later, N.C. Board of Elections

executive director Karen Brinson Bell released a list of recommendations by a BOE task force in anticipation of expanded absentee by-mail usage. Among the task force recommendations are allowing voters to submit request forms by fax and email, establishing an online portal for request forms, and allowing a voter who did not include their driver license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number the option to include a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or other government document showing their name and address.

Other changes recommended include making election day a state holiday, allowing care facility employees to help complete ballots, and eliminating a rule requiring a majority of pollworkers to reside in their designated precinct. The task force also recommends making those changes permanent. The General Assembly would have to pass legislation for any of those changes to occur.

“We believe the legislative recommendations released today would go a long way toward ensuring safe, accessible elections in 2020,” Bell said. “We look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly to respond to the unprecedented threat facing our elections system at this time.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A mounting casualty of coronavirus crisis: Health care jobs

By Marc Levy The Associated Press

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technicians filed unemployment claims in that state alone.

Some layoffs, the generally permanent loss of a job, and furloughs, a reduction in hours or a leave of absence with the option to return, are focused on nonclinical staff. Elsewhere, clinical professionals — specialists, lab techs, operating room staffs, nurse specialists, support staff — suddenly find themselves with a cut in pay or hours, or sitting at home, including some in coronavirus hotspots.

The cuts are driven primarily by pressure from state and federal officials to shelve elective procedures, appointments, diagnostics and other services to preserve hospital beds, while many patients are postponing appointments to observe social distance restrictions.

For some provider groups and hospitals, the lion’s share of their revenue has dried up.

While $100 billion from the federal relief package signed last month by President Donald Trump might help cover that, it’s not clear how the money will be distributed, or how soon, or whether it will be enough.

Erlanger Health System, which operates six hospitals in Tennessee and one in western North Carolina, reported it lost millions of dollars in the past week alone.

“The financial bleeding was immediate,” said Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals.

The federation said it believes hospitals are eligible to apply for loans in the federal emergency relief bill to maintain payroll or rehire workers, loans that can then be forgiven.

In the meantime, states reeling from the pandemic are calling for help from medical professionals or relaxing regulations to allow retired workers, students or out-of-state professionals to come to the rescue.

Some hospitals — such as rural hospitals or urban ones with a heavy Medicaid caseload — were on precarious financial footing when the crisis struck, sending some states scrambling to keep them open, including in Pennsylvania

and West Virginia.

In North Carolina, Cape Fear Valley Health system is furloughing about 300 employees but offering idled specialty nurses the opportunity to fill open positions as floor nurses.

Hospital executives say they have no choice but to issue furloughs and meet the most immediate needs, while shifting to telemedicine and retraining or moving some clinical staff.

Hospital officials say furloughed employees, in most cases, can expect to be recalled if they are needed or when the crisis subsides.

Clinical staff members being sent home are not treating coronavirus patients, or they have little to do in suddenly quiet offices and facilities where there is no crisis, the institutions’ leaders say.

“But they may be in areas where there will be growth in the virus, which makes layoffs particularly alarming, because hospitals are gearing up or should be gearing up even in places where coronavirus is not an emergency as it in other parts of the country,” said Tricia Neuman, who directs the Medicare policy program at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Alex Hlumyk, of Hubbard, Ohio, a certified medical assistant, had been helping screen potential coronavirus patients before his Steward-owned physicians’ practice furloughed him.

“I was pulled into a backroom and told, ‘We’re furloughing you because we don’t have the money,’” Hlumyk said.

He’s not sure how he would sign up to help in areas slammed by the virus, and his employer didn’t give him any guidance, he said.

In recent days, hospitals watching the spreading outbreak in the Pittsburgh area are building disaster relief plans and contacting Poole, the nurse anesthetist, to see if she would come in in an emergency.

She’s saying yes.

“We don’t know if or when we’re going to be called back to work,” Poole said.

“We’re kind of stuck in between right now.”

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s attorney general can keep distributing millions of dollars paid by the world’s largest pork producer as environmental grants after a state Supreme Court decision that leaves the two-decade-old agreement intact.

The 6-1 decision by the justices, which focused on the constitutional definition of the payments, means the arrangement, reached in 2000 between Smithfield Foods, several subsidiaries and then-Attorney General Mike Easley, can continue.

The Virginia-based company is providing up to $2 million annually over 25 years to protect and restore the state’s environment. Subsequent attorneys general — now-Gov. Roy Cooper and current Attorney General Josh Stein — have selected the recipients.

A conservative activist challenged the agreement in court in 2016, saying the North Carolina Constitution requires that money stemming from civil penalties, forfeitures and fines belongs to the public schools. The lawsuit was later taken over by the New Hanover County school board.

A state Court of Appeals panel resurrected the lawsuit in 2018 after a trial court judge threw it out. A majority on the appeals panel had determined there were material issues on whether the agreement was motivated by Smithfield’s efforts to delay or eliminate potential environmental enforcement claims by the attorney general.

Writing for the Supreme Court majority on Friday, Associate Justice Sam Ervin IV said plentiful evidence presented in the case, particularly several affidavits, showed the payments aren’t penalties. He cited Alan Hirsch, the chief negotiator from Easley’s office, who said the agreement was designed “to demonstrate good corporate citizenship” and make additional environmental enhancements given that the “image of the industry was under intense scrutiny.”

“The language in which the agreement is couched clearly demonstrates that the payments at issue in this case were not intended to punish Smithfield and its subsidiaries for any specific environmental violation or to deter them from committing any future environmental violation,” Erwin wrote. He also directed that the case be dismissed.

Associate Justice Paul Newby wrote a dissenting opinion, saying the agreement was clearly a settlement drafted to circumvent the Constitution’s requirement on fines and penalties going to the public schools. The majority, he said, failed to consider the payments in the context of Smithfield’s environmental troubles at the time.

The 2000 deal came a year after Hurricane Floyd caused dozens of hog waste pits to overflow.

Smithfield also had paid one of the largest water-quality fines in state history after waste spills at two hog operations.

“The function of the agreement viewed objectively is to secure leniency by the regulators in favor of ... Smithfield,” Newby wrote, adding that the “agreement appears artfully drafted based on this court’s precedent on penalties.”

Newby is the lone registered Republican on the Supreme Court. Stein, Cooper and Easley are all Democrats.

Ervin emphasized that his opinion didn’t consider whether an attorney general had the authority to enter into such an agreement.

The 2000 agreement directed the company to pay another $15 million to help develop waste-handling methods that could replace hog lagoons. Lagoons remain a routine method to store waste today.

STAY HOME, SAVE LIVES

We all need to do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Stay home as much as possible, especially if you’re sick with mild illness.

Protect your family, protect your neighbors, protect your community.

NCDHHS.GOV/CORONAVIRUS Call 2-1-1 for assistance

Text COVID19NC to 898211 for updates

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

A4

Murphy

April is National Pecan Month

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

to

Manteo

NSJ staff RALEIGH — This past Saturday, the North Carolina Republican Party hosted their first three virtual district conventions. The initial district conventions included districts 2, 7, and 8. The districts converted to virtual formats to follow safety guidelines from the statewide stay-at-home order.

The districts used a combination of audio and online voting components.

Each district hosted several speakers on their calls: including representatives from the Trump-Pence Campaign, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, state judicial candidates like Phil Berger Jr., and candidates for U.S. Congress and the N.C. Council of State.

NCGOP Chairman Michael Whatley said, “We are very pleased with our first

Counties where pecans are grown WWW.NCPECANS.ORG

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PIEDMONT

Henderson County About two dozen residents at Cherry Springs Village assisted living center in Hendersonville have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a new case cluster in the state at corporate living facilities such as nursing homes. The large number of positive cases followed additional testing of residents when a single case at Cherry Springs was confirmed last week, the Henderson Health Department said in a news release. Individuals who tested positive were being treated in isolation, and the center is under quarantine, Cherry Springs said in a statement.

School official tells teachers ignore ‘public school haters’ Watauga County Watauga County Schools Superintendent Scott Elliott is getting praise for his social media post shaking off critics of public schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

“To all the public school haters, social media stars/self promoters, and critical friends: we appreciate all the advice about re-envisioning education but right now we’re busy loving on our students and feeding the community,” he posted on Twitter. “We’ll catch back up with you in the fall.” Elliot wrote the post after seeing many messages saying the pandemic should be a catalyst for reforming “broken” public schools.

AP

EAST County reports first COVID-19 case

1-year-old girl shot, wounded outside Durham public housing complex Durham County A 1-year-old girl was wounded Sunday when a stray bullet struck her outside McDougald Terrace public housing complex, police said. The baby was taken to a hospital with wounds that were not life-threatening, Durham police said in a statement. Police said the child was outside with a parent Sunday afternoon when she was struck by gunfire meant for someone else. The shooter drove away and officers did not immediately make any arrests, officials said.

Richmond County One of the last counties in the state without a confirmed case of COVID-19 has now seen its first positive test. The Richmond County Health Department reported its first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19, after close to 200 individuals had been tested without a positive result over the last few weeks. The health department won’t release any details about the confirmed person’s identity. There are nine remaining counties in the state without a positive case: Avery, Camden, Graham, Hyde, Jackson, Jones, Madison, Swain, Tyrrell.

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Woman charged after woman set on fire

Man arrested for violating gathering order Edgecombe County John Fitzgerald Taylor of Pinetops was arrested after deputies who were responding to a call about a shooting found more than 70 people at a barn.

The Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office responded to Bynum Drive in Pinetops in reference to shots fired into a residence.

Deputies saw vehicles leaving the area, and when they went to the back of the residence, they found more than 70 people, which is in violation of Gov. Roy Cooper’s order limiting gatherings. Authorities said Taylor was responsible for the gathering.

Wayne County A North Carolina woman was charged with attempted first-degree murder after investigators say she set another woman on fire, police said. Goldsboro police said Karla Ann Davis of Goldsboro was being held without bond in the Wayne County jail. Officers responding to a call regarding an assault at a home on Wednesday found Latonya McCoy, who suffered severe burns.

McCoy was first taken to a local hospital before she was transferred to the burn unit at UNC Hospitals, where police said she remains in critical condition.

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County enacts curfew

Deputy dies during COVID-19 hospitalization

North Carolina, U.S. firefighters work to contain wildfires

Biltmore Estate temporarily shutters, furloughs workers

Macon County Firefighters kept working to slow wildfires that have spread due to high winds. A fire that began on private property Friday in Haywood County expanded to the Shining Rock Wilderness Area of Pisgah National Forest, covering 50 acres. Another fire covering 30 acres in Macon County also began on private property and expanded to the Nantahala National Forest. Dozens of U.S. North Carolina Forest Service firefighters were called in. Helicopters and air tankers made multiple water drops over the fires. The North Carolina Forest Service has ordered an open fire ban in 32 western North Carolina counties.

Buncombe County The Biltmore Estate is furloughing 2,200 employees after temporarily closing its doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The 8,000-acre estate hadn’t closed its doors since World War II. It first opened to the public in 1930. The 250-room chateau was built by businessman George Vanderbilt in the late 19th Century. It anchors an estate that is home to a winery, hotels, restaurants and a working farm.

The estate opened as a tourist attraction during the Great Depression as a way to help the area economically. These days the estate typically draws about 1.4 million visitors a year.

AP

Jones & Blount NCGOP hosts virtual district conventions

Pecans are native to the southern United States and northern Mexico. The United States produces 80% of the world’s pecan crop, and while Georgia and Texas claim higher pecan production, there’s something special about North Carolina’s pecan trees.

Related to the Hickory trees, the buttery flavor of pecans makes it perfect for casseroles, pies and many other delicious dishes.

According to the National Pecan Sheller Association, pecans carry more antioxidants than any other nut variety, can help reduce the risk of heart disease, and are naturally sodium free.

Pecan trees typically range from 70 to 100 feet but some older trees are more than 150 feet tall. North Carolina produces three to five million pounds of pecans annually.

Primarily dotting the state east of Interstate 95, family orchards see the pollination of their trees in late April and early May.

2 dozen at assisted living center test positive

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Montgomery County A North Carolina deputy died while hospitalized in intensive care for treatment of the coronavirus, a county sheriff said. Montgomery County Sheriff Chris Watkins said in a news release that Deputy Sypraseuth “Bud” Phouangphrachanh died Tuesday night at a hospital in Pinehurst.

The 43-year-old deputy, who was married with five children, had experienced what he thought were allergy symptoms but later tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted Monday to the hospital.

Phouangphrachanh served as a school resource officer and had been with the sheriff’s office for 14 years.

Franklin County To try to contain the spread of coronavirus, Franklin County has enacted a public safety curfew. As of Sunday, April 5, the daily curfew covers the hours of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. People who are not exempt for conducting essential business are not allowed to travel on any public streets, unless in search of medical assistance, food or other services related to well-being.

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Virus outbreak reported at Clayton nursing home

Inmate killed in fight with fellow prisoner Greene County An inmate died after being stabbed with a weapon during a fight with another prisoner. The attack happened around 4:30 p.m. in a housing unit at the Maury Correctional Institution in Hookerton. The victim was identified as Charles Rogers, 75, according to a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene and the unit was placed on lockdown, officials said.

The inmate accused of attacking Rogers was not immediately identified, but local law enforcement were notified and are investigating.

Johnston County Three residents of a nursing home in Clayton have tested positive for COVID-19, public health officials announced as overall cases statewide exceeded 2,400. The three cases occurred within the population of the Springbrook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Nearly 30 cases have been linked to an adult care home in Northampton County, the county health department said.

The Clayton center has received guidance on infection prevention precautions and ways to limit the spread of the virus.

AP

round of virtual district conventions.

Each of our three district chairs and their teams did a fantastic job to handle online credentialing and registration, then did an awesome job hosting the conventions — all remotely. With hundreds of delegates, guests and speakers on each call, we were able to hear speeches, get updates and vote for candidates just like we would at a physical convention.”

Whatley added for a first run, including two runoff votes for delegates, he was really proud of the chairs, their teams, and the NCGOP staff. The NCGOP will be holding the remaining 10 district conventions later this month.

The North Carolina Democratic Party will conduct virtual county conventions on April 25 and their district conventions will be conducted virtually on May 16.

Higher education officials ask for funding and legislative fixes to battle COVID-19

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — On April 2, the bipartisan Education Working Group for the House Select Committee on COVID-19 met with higher education officials to ascertain their current and future needs.

The committee heard from Dr. Bill Roper, interim president of the University of North Carolina system; Dr. Peter Hans, president of the N.C. Community College system; and Dr. Hope Williams, president of N.C. Independent Colleges and Universities.

There was a consensus by those who spoke that the economy and business will be in serious trouble if higher education institutions are unable to train and educate students for the workforce.

UNC’s Roper said the impact of this virus on campus life will be “longlasting.”

The transition to online learning has put a strain on higher education systems both in terms of infrastructure and finances. Reimbursements of room, board and tuition for students and enrollment growth are two critical areas of concern.

Dr. Williams said that many students who have jobs on campus work yearround, and sometimes through the summer, are now out of work. She also said they are concerned students who may have already accepted may be rethinking or were already planning to rescind attendance. Roper

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also mentioned student employees, noting that the loss of receipt-supported activities like conferences and the closure of campuses has removed “a significant portion, if not their entire revenue stream.”

The N.C. Community College system financial request is for a onetime payment of $25 million. Hans said the community college system has transitioned to online only for most courses and that these funds will help tackle any gaps in tuition collection that might arise from the cancelation of inperson only classes.

Roper requested the release of just over $29 million ($29,075,005) for education already delivered over the course of 2019 for the UNC system: “H966 would have appropriated $75,000,000 into a reserve for enrollment growth for the education sector. We seek this funding now to assist in stabilizing our universities.”

Roper’s presentation suggested that the state should “hold students harmless” for withdrawing during the COVID-19 outbreak by waiving any repayment of state financial aid and through waivers for interest on student balances.

During a March 30 meeting of the UNC Board of Governors, Roper announced that the UNC system was committed to offering pro-rated reimbursements for tuition, room, board and meal plans.

During his presentation to lawmakers, Roper said grants are needed to help cover those reimbursements.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Passover week 2020 is for everyone

During Passover, Christians will observe Good Friday and then Easter Sunday during a week that has intertwined the two faiths for over 2000 years.

A PERSON doesn’t even have to be religious to participate in the transformational aspects of Passover this year. COVID-19 has forced us to all become more “Jewish” whether we acknowledge it or not.

We are all cloistered, for the most part, in our homes while a deadly pestilence makes its way through our population.

In a very small way, we can understand why Jews have been observing Passover for close to 3,500 years. Once we make it through the crisis and get back to a more normal schedule and rhythm of life, we should remember this time as a time of testing, a time of resolve and a time of deliverance, just like the Jews have done every year since the first Passover.

The Jews had been held in slavery by various Egyptian pharaohs for hundreds of years. Moses, born a Hebrew but adopted into Pharaoh’s family, was banished and then returned to free his people. When nine plagues failed to convince Rameses of the power of the Hebrew God, Yahweh, a 10th plague was unleashed that killed the first-born son of every family in Egypt, including the first-born of every animal.

Only the Jews who brushed sacrificial blood of a lamb over their doors were spared as the Angel of Death “passed over” their homes.

The Great Pharaoh himself, despite all his perceived power and might, couldn’t protect his own son from the 10th plague.

He finally relented and set his Jewish slaves free. The Jews had to leave quickly so all they could take were some belongings and unleavened bread which is commemorated each year in the Seder meal.

During Passover, Christians will observe Good Friday and then Easter Sunday during a week that has intertwined the two faiths for over 2000 years. Both religious observances address something important in the lives of human beings everywhere — the passage from bondage to freedom, from despair to hope and from death to life.

To Christians, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb who shed His blood not over the door frames of their homes but over the

hearts, lives and souls of believers to allow them to “pass over” from death into eternal life.

Prior to the social distancing and shelter-in-place orders to protect us from coronavirus, if we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that we harbored certain aspects of our basic humanity that are not generally considered virtuous or admirable. We “hated” people who had different political views from ours. We worried too much about our financial health at the expense of our physical, mental, psychological or spiritual needs, because we said we would “get to it someday down the road.” We did not love one another with brotherly affection.

Perhaps this shared time of quiet while waiting for the pandemic to subside will allow us to shed whatever burdens we had in the past and make a new fresh beginning. A personal “Passover” for each of us.

There may be non-religious people who can turn on their internal goodness directional finder without any spiritual guidance or belief structure. If so, good for them; they are far better people than many of us. Humans are hard-wired to think of themselves and their families first due to thousands of years of genetic selection. If non-believers can figure how to love their enemy and turn the other cheek when wronged without any faith or spiritual help from above, well then God bless them.

Regardless of how we get there, Passover 2020 can be a time where we are all transformed in a way that makes us more thankful for what we have rather than complaining about what we don’t have. Post-COVID-19 can be a time where Americans act with more charity, grace and mercy towards one another than we have in the years before this trial.

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

Prayer has the power to unite us in uncertain times

I don’t know [what Jesus would do], because Jesus never saw a church. It’s not about a building. It never has been about a building.

WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS, whether in normal times or times of uncertainty, there will always be fierce disagreements among people of differing political stripes about the policies our elected officials put in place, about how to make the country a better place for our children and grandchildren.

But even in the midst of lines being drawn in the sand on the best way to move our country forward, there can be unity, and it is often found through the power of prayer.

Such was the case on a Monday morning segment of MSNBC last week, when anchor Craig Melvin interviewed Texas Bishop T.D. Jakes on the faith community’s role in helping people navigate through the coronavirus crisis.

Jakes, it should be noted, is not a fan of President Trump’s — nor is MSNBC, judging by the left-wing leanings of many of its show hosts. But the message delivered that day transcended heated political divisions, if only for a few powerful moments.

After a five-minute discussion, Melvin asked Jakes to do something unexpected during the live segment. He asked Jakes to pray on behalf of those who couldn’t make it to church that previous Sunday because of shelter-at-home restrictions put in place in certain states, which limit the ability of large groups of people to congregate in places like churches.

Jakes happily obliged Melvin with the following prayer: “Our Father and our God, we bow our heads to you in humility, understanding that we are not competent in and of ourselves to handle this kind of global calamity. We look to you, Lord, to be the source, the strength, the help, the light that we need. Strengthen our first responders, strengthen even our broadcast people, strengthen all of us whose lives have been devastated and disrupted and give us the peace that passes all understanding. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.”

During the same segment, Melvin aired a partial clip from

Jakes’ livestreamed Sunday service, where the pastor addressed those watching who fretted about whether or not staying home from church in these times was the right thing to do. Here’s what Jakes told them: “They’re having all this big discussion about whether we should have church or not, or whether we should be in a building, then talk about what would Jesus do. I don’t know, because Jesus never saw a church. All of this stuff you made don’t have nothing to do with the power of God. It’s not about a building. It’s not about a building. It never has been about a building.”

I shared Melvin and Jakes’ exchange on my social media feeds, and the response was amazing. Everyone loved it.

People who normally frown on public displays of faith and prayer commented that they enjoyed it. People who typically don’t watch MSNBC were pleasantly surprised over the segment and praised it. A few atheists even responded that they appreciated the sentiment behind it.

This is all anecdotal evidence, to be sure. But in a country that has been divided sometimes over the years about whether or not thoughts and prayers should be openly expressed in times of tragedy and turmoil, it reminded me that the power of prayer has the ability to bring out the best in us on so many levels.

God bless America.

Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah, and is a regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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COLUMN | JENNA ROBINSON

Student debt: Universities reap the rewards but students shoulder the risk

Only students who cross the finish line really benefit from their years of extended education.

Universities, on the other hand, reap the rewards regardless of whether a student graduates.

IN A RECENT COLUMN for the North State Journal, I explained that student debt is a real problem — not just a campaign slogan to attract millennial and Gen Z voters. It hampers workers and costs taxpayers millions. And as the economy stutters, more students will struggle to repay their student debt.

One of the reasons that student debt has ballooned is that the risks and rewards of borrowing aren’t evenly distributed.

To be sure, the student borrowers reap most of the rewards of successfully completing a college education. The Social Security Administration estimated in 2015 that men who successfully graduate with a four-year degree earn roughly $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. There is considerable variation based on major, type of university, and location. And once the costs of college and lost working years are factored in, the actual return on investment is less.

The rewards are much, much lower for students with “some college, no degree.” Only students who cross the finish line really benefit from their years of extended education.

Universities, on the other hand, reap the rewards regardless of whether a student graduates. Students pay tuition upfront each semester, and a large portion is paid through student loans. Here in North Carolina, universities receive an additional $13,000 from the General Assembly for each fulltime equivalent student. According to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, net revenue for higher education in North Carolina is at an all-time high.

In other words, universities have strong incentives to increase enrollment and to make sure that students can pay — whether it’s through grants, loans, or other subsidies. In the short run, universities are the largest beneficiaries of generous student loan policies.

Yet universities bear very little of the risk involved with student loan borrowing. A student who drops

out after sophomore years has already paid the university a considerable sum of money for tuition, fees, and room and board. What turned out to be an unwise expenditure for the student still paid off for her university.

The only thing universities must keep in mind is not to go over the maximum default rate.

At many schools, students who never make it to graduation are the norm. These schools know that many of their students — those with poor grades and low standardized test scores — are unlikely to graduate. But they accept them anyway. There are five schools in the UNC System with 6-year graduation rates below 50 percent: Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, NC A&T, NC Central, and UNC Pembroke. These schools continue to receive millions of dollars in Pell grants, student loans, and state subsidies while their former students struggle to pay off their student loan debt.

That’s because the rules governing which schools can receive student loans are weak. It’s true that schools must be accredited in order to participate in federal student aid programs, but accreditation standards are largely red tape — not real signifiers of quality. And institutions with extremely high student loan default rates can be barred from offering federal aid, but the standards are very low. A school doesn’t lose access to student loans until its three-year average cohort default rate exceeds 30% or its oneyear cohort default rate exceeds 40%. And even then, a school can appeal to keep its access to student aid.

While it’s true that students’ own poor decisions are the proximate cause of their debt problems, universities are not innocent. They behave irresponsibly because doing so increases their revenues and involves no risk to the institutions themselves. It’s clear that the rules must change in order to encourage both universities and students to make better decisions.

In my final article in this mini-series on student debt, I’ll explain some innovative policy solutions to solve the student debt dilemma.

NUMBER OF THE DAY | SCOTT RASMUSSEN

759,493 People entered the United States from China between December and February

Between December and February, as the coronavirus infection was spreading, a total of 759,493 people entered the United States from China. That total included “228,000 Americans returning home and hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals arriving for business, academics, tourism or to visit family.”

During that same time frame, “343,402 arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.”

A Scott Rasmussen public opinion survey found that 51% of registered voters believe the United States should require stricter security on future trade and travel with China. Twenty-seven percent (27%) disagree, and 22% are not sure.

By a 71% to 12% margin, Republicans think stricter security is needed. Among independent voters, 48% want stricter security, while 28% disagree. Democrats are evenly divided — 37% say yes to stricter security, and 40% say no.

The survey also found a modest plurality in favor of stricter security on future trade and travel with all nations. Forty-two percent (42%) think that’s a good idea, while 34% do not.

ANTHONY SOUFFLE | STAR TRIBUNE VIA AP

A pilot walks through a concourse with few travelers because of the coronavirus Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport in Minneapolis.

BE IN TOUCH Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or 3101 Industrial Dr. Suite 105. Raleigh, N.C. 27609. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary.

Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Manipulation through racial hoaxes WE BLACK PEOPLE are so convenient and useful to America’s leftists. Whenever there’s a bit of silencing to be done, just accuse a detractor or critic of racism. A recent, particularly stupid, example is CNN’s Brandon Tensley’s complaint that the “Coronavirus task force is another example of Trump administration’s lack of diversity.”

Tensley said the virus experts are “largely the same sorts of white men (and a couple women on the sidelines) who’ve dominated the Trump administration from the very beginning.”

I’d like for Tensley to tell us just what racial or sex diversity contribute to finding a cure or treatment for the coronavirus.

Jesse Watters was criticized as a racist for claiming that the coronavirus outbreak was caused by Chinese people “eating raw bats and snakes.” He added that “They are a very hungry people. The Chinese communist government cannot feed the people, and they are desperate.

This food is uncooked, it is unsafe and that is why scientists believe that’s where it originated from.” Watter’s statement can be settled by a bit of empiricism.

Just find out whether Chinese people eat bats and snakes and whether that has anything to do with the spread of the coronavirus.

It may be perplexing to some, but I believe that our nation has made great progress in matters of race, so much so that imaginary racism and racial hoaxes must be found. Left-wingers on college campuses and elsewhere have a difficult time finding the racism that they say permeates everything. So they’re brazenly inventing it.

Jussie Smollett charged that two masked Trump supporters, wearing MAGA hats, using racial and homophobic insults attacked him. The anti-Trump media gobbled up Smollett’s story hook, line and sinker, but it turned out to be a hoax.

A large percentage of hate-crime hoaxes occur on college campuses.

Andy Ngo writes about this in his City Journal article, “Inventing Victimhood: Universities too often serve as ‘hatecrime hoax’ mills.” St. Olaf College in Minnesota was roiled in mass “antiracism” protests that caused classes to be canceled. It turned out that a black student activist was found to be responsible for a racist threat she left on her own car. Five black students at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School found racial slurs written on their doors. An investigation later found that one of the students targeted was responsible for the vandalism.

Andy Ngo writes that there are dozens of other examples. They all point to a sickness in American society, with our institutions of higher education too often doubling as “hate-hoax mills,” encouraged by a bloated grievance industry in the form of diversity administrators. These are diversitycrazed administrators, along with professors of race and gender studies, who nationwide spend billions of dollars on diversity and a multiculturalist agenda. Racial discord and other kinds of strife are their meal tickets to greater influence and bigger budgets.

There’s another set of beneficiaries to racial hoaxes and racial strife. These alleged incidents are invariably seized upon by politicians and activists looking to feed a sacrosanct belief among liberals that discrimination and oppression are the main drivers of inequality. Jason Riley, writing in The Wall Street Journal says, “In the mainstream media we hear almost constant talk about scary new forms of racism: ‘white privilege,’ ‘cultural appropriation,’ and ‘subtle bigotry.’”

Riley mentions the work of Dr. Wilfred Reilly who is a professor of political science at Kentucky State University and author of a new book, “Hate Crime Hoax,” that states “a huge percentage of the horrific hate crimes cited as evidence of contemporary bigotry are fakes.”

Reilly put together a data set of more than 400 confirmed cases of fake allegations that were reported to authorities between 2010 and 2017.

He says that the exact number of false reports is probably unknowable, but what can be said “with absolute confidence is that the actual number of hate crime hoaxes is indisputably large. We are not speaking here of just a few bad apples.”

But Reilly has a larger point to make, writing, “The Smollett case isn’t an outlier. Increasingly, it’s the norm. And the media’s relative lack of interest in exposing hoaxes that don’t involve famous figures is a big part of the problem.”

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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NATION & WORLD UK’s Johnson is stable in ICU with virus, received oxygen The Associated Press LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in stable condition in a hospital intensive care unit with the coronavirus, and while he is not on a ventilator, he is receiving oxygen, his spokesman said.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has taken over many of Johnson’s duties temporarily while he is being treated at St. Thomas’ Hospital. Britain has no official post of deputy prime minister.

The 55-year-old Johnson is the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19. He was admitted to the hospital late Sunday with a fever and cough that persisted 10 days after he was diagnosed with the virus and was moved to the ICU Monday evening after his condition worsened.

“The prime minister has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits. He is receiving standard oxygen treatment and is breathing without any other assistance,” said Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack.

He said Johnson was not receiving mechanical ventilation or “noninvasive respiratory support.”

He would not give details of what form of oxygen treatment the prime minister was getting.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said Johnson was “receiving the very, very best care from the team at St. Thomas’ and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family.”

“It was a shock yesterday to hear the news of his going into intensive care,” said Gove, who is in isolation at home after a family member showed mild coronavirus symptoms. “All of us just want him to pull through — he is the leader of our country. He is a big-hearted, generous-spirited guy who believes in public service.

We are rooting for him.”

Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant, is herself recovering from coronavirus symptoms.

Raab said “the government’s business will continue” despite the prime minister’s hospitalization.

He said Johnson had asked him “to deputize for him where needed in driving forward the govern-

MATT DUNHAM | AP PHOTO

In this Tuesday, March 17, 2020 file photo British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he gives a press conference about the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak inside 10 Downing Street in London. ment’s plans to defeat coronavirus.”

The deterioration of Johnson’s health took many in Britain by surprise. On Monday afternoon, he tweeted that he was in good spirits and thanked the National Health Service for taking care of him and others with the disease.

It’s not common for details about the health of British prime ministers to be made public, except at times of crisis. Even then, information has sometimes been scanty. When Winston Churchill suffered a debilitating stroke in 1953, the government kept it secret until Churchill recovered.

Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II was being kept informed about Johnson’s condition. Buckingham Palace said the monarch “said they were in her thoughts and that she wished the prime minister a full and speedy recovery.”

The queen’s son, Prince Charles, who tested positive for the virus

COURTESY PHOTO

National Health Service employees at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London pose for picture wishing Prime Minister Boris Johnson well during his stay at the ICU. Johnson was admitted Monday after his condition worsened due to the novel coronavirus. but has recovered, and grandson Prince William also sent messages of support.

Johnson had been quarantined in his Downing Street residence since being diagnosed with

COVID-19 on March 26.

He continued to work throughout his illness, to the concern of some of his colleagues. With the U.K. still approaching the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and the government facing criticism it did not act soon enough to put the country into lockdown, Johnson and his ministers are under intense pressure.

Johnson chaired daily meetings on the outbreak until Sunday.

He released several video messages during his 10 days in isolation urging Britons to stay home and observe social distancing measures to help slow the spread of the virus.

Concerns had been growing about Johnson’s welfare ever since he posted a message Friday in which he appeared red-eyed and flushed, saying he was feeling better though was still feverish.

Johnson’s former communications director, Will Walden, said the prime minister tended to try to soldier on through illness rather than taking a break.

“He’s pretty stoic and can be a bit bloody-minded about that kind of thing,” Walden told the BBC. News that Johnson had been transferred to intensive care drew an outpouring of support from around the world.

U.S. President Donald Trump said “Americans are all praying for his recovery.”

“He’s been a really good friend,” Trump said at a White House briefing. “He’s been really something very special — strong, resolute, doesn’t quit, doesn’t give up.”

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted he was sending support to Johnson, his family and “the British people at this difficult time. I wish him well.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram wishing Johnson a full and quick recovery, the Kremlin said. “I’m positive that your energy, optimism and sense of humor will help combat the disease,” Putin wrote.

Britain’s unwritten constitution does not have a clear rule for what happens if a prime minister becomes incapacitated or dies.

Seven prime ministers have died in office, but the most recent was in 1865.

Johnson delegating Raab to fill in for him clarifies things for now, but it does not mean Raab would automatically take over permanently should a new leader be needed. If it became clear Johnson could not return to his job, the Conservative Party could elect a new leader, who would become prime minister.

Taliban warn peace deal with US near breaking point

By Kathy Gannon The Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Taliban said their peace deal with the United States was nearing a breaking point, accusing Washington of violations that included drone attacks on civilians, while also chastising the Afghan government for delaying the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners promised in the agreement.

The Taliban said they had restricted attacks against Afghan security forces to rural outposts, had not attacked international forces and had not attacked Afghan forces in cities or military installations. The Taliban said these limits on their attacks had not been specifically laid out in the agreement with the U.S. signed in February.

The Taliban’s statement issued earlier this week warned of more violence if the U.S. and the Afghan government continue alleged violations of the deal.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett in a tweet denied the Taliban allegation, saying the U.S. military in Afghanistan has “upheld and continues to uphold the military terms of the U.S.-TB (Taliban) agreement; any assertion otherwise is baseless.”

In his tweet, Leggett called for Taliban to reduce violence and said the U.S. military will continue to come to the aid of Afghanistan’s security forces if attacked, in line with the agreement.

Meanwhile, the militants said they had reduced their attacks compared to last year, but said continued violations would “cre-

SEPIDAR PALACE VIA AP

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, meets with Abdullah Abdullah, the main political rival of President Ashraf Ghani at the Sepidar palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 23, 2020. ate an atmosphere of mistrust that will not only damage the agreements, but also force mujaheddin to a similar response and will increase the level of fighting.”

The Taliban have accused the Afghan government of using “indefensible arguments” to explain the repeated delays in releasing a promised 5,000 Taliban prison-

ers in exchange for 1,000 government personnel. The Afghan government’s foot-dragging has also left Washington frustrated.

Meanwhile, in the Afghan capital, President Ashraf Ghani announced his new Cabinet even as he squabbles with his main political challenger over last year’s election results. Ghani’s move came

even as Afghan mediators — including former President Hamid Karzai — shuttled between the president and his opponent, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who has also declared himself Afghanistan’s president.

The country’s Independent Election Commission has declared Ghani a winner, but Abdul-

lah and the Elections Complaint Commission have charged widespread irregularities.

Attempts to negotiate an end to the political turmoil roiling Kabul have made little progress, frustrating the U.S. and potentially derailing the next stage in the Afghan peace process. Washington has threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid this year if Ghani and Abdullah can’t reach a compromise.

The Trump administration wants a quick start to intra-Afghan negotiations, the next step in the peace deal it signed on Feb. 29. It looked promising when Ghani announced his negotiating team last week, but Abdullah’s response to it has been lukewarm and the Taliban have rejected it as one-sided.

The U.S. and NATO have already begun to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. The full withdrawal is expected to be completed in 14 months and is tied to Taliban commitments to fight terrorist groups and help in the battle against the Islamic State group.

The withdrawal is not tied to the success of intra-Afghan negotiations, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had traveled to Afghanistan last month to try to break the impasse between Ghani and Abdullah. Pompeo left without a solution; however, last week he welcomed that the Afghan government had put together a negotiating team and made progress toward the prisoner releases.

Those releases have stumbled even as the Taliban sent a three member team to Kabul last week.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

SPORTS

100 in 100 profiles 5 new counties, B3

JESSICA HILL | AP PHOTO

After flip-flopping on his decision, Columbia’s Patrick Tapé, right, decided to transfer to Duke for his final year of eligibility.

Recruiting stays unpredictable in uncertain times

the Wednesday SIDELINE REPORT BASEBALL

American Legion cancels World Series set for Shelby Indianapolis The American Legion announced Tuesday it was canceling all its national tournaments due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including the 2020 American Legion World Series scheduled to be held in Shelby. The World Series and eight regional tournaments will not be held, and the organization also said its American Legion Baseball scholarships for 2020 have been suspended due to the threat.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UNC’s Cunningham to join NCAA basketball selection committee Chapel Hill UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham is joining the men’s basketball committee that selects the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA announced Cunningham’s addition Thursday. As UNC’s first-ever appointee, Cunningham begins a five-year term in September and replaces Duke athletic director Kevin White, whose term ends Aug. 31. White had served as chairman this year before the tournament was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Triangle’s college basketball coaches are trying to adapt to the ever-changing situation — just like always CHUCK BURTON | AP PHOTO

Davidson got its nickname, the Wildcats, thanks to an upset on the football field.

Mountaineers, Pirates, Wildcats and 49ers, oh my!

In the second installment of a series, NSJ looks at how four North Carolina schools got their nicknames

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

NFL

NORTH CAROLINA’S Division I college teams have a diverse set of nicknames with a backstory almost as interesting as the games they play.

Last week, we looked at the twisted road the state’s four ACC teams — UNC, Duke, NC State and Wake Forest — took to their nicknames. Now we take a look at another group of North Carolina schools.

Panthers buy land for new facility in SC

Appalachian State Mountaineers

Rock Hill, S.C. The Carolina Panthers spent more than $16 million to buy the land for its new practice facility in South Carolina, according to property records.

The NFL team wrapped up the deal to buy 240 acres near Interstate 77 in Rock Hill.

South Carolina offered about $115 million in incentives to get the Panthers, who will continue to play their games in Charlotte, to move their practices and team headquarters from North Carolina.

Anyone who has paid a visit to App’s campus in Boone will understand why the school decided to start calling its sports teams the Mountaineers. The school’s website explains that “the pioneering spirit necessary to overcome the mountains’ hardships quickly characterized the institution.”

Just as interesting is the school’s mascot — the hat and plaid-clad mountain man Yosef.

Up until 1942, App was known as the Mountaineers but had no actual mascot. Then, to fill a hole in the freshman class section of

the school yearbook, the editors created an imaginary student they called “Dan’l Boone Yoseff,” or, to translate a mountain accent, “Daniel Boone, yourself.” He became popular and spawned a tradition. Yosef wrote editorials for the school paper throughout the decade and eventually became the team mascot.

East Carolina Pirates Stay with us for this one, because it has a few twists and turns.

ECU has been known as the Pirates since 1934, a nickname that made sense since the eastern portion of the state is steeped in pirate lore with Blackbeard, who had various hideouts on the Carolina coast, being the most famous.

Despite the name, the school’s mascot wasn’t actually a pirate until 1983.

For awhile in the 1930s, the school had a live wildcat as a mascot. In the 1950s, ECU had a Great Dane who paid tribute to the team nickname with his own name — Buc (short for buccaneer). Then, strangely, East Carolina went with a French poodle in the 1960s. In the 1970s, there was a mutt named Pete. Students also occasionally dressed as parrots to serve as unofficial mascots.

Finally, in 1983, the school decided to go with a costumed pirate See NICKNAMES, page B4

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal WITH NO END in sight to the growing coronavirus crisis, the NCAA has extended the recruiting dead period it imposed after announcing the cancellation of all spring sports and championships last month.

College coaches are now prohibited from having any in-person contact with recruits or their parents until at least the end of May. But that doesn’t mean recruiting has come to a halt in the era of social distancing.

It’s still going on thanks to technology such as FaceTime and Zoom. And judging from the events of the past week, it has become even more strange and unpredictable than usual.

During that time, we’ve seen a basketball graduate transfer from an Ivy League school commit to Duke, decommit, then change his mind and re-up with the Blue Devils; a four-star recruit being pursued by numerous Power 5 schools choose to play for Elon instead; and the top-rated prospect in NC State’s star-studded recruiting class decided to enter the NBA Draft before ever playing a game with the Wolfpack.

And, oh yes, North Carolina coach Roy Williams is growing a beard.

Strange happenings, indeed.

“These are scary times — needless to say, the most unusual times ever,” Williams, from the North Carolina mountains where he’s been spending time with his wife Wanda, said in a video conference with local reporters Tuesday.

“What I’m hoping for is to get to the July period so you can see people in person, but I don’t have any idea if that’s going to come.

If it doesn’t, that means it’s not the safest thing. You’ve just got to put up with it.

“The guys on my staff are good with social media. I’m sure they’re doing some things. Since

“These are scary times — needless to say, the most unusual times ever.”

Roy Williams, UNC coach

I don’t get there, I don’t have any idea what they’re doing. But I’m very confident they’re doing some great things.”

At least things have been quiet for Williams and the Tar Heels.

That hasn’t been the case with two of his neighboring rivals.

At Duke, Mike Krzyzewski has been dealing with an ever-changing tale of the Tapé when it comes to his roster situation.

That’s Tapé, as in 6-foot-10 graduate student Patrick Tapé, who played his first three college seasons at Columbia, averaging 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 2019-20.

Tapé originally committed to using his final season of eligibility with the Blue Devils back on March 23, only to change his mind by reopening his recruitment nine days later. The Charlotte native then reconsidered again, telling ESPN’s Jeff Borzello on Sunday that he thought he’d rushed into his decision and “realized (Duke) was the best fit.”

While Krzyzewski was getting the good news on his incoming recruit, NC State’s Kevin Keatts was getting a double dose of disappointment.

Within hours on Monday Keatts and the Wolfpack lost out on four-star wing JaDun Michael and learned that it could potentially lose its top-ranked signee when five-star forward Josh Hall announced plans to enter the NBA Draft process.

Michael had originally signed with Wichita State but was allowed out of his National Letter of Intent because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and a desire to attend a school closer to home. The Burlington See RECRUITING, page B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

B2 WEDNESDAY

4.8.20

TRENDING

Cassius Stanley: The Duke freshman guard will enter the NBA Draft, the Blue Devils announced Tuesday.

The 6-foot-6 Stanley was named to the ACC All-Freshman team after averaging 12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds in his first season in Durham.

The 20-year-old from Los Angeles has been projected as a late first- or early secondround pick by experts.

With both Stanley and sophomore Tre Jones poised to leave, Jordan Goldwire is the top returning player in the Blue Devils’ backcourt.

Justin Gainey: The former NC State player is returning to Marquette’s staff as associate head coach.

Gainey worked for Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski at Marquette from 2014‑17 before spending one year as an assistant coach at Santa Clara and the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Arizona. Gainey played point guard at NC State from 1996‑2000 and was a team captain.

He worked at NC State from 2006-2009 before becoming an assistant coach for one season at Elon and for four seasons at Appalachian State.

beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES

Tim Duncan, the 1997 National Player of the Year and two-time first-team All‑American at Wake Forest who went on to win five NBA titles and two league MVP awards during a 19-year career with San Antonio, is one of nine people in the 2020 class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Duncan is joined in the class by contemporaries Kevin Garnett and the late Kobe Bryant.

NAM Y. HUH | AP PHOTO

“They’ve agreed to let me join the team again.”

Columbia transfer and Charlotte native Patrick Tapé on recommitting to Duke three days after he decommitted.

TONY GUTIERREZ | AP PHOTO

NASCAR

NFL

JOHN RAOUX | AP PHOTO

“That’s why I don’t take this s--- serious.

Peace out.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace after quitting in the middle of last weekend’s iRacing event.

PRIME NUMBER

Tom Dempsey: The former NFL kicker, who played in the NFL despite being born without toes on his kicking foot and made a record 63-yard field goal, died late Saturday while struggling with complications from the new coronavirus, his daughter said. He was 73. Ashley Dempsey said Sunday that her father, who has resided in an assisted living home for several years after being diagnosed with dementia, tested positive for the coronavirus a little more than a week ago.

BASKETBALL

12th Finish for seven‑time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in the IndyCar iRacing event Saturday at virtual Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. Johnson has been eyeing IndyCar racing once he’s completed his NASCAR career and was scheduled to test an Indy car for McLaren at Barber this month but it was canceled due to stay‑at-home orders.

ANDY CLAYTON-KING | AP PHOTO

Former UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky will be in an open competition for the Chicago Bears starting quarterback job when the NFL returns. The 2017 second overall pick will battle recently signed Nick Foles, MVP of Super Bowl LII with the Eagles, to be the Bears’ starter, coach Matt Nagy said Friday.

TERRY RENNA | AP PHOTO

William Byron, who led the most laps in NASCAR’s first two virtual races and had nothing to show for his gaming skills, got his first iRacing win, easily taking the event Sunday at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, where NASCAR would have been really racing before the coronavirus pandemic caused sports to shut down.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

THE WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL VIA AP

Former Wake Forest basketball coach Carl Tacy died last Thursday in Yadkinville. He was 87.

He was diagnosed with leukemia in December.

Tacy spent 13 seasons with the Demon Deacons from 1973-85, compiling a 222-149 record for the third-most wins in school history. He guided Wake Forest to three NCAA Tournaments.

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

CHEROKEE COUNTY

WEEK 4

CASWELL COUNTY

B3

CHATHAM COUNTY

CARTERET COUNTY

CATAWBA COUNTY

From Carteret to Cherokee North State Journal’s 100 in 100 series, led by Brett Friedlander, will showcase the best athlete from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. From Alamance to Yancey, each county will feature one athlete who stands above the rest. Some will be obvious choices, others controversial, but all of our choices are worthy of being recognized for their accomplishments — from the diamond and gridiron to racing ovals and the squared circle. This week’s five profiles come from Carteret, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham and Cherokee counties.

2.95 career earned run average that is still the second-best in team history behind Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman.

But his career took a severe downturn late in 1993 when he was traded to Colorado.

He eventually retired in 1997 after 243 games, 45 wins, 16 saves, 605 strikeouts and two Greg Harris shoulder surgeries, one of which was botched so badly that he was awarded more than $16 million in damages in two separate lawsuits.

PHOTO COURTESY OF N.C. SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Morehead City’s Mindy Ballou Fitzpatrick became a championship surfer after her collegiate basketball career was over.

Cherokee County

CARL PICKENS

Carteret County

MINDY BALLOU FITZPATRICK IT TOOK A FREE T-SHIRT TO HELP Mindy Ballou Fitzpatrick become a Hall of Famer.

Her accomplishments on the basketball court at West Carteret High School and the University of South Carolina were noteworthy in their own right. But what set her apart and ultimately caught the attention of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame was her record as a champion surfer. It’s a success she might not have attained without the aforementioned shirt.

“I wasn’t real competitive about it, which isn’t like me because I’m a competitive person,” Ballou Fitzpatrick said of her early surfing career on the Outer Banks. “I just loved it. It was kind of a breakaway from basketball and I got a T-shirt if I entered a contest. That’s when it started.”

The Morehead City native’s competitive juices started flowing again once those contests began, and she went on to win the Women’s Amateur National Championship at Sebastian Inlet, Florida, in 1994. She followed that up by winning five Eastern Surfing Association titles along with numerous district and regional championships.

Though her surfing skills were likely the element that put her over the top as a Hall of Famer, it was Ballou Fitzpatrick’s basketball talent that first began to get her noticed. She was named all-conference in all four of her high school seasons, earning three county Player of the Year honors while setting single-game, season and career scoring records.

At South Carolina, she scored 1,199 points between 1982-86. But it was her prowess as a playmaker that helped her become a three-time All-American and the No. 6 player in a recent ranking of all-time Gamecock women’s basketball greats. She still holds the school record for assists in a season with 219, and her career total of 595 is the second-most in school history nearly three decades later.

CHARLIE RIEDEL | AP PHOTO

Yanceyville’s Carl Willis, center, helped the Twins to a World Series title in 1991 and went on to become one of baseball’s top pitching coaches. the Fall Classic. Five years later, though, the 6-foot‑4 right-hander got another chance, and this time he made the most of it by pitching in four games for the Minnesota Twins in their dramatic sevengame victory against the Atlanta Braves.

In all, Willis played parts of nine major league seasons for four teams, compiling 22 wins and 13 saves in 267 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen. When he was done playing in 1995, he transitioned into one of the game’s most respected pitching coaches. Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia credits Willis for “molding me into what I am now” during their early days together in the Cleveland Indians’ minor league system. Willis is currently in his second tenure with the Indians’ major league club.

Prior to his professional career, Williams starred at UNC Wilmington, where he won 20 career games with the Seahawks, leading the team in both wins and saves in 1982 and ’83, and earning a place in the school’s athletic hall of fame.

Catawba County

NED JARRETT JARRETT’S JOURNEY TO THE NASCAR Hall of Fame began with a gamble.

Anxious to move up to racing’s top series after winning consecutive Sportsman division championships in 1957-58, the Conover native bought a Ford from Junior Johnson for $2,000.

The problem is, he didn’t have enough money to cover the check. Fortunately, he waited until the banks closed on a Friday afternoon before writing it, giving him

Caswell County

CARL WILLIS LIKE MANY ASPIRING BASEBALL players during the mid-1970s, Carl Willis was a fan of the Cincinnati Reds. He used to pretend he was a member of the Big Red Machine during the countless hours he spent throwing the ball in his backyard in Yanceyville. So when he was traded to the Reds by the Detroit Tigers late in his rookie season of 1984, he was much more familiar with teammates like Hall of Famers Pete Rose and Tony Perez than they were with him.

“I played with you guys in my backyard,” he told them upon his arrival. “You just didn’t know it.”

As happy as Willis was to join his boyhood heroes, the deal that sent him to Cincinnati that August cost him a chance to pitch in a World Series — the Tigers went on to beat the San Diego Padres in

TERRY RENNA | AP PHOTO

Conover’s Ned Jarrett, pictured in 1964, won two Grand National titles before retiring at 34. He then became one of NASCAR’s top broadcast analysts.

enough time to enter two races — winning them both — and earn enough money to make good on the check when the bank opened on Monday.

He won two races that first year and was a Grand National champion by 1961, the first of his two titles in the series now known as the NASCAR Cup series. Known as “Gentleman Ned” because of his quiet demeanor and poised driving style, he burst into full-fledged stardom by winning 15 races in 1964 and 13 in 1965. And then, seemingly at the top of his game, he walked away at the age of 34. He is the only driver ever to retire as a NASCAR champion, finishing his career with 50 wins over eight full seasons.

“I vowed to myself early on that, however far up the ladder I got, I would quit while I was there and not go down the other side,” Jarrett said upon his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011. “People have a tendency to remember the last thing you did, and I didn’t want them to remember me as a has-been.”

Upon his retirement as a driver, Jarrett became one of the best, most respected racing analysts, first on the radio for MRN, then on television with CBS and ESPN. For all his success on the track, his most memorable moment may have come in the broadcast booth when he called his son Dale’s narrow victory over Dale Earnhardt in the 1993 Daytona 500.

Chatham County

GREG HARRIS HARRIS’ MIDDLE NAME IS WADE, which is important for baseball purposes because, during the late 1980s and early ’90s, he wasn’t the only Greg Harris playing in the Major Leagues. Thus he became known as Greg W. Harris, differentiating him from fellow right-hander Greg A. Harris.

Though he might easily have been confused for somebody else during a pitching career that lasted eight seasons with the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins, he was the only Greg Harris that mattered to the folks back home in Siler City.

He made a name for himself first at Jordan Matthews High School and then at Elon, where he blossomed into a prospect by earning all-conference honors in both 1984 and ’85 while leading the team in both complete games and saves. Drafted in the 10th round by the Padres following his college career, Harris advanced rapidly through the organization, earning his team’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year award in 1987 before making his major league debut as a September call-up in the following season.

Relying on a sweeping curveball that was considered one of the best in baseball, Harris enjoyed five successful seasons with the Padres while pitching both as a starter and out of the bullpen, compiling a

FEW, IF ANY, HIGH SCHOOLS IN North Carolina have produced as much elite football talent per capita as Murphy, a 1A school in the Smoky Mountains that has won nine state championships in its storied history. Of all those players, none was better than Pickens.

A solidly built 6-foot-2, 200-pound defensive back and receiver, Pickens led the Bulldogs to back-to-back undefeated seasons and 1A state championships in 198687. He intercepted 15 passes in his high school career while catching 71 passes for more than 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns, and he earned Parade All-American recognition in his senior season.

Because he was also a star basketball player, averaging 27 points per game, Pickens was considered a top recruit in two sports. He clearly made the right decision by concentrating on football and continuing his career at Tennessee, where he caught 109 passes for 1,875 yards and 13 touchdowns in three seasons for the Volunteers before being taken in the second round of the 1992 draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Although the Bengals were one of the worst teams in the NFL, Pickens managed to stand out. He was the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season and a Pro Bowl selection in both 1995 — when he led the NFL with 17 receiving touchdowns — and in ’96 — when he caught 100 passes.

In 1999, after the Bengals went 4-12, Pickens was let go for expressing his displeasure with coach Bruce Coslett. In releasing him, the team cited a clause in his contract forbidding him from making disparaging public comments about the organization. It became known as “The Carl Pickens Clause.”

Pickens left Cincinnati with 63 touchdown catches, a franchise record until it was broken by Chad Ochocinco in 2010. He played his final season with the Tennessee Titans in 2000, catching 10 passes in nine games.

DAVID J. PHILLIP | AP PHOTO

Murphy’s Carl Pickens had 540 receptions for 7,129 yards and 63 touchdowns in his nine-season NFL career, eight of which were with the Cincinnati Bengals.

B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Uncanceled: The 1981 baseball strike MLB’s split season gets put back together — with different results and a new champion

ing by 11 in the games that were actually played in 1981.

National League East The Cardinals received their split-season deprived divisional title, beating first-half champion Philadelphia by four games and second-half champ Montreal by five.

By Shawn Krest North State Journal THE CORONAVIRUS has canceled just about all of sports for the time being, and no one knows when we’ll get back to the good old days, with games every day.

All the hand-washing, social distancing and staying inside can’t change any of that. But there is one thing we can do.

The NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB have all lost games to labor strife in the past. The NHL has had three seasons shortened and one canceled. The NFL had two seasons shortened. MLB had three seasons impacted by labor woes, and the NBA had games wiped out in two seasons.

In an ongoing series, while none of us have any live sports to watch, we’ll be un-canceling lost games from our past. We’ll do this not by any computer or video game simulations or by statistical tricks, but by actual action that took place on the field or ice. Basically, for each canceled game, we’ll use the next time those two teams played (at the same venue) as a “makeup game.” For example, we would use games from the 2020-21 NBA and NHL seasons to fill in any holes left by the coronavirus in this year’s schedule.

This week, we’ll look at the 1981 baseball strike that caused a weird split season.

The strike came in the middle of the year, so when play resumed, MLB declared the teams leading their divisions when the strike hit as the “First-Half Champions” and set everyone’s records to 0-0 for the second half. The first- and second-half champs then played in an extra round of playoffs.

There was no wild card, which means that the teams that actually finished with the best overall records in NL East (St. Louis) and

National League West The Reds also received their divisional title, but it was a tight race. Cincinnati and the Dodgers finished in a flat-footed tie at 90-72. The Reds then eliminated the Dodgers, who won the real-life 1981 World Series, in a one-game playoff to reach the LCS. The second-half champion Astros finished a distant third.

Individual accolades RICHARD DREW | AP PHOTO

In 1981, Fernandomania was at its peak as the Dodgers’ rookie ace, Fernando Valenzuela, burst on the scene.

NL West (Cincinnati) didn’t make the postseason. Both teams finished second in the first and second halves to get shut out.

The 1981 season was the year of Fernandomania. Rookie Fernando Valenzuela was one of several pitchers flirting with a 20win season before the season was interrupted. It was also the heyday of the stolen base, and both Tim Raines and Rickey Henderson had shots at 100-steal seasons. And the American League finished with an odd four-way tie for the home run title.

So there was plenty of individual statistical business to be worked out.

Let’s go ahead and finish the season.

American League East The Yankees won the first half and beat the second-half champion

Brewers in the Divisional Round, then swept the A’s in the LCS before losing the World Series to the Dodgers. Neither the Yankees nor the Brewers ended up winning the division. Six of the seven teams in the division had combined firstand second-half records over .500 and five of them were within 2.5 games of first. The Red Sox went an astounding 37-17 (.685) over the makeup games to win the division by six games.

American League West The Oakland A’s had a fivegame lead in the combined firstand second-half standings, but the makeup games took place in Oakland’s disastrous 1982 season. The A’s went 20-33 (.377) in the makeups and fell out of first. The second-half champion Kansas City Royals went 38-24 in the makeups to steal the division, despite trail-

The champion The Royals swept the Red Sox in the ALCS, winning two at home and wrapping up the best-of-five series with a Game 3 win in Boston.

The Cardinals swept the Reds

Home run leaders (After) Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Gorman Thomas, Milwaukee Eddie Murray, Baltimore Dwight Evans, Boston Bobby Grich, California Greg Luzinski, White Sox Tony Armas, Oakland

38 32 30 29 28 27 24

Pitching leaders (W-L, Before) Tom Seaver, Cincinnati 14-2 Pete Vuckovich, Milwaukee 14-4 Dennis Martinez, Baltimore 14-5 Jack Morris, Detroit 14-7 Steve McCatty, Oakland 14-7 Steve Carlton, Philadelphia 13-4 Scott McGregor, Baltimore 13-5 F. Valenzuela, Los Angeles 13-7 D. Leonard, Kansas City 13-11 Pitching leaders (W-L, After) Dennis Martinez, Baltimore 22-11 Steve Carlton, Philadelphia 21-8 Jack Morris, Detroit 21-12 Pete Vuckovich, Milwaukee 19-5 F. Valenzuela, Los Angeles 19-11 D. Leonard, Kansas City 18-11 Tom Seaver, Cincinnati 17-7 Steve McCatty, Oakland 17-8 Scott McGregor, Baltimore 17-12 Stolen base leaders (Before) Tim Raines, Montreal 71 Rickey Henderson, Oak 56 Stolen base leaders (After) Rickey Henderson, Oakland 99 Tim Raines, Montreal 94

in the NLCS, winning its first two on the road and then wrapping up the series at home in Game 3.

Then it was on to the World Series, which was a pre-match of the 1985 Series between the two Missouri teams. It also means that — in the days before interleague play — the ’85 series games oddly served as the makeup games for the 1981 Series as well.

The Royals ended up winning both world championships in dramatic seven-game battles.

National League East (Second Half) National League West (Second Half)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Montreal Expos 30 23 .566 — Houston Astros 33 20 .623 — St. Louis Cardinals 29 23 .558 0.5 Cincinnati Reds 31 21 .596 1.5 Philadelphia Phillies 25 27 .481 4.5 San Francisco Giants 29 23 .558 3.5 New York Mets 24 28 .462 5.5 Los Angeles Dodgers 27 26 .509 6.0 Chicago Cubs 23 28 .451 6.0 Atlanta Braves 25 27 .481 7.5 Pittsburgh Pirates 21 33 .389 9.5 San Diego Padres 18 36 .333 15.5

American League East (Second Half) American League West (Second Half)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Milwaukee Brewers 31 22 .585 — Kansas City Royals 30 23 .566 — Boston Red Sox 29 23 .558 1.5 Oakland A’s 27 22 .551 1.0 Detroit Tigers 29 23 .558 1.5 Texas Rangers 24 26 .480 4.5 Baltimore Orioles 28 23 .549 2.0 Minnesota Twins 24 29 .453 6.0 Cleveland Indians 26 27 .491 5.0 Seattle Mariners 23 29 .442 6.5 New York Yankees 25 26 .490 5.0 Chicago White Sox 23 30 .434 7.0 Toronto Blue Jays 21 27 .438 7.5 California Angels 20 30 .400 8.5 American League East (Uncanceled) American League West (Uncanceled)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Boston Red Sox 96 66 .593 — Kansas City Royals 88 74 .543 — New York Yankees 90 72 .556 6.0 Oakland A’s 84 78 .519 4.0 Baltimore Orioles 89 73 .549 7.0 California Angels 79 83 .488 9.0 Milwaukee Brewers 89 73 .549 7.0 Chicago White Sox 78 84 .481 10.0 Detroit Tigers 89 73 .549 7.0 Texas Rangers 75 87 .463 13.0 Cleveland Indians 86 76 .531 10.0 Seattle Mariners 72 90 .444 16.0 Toronto Blue Jays 63 99 .389 33.0 Minnesota Twins 56 106 .346 32.0

National League East (Uncanceled) National League West (Uncanceled)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB St. Louis Cardinals 96 66 .593 — Cincinnati Reds 90 72 .556 — Philadelphia Phillies 92 70 .568 4.0 LA Dodgers 90 72 .556 0.0 Montreal Expos 91 71 .562 5.0 Houston Astros 82 80 .506 8.0 Pittsburgh Pirates 77 85 .475 19.0 Atlanta Braves 80 82 .494 10.0 Chicago Cubs 66 96 .407 30.0 San Francisco Giants 76 86 .469 14.0 New York Mets 65 97 .401 31.0 San Diego Padres 67 95 .414 23.0

NICKNAMES from page B1

to honor the year, 1949, and harken back to the pioneers of a century earlier. A gold mine is supposedly located near campus, which provides an additional tiein. The school is also located just off of Highway 49, although officially, that’s just a coincidence.

and held a contest to name him.

The name PeeDee the Pirate was chosen, named after the Pee Dee River, where pirates were known to hide out.

The student body complained that the community vote didn’t take their opinion into account, and the PeeDee was officially dropped from the name in 1985, although the mascot is still commonly referred to as either PeeDee or Petey the Pirate.

Davidson Wildcats

Charlotte 49ers

NORTH STATE JOURNAL

East Carolina’s athletic teams have been known as the Pirates since 1934, but the school has used several different mascots. ready to close down the campus.

A group of supporters were able to convince the legislature that the city needed its own college, however, and Charlotte College

31 22 22 22 22 21 21

National League East (First Half) National League West (First Half)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Philadelphia Phillies 34 21 .618 — Los Angeles Dodgers 36 21 .632 — St. Louis Cardinals 30 20 .600 1.5 Cincinnati Reds 35 21 .625 0.5 Montreal Expos 30 25 .545 4.0 Houston Astros 28 29 .491 8.0 Pittsburgh Pirates 25 23 .521 5.5 Atlanta Braves 25 29 .463 9.5 New York Mets 17 34 .333 15.0 San Francisco Giants 27 32 .458 10.0 Chicago Cubs 15 37 .288 17.5 San Diego Padres 23 33 .411 12.5

American League East (First Half) American League West (First Half)

W L Pct GB W L Pct GB New York Yankees 34 22 .607 — Oakland A’s 37 23 .617 — Baltimore Orioles 31 23 .574 2.0 Texas Rangers 33 22 .600 1.5 Milwaukee Brewers 31 25 .554 3.0 Chicago White Sox 31 22 .585 2.5 Detroit Tigers 31 26 .544 3.5 California Angels 31 29 .517 6.0 Boston Red Sox 30 26 .536 4.0 Kansas City Royals 20 30 .400 12.0 Cleveland Indians 26 24 .520 5.0 Seattle Mariners 21 36 .368 14.5 Toronto Blue Jays 16 42 .276 19.0 Minnesota Twins 17 39 .304 18.0

It’s easy to see why San Francisco’s NFL team is the 49ers.

They’re named in honor of the 1849 gold rush that brought the first settlers to California in search of treasure.

Sure enough, Charlotte’s mascot, Norm the Niner, is a gold miner that looks straight out of the 19th century. But what does Charlotte have to do with the California Gold Rush?

Nothing, as it turns out. In fact, the 49ers of the east take their nickname from a date 100 years after the one that spawned San Francisco’s nickname.

Charlotte began as a satellite campus of the University of North Carolina in 1946. It was originally a night school, and, because of that, Charlotte’s sports teams were known as the Owls.

After three years, the state was

The American League home run race had a twist ending.

Three of the four players tied for first missed significant time in the makeup games due to injury. Eddie Murray missed seven games, Tony Armas 12 and Bobby Grich five. As a result, Milwaukee’s “Stormin’” Gorman Thomas, who was one home run behind the foursome, managed to win the home run crown with 11 dingers in the makeup games.

Henderson, who had the luxury of playing makeup games in his record-setting 130 steal season in 1982, overtook Tim Raines for the MLB steals title despite trailing by 15 at the end of calendar year 1981.

Both fell just short of the 100-steal mark, however.

Fernando didn’t make it to 20 wins, but Steve Carlton, Jack Morris and Dennis Martinez did.

Home run leaders (Before) Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Tony Armas, Oakland Eddie Murray, Baltimore Dwight Evans, Boston Bobby Grich, California Greg Luzinski, White Sox Gorman Thomas, Milwaukee

was established in 1949.

The school’s first year as an independent college required everyone to have a “pioneering spirit,” and they chose the nickname

It’s one of the most common college nicknames around, but Davidson has an interesting story that got it to Wildcats.

It was November 10, 1917. Up until that point, Davidson’s football team had been known, at various times, as the Preachers, the Presbyterians and the Red & Black.

Davidson sent its football team to Atlanta as one of the biggest underdogs in the sport. Davidson had exactly 22 players make the trip. They were 2-4 on the season and facing Auburn, who was 5-0 with four shutout wins, including 53-0 and 68-0. Davidson was outweighed by 20 pounds per man, and, in the game, Auburn gained 240 yards on the ground to Davidson’s 91.

Davidson was able to throw the ball, a relatively new development at the time, and sprung a 21-7 upset over heavily favored Auburn. Atlanta sportswriters raved about how small size can be overcome by a ferocious nature, as the “Wildcats from Davidson” proved.

RECRUITING from page B1 native got as close to home as he possibly could by pledging to play for Elon.

Only a few hours later, Hall posted on his Twitter account that he’ll test the NBA Draft waters while retaining his college eligibility in case he chooses to remain with the Wolfpack.

If the five-star prospect does leave, it will mark the second time in as many years that State has lost its top recruit before he ever stepped on campus. A year ago at this time, point guard Jalen Lecque stayed in the draft and went unselected before ultimately signing a free agent deal with the Phoenix Suns.

It’s a situation that has only been complicated by communication challenges of current social distancing conditions.

But Keatts is doing his best to keep things in perspective.

“It’s something everyone in the country has to do,” the State coach said. “So I think we have to be creative. … I understand. I’m not complaining. We’re in a situation where we’re fighting a dangerous virus and right now, I’m telling the guys and even the guys I’m recruiting: ‘It’s not about us. It’s not about recruiting. It’s not about athletics. It’s about the safety of the country and the world.’ So everybody’s got to take a step back, put athletics in the back burner and try to get through this.”

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

B5

BUSINESS & economy

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CANTINA

An employee at The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village in Asheville hands over a Cantina Comfort and Care box to colleague.

n.c.

FAST FACTS Sponsored by

Iconic boat builder expands coastal operations Approved Logos

BEAUFORT — Correct Craft, a Florida company that recently completed an acquisition of Beaufort-based Parker Boats, will expand its Carteret County manufacturing facility, bringing industry jobs to the area. The company’s plans, announced last week by North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony Copeland, include a capital investment of $1,715,000.

“Even in uncertain times, North Carolina proves to be an unbeatable environment for high-end manufacturing,” Secretary Copeland said.

Based in Florida and operating globally, Correct Craft traces its roots to 1925.

Focused on “Making Life Better,” the Correct Craft family includes Nautique, Centurion, Supreme, Bass Cat, YarCraft, SeaArk, Parker and Bryant boat companies, Pleasurecraft Marine Engine Group, Watershed Innovation and Aktion Parks. In 2019, the company launched its acquisition of Parker Boats, a manufacturer of premium offshore and inshore fishing boats that has operated in Beaufort since 1978. The company’s Carteret County facility has an existing workforce of 102.

Correct Craft President and CEO Bill Yeargin stated, “Adding Parker Boats into our Correct Craft family has been great for both parties. Linwood Parker and his family have built an impressive business and brand that entered Correct Craft into a new segment in the marine industry, and this expansion creates new exciting momentum. It will help Parker Boats meet customer demand and provide new job opportunities to the eastern North Carolina community.”

Linwood Parker, founder & CEO of Parker Boats, said: “Being a part of Correct Craft provides Parker opportunities to improve our manufacturing processes and offer our customers new boat options and models, while still offering what Parker is known for – boats built with integrity and pride. “ The North Carolina Department of Commerce led a team of partners in supporting Correct Craft’s decision to expand its Beaufort operations. Salaries of the new jobs will create a $1,216,000 in payroll impact for the community.

“The expansion of existing North Carolina businesses is one of the best indicators that our business climate remains competitive with other leading manufacturing destinations,” said N.C. Representative Pat McElraft. “Today’s announcement says all the right things about the investments we’ve made in workforce, infrastructure and the other factors that lead to job growth and economic investment.”

Asheville restaurant commits to feeding staff and families each week Husband and wife team create “Comfort and Care” packages for employees’ households during virus outbreak, bringing necessities and human connection

By Emily Roberson North State Journal ASHEVILLE — Due to the overwhelming unknowns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus, The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village located outside the gates of the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. shut their doors to the public on March 17th, 2020.

The very next day the National Restaurant Association informed President Trump and congressional leaders that they estimate a $225 billion decline in sales among independent restaurants resulting in the loss of 5-7 million jobs. The owners of The Cantina, Sherrye and Anthony Coggiola, knew upon closing that during this trying time they would be focusing their efforts entirely on supporting their staff.

Anthony, co-owner of The Cantina and CEO of C3L Associates, then made a donation and a commitment. “My companyC3L Associates and I have committed to feeding The Cantina employees and their families until the economy of the service industry stabilizes”.

C3L Associates specializes in assisting agribusiness, healthcare, and humanitarian related organizations with procurement of critical assets, development, and sourcing around the world.

Anthony has spent the past few

decades developing sustainable solutions for disaster relief and recovery as well as food security.

As Covid-19 continued to quickly spread he recognized the overwhelming effects that not only The Cantina and its staff would experience but also the devastating effect farmers and food suppliers will be experiencing. Food suppliers are experiencing an unprecedented and devastating blow to their businesses. Anthony explains that “via this commitment we will be providing comfort and care not only for The Cantina staff but also our food suppliers.”

During this time of great unrest and unknown The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village remains closed. However, every week staff members come for a curbside pickup of boxes filled with fresh food to feed their families.

“These are scary times for us all. We feared that by closing our doors we would lose connection with our staff,” says co-owner Sherrye Coggiola. The Coggiolas go on to explain that a big part of the Cantina Comfort and Care plan is the opportunity to foster further connection and communication with their staff.

“This plan allows us to see our employees every week” Anthony says. “We are able to check in with them. From a safe distance of at least 6 ft. We are able to ask, are you OK? What do you and your family need? We are able to provide them with comfort and care. We do not want any member of our staff to feel alone. We don’t want any member of our staff’s family to go hungry.”

“We are one big family. Together we will get through this.

We intend to not just survive

We do not want any member of our staff to feel alone. We don’t want any member of our staff’s family to go hungry.”

Anthony Coggiola, co-­owner of The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village but to thrive,” Sherrye Coggiola says.

The Cantina family is indeed a big one. While they have a little under 50 employees The Cantina Comfort and Care plan feeds 140 people a week. The Coggiolas intend to build upon this plan and to expand the reach of their efforts to other displaced hospitality workers in the area.

In the meantime they make sizable donations of food to local organizations such as ABCCM and Manna Food Bank.

“Everyone could us a little extra comfort and a little extra care at this time” Anthony says.

The N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) is also working to provide resources to hospitality industry employees statewide.

“While we are all facing an uncertain financial future, these workers are now living a harsh reality. It’s our duty to show them we value their work and wellbeing by doing what we can to help them out,” says Steve Thanhauser, NCRLA Chair and co-­ owner of the Angus Barn Steakhouse in Raleigh.

Go to ncrestaurantrelief.com for more information about donations and support.

n.c.

STATEWIDE SPOTLIGHT Sponsored by

Stay-Home Smarts As we all adjust to spending more time at home — heeding public health recommendations — be mindful of your energy and water usage. The last thing you need is a surprisingly high bill! These tips will help you save money and go easy on your community’s utility systems. Stay home and stay safe!

Sleep on it. Run dishwashers, washers, and dryers overnight to avoid peak usage times.

Let the sun in Lighting accounts for 12% of your energy usage. Turn off lights when you leave a room, and use natural light when possible.

Fan fare All that natural light might heat things up, but remember: Ceiling fans cool people, not rooms. Turn them off when you’re not in the room.

Unplug Disconnect devices and chargers when not in use. Try using a power strip as a central turn-off point.

Bathroom rules Never flush anything other than toilet paper down the toilet. This includes paper towels and wipes that say they’re “flushable;” neither item dissolves and both will clog up the wastewater system.

Liz Weston: What to do when you can’t pay your bills The Associated Press The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could be profound. Many people are already losing jobs, with unemployment jumping at a record pace.

Even those who stay employed

may face reduced hours or uncertainty about how long their paychecks will continue.

If you’re in a situation where you can’t pay all your bills, or likely to be there soon, you may have some options to limit the damage to your finances.

Prioritize essentials

The recently enacted stimulus package includes a 120-day ban on evictions for many renters, as well as a moratorium on foreclosures for most mortgages. People who have federally backed

Before paying anything else, try to cover the basics: shelter (mortgage or rent), food and utilities. Transportation, cell phone service and child care are necessities if they allow you to work.

See BILLS, page B6

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

B6

the BRIEF CENTRAL BANKS AND GOV’T The White House is considering coronavirus “war bonds” to fund the federal response to the pandemic.

Larry Kudlow, the director of the national economic council, says the federal government, like most Americans, should make the most of low interest rates. The U.S. government has had little trouble finding people willing to lend it money so far, even without anything branded as “war bonds.” It’s been able to borrow at interest rates near record lows despite ballooning deficits, as investors around the world look for safe places to park cash.

AIRLINES American Airlines is suspending more flights at the city’s three major airports, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in New Jersey. American said late Sunday that it will run 13 flights daily from the three airports beginning this week, down from an average of 271 flights per day last April. United Airlines over the weekend reduced its 157 daily flights, to 17. Spirit Airlines has completely cut off service to the city and JetBlue, which is based in New York City, has slashed operations in the city by about 80%. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue applied for a share of the $25 billion in federal grants designed to cover airline payrolls for the next six months.

None disclosed the amount they are seeking.

COMPANIES STEPPING UP Apple has sourced more than 20 million face masks through its supply chain, CEO Tim Cook said in a video posted on Twitter. Apple hopes to quickly expand distribution beyond the U.S. It plans to ship over a million face shields to healthcare workers by the end of the week, and continue to send that many every week going forward, Cook said.

Ford Motor Co. has manufactured and shipped over 1 million clear plastic face shields to hospitals and first responders all over the U.S. The company sent its millionth protective shield to New York City as part of a shipment of more than 30,000 spokeswoman Elizabeth Kraft said.

Hilton and American Express are donating a million U.S. hotel rooms to medical workers who need to sleep or isolate from their families. American Express and Hilton are paying for the rooms, which are being provided at or below cost by Hilton franchisees.

VIRUS DATA Facebook is inviting users to share their coronavirus symptoms and location to help researchers track how the disease is spreading or abating. A survey will appear on Facebook starting this week for some U.S. users and is run by health researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. If it works, it could later expand worldwide. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post Monday that “researchers and health officials think the data from these surveys can help determine where to allocate health resources like ventilators, where to tighten lockdown orders, and eventually which counties can safely start opening back up again.” Those data-sharing agreements started in March and are supplying customized reports to states including California and Massachusetts, as well as parts of India, to show how social distancing practices are working in specific regions.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NCDOT CASH REPORT | WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2020

Beginning cash balance

$367,968,598 Ending cash balance

Beginning Cash Balance change from prior week

$346,426,965 +$16,956,466 BILLS from page B5 mortgages (including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and Department of Agriculture) and who can attest to COVID-19-related financial hardship can request forbearance from their mortgage lenders. If you’re going to miss a mortgage payment, contact your lender about hardship options and consider talking to a housing counselor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can call HUD at 888-995-4673 for roundthe-clock foreclosure avoidance assistance.

Housing counselors can help renters, as well. Another good resource is Just Shelter, which can point you to local organizations fighting eviction and homelessness. Also, emergency rental assistance may be available. Start your search for help at www.211.org.

Your local 211 organization can also connect you to resources to pay for other essentials, including food and utilities. Regulators in some states have told utilities not to shut off service for nonpayment during the crisis; elsewhere many utilities have vowed to suspend disconnections. Many also offer lower-cost “lifeline” service or payment plans if you fall behind.

If your car payments are too expensive and you owe less than the car is worth, you may be able to refinance the loan. Otherwise, the best option may be to sell it and buy something cheaper, if possible. If you owe more than the car’s value, you may still be able to sell it if you can get a personal loan to cover the difference in what you owe. Try to avoid repossession, either voluntary or otherwise, since you’ll still be on the hook for any deficit and your credit will suffer.

Identify your next-level priorities Taxes, child support and insurance are expenses that can have serious consequences when you fail to pay.

DAMIAN DOVARGANES | AP PHOTO

A paper envelope written with the words “Rent Money $ “ is left tucked in a lighting pole in the Boyle Heights east district of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.

The IRS and state tax agencies can take a portion of your wages, seize money from your bank account and even send you to jail (although that doesn’t usually happen unless you’re deliberately committing tax fraud). Similar penalties await people who fail to pay child support.

Falling behind on insurance payments, meanwhile, can cause your policies to lapse, leaving you vulnerable to potentially catastrophic expenses.

Some options for relief: — The IRS has pushed back the tax filing deadline to July 15.

Many states are following suit.

Tax agencies have payment plans if you can’t immediately pay what you owe.

— You may be able to modify a child support agreement if you go back to court.

— If your insurance is unaffordable, talk to the insurer about alternatives or shop around for a less expensive policy.

Now consider everything else Access to credit can help you pay the bills when your income isn’t enough. Ideally you would make minimum payments on any loans or credit cards, since skipped payments can seriously damage your credit scores and cut off your ability to borrow.

Miss enough payments and you could face collection calls, lawsuits and wage garnishment.

But some bills have a “pause” button. You can ask for forbearance on federal student loans, for example, which allows you to temporarily stop making payments.

Since interest on federal education loans has been waived during the crisis, forbearance won’t increase what you owe. Plus, federal loans have income-driven repayment plans that potentially can reduce your required payments to zero. The U.S. Department of Education’s federal student aid site has details.

After virus fades, service industries may be changed forever The Associated Press WASHINGTON — For years, personal trainer Amanda Tikalsky didn’t have to worry much about her job. The U.S. economy’s record-breaking 11-year expansion offered security to service workers like her.

Then came the coronavirus, which closed the Milwaukee athletic club where she worked for 15 years. She scrambled to organize online exercise sessions to keep money coming in. About 25% of her clients made the jump with her.

“It’s an adjustment for everybody,’’ she said. “We are used to being face to face.”

But even when the virus threat is gone, Tikalsky predicts that many customers will continue to exercise from home. The shutdown is also likely to change her own shopping habits. She has a new appreciation for the ease of buying groceries online.

The pandemic is almost sure to leave a mark on the way people work, shop and socialize, perhaps permanently shifting the way many service industries operate. Consumers will think harder about the health implications of squeezing into crowded restaurants and movie theaters. More businesses will accept the effectiveness of employees who work from home, and the move to online shopping will accelerate.

“We’ve never had a crisis where we couldn’t socially gather with people,” said John Gordon, founder of Pacific Management Consulting Group in San Diego, which advises restaurants.

Until March, service workers — from dishwashers to real estate agents — had been enjoying a record winning streak in the job market. U.S. service jobs had risen for a decade.

The sector appeared almost im-

FRANK FRANKLIN II | AP PHOTO

In this April 4, 2020, file photo, pedestrians pass closed stores on Roosevelt Avenue in the Queens borough of New York. mune to blips in the economy. Not even low-wage competition overseas or automation seemed to threaten service jobs that require direct contact with customers.

Then the virus arrived. It upended the service economy, which accounts for 84% of U.S. private-sector employment. It wiped out 659,000 service jobs in March — 94% of the jobs that vanished last month as the U.S. economy plunged into recession.

It is sure to claim many more.

In an interview Monday on CNBC, former Fed Chair Janet Yellen predicted that unemployment rates could climb to Great Depression levels. But because the economy was in solid shape before the outbreak, she added, the return to normal employment could happen much faster than during the Depression or after the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

When the economy goes into a nosedive, manufacturers, not services providers, are usually hit first and hardest.

Not this time. The virus has been a gut punch to businesses that de-

pend on social gatherings — restaurants, cinemas, theaters, hotels, airlines, gyms, shopping centers. More than 250,000 stores are now temporarily closed, accounting for nearly 60% of retail square footage, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, a research firm.

In recessions, factories are often the first to slash jobs, and they don’t always bring them back. American manufacturers still employ 918,000 fewer workers than they did before the Great Recession. Over the same period, service employment is up by nearly 14 million.

Economists are divided over whether service employees will face the kind of economic disruption factory workers have endured.

Much depends on the rescue efforts being put together by the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve. Congress and the White House are throwing at least $2.2 trillion at American businesses and households in a desperate attempt to keep them from going under before the health crisis is over.

“As long as we do the policy right,

Meanwhile, some banks and other lenders are offering their customers more options after federal regulators encouraged financial institutions to help consumers affected by the pandemic. For example, credit card issuers, including Capital One and American Express, are allowing customers who ask for help to skip a monthly payment without penalty. Contact your lenders to see what’s available and how to qualify for any assistance.

Unfortunately, sometimes the available help isn’t enough. A credit counselor’s debt management plan could allow you to repay your debt at lower rates, or you may need to consider bankruptcy, which stops collections activity and legally erases many debts. You can get referrals from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, respectively.

we should get a pretty strong recovery,” said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist at the Labor Department. “When the lockdown is over, I think we’ll get a pretty decent bounce back.”

Still, some effects of the outbreak are likely to linger, analysts say.

Cooped up in their homes, Americans have discovered anew the convenience of shopping online — something that is likely to accelerate the decline of traditional retail stores, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton.

Restaurants have closed their dining rooms and reduced service to takeout, delivery and curbside pickup. Swonk expects the trend toward grab-and-go dining to continue after the health crisis.

Millions of Americans have spent weeks working from home, and the experience has been eye-opening for many, and for their bosses. Meetings and even virtual after-hours cocktail parties can be organized on Zoom, WhatsApp or other programs.

“We’re just discovering that we can have amazing seminars and conferences online much easier. We don’t have to travel anywhere,” said Arindrajit Dube, economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. That’s troubling for airlines and hotels that depend on business travel, sometimes to subsidize discounts for leisure travelers.

The enhanced appeal of home offices could also have implications for real estate markets, giving more workers expanded housing options because they won’t need to travel to their jobs.

But there may be limits to Americans’ enthusiasm for isolating themselves at home.

Becky Ahlgren Bedics, 49, of Fishers, Indiana, has been working out via Zoom since her fitness club closed temporarily in midMarch. But she plans to trek over to the club when it reopens. She misses the camaraderie. “There’s such a connection that you have with people,” she added.

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

B7

entertainment

New phone-only Quibi aims for bite of digital entertainment

By Lynne Elber The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Want to see Chance the Rapper prank Hollywood stars? Catch a new action thriller starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz? How about a six-minute edition of “60 Minutes”? There’s an app for that, and more.

Quibi — a snappy amalgam of “quick” and “bite” — is a mobile phone-only platform that will release its snack-sized installments of movies and TV shows each weekday. There will be seven-daya-week dollops of news, sports and weather, gathered under the umbrella name Daily Essentials, all adding up to a mind-boggling 175plus programs planned for this year.

It launched Monday in the U.S. and Canada with a 90-day free trial and 50 programs, all in segments no longer than 10 minutes. They include “Punk’d,” with Chance the Rapper as host and executive producer; the HemsworthWaltz movie “Most Dangerous Game,” and “Chrissy’s Court,” with Chrissy Teigen administering justice in small claims cases a la Judge Judy.

Others who have signed on to either produce or appear (or both) in Quibi content include Reese Witherspoon, Joe Jonas, Jennifer Lopez, Lena Waithe and Sophie Turner.

“I’m confident we’re going to give people something they’ve never seen before.”

Jeffrey Katzenberg But the biggest names attached to the project are its executives: entertainment industry heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. In the 1980s, Katzenberg revived the Walt Disney Co.’s movie studio and its animation division with hits including “The Little Mermaid,” and in 1994 co-founded DreamWorks SGK with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Quibi is Katzenberg’s brainchild, and he picked Whitman, also a onetime Disney executive, as the new platform’s CEO. For Katzenberg, it’s the product that will make Quibi a winner.

“In all my years, there is one rule that has never failed, ever,” he said. “Which is, when I had my hands on great content, whether it was an animation and movies, .... whether it was TV shows, a Broadway show, a novel, anything that I had ever had in my orbit that was really good, it’s never not worked.”

There are serious believers.

Quibi raised $1 billion in fund-

TAYLOR JEWELL | INVISION | AP

Jeffrey Katzenberg poses for a portrait to promote “Quibi” at the Music Lodge during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Park City, Utah. ing in 2018 from investors including Disney, NBCUniversal and Viacom, and announced another $750 million in a second fundraising round that closed earlier this month.

After the initial free window (the company’s response to the coronavirus crisis) Quibi will cost $4.99 a month with advertising or $7.99 for an ad-free version.

Because the company ramped up production in light of a possible writers strike last summer, Katzenberg said, it got ahead of the pandemic-caused shutdown of TV

and film production. Quibi is on track for new releases through October or November under current circumstances.

It enters a marketplace crowded with new and existing streamers also vying for consumer dollars, including the upcoming HBO Max. And then, of course, there’s YouTube, awash with short-form programming minus a price tag and with a hold on the same young-adult audience that Quibi is after.

Quibi’s core business model “faces some headwinds giv-

en its focus on short-form videos, with the Goliath YouTube front and center,” said analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. “Betting against Katzenberg has not worked out well for skeptics over his career,” he added, but he sees an uphill battle for the new platform to succeed.

Katzenberg pushes back at the idea that Quibi, with its A-list talent and the big screen-worthy quality of its movies, can be undercut by YouTube.

“Please name me a single widely distributed, widely consumed product, that when somebody came along and offered a better version, a more convenient version, or a premium version or a luxury version, that there wasn’t some group of people that went, ‘Yeah,’” he said.

It was the rise of YouTube and smartphone-streamed video that prompted Katzenberg’s interest in the creative and business opportunities they represented. He also drew inspiration from contemporary novels with chapters as brief as a few pages so that, as one bestselling writer put it, readers with just a few minutes to spare would still enjoy a complete experience.

“We’re doing movies the way Dan Brown did “’The Da Vinci Code,’” Katzenberg said.

Quibi’s unique selling point is its Turnstyle technology, developed under Whitman’s direction, which allows users to switch between portrait and landscape viewing and always get a full-screen image minus the annoying black bar. The patented Turnstyle’s payoff for creators is how it can enhance storytelling — for instance, viewers can be given the option to shift a movie scene to the character’s perspective by flipping from horizontal to a vertical display.

“I’m confident we’re going to give people something they’ve never seen before,” Katzenberg said.

“They will decide if they’re going to value that enough to want to pay for it.”

AP PHOTO

This combination photo shows award winning cast members of “Modern Family”, from left, Ty Burrell with the Emmy for supporting actor in a comedy series at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 2014, Eric Stonestreet with his award for best supporting actor in a comedy series at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 2012 and Julie Bowen with her award for best supporting actress in a comedy series at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 2012.

‘Modern Family’ cast shares memories as series finale nears

By Lynne Elber The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The group crying began after the final scene of the last episode of ABC’s “Modern Family” was taped — with the notable exception of Ed O’Neill, who plays patriarch Jay Pritchett.

“I said, ‘No tears?’” recalled his co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. “He said, you know what? Things hit me in a really weird way. I’ll be getting a facial in two weeks and, all of a sudden, I’ll burst into tears.’

And the only thing I took from that is, Ed gets facials?”

After 11 seasons, the “Modern Family” actors who’ve come to know each other well — maybe minus spa treatments — compare saying goodbye to leaving high school. They marvel at the friction-free years they worked together and make plans to stay in touch, relying for now on digital group chats during the pandemic-imposed isolation.

In recent interviews, the cast and creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd shared favorite series moments, souvenirs they claimed, and what’s next for them.

The hourlong finale airs at 9 p.m.

EDT Wednesday, preceded at 8 p.m. by the retrospective special, “A Modern Farewell.”

Great job, great memories — Whether high school seniors believe it or not, there’s more and better relationships and experiences ahead of them, said Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cameron Tucker. But Stonestreet finds it hard to believe that’s the case after graduating from “Modern Family”: “We had a full-blown utopia, where we had a great group of people. We worked with professionals at the top of their game. And it’s going to be hard to recreate that.”

— Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Cam’s partner and eventually husband Mitchell Pritchett, said it was the convergence of reality and fiction that resounded for him. In a “Modern Family” scene, Mitch is seen watching news footage that included his real-life spouse (actor-producer Justin Mikita) demonstrating for legalized samesex marriage in California. “It felt very like a circle moment. ...

I couldn’t believe that I got to be married in real life, and then later I got to get married again on TV

in front of millions and millions of people. It felt very important.”

—”It was the combination of being critically acclaimed as well as popular that made for a heady mix,” Lloyd said. “There’s crazy milestones, like when Mitt Romney was running against (President Barack Obama) and they both stated it was their favorite TV show. That doesn’t happen very often.”

— Ariel Winter (Alex Dunphy) says what she gained from the show includes her relationship with Nolan Gould, who played her sibling Luke. Winter calls Gould “one of my best friends. He really is the little brother that I never had and that I love so much.”

Souvenirs, anyone?

— Julie Bowen (Claire Dunphy) spent a fair amount of off-camera time in a hallway that mostly served as a waiting area for scenes shot elsewhere in the Dunphy house. Cast photos decorated the walls, along with paintings of birds that Bowen requested as a keepsake. The artwork had “so much to do with that set, and being there and feeling at home,” she said.

— Winter says she may be the only cast member that didn’t request any set decorations. “I know it sounds weird, but for me, nothing stuck out as something I needed” as a memento, she said. Having spent half her life on the series, from age 11 to 22, “it’s ingrained in my mind. ... I have the memories, and I’m good with that.”

Next chapter — Bowen had planned to focus on producing and directing, but then she got a call for a new series, “Raised by Wolves,” from “Will & Grace” creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, “an offer I could not turn down.” With the industry’s coronavirus-caused production shutdown, “we’re in a holding pattern. ...I’m assuming there’s going to be life again. It’s really hard in this moment to know what’s what.”

— Ty Burrell, who played opposite Bowen as her husband, Phil, is in the voice cast of the animated comedy “Duncanville” and also has an eye on producing. “I was planning on taking time to be with my family over the course of this year,” he said, a plan sealed by the health

crisis. Being home with his young children is the silver lining.

— Rico Rodriquez, who played son Manny to Sofia Vergara’s Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, is a young man with big dreams. He and his sister started a production company to “write, produce, direct our own stuff,” and he’s open to outside opportunities to act as well.

“I’m down for anything,” Rodriguez said.

A fond farewell — The last episode includes familiar comic moments of “Phil being Phil, Cam being Cam, Sofia being Sofia” said Lloyd, who wrote the second half-hour. But it also includes a “sweet emotional hug in there, which is another thing that audiences have come to expect from the show, and I think it’s a good balance.”

— Levitan, who wrote part one, says “Modern Family” has tried to bring “a little joy and happiness into people’s lives. ... I would say that now more than ever, if people can tune in for an hour and forget about all the dark things going on in our world today that would be wonderful.”

North State Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

B8

pen & paper pursuits sudoku

solutions From April 1, 2020

TAKE NOTICE CUMBERLAND NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 19 SP 1580 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Thurgood Bunche Flowers and Emma Lee Flowers, (Thurgood Bunche Flowers, Deceased) (Heirs of Thurgood Bunche Flowers: Emma Lee Flowers, Clari Luz Martinez, Taylor Janai Flowers and Unknown Heirs of Thurgood Bunche Flowers) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Thurgood Bunche Flowers) to Law Firm of Jamie Faye Newsom, Trustee(s), dated the 1st day of June, 2006, and recorded in Book 7258, Page 670, in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 20 SP 50

Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Arnetta L. Porter (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Arnetta L. Porter) to Shapiro & Kreisman, Trustee(s), dated October 23, 2003, and recorded in Book No. 6325, at Page 196 in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Cumberland County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North

DAVIDSON IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION DAVIDSON COUNTY 19SP472 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY DEBORAH CASKEY-SLAMON AND RICHARD W. SLAMON DATED JUNE 24, 1988 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 688 AT PAGE 493 AND MODIFIED

BY AGREEMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 6, 2017 BOOK 2256, PAGE 443 IN THE DAVIDSON COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE

WAKE NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 19 SP 2461 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Nakia D. Hill to William R. Echols, Trustee(s), dated the 31st day of March, 2010, and recorded in Book 013895, Page 02498, and Modification in Book 16882, Page 2107, in Wake County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Wake County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee

in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Cumberland County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on April 20, 2020 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 83, in a Subdivision known as Middle Creek Section 3, The same being duly recorded in Book of Plats 59, Page 84, Cumberland County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 7265 Pebblebrook Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Pin: 9487-38-3202Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in NCGS 45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party,

that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by NCGS 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed.

Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater,

is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after Oc-

tober 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination.

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm LLP P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Case No: 1276154 (FC.FAY)

Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on April 13, 2020 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Fayetteville in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lots 14-A and 14-B, in a subdivision known as THE LAKES, Section 3 Revised, according to a plat of the same duly recorded in Book of Plats 58, page 6, Cumberland County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 5944 Laguna Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. 45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and convey-

ance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed.

Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for

any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of fore-

closure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 1720 - 3475

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 10:00AM on April 20, 2020 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Davidson County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Deborah Caskey-Slamon and Richard W. Slamon, dated June 24, 1988 to secure the original principal amount of $64,700.00, and recorded in Book 688 at Page 493 of the Davidson County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty

is intended.

Address of property: 2910 Spangenburg Rd, Winston Salem, NC 27127 Tax Parcel ID: 03-002-E-000-0063 Present Record Owners: The Unknown Heirs of Deborah Caskey-Slamon and Richard Slamon And Being more commonly known as: 2910 Spangenburg Rd, Winston Salem, NC 27127 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Unknown Heirs of Deborah Caskey-Slamon and Richard Slamon.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the

title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law.

Following the expiration of the statutory upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Sub-

stitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 27, 2020.

Grady I. Ingle or Elizabeth B. Ells Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 19-103724

will offer for sale at the Wake County Courthouse door, the Salisbury Street entrance in the City of Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on April 20, 2020 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Wake, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: The land referred to in this report is situated in the STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, COUNTY OF WAKE, and described as follows: Being all of Lot 524 in Block J, Section 1, Rollingwood Subdivision as shown on plat recorded in Book of Maps 1960, Page 150, Wake County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2426 Kennington Road, Raleigh, North Carolina. Also known as: 2426 Kennington Rd, Raleigh, North Carolina 27610 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in NCGS §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars

($100.00) required by NCGS §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed.

Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written

notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination.

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE . c/o Hutchens Law Firm LLP P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Case No: 1286706 (FC.FAY)

TO SUBSCRIBE: 704-269-8461

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 27 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020 | STANLYJOURNAL.COM

Stanly County Journal

County Commission Chair Matthew Swain tests positive for COVID-19

By David Larson Stanly County Journal ALBEMARLE — “The worst of it is behind me,” Matthew Swain, chair of the Stanly County Commission, told SCJ on April 7 on how he is fairing after testing positive for coronavirus. “The worst part was last week. I’m well on the road to recovery and am just walking on the farm today.”

Swain said he had flu-like symptoms for about a week and a half, and by April 1, his fever began to break. By the time the test returned positive, he had already turned the corner.

“It was very similar [to the flu], but the difference was the difficulty breathing,” Swain said.

“That was the scary part of it.

Just walking from one end of my house to the other, you’d get so out of breath you’d have to sit down.”

There was never a point where Swain thought he needed to be hospitalized, because every time he lost his breath, he was able to recover it within a few minutes.

“If it had gone any longer than

WHAT’S HAPPENING Arrests at Charlotte abortion clinic for violating order Mecklenburg County Several protesters outside an abortion clinic were arrested for refusing to comply with the state’s stay-at-home order. A dozen people among roughly 50 protesters outside of A Preferred Women’s Health Center of Charlotte were issued citations for violating the emergency order when they refused to disperse as asked by officers. The order prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people. Of the 12, eight who still refused to comply with the order were arrested and charged for the same violation.

The names weren’t immediately released. The charge is a misdemeanor, with no jail time for a first offense.

AP

Youth accused in fatal shooting at store lot Mecklenburg County A 16-year-old has been charged with murder in the shooting death of another teenager in the parking lot of a convenience store, police said. The suspect, who was not identified by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, is accused in the shooting death of 17-year-old Reginald Deveaux. He died at a hospital about an hour after officers responded to a shooting report at a Citgo station on Charlotte’s east side. They found Deveaux with an apparent gunshot wound. The 16-year-old was arrested and charged.

AP

Deputies find 2-yearold, father shot to death inside home Davidson County Authorities discovered a 2-yearold girl and her father shot to death inside a home. The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a house near Lexington on a call from a concerned citizen.

Inside, officers discovered the girl and a man identified as her father dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Nobody else was in the home. The office was not looking for any suspects in the case. Officials did not immediately identify the victims, pending notification of relatives. The sheriff’s office is investigating.

AP

just a few minutes, I would have tried to figure out a way to get to the hospital.”

Swain is not sure where he picked up the virus, which has infected people around the world and caused unprecedented economic disruption. But in the time before he was sick, he had taken a couple trips to and from work and had some meetings in the county. All of these, he said, required “very little interaction.” His wife also had symptoms, but she tested negative for coronavirus. As a volunteer firefighter and medical responder, he said he also, “very well could have gotten it on a medical call, before our county stopped volunteers from responding to those.”

While Swain’s symptoms were mild, he said he is relatively healthy, and for those in higher risk categories, “I could see that being an issue, a severe issue really… It was tough there for a day or so to catch my breath or do little basic things around the house without getting so tired. So, I could really see that folks that

have some other underlying problem would have a really hard time with it.”

With symptoms varying greatly from person to person, Swain said he’s talked to people who have had it but have had no fever, or have had very minor symptoms.

The data he and the county commission have received show nine people in Stanly have tested positive, but he said, “The symptoms are so varied that a lot of people have likely had it that didn’t even know they had it.”

Beyond the health concerns, Swain said the economic indicators he’s seeing are also very concerning to him. He said the county and all of its municipalities rely heavily on sales tax for funding, and this crisis “could have a devastating effect on the sales tax.”

He is also concerned about how small businesses will come back after being forced to shut for so many days.

“I hope that some of these small business loan programs that are coming out of Congress right now, that those are going to

COURTESY OF STANLY COUNTY

be able help some of these small businesses get back on their feet.

Because to me, small business and local business in our county is a big driver of economic success around here. And that worries me quite a bit.”

Overall, Swain says he is lucky, and that “there are a lot of people worse off than I am.” He asks that people pray for those who are af-

Stanly Schools’ food delivery gets national platform on CNN State orders halt to buses in delivery process

By David Larson Stanly County Journal ALBEMARLE — On Don Lemon’s April 1 show on CNN, Stanly County residents may have noticed a familiar face, that of school Superintendent Dr. Jeff James. CNN reached out to James for an interview after hearing about the innovative use of school buses to deliver food to students who have been sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have approximately 8,400 students in our district,” James told Lemon. “About 62% are free and reduced lunch. The first week, we served 45,000 meals, and we followed up the second week with 43,000.”

James told SCJ that initially he did not want to do the CNN interview, but now, after more than 32,000 likes on Facebook, he thinks it turned out well. James said his wife joked after Lemon’s first question, he never let the CNN host “get another word in.”

Ironically, the same day SCS was receiving national attention on their use of school buses to deliver food, they also halted the use of buses in their program. This move came after an order from the state that said they were violating the 10-person limit for gatherings.

PHOTO COURTESY LISA CARTER

Lisa Carter, a drafting teacher at North Stanly High School, shows medical-grade face shields she has been making with her 3-D printer.

“It actually takes, to put out the 10,000 meals a day, about 400 people at 8 sites. So that’s 50 people per site,” James said on what led to the call from Raleigh.

After some phone calls and negotiations, SCS then received word from the governor’s office that the 10-person limit did not apply to essential workers — so bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other school employees could continue to prepare the meals. But going out and mingling with the “non-essential” workers, students and parents would not be allowed by the state.

The new “game plan,” as James called it, would be to prepare the food at four schools, bus it to eight others and then have the students

come to those 12 locations to pick up the meals. This has led to fewer meals being distributed than when they were using the bus routes.

“Right now we have 12 sites, and we’re hoping after Spring Break, if the virus has plateaued or dropped in the number of cases, that we can possibly go back and expand to all of our schools being a pickup site,” James said. “And as things continue to improve, if necessary, we can go back to doing bus routes. We’re doing about 5,000 [meals] right now, and we were doing 10,200 a day.

Our goal is to get back to that while preserving the safety of our employees.”

Some districts have given up on providing food to students after reg-

Majority of Stanly daycares remain open, bucking state trend

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal ALBEMARLE — Despite a recent statewide policy requiring child care centers to close unless they became certified emergency child care providers, 26 out of 34 Stanly County facilities remain open under the new provision.

This is in stark contrast to the rest of North Carolina.

State education officials estimated on March 18 that only 1,500 out of 4,500 daycares remained open — and that was before the latest guidelines for April went into effect.

“Our facilities are trying to serve the children of essential workers because they know they’re important and needed,” said Tammy Albertson, executive director of the Stanly County Partnership for

Children.

Albertson told SCJ that among the eight Stanly facilities that have closed are two Head Start programs, an elementary school-based center, and two private facilities that transferred their workers to sister sites.

On March 25, the Division of Child Development and Early Education from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services issued an updated policy stating that child care programs wishing to remain open in April needed to be approved as emergency providers by March 31.

That certification required an accepted COVID-19 Emergency Child Care Provider Application, a form that addressed the health, screening, safety and operational requirements of emergency child care services.

This is in conjunction with Gov. Roy Cooper’s March 27 executive order requiring North Carolinians to stay at home for 30 days with limited exceptions, which include child care as an essential human service operation.

“It actually is impacting us because we have employees where child care is shut down,” Stanly County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff James told SCJ. “So even with our own employees, child care is definitely an issue with keeping kids at home.”

State health officials have decided to back down from a proposed requirement for child care facilities to take in children of emergency and health care workers as a condition of staying open. The centers still have the options of whether to stay open to provide care to the children of front-line health care

fected, saying he appreciates all the prayers and concerns he has received since his positive test results have been made public.

His parting advice to the community during the coronavirus pandemic is, “Do everything you can to be safe: Wash your hands, stay away from folks if you can, and when you can, just stay home.”

ulatory issues, or, in Durham County’s case, after a worker tested positive for COVID-19. James said he wants, “if at all possible, not to stop meals,” saying, “These kids depend on this food.”

During Spring Break, SCS will not be providing food to students, and James said there are some businesses and other community groups he is hoping will pick up the slack.

Some people in the community that he said are stepping up are Commissioner Tommy Jordan, who has provided supplies like face masks and hand sanitizer; Highway 55 and other restaurants, who are providing low or no cost meals for students; and his school employees, like Tina Carter, a teacher at North Stanly High School who is using her 3-D printer to make face shields to be used by those preparing student meals and by local health care workers.

Carter told SCJ that it takes her three-and-a-half hours to make each face shield, and that she starts at 7 a.m. each morning and finishes at midnight.

“I took my 3-D printer home from school, so I’ve just been kind of printing non-stop,” Carter said. “It’s kind of a non-stop operation the whole day and night.”

She uses her dining room table as her work station, and, while she says she won’t be mass-producing the shields, her 3-D printer is “a little workhorse,” and has been cranking out shields for those who need them in Stanly County.

When school does start back again, Carter says it will be a good teaching lesson for her drafting students. “I’ll say, look, this is how we used drafting, design and 3-D printing. This is exactly why you design. So it’s helping me and the kids out too.”

workers or close to protect themselves and their staff.

The DCDEE has also decided to provide bonus payments to all fulltime child care employees for the months of April and May; providers will receive an extra $300 per month for all teaching staff and an extra $200 per month for all non-teaching staff.

The policy states that child care programs must pay their staff pro-rated amounts of the monthly bonus payment at regular pay periods. In addition, programs have the option to present additional bonuses to staff using their own funding.

On April 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Offices of Child Care and Head Start, released an updated Supplemental Guide for Child Care. The guidance document contains the CDC’s recommendations for child pick up and drop off procedures as well as the cleaning and disinfecting of toys and bedding.

The N.C. DHHS has also created a hotline — 1-888-600-1685 — to link parents with open providers in their local areas.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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♦ Eudy, Tabitha Ann (W F, 30) Arrest on chrg of Possess Marijuana Up To 1/2 Ounce (M), at 1236 E Main St, Albemarle, on 04/04/2020. ♦ Mcpherson, Carl Wingate J (W M, 50) Arrest on chrg of Felony Possession Sch Ii Cs (F), at 1240 Lennox St/ leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/04/2020. ♦ Gaston, William Thomas (B M, 72) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 531 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020. ♦ Harris, Anton Delrico (B M, 25) Arrest on chrg of Possess Stolen Motor Vehicle (F), at 521 Washington Ln, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020. ♦ Poplin, Derick Lynn (W M, 29) Arrest on chrg of Larc Merchant Prod Code Fraud (F), at 300 Freedom Dr, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020.

♦ Deberry-elrod, Dylan Ray (W M, 29) Arrest on chrg of Misdemeanor Larceny (M) at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020

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UCILLE BURNS, 72, of Washington, passed away Friday, March 27, 2020 at her daughter’s home in Albemarle.

Lucille was born April 1, 1947 in Moore County, NC to the late Madison Lee Burns and Edna Pearl Morgan Burns.

Survivors include daughters, Wanda Helms of Albemarle and Charlotte Gregory of Olanta, SC; and son, Benny Helms of Florida.

Memorials may be made to Hartsell Funeral Home, PO Box 7, Albemarle, NC 28002.

♦ Humphrey, Bridget Renee (W F, 28) Arrest on chrg of Possess Heroin (F), at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020. ♦ Hartsell, Dillon Wayne (W M, 21) Arrest on chrg of Simple Possess Sch Vi Cs (M), at 543 W Main St/ us 52 North, Albemarle, on 04/02/2020. ♦ Cheek, Britteny Junita (B F, 24) Arrest on chrg of Simple Assault (M), at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 04/02/2020. ♦ Parker, Shontigo Jaleel (B M, 28) Arrest on chrg of

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Janie McManus

ANIE ALMOND MCMANUS, 73, of Albemarle, NC, passed away Thursday April 2, 2020 at her home. Her celebration of life service will be held at a later date.

Mrs. McManus was born August 20, 1946 in Stanly County, NC and was the daughter of the late Croson Walter Almond and Frances Geanette Stiller Almond.

Janie was preceded in death by her husband Cread Linker McManus. She is survived by two sons, Trent A. Morgan and wife Cherie of Fair Play, SC and Shawnacy D. McManus and wife Tina of Elizabeth City, NC; three brothers Frasier Almond of McBee, SC, Calvin Almond of Wilmington, NC and Mark Almond of Albemarle, NC; sister Helen Medlin and husband Tom of Albemarle, NC; nine grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. Mrs. McManus was also preceded in death by a son, Troy B. Morgan.

See OBITUARIES, page 7

SUNDAY

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WEEKLY CRIME LOG

♦ Huneycutt, Matthew Lee (W M, 28) Arrest on chrg of Possess Heroin (F), at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/05/2020.

Lucille Burns

63° 41° 10%

SATURDAY

Simple Assault (M), at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 04/02/2020. ♦ Morton, Stacie Wynette (W F, 34) Arrest on chrg of Possess Methamphetamine (F) 934 Macarthur Rd, Albemarle, on 04/02/2020. ♦ Caldwell, William James (B M, 53) Arrest on chrg of Misdemeanor Larceny (M) at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Caldwell, Mia Kluttz (B F, 52) Arrest on chrg of Misdemeanor Larceny (M), at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Cunningham, Stephanie Regina (B F, 56) Arrest on chrg of Misdemeanor Larceny (M), at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Blount, Taylor Breanna (B F, 25) Arrest on chrg of Misdemeanor Larceny (M), at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Lowder, Adam Nicholas (W M, 40) Arrest on chrg of Incest (F), at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Huneycutt, Reid Clayton (W M, 55) Arrest on chrg of First Degree Arson (F), at 100 Aquadale Rd/s Second St, Albemarle, on 04/01/2020. ♦ Nash, Kristi Griffin (W F, 47) Arrest on chrg of Shoplifting Concealment Goods (M), at 720 Nc 24-27 Bypass E, Albemarle, on 03/31/2020. ♦ Cody, Seneca Robert (B M, 23) Arrest on chrg of Assault And Battery (M), at 526 Waddell Dr, Albemarle, on 03/30/2020. ♦ Lowery, John Franklin (W /M/43) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F), 2) Possess Heroin (F), and 3) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), at Hwy 52/ Ne Connector,

Albemarle, NC, on 4/4/2020 ♦ Rogers, Aaron Christopher (W /M/32) Arrest on chrg of Possess Methamphetamine (F), at 533 N Main St/ kelty Av, Norwood, NC, on 4/4/2020 ♦ Burleson, Jacob Paul (W /M/28) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F) and 2) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), at Main St, Norwood, NC, on 4/4/2020 ♦ Waldroup, Justin Wayne (W /M/34) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F) and 2) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), at Fork Rd/ Price St, Norwood, NC, on 4/4/2020 ♦ Dunlap, Melissa Paige (W /F/33) Arrest on chrg of Possess Methamphetamine (F), at Fork Rd/ Price St, Norwood, NC, on 4/4/2020 ♦ Medlin, Daniel Mark (W /M/31) Arrest on chrg of Assault with deadly weapon (F), at 223 South 3rd St, Albemarle, NC, on 4/3/2020 ♦ Higgins, Corey Allen (W /M/29) Arrest on chrg of 1) Receive Stolen Goods/ prop (f) (F) and 2) Carrying Concealed Gun (m) (M), at Polk Ford/tight Rd, Locust, NC, on 4/3/2020 ♦ Hatley, Daniel Berry (W /M/26) Arrest on chrg of Statutory Rape Of Child <= 15 (F), at 288837 Flint Ridge, Albemarle, NC, on 4/1/2020 ♦ Lee, Kevin Frances (B /M/43) Arrest on chrg of Second Degree Forcible Rape, F (F), at 10648 Lee Rd, Norwood, NC, on 3/31/2020 ♦ Cody, Seneca Robert (B /M/23) Arrest on chrg of Surrender By Surety (M), at 126 South Third St, Albemarle, NC, on 3/31/2020

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Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

OPINION Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

Stop pretending pandemic politics are the new norm

The government is a giant, lumbering idiot.

Sometimes we need a giant, lumbering idiot.

Almost always, we do not.

“THERE ARE NO LIBERTARIANS in a global pandemic.” So goes the smug punchline of large-government advocates who point to the necessity of collective action in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. Without government, they say, we’d all be dead.

Few libertarians would disagree. The hardcore libertarians at Reason magazine aren’t spending their days fulminating over the evils of government-required lockdown orders in the face of a fast-spreading, deadly disease. That’s because they, like all other sentient human beings, recognize that collective action is sometimes necessary.

But here’s the dirty little secret: Institutional failures during this pandemic are more indicative of what our politics should be during non-pandemic situations, not the blunt-force ability of the government to shut down the global economy and force us all to stay home. The question isn’t whether government has power. Government is power. The question is how and when to apply that power. And what we’ve seen is that government sucks at everything, even the most basic things it is supposed to do well.

Democrats and the media like to pretend that government’s failures in this process aren’t endemic to government control. They like to blame such failures on Republicans, and on President Donald Trump specifically. But that’s just not the case. Human beings are fallible, stupid, gullible and self-interested. Human beings who have the power of government to back them are not less human for having that power. Their humanity just has direr consequences, which is why in nonemergency circumstances, checks and balances are absolutely necessary.

Take, for example, the early days of the pandemic. Democrats say Trump was slow to respond to the incipient threat. But so were Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently declared, “As Trump fiddles, people are dying,” but in late February, she was walking the streets of Chinatown, encouraging citizens to join her.

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio has ripped Trump for his supposed downplaying of the virus, but De Blasio spent a month poo-pooing its threat. When confronted about that simple fact by CNN’s Jake Tapper, De Blasio conveniently suggested that he should stop looking backward.

Why should we trust these people, exactly?

Or take the roots of America’s inability to provide the health care resources necessary to hospitals across the country. While state and local governments were frittering away billions of dollars on useless government spending, they did precisely nothing to prepare for exactly the sort of black swan events for which governments were presumably invented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent a month failing to produce useful tests and prevented physicians in Seattle from performing proper testing, even after President Trump issued a travel ban on China. For years in advance, members of the federal government of both parties had been warned about the need for ventilators and masks. No one produced or stockpiled them. The Food and Drug Administration’s red tape prevented the quick development of new measures to deal with the novel coronavirus.

Why should these people control our lives, when the threat of the red death isn’t hovering on our doorstep?

The government is a giant, lumbering idiot. Sometimes we need a giant, lumbering idiot. Almost always, we do not. And those who have used this pandemic response — one of the rare times we need a giant, lumbering idiot to intimidate people into preventing mass infection of one another, and to borrow the money necessary to redress the injuries thus incurred — as a rationale for a government-run “new politics” should have their heads examined.

Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com.

COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON

This won’t last forever

Just remember, we are going to get through this.

Keep practicing social distancing, stay at home unless you absolutely have to go out, and take this time to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you.

HOW ARE YOU DEALING with having to stay inside, work from home, or worse — not be able to work at all? We’re all feeling the frustration of social distancing in some way, especially those of us with small children at home or senior loved ones who need care. However, it’s important that we all continue to follow the advice of medical experts and public health officials about washing hands and social distancing. I would encourage you though — this won’t last forever. Yet in the meantime, it’s important we all find some positives like enjoying time with family at home or discovering new ways to communicate with friends and loved ones.

Without question, this is a challenging time for our country. But America has been faced with difficult times before, and we will get through this. In the meantime, I will do everything in my power to provide our communities with the support and resources you need.

I believe one of the most important things that I can do during this time is continue to make myself available to you. That’s why I partnered with the North Carolina League of Municipalities this week to host a conference call with mayors and other elected officials from across the district. I also partnered with Sen. Thom Tillis to host a telephone town hall with nearly 15,000 on the phone. I was thrilled to speak directly to so many of you and hear your feedback and questions. If you were not able to join this time or have additional questions, you can always reach out to me through one of my offices or through my website, Hudson.house.gov.

I want to make sure you know about all of the assistance available to you. One of the most important parts of the stimulus package President Trump signed into law last week was direct relief to individuals and families. Over the next three weeks, the Treasury Department will start making direct payments of up to $1,200 to individuals and $2,400 to married couples, as well as $500 for eligible

children. These payments will be deposited directly to a bank account if you have one set up with the Treasury Department to file your taxes.

If not, checks will be mailed out, and the amounts will be based on your most recent tax filing. Individuals earning above $99,000 and couples earning above $198,000 will not receive payment. However, seniors with a Social Security Number who didn’t file a tax return will receive their checks too.

In addition, the CARES Act provides relief for small businesses.

Every day I hear from small business owners who are looking for help so they can keep or rehire their employees. Thankfully, relief is on its way. As part of the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) Loan Program, the new Paycheck Protection Program will allow small businesses to cover payroll costs including healthcare continuation, paid sick or family leave, employee salaries, rent and utilities. I want to help small businesses keep as many people on their payroll as possible.

As Fort Bragg’s congressman and a voice for veterans, I also continued to engage with senior military leaders this week to make sure they have the support and resources they need to deal with the coronavirus. We all know that Fort Bragg is home to the units that are the tip of the spear and are deployed more than any other installation.

I am closely monitoring the spread of this disease and making sure we are taking the necessary precautions to ensure the health of the force.

As always, I stand ready to assist you in any way possible. Each week, I am updating my website with important information about coronavirus response efforts. Visit https://hudson.house.gov/ coronavirus for the latest information. Just remember, we are going to get through this. Keep practicing social distancing, stay at home unless you absolutely have to go out, and take this time to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you.

3

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

4

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT NFL

Kuechly, Peppers on All-Decade Team New York Tom Brady, J.J. Watt and Adrian Peterson were among eight unanimous selections to the 2010s NFL All-Decade Team announced Monday by the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Also chosen on every ballot of the 48-member Hall of Fame selection committee were Von Miller, Aaron Donald, Joe Thomas, Marshal Yanda and Justin Tucker. All but tackle Thomas and guard Yanda are active. Two former Carolina Panthers, defensive end Julius Peppers and linebacker Luke Kuechly, were named to the team.

Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New England’s Bill Belichick were chosen as the coaches.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell dies at 84 The running back playing for both Washington and Cleveland and was later a Redskins scout and assistant GM

By Stephen Shyno The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bobby Mitchell, the speedy Hall of Famer who became the Washington Redskins’ first black player, has died. He was 84.

Mitchell split his career with the Cleveland Browns and Redskins and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. The Hall of Fame said Sunday night that Mitchell’s family said he died in the afternoon but didn’t provide

any other details.

“The game lost a true legend today,” Hall of Fame President & CEO David Baker said in a statement. “Bobby was an incredible player, a talented executive and a real gentleman to everyone with whom he worked or competed against.”

When Mitchell joined the Redskins in 1962, they became the last NFL team to integrate. After playing his first four seasons in Cleveland, he spent seven more with Washington and retired with the second-most combined offensive yards.

Mitchell became a Redskins scout and later served as assistant general manager.

“His passion for the game of football was unmatched by anyone

I have ever met,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said. “Not only was he one of the most influential individuals in franchise history, but he was also one of the greatest men I have ever known. He was a true class act and will be sorely missed.”

Retired NFL running back Brian Mitchell, who has no relation to Bobby but became friends with him, said he learned from the Hall of Famer. “Tough times don’t remain, tough people do, and you don’t let what you go through change who you are unless it’s for the better.”

Bobby Mitchell said during a 2015 episode of Showtime’s “60 Minutes Sports” that he understood pretty quickly upon signing in Washington “there was no one in this town used to having a black

star.” Friend and fellow Hall of Famer Jim Brown took it one step further.

“Bobby was an individual that was thrown into the arena of being a victim for no reason,” Brown said. “He had to suffer for being black more than any person I know that played football at the time I played. With that kind of ability, if he were white, everybody on this earth would know who he was.”

Mitchell played halfback for the Browns from 1958-61 and moved to flanker with the Redskins, leading the NFL in yards receiving in 1962 and 1963. He was a threetime All-NFL selection, played in four Pro Bowls, and his 7,954 all-purpose yards were the second-most in league history when he retired in 1968.

Mitchell grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, played baseball in high school and starred in track and football at the University of Illinois. The Hall of Fame flag on the museum’s campus in Canton, Ohio, will be flown at half-staff in Mitchell’s memory.

GOLF

British Open canceled until 2021 St. Andrews, Scotland The British Open will not be played this year for the first time since 1945, with the R&A choosing to play golf’s oldest championship next year at Royal St. George’s and move the 150th Open at St. Andrews to 2022. It was a major piece of golf trying to reconfigure a schedule brought on by the spread of the new coronavirus. Golf organizations were expected to announced later Monday the PGA Championship moving to August, the U.S. Open going to September and the Masters to be played in November, two weeks before Thanksgiving.

NHL

Hacker posts racial slur on fan chat with black NHL prospect New York A hacker posted a racial slur hundreds of times in an online fan video chat Friday with a black New York Rangers prospect. The NHL team scrambled to disable the hacker on the Zoom chat with K’Andre Miller, the 20-yearold former Wisconsin defenseman drafted No. 22 overall in 2018. The hacker repeatedly posted the oneword slur in all capital letters on the Rangers’ “Future Fridays” series on Twitter.

Miller signed a three-year, $3,825,000 contract a day before the NHL announced it was suspending the season because of the coronavirus.

The 6-foot-5 defender from St. Paul, Minnesota, played two seasons at Wisconsin.

SOCCER

Player sentenced to 3 months at home for flouting curfew Belgrade, Serbia Serbian soccer player Aleksandar Prijovic has been sentenced to three months of home detention for flouting a curfew imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The 29-year-old striker who plays for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad pleaded guilty at a video link trial in Belgrade on Saturday. Police had arrested Prijovic and 19 others for gathering at a hotel lobby bar in Belgrade on Friday and violating the country’s 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. lockdown orders. He is the second Serbian soccer player to be caught violating the stay-at-home orders joining Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic.

GUS CHAN | AP PHOTO

Browns and Redskins halfback Bobby Mitchell poses with his bronze bust after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Mitchell died Sunday at 84.

NC State student has ‘One Shining Moment’ CBS Sports has created a tradition with the NCAA Tournament montage

NC State student Max Goren produced his own version of “One Shining Moment,” similar to the video which CBS Sports showcases at the end of the men’s national championship game.

By Tom Foreman Jr. The Associated Press WINSTON-SALEM — When it was apparent there would be no NCAA men’s basketball tournament and no Final Four, Max Goren set out to save the one tradition associated with all the hoopla.

The coronavirus pandemic stopped March Madness before it could begin. But Goren, sitting at home after NC State shut down, put together his own video version of “One Shining Moment,” the CBS Sports tradition that usually follows the national championship game. It always includes the song of the same title written by David Barrett and sung by the late Luther Vandross. It would have played after the final buzzer Monday night, had there been a game.

“Obviously, I was bummed out,” Goren said, referring to his reaction that postseason basketball was gone, meaning he wouldn’t know if the Wolfpack would make the field of 68. “I was on YouTube watching just a bunch of the old ‘One Shining Moment’ videos from past tournaments.”

Goren remembers seeing online a mention that, despite the lack of a tournament, the traditional video should go on.

“I thought that was something that I could do,” he said. “So, the Saturday morning before what would have been Selection Sunday, I just kind of sat down, and I did it.”

Goren’s work became something of a sensation, drawing

MADDY BRANDON VIA AP

nearly 63,000 views as of Monday, and requests to simulate his work for other sports.

“I got on my laptop. I downloaded the song. As I went, I searched YouTube for clips to add until I got to the three minutes and five seconds which ‘One Shining Moment’ is,” he said.

The video, which Goren said he finished in three and a half hours,

features a variety of buzzer-beating shots, including the layup by Nathan Bain that took Stephen F. Austin to an upset victory over then top-ranked Duke on the Blue Devils’ home court. Duke was featured again in its own buzzer beater against North Carolina. There’s Michigan State guard Cassius Winston kissing his home court as he comes out of the last

“So, the Saturday morning before what would have been Selection Sunday, I just kind of sat down, and I did it.”

Max Goren, NC State student game of college career.

Dayton’s Obi Toppin and his highlight-quality dunks are included, and Goren gave a nod to his own school as he featured the Wolfpack’s Markell Johnson and one of his three half-court shots.

He did include highlights from the few conference tournaments that were completed before college basketball was brought to a halt.

“I think Max did a terrific job,” Barrett said in an email. “I hope he considers that line of work actually, because he has an artist’s eye. There are a lot of young men who worked hard all year for their ‘shining moments.’ Max did his best to celebrate them. Congratulations.”

Barrett considers Goren’s effort a hit, but despite his suggestion for him to pursue the line of work, the NCState student is done for now. His foray into video production provided a bit of routine in a time when the normal is anything but.

However, Goren doesn’t rule out another video if something hits him.

“If the inspiration strikes again, it wouldn’t be super unlikely, I guess,” he said. “If it happens again, it happens again.”

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

5

Tigers star, Hall of Famer Al Kaline dead at 85 “Mr. Tiger” played 22 seasons in Detroit and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 The Associated Press

ALEX BRANDON

Duke forward Zion Williamson was voted on of the top one-and-done college basketball players by The Associated Press.

Zion voted one of top oneand-done players by AP The Duke forward was the first pick in last year’s NBA Draft

By Steve Megargee The Associated Press WITH NO Final Four this weekend because of the coronavirus pandemic, AP put together an informal list of the greatest one-and-done players in the history of men’s college basketball. Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony top the list, which is alphabetical, after leading their teams to national titles.

Davis averaged a team-high 14.2 points for Kentucky in 2011-12 despite ranking fourth on his team in field-goal attempts. He had 10.4 rebounds per game and 186 total blocks. He was the No. 1 overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft.

Davis wasn’t considered a bluechip prospect until a growth spurt of 7-8 inches in high school helped make him the nation’s consensus No. 1 player in his class.

Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse (2002-03) Anthony averaged 22.2 points

and 10 rebounds to earn second-team Associated Press All-America honors in while helping Syracuse win the national title. He averaged 26.5 points and 12 rebounds per game in the Final Four.

Michael Beasley, Kansas State (2007-08) Beasley led all Division I players in rebounding (12.4) and ranked third in scoring (26.2) to earn first-team AP All-America honors. His 28 double-doubles remain the most ever by a Division I freshman.

Beasley carried Kansas State to a 21-12 record and a round-of-32 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, averaged 12.4 points during his NBA career.

Kevin Durant, Texas (2006-07) Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds as a consensus national player of the year.

He helped Texas go 25-10 with an NCAA Tournament round-of-32 loss to Southern California.

Durant has gone on to become an NBA MVP and a two-time

NBA champion. He made a $3 million donation to the University of Texas in 2018.

Greg Oden, Ohio State (2006-07) Oden earned first-team AP All-America honors as Ohio State went 35-4 and lost to Florida in the NCAA Tournament final.

Three of the Buckeyes’ top four scorers were freshmen and former AAU teammates: Oden, Mike Conley and Daequan Cook.

Oden averaged 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks for Ohio State and was picked No. 1 overall in the 2007 draft. Injuries caused the 7-footer to play just 105 career NBA regular-season games.

DETROIT — Al Kaline, the Hall of Fame outfielder who played his entire 22-season career for the Detroit Tigers, died Monday at his home in Michigan. “Mr. Tiger” — as he was affectionally known — was 85.

John Morad, a friend of Kaline’s, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. Morad, who spoke first to the Detroit Free Press, said he’d been in contact with Kaline’s son. No cause of death was given.

Kaline was the youngest player to win the American League batting title in 1955 at age 20 with a .340 average. The right fielder was an All-Star in 15 seasons and won 10 Gold Gloves.

The beloved No. 6 later sat behind a microphone as a Tigers broadcaster and was a special assistant to the general manager.

Kaline was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1980 in his first year of eligibility.

“There’s a reason why he was Mr. Tiger,” said Dave Dombrowski, Detroit’s team president from 2001-2015. “First-class person, he was humble, he always played hard. He’s the type of guy that everybody could latch onto.”

Kaline came straight out of Baltimore’s Southern High School to the majors, making his debut on June 25, 1953. He took over as Detroit’s everyday right fielder in 1954, and quickly became a fan favorite at Briggs Stadium, later renamed Tiger Stadium.

Kaline never hit 30 home runs

in a season and topped the 100RBI mark only three times, but his overall consistency at the plate and his exceptional fielding and throwing put him among the top AL outfielders.

“There have been a lot of great defensive players. The fella who could do everything is Al Kaline,” Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson once said. “He was just the epitome of what a great outfielder is all about — great speed, catches the ball and throws the ball well.”

Kaline finished his career with 3,007 hits and 399 home runs (what would have been No. 400 was lost to a rainout). He scored 1,622 runs and had 1,582 RBIs. He got his 3,000th hit back in Baltimore, slicing a double down the right field line in September 1974, his final season.

In his only World Series, Kaline hit .379 with two home runs and eight RBIs as the Tigers overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat St. Louis for the 1968 championship.

The Tigers’ spring training complex in Lakeland, Florida, is on Al Kaline Drive, and his No. 6 was the first uniform number retired by the Tigers.

Major League Baseball presented Kaline in 1973 with the Roberto Clemente Award honoring the player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, community involvement and contribution to his team.

Larry Herndon was a Tigers outfielder from 1982-88, when Kaline would work with the big leaguers as a spring training instructor.

“He was a golden person, along with being a great ballplayer. Gentle, kind, giving,” Herndon said. “Every good thing you ever heard about Al Kaline, it’s all true.”

Zion Williamson, Duke (2018-19) Williamson swept the national player of the year awards during his lone season at Duke.

He averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks.

Williamson helped Duke go 32-6 with a loss to Michigan State in an NCAA regional final. The New Orleans Pelicans selected Williamson with the top pick in the 2019 draft.

AP PHOTO

Al Kaline, who spent his entire 22-season Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Tigers and was known affectionately as “Mr. Tiger,” died Monday at 85.

Become a part of Stanly County Schools!

Stanly County Schools has an opening for a Speech Language Pathologist serving the K-12 population. Position is a full-time, 10 month position with full benefits. Candidate must hold a current certification from North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

Interested applicants can apply through the SCS website and email resume to Dr. Laura Beachum, Director of Exceptional Children's Program, at laura.beachum@stanlycountyschools.org.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

6

Work starts in Montana on disputed Canada-US oil pipeline

By Matthew Brown The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — A Canadian company said Monday that it’s started construction on the longstalled Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border despite calls from tribal leaders and environmentalists to delay the $8 billion project amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesman for TC Energy said work began over the weekend at the border crossing in northern Montana, a remote area with sprawling cattle ranches and wheat fields.

About 100 workers will be involved initially, but that number is expected to swell into the thousands in coming months as work proceeds, according to the company.

The 1,200 mile pipeline was proposed in 2008 and would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude daily for transfer to refineries and export terminals on the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s been tied up for years in legal battles and several court challenges are still pending, including one that’s due before a judge next week.

TC Energy’s surprise announcement last week that it intended to start construction came after the provincial government in Alberta invested $1.1 billion to jump start work. Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality on Friday issued the final state permits the company needed, agency spokeswoman Rebecca Harbage said.

Leaders of American Indian tribes and some residents of rural communities along the pipeline route worry that workers could spread the coronavirus. As many as 11 construction camps, some housing up to 1,000 people, were initial-

AL NASH | BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT VIA AP

This March 11, 2020, photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows a storage yard north of Saco, Mont., for pipe that will be used in construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline near the U.S.-Canada border. ly planned for the project, although TC Energy says those are under review because of the virus.

TC Energy says it plans to check everyone entering work sites for fever and ensure workers practice social distancing.

Opponents in January had asked Morris to block any work while the legal challenges are pending. They said clearing and tree felling along the route would destroy bird and wildlife habitat. Native American tribes along the pipeline route

have said the pipeline could break and spill oil into waterways like the Missouri River.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

A hearing on the request to block work is scheduled for April 16 be-

fore U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls.

Keystone XL was rejected twice under former President Barack Obama because of concerns it would make climate change worse.

President Donald Trump revived the project and later pushed through approval after Morris issued an order to block construction in 2018.

Morris in December denied an initial request to block construction because TC Energy said at

the time no work was immediately planned.

Stephan Volker, an attorney for the environmental groups asking Morris to again intervene, said the company’s decision to “jump the gun” before next week’s hearing was an insult to the judge.

“We are confident the court will not be bullied, and will overturn President Trump’s second approval, just as he overturned President Trump’s first approval, as unlawful,” Volker said.

Trump campaign kicks off Catholic voter outreach project

By Elana Schor The Associated Press NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is ramping up its courtship of Catholic voters ahead of a likely November matchup against a Catholic Democrat, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The campaign previewed its message at a weekend launch of a “Catholics for Trump” coalition, touting the president’s religious freedom record and pro-life policies. In a sign of how significantly the coronavirus has upended the presidential race, the event also featured Trump backers promoting his response to the pandemic — with one describing it as aligned with Catholic teaching about solidarity.

Ahead of a general election where Catholics could prove to be vital swing voters, particularly in the Midwest, the coalition launch indicates that Trump doesn’t plan to limit his faith-based outreach to evangelicals, who have long been a key part of his base. But Biden, who’s frequently invoked his faith on the Democratic primary trail, could bring a unique advantage with Catholic voters to this fall’s contest.

At the heart of the competition for Catholic votes in November is the question of how many in the faith view abortion as the primary driver of their political engagement. Pope Francis has urged Trump to adopt an immigration stance consistent with his pro-life identity, and progressive Catholics

have decried Trump’s approach to issues from health care to climate change as inconsistent with their church’s teachings.

Trump’s campaign, however, billed his embrace of anti-abortion policies prominently in their materials on its Catholic outreach kickoff. The event featured Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, a staunch pro-life advocate.

Pavone said in an interview that while Trump is “trying to protect the right to life,” the president is acting on other issues in ways “completely consistent with Catholic teaching.”

“He’s protecting our people by strengthening borders, not to stop immigration but to stop crime, to protect families, to protect neighborhoods,” Pavone said.

Also joining the Thursday kickoff were Mercedes Schlapp, a senior communications adviser to the campaign, and husband Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a co-chair of the new Catholic outreach effort.

Mercedes Schlapp, a former White House communications adviser, described Biden as “an extremist” on abortion during the event. Republicans saw an opening to peel off Biden’s Catholic support last year when the former vice president, who often talks about his Catholic school upbringing, ended his decades-long support for limiting federal funding of abortion.

The campaign is poised to get outside help in its work to turn out churchgoing Catholic voters from the nonprofit CatholicVote.org,

GREG KAHN | NAPLES DAILY NEWS VIA AP

In this March 31, 2009 file photo, Rev. Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, gives the Homily during a mass at Ave Maria University’s Oratory in Naples, Fla. which is investing in mobilizing that bloc with a pro-Trump message.

The group’s senior political adviser, former Kansas GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp, is also a member of the Trump campaign’s Catholic outreach project. Huelskamp criticized Biden for failing to live out his faith, while “you’ve got a non-Catholic in Donald Trump who’s delivering on Catholic social teaching and principles.”

John Gehring, Catholic program director at the liberal-leaning group Faith in Public Life, challenged that assumption. “Being pro-life isn’t about a single issue for our church.

Our church teaches that respect for life has to be consistent.”

A Biden campaign adviser working on faith outreach agreed that Catholic voters are more inclined to

take the “more holistic worldview” of supporting life that the likely Democratic nominee has adopted, rather than a singular focus on abortion.

The adviser, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity, said that one template for the Biden camp’s Catholic outreach heading into a general election would be its efforts ahead of February’s Iowa caucus, which included phone banks and house parties focused on turning out the Catholic vote.

“Our best asset” in reaching out to Catholics, the adviser said, “is the vice president.”

Catholic church leaders, including the pope, remain vocal abortion opponents. Still, it’s not clear that anti-abortion sentiment among Catholic voters — whose support will be particularly critical to Dem-

ocratic hopes of reversing Trump’s 2016 victories in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — is strong enough to decisively push them toward the president this fall.

A majority of Catholics, or 57%, said abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to AP VoteCast’s survey of voters in the 2018 midterm elections.

Yet the regional variation in Catholic views on abortion is significant in the Midwest. Catholics there were significantly less likely than their region’s voters overall to hold those more permissive views on abortion, 47% versus 58%.

In addition, significant restrictions on abortion drew support from 45% of Catholics in a December poll from The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

& CREMATORY 522 North 2nd St. P.O. Box 7 Albemarle, NC 28002 Phone 704-983-1188

460 Branchview Dr. NE P.O. Box 367 Concord, NC 28026 Phone 704-786-1161

13575 Broadway Ave. P.O. Box 100 Midland, NC 28107 Phone 704-888-5571

www.hartsellfh.com

12115 University City Blvd.

P.O. Box 219 Harrisburg, NC 28075 Phone 704-247-1722

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

7

obituaries

W

Wilbert Almond

ILBERT ADAM ALMOND, 96, of Locust, passed away April 4, 2020 at the W. G. Bill Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury.

Wilbert was the fifth of eight children born to John R. and Alice L. Almond on February 18, 1924. His parents and siblings preceded him in death except one sister Pauline Tucker of Albemarle. He married the love of his life Evelyn Christine Furr and they were happily married 65 years before her passing.

A private graveside service will be at First Baptist Cemetery, 320 South Central Ave., Locust. A memorial service for all family and friends is being planned this summer to celebrate his life.

He is survived by his son Jeff Almond (Betsy) of Mooresville, NC; his grandson Matt Kemo (Ashli) of Newland, NC; and granddaughter Emily Almond of Raleigh. He has one great-grandson Covin Kemo.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans, Locust Chapter of the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars, the First Baptist Church of Locust or any charity supporting the humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

D

David Lowder

AVID ALLEN LOWDER, age 74, of Albemarle NC passed away Thursday, April 2, 2020 at Atruim Stanly Manor.

David was born February 12, 1946 in Stanly County to the late Lester Daniel Buck Lowder and Bernice Marie Flowe Lowder. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Timothy Lowder.

A private graveside service will be held at Salem United Methodist Church Cemetery. His body will lie in state Sunday morning from 8:00 AM until 12:00 PM at Hartsell Funeral Home of Albemarle.

He is survived by his brother, Richard L. Lowder and wife Karen W. Lowder of Albemarle; niece, Jessalee Lowder Beach of Kings Mountain; and nephews, Gabriel Lowder of Albemarle, and Clinton Lowder of Raleigh.

The family would like to thank all of the caregivers of Atrium Health Stanly Hospital, Atrium Stanly Manor and Hospice. Special love and thanks to Tara, Tiffany and Rogina.

Memorials may be made to a local charity of one’s choice.

Hartsell Funeral Home of Albemarle is serving the Lowder family.

S

Shirley Bowen

HIRLEY M. BOWEN, 85, of Sparta passed away Tuesday, March 31, 2020 in Stanly Manor. A private graveside service will be held at Kendall’s Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Kent Little and Rev. Keith Walters officiating. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at a later date.

Born November 20, 1934 in Badin, NC she was the daughter of the late Hurley and Kathleen McKinney Deese. She was a member Kendall’s Baptist Church and worked as a dental assistant until she retired.

In her younger years she enjoyed cooking and she loved to travel and she enjoyed word search puzzles and bird watching. She dearly loved growing orchids.

Mrs. Bowen is survived by her sons Brad Austin and wife Melissa of Richfield and Burnie Austin and wife Lori of Badin, 2 sisters Sue Almond of Albemarle and Carol Hitchens of Wilmington, DE, and 2 grandchildren Ethan Austin and wife Amber and Samantha Austin.

A sister, Janet Coucill, preceded her in death.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Kendall’s Baptist Church, PO Box 40, New Richfield, NC 28137.

Z

Zelma Smith

H

ENRY MYRON SPRINGER died April 1, 2020, at home, surrounded by his family. He was born to Henry Silas Springer and Emma Burgess Springer on April 10, 1933, in Farmer, NC. He was married to Bonnie Mullinix Springer for 62 years . They raised three children: Amanda Springer Hathcock, (Jeff), Huntersville; Daniel Thomas Springer, (Cindy), Charlotte; Kelley Springer Adams, (David), Gastonia.

Five grandchildren: Candice Hathcock Stone, (Shane); Jonathan Hathcock, Garrett Hazard, Adam Springer and Ryan Springer, great grandson, Mason Curenton. A surviving sister-in-law, Geraldine Brown Springer, deceased brother, James Horace Springer, and sister, Jane Springer Haynie (Jim).

A memorial service for Henry will be held at a later date.

Memorials may be made to Stony Hill UMC, Singing Americans of Stanly County, Boy Scout Troop No. 82, Community Homecare and Hospice of Troy, or to charity of donor’s choice.

J

ELMA MARIE ROWLAND SMITH, 89, of Albemarle, passed away Friday, April 3, 2020 at Tucker Hospice House in Kannapolis.

Zelma was born August 26, 1930 in Stanly County to the late Fred Andrew Rowland and the late Mary Lou Rowland. She was also preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Hoil Lee Smith; son, Hoil Smith, Jr.; sister, Jewel Love, brothers, Lane and Gaston Rowland.

The graveside service will be at 1 pm on Monday, April 6, 2020 at Salem United Methodist Church Cemetery, officiated by Rev. David Talbert. She will lie in state for 30 min prior to the service. Friends and family unable to attend are invited to watch the service on the Hartsell Funeral Home Albemarle facebook page. She will also lie in state at the funeral home on Sunday from 2 - 5 pm.

She is survived by son, Jimmy Andrew Smith; granddaughter, Elizabeth (Brandon) Frasier; greatgrandson, Brandon Joshua Allen Frasier,; and nephew, Ricky (Karen) Rowland.

Zelma enjoyed her garden, and loved the company of her little dog, Molly.

Memorials may be made to Hospice & Palliative Care of Cabarrus County, 5003 Hospice Ln, Kannapolis, NC 2808.

Henry Springer

T

Thelma Plowman

HELMA EUDY PLOWMAN, 84, of New London passed away Wednesday, April 1, 2020 in her home. A private family graveside service will be held on Saturday at Faith Freewill Baptist Church with Rev. Phillip Martin officiating.

Born August 19, 1935 in Stanly County, NC, she was the daughter of the late Daniel B. Eudy and Hilda Earnhardt Eudy. She was a member of Faith Freewill Baptist Church and was a homemaker. She loved to crochet and sew and enjoyed gardening in her younger years.

She was preceded in death by her husband Oliver Grant Plowman. Survivors include sons Rick Plowman and wife Sally of Albemarle and Danny Plowman of New London, daughter Wendy Brewton and husband Kenneth of Albemarle, brother Raymond Eudy and wife Maxine of Albemarle, 4 grandchildren Beth Tucker, Laura Lowder, Grant Brewton and Rebecca Brewton and 4 great-grandchildren, Carson Lowder, Reece Tucker, Maddox Lowder and Sammie Jo Lowder.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2101 Rexford Rd #165W, Charlotte, NC 28211.

K

ENNEDY BURLESON, age 23, passed away on March 30, 2020.

A memorial service to celebrate Kennedy will be held at a later date at Hill Street Church of God. Kennedy was born in Stanly County to Kenneth Burleson and Sherry Smith.

She graduated from high school in 2012. A loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, and aunt, Kennedy had a caring and loving heart. Riding horses, drawing, gymnastics, and writing poetry were just a few of her many talents. Her love for God, family, and friends was abundant.

She was survived by her mother Sherry Smith (Tim) of Lewisville, NC; father Kenneth Burleson (Luann) of Mt. Pleasant, NC; sister Ali Burleson, brother Luke Smith, niece Naomi Burleson; grandparents Alfred Lowder (Malia) of Albemarle, NC; great grandmother Carolyn Lowder of Richfield, NC. Kennedy was preceded in death by grandparents Woody and Charlotte Burleson.

Memorial Contributions can be made to The House of Pearls at houseofpearls.org Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is serving the Burleson family.

James Efird

AMES KENNETH EFIRD, 90, of Albemarle, passed away Saturday, April 4, 2020 at Bethany Woods Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Albemarle.

Mr. Efird was born July 19, 1929 in Stanly County to the late James Henry Efird and the late Lessie Efird.

He was also preceded in death by his son, David Neal Efird.

Mr. Efird will lie in state at Hartsell Funeral Home of Albemarle from 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. A private graveside service will be follow at 1:00 PM at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church Cemetery at 16592 St. Martin Road in Albemarle officiated by Pastor Phil Thorsen.

Survivors include wife, Bobbie Nell Efird of Albemarle; sons, Kevin (Nina) Efird of New London, Randy (Lee Ann) Efird of Mt. Gilead, Bruce (Gayla) Efird of Raleigh; grandsons, Levi (Mandy) Efird of Albemarle, Kyle (Nichole) Efird of Whittier, NC, Caleb (Katie) Efird of Salisbury, Matthew (Rachel) Efird of Charlotte, Ben Efird of Greenville, SC, Will (Elaina) Efird of Essex Junction, VT, Campbell Efird of greenville, SC; granddaughters, Victoria Efird of Homewood, AL, Alexandra (Andrew) Foster of Houston, TX; great-grandchildren, Reece, Clara, Brooke, Ava, Jessa, Silas, Bryson, Josiah, Brynlee, Beau, and Annabelle Efird.

Memorials may be made to St. Martin’s Church, 16592 St. Martin Road, Albemarle, NC 28001.

M

Mary Kimrey

ARY RUTH SWARINGEN KIMREY, 88, of Albemarle, NC died peacefully Saturday April 4th, 2020 at Trinity Place in Albemarle. A celebration of life will be held at Porter Baptist Church Cemetery at a later date.

Mrs. Kimrey was married to the late Roy Lee Kimrey, Sr. who preceded her in death on January 21st, 1993. She is survived by son Roy Kimrey, Jr. (Cathy) of Monroe, NC, daughter Sylvia Lawrence (Mickey) of New London, NC, four brothers; J.T. Swaringen (Judy) of New London, NC, Henry Swaringen (Sue) of Albemarle, NC, Conrad Swaringen (Helen) of Norwood, NC, and Gerald Swaringen (Janet) of Albemarle, NC, four grandchildren; Carmen Thomas (Matt) of Matthews, NC, Emily Holleman (Adam) of Weddington, NC, Michelle Osborne (Bryson) of Greensboro, NC, and Meagan Baugh (David) of Valle Crucis, NC, nine great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by brothers Lee Swaringen and Lane Swaringen, and a sister Irene Mabry.

Memorials may be made to Gideon’s International P.O. Box 182 Albemarle, NC 28001 and Porter Baptist Church 16562 US Hwy 52 S. Norwood, NC 28128.

Kennedy Burleson

J

Jerry Fincher

ERRY WAYNE FINCHER, 84, of Albemarle passed away Friday, April 3, 2020 surrounded by his loving family. Jerry will be laid to rest at Canton Baptist Church cemetery at a later date.

Born June 17, 1935 in Stanly County, he was the son of the late William R. Fincher and Effie E. Baucom Fincher. Jerry worked many years with Crook Motor Company where he retired as Vice President.

He was a member of Canton Baptist Church and also sang in the Lamplighters Quartet for over 40 years.

Jerry is survived by his wife Eleanor “Kate” Holden Fincher of the home, children, Cindy Fincher Jacobs of Wingate, NC and Tommy (Tiffany Sue) Fincher of New London. He is also survived by a brother, Donald (Nancy) Fincher of Albemarle and grandson, Trey (Gera) Whitson of Midland, NC, step-sons, Jimmy (Lisa) and Eric (Shanon) Lanier, stepdaughter, Wanda (Bob) Krimminger, and a host of step grandchildren, step great and great-great grandchildren.

Full obituary and online condolences are available at www. stanlyfuneralhome.com

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8

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

STATE & NATION

Chinese smartphone health code rules post-virus life The Associated Press WUHAN, China — Since the coronavirus outbreak, life in China is ruled by a green symbol on a smartphone screen.

Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or just enter Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the pandemic began in December.

The system is made possible by the Chinese public’s almost universal adoption of smartphones and the ruling Communist Party’s embrace of “Big Data” to extend its surveillance and control over society.

Walking into a Wuhan subway station, Wu Shenghong, a manager for a clothing manufacturer, used her smartphone to scan a barcode on a poster that triggered her health code app. A green code and part of her identity card number appeared on the screen. A guard wearing a mask and goggles waved her through.

If the code had been red, that would tell the guard that Wu was confirmed to be infected or had a fever or other symptoms and was awaiting a diagnosis. A yellow code would mean she had contact with an infected person but hadn’t fin-

ished a two-week quarantine, meaning she should be in a hospital or quarantined at home.

Wu, who was on her way to see retailers after returning to work this week, said the system has helped reassure her after a twomonth shutdown left the streets of Wuhan empty.

People with red or yellow codes “are definitely not running around outside,” said Wu, 51. “I feel safe.”

Intensive use of the health code is part of the efforts by authorities to revive China’s economy while preventing a spike in infections as workers stream back into factories, offices and shops.

Most access to Wuhan, the manufacturing hub of central China, was suspended Jan. 23 to fight the coronavirus. The lockdown spread to surrounding cities in Hubei province and then people nationwide were ordered stay home in the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. The final travel controls on Wuhan are due to be lifted this week.

Other governments should consider adopting Chinese-style “digital contact tracing,” Oxford University researchers recommended in a report published Tuesday in the journal Science. The virus is spreading too rapidly for tradition-

al methods to track infections “but could be controlled if this process was faster, more efficient and happened at scale,” the researchers wrote.

Once aboard the subway, Wu and other commuters used their smartphones to scan a code that recorded the number of the car they rode in case authorities need to find them later.

An attendant carried a banner reading “Please wear a mask throughout your trip. Do not get close to others. Scan the code before you get off the train.” Seats were marked with dots denoting where passengers were to sit to stay far enough away from each other.

Visitors to shopping malls, offices buildings and other public places in Wuhan undergo a similar routine. They show their health codes and guards in masks and gloves check them for fever before they are allowed in.

The health codes add to a steadily growing matrix of high-tech monitoring that tracks what China’s citizens do in public, online and at work: Millions of video cameras blanket streets from major cities to small towns. Censors monitor activity on the internet and social media. State-owned telecom carriers can trace where mobile phone cus-

OLIVIA ZHANG | AP PHOTO

In this April 1, 2020, photo, a passenger holds up a green pass on their phone on a subway train in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province. Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptomfree and it’s required to board a subway. tomers go.

A vast, computerized system popularly known as social credit is intended to enforce obedience to official rules. People with too many demerits for violations ranging from committing felonies to littering can be blocked from buying plane tickets, getting loans, obtaining government jobs or leaving the country.

A statement by the city government of Tianjin, a port city of 16 million people adjacent to Beijing, said the health codes were temporary but offered no indication when use might end.

The codes are issued through the popular WeChat messaging service of internet giant Tencent Ltd. and the Alipay electronic payments service of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company.

Some 900 million people use the

system on WeChat, according to the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily and other outlets. No total for Alipay has been reported.

Obtaining a health code is simple: Users fill out an electronic form with their identity details, address and whether they have a cough or fever. The system includes no steps to confirm whether a user is healthy.

Authorities have threatened that violators will be “dealt with severely,” though detailed penalties have yet to be announced.

Regulations say people who try to travel with a red health code will be marked down in the social credit system.

“Fraud, concealment and other behaviors” carry penalties that “will have a huge impact on their future life and work,” a statement by the government of Heilongjiang province in the northeast said.

Hugs and kisses, deferred: Pandemic cuts physical contact

By Matt Sedensky The Associated Press To the lengthy list of losses from the pandemic, add these: hugs unexchanged, visits unmade, hands unheld.

Just when many feel they need it the most, the comfort of physical closeness is being denied.

Dr. Loren Olson, 77, a psychiatrist in Urbandale, Iowa, misses the hugs and kisses from friends who gathered for potlucks and dominoes and movies, before they all holed up only to emerge for grocery runs.

He thinks of the clients whose final appointments are approaching, the ones he’ll never get to send off with a handshake despite months of wrenching therapy together. The embraces he would have gotten on visits to his daughters and grandchildren are deferred, and no one quite knows how long.

“I didn’t know how important that was to me until now that I don’t have it,” Olson says of those lost touches.

Then there is the thing in the back of his mind — how those who contract the virus have often been robbed of final moments with the people they love because hospitals desperate to stop the spread have had to isolate patients and bar visitors. Olson and his husband have talked about how they would want to die in one another’s arms. Con-

IAN MAULE | TULSA WORLD VIA AP

In this Sunday, April 5, 2020 photo, CommonGround Pastor Tom Dillingham gives a thumbs up to a car while a church goer gives a social distance appropriate hug during a drive-in church service. juring it any other way seems too painful.

“To think that people are dying without that,” Olson says, “is tragic.”

Terrorist attacks, natural disasters and mass shootings have been followed by survivors clutched in the arms of loved ones — people collectively gathering to mourn, hands of neighbors grasped in prayer. But the pandemic has rewritten the script of tragedy. Final goodbyes may come by phone or not at all, travel to familiar places and faces is nixed, and people already

living isolated lives are more cut off than ever.

One of those friends Olson has been physically cut off from is Ryan Weidner, a 41-year-old financial planner, who now gives “air high-fives” to his assistant and “air hugs” to his teenage children. His 63-year-old father was diagnosed with COVID-19 and, though Weidner is certain he’ll recover, his underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a concern.

Normally, he’d rush to drive eight hours to Michigan and wrap his fa-

ther in a hug. But at a time that’s anything but normal, he’s left to think of the last time they saw each other, parting ways after a Thanksgiving trip to Mexico.

“You always think to yourself, what happens if you don’t see them again?” he says.

Some have been sustained by a video call, a palm pressed to a window or a blown kiss. But it’s not the same. Not really.

“There’s something still to be said about the human touch and being there in person,” said Aliza Sherman, 55, of Anchorage, Alaska, who sees her 13-year-old daughter on Zoom but is prevented from visiting her at the mental health facility where she’s being treated. “I just want to give her a hug.”

Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, 53, of Castro Valley, California, thinks of those who are blind like her daughter, who rely so much on their sense of touch to connect. When they go to the store now, she warns her daughter not to extend a hand to the cashier as she normally would.

And when her mother-in-law’s 79th birthday came, the family left a strawberry-rhubarb pie outside the door, then backed up and sang from across the lawn.

“Imagine now trying to explain to your child why she can’t hug her grandmother,” she says. “You’re very much missing the human contact when you’re standing 30 feet away.”

For April Kahgee, 37, of Petoskey, Michigan, it means there’s no certainty when she’ll be able to greet her fiancé, who lives in Australia, with her usual “flying tackle hug” — charging at him full speed, then launching into his arms. Their plans to narrow the 9,000-plus miles between their homes are on hold and their wedding is canceled.

For Jarrod Holland, 45, of Wilmington, North Carolina, it means his long-awaited first date with a woman he met online will most definitely not end with a first kiss.

They planned to eat takeout in a park, then take a walk, all at recommended “social distancing” guidelines.

Dr. Anne Peterson, who runs global programs for Americares, has been overseeing shipments of tons of protective equipment and other supplies to health workers around the world. Over the years, her work has involved responding to outbreaks of cholera, plague and Ebola, and the lessons of safe distancing ingrained her mind.

At home in Seattle, though, it’s more of a struggle as she tries to care for her 90-year-old father. He laments her sitting across the room.

She worries that if he loses his balance, she might not be able to catch him.

“I’m done with this,” he told her.

“I don’t care if you have coronavirus. I need you here beside me.”

98% of ALL Farms are Family Farms

ncfb.org

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 28 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020

Twin City Herald

DARREN ABATE | AP PHOTO | FILE

In this Dec. 18, 2016, file photo, San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan listens while special guests speak about him during his jersey retirement ceremony in San Antonio.

Joining Kobe Bryant as first-time finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame are: 15-time All-Star Duncan, fellow 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett and 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings.

WHAT’S HAPPENING Internet speeds dropped, then rebounded As more people work from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, internet speeds slowed down last month across the state of North Carolina. But speeds are rebounding. BroadbandNow, a company that tracks internet service providers, said that speeds fell across North Carolina in late March. Charlotte and Raleigh saw median download speeds drop at least 20%.

Winston-Salem experienced one of the largest drops in the nation, falling 41%. But in the past week, Raleigh resumed its normal range of speeds. And WinstonSalem saw one of the largest improvements in the country with a nearly 40% jump.

AP

Police: Suspect shot after domestic violence call A police officer shot a suspect while responding to a report of domestic violence. The unidentified person was in critical but stable condition after being shot by a Kernersville police officer, news outlets reported. It is the third shooting involving a law enforcement official in the Winston-Salem area in recent weeks. Police have not released the name of the officer or said whether the suspect had a weapon. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.

AP

Sheriff’s office links chase, shooting to body found at home Winston-Salem police said the body of Toni Renee Handy, 46, was found Tuesday evening at her home. Handy was reported missing just after midnight Tuesday. A sheriff’s deputy spotted Handy’s pickup truck, which had been reported stolen.

Christopher Joel Mock, 45, led deputies on a chase, driving through a shopping center parking lot and crashing into another truck before he was shot.

A gun was found at the scene.

First responders took Mock to the hospital, and he was declared dead in the ambulance before he was revived at the hospital, Mock underwent surgery but died at the hospital.

AP

Tim Duncan becomes first Deac in Basketball Hall of Fame

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press TIM DUNCAN became the first Wake Forest player elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett headline a nine-person group announced Saturday as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“An amazing class,” Duncan said.

They all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings. Others had to wait a bit longer for the good news: Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich finally got his call, as did longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton.

They were the eight finalists who were announced in February, and the panel of 24 voters who were tasked to decide who merited selection wound up choosing them

CHRIS CARLSON | AP PHOTO

In this Dc. 18, 2017 file photo, former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant talks during a news conference in Los Angeles. all. Also headed to the Hall this year: former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann, selected as a direct-elect by the international committee.

Duncan was a five-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs.

“This is an incredibly special class, for many reasons,” Hall of

Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

Duncan spent the entirety of his career with the Spurs, and is now back with the team as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich.

“It’s kind of the end of the journey here,” Duncan, on the Hall announcement broadcast, said of his enshrinement. “It was an incredi-

ble career that I enjoyed so much.

To call it a dream come true isn’t even doing any justice to it. I never dreamt I’d be at this point.”

Duncan, Garnett and Bryant were similar in many ways as players: The longevity of their careers, the eye-popping numbers, almost perennial inclusion on award lists.

They also shared a dislike for touting personal accomplishments.

With Bryant, Duncan and Garnett as perhaps the top NBA trio to ever enter simultaneously, the Hall wanted to make sure that no enshrinee would be overlooked.

“We didn’t need to water it down,” Colangelo said. “Next year is another year for many.”

TIM DUNCAN Key stats: 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 blocks per game in 19 NBA seasons with the San Antonio Spurs.

Career accomplishments: Fivetime NBA champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), 15-time AllStar, two-time NBA MVP (2002, 2003), 15-time All-NBA player, 1998 NBA rookie of the year, 1997 NCAA player of the year at Wake Forest, one of three players in NBA history to be part of more than 1,000 regular-season wins.

Quote: “Thank you, Coach Pop, for being more than a coach ... for being more like a father to me.”

— Duncan, to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, at his jersey retirement.

Former Wake Forest basketball coach Carl Tacy dies at 87 The Associated Press WINSTON-SALEM — Former Wake Forest and Marshall basketball coach Carl Tacy has died. He was 87.

Tacy’s son, Carl Jr., told The Associated Press his father died early Thursday. He had been transferred from a hospital to hospice care in Yadkinville, North Carolina last week following a December diagnosis of leukemia.

Tacy spent a year as Marshall’s head coach before 13 seasons with the Demon Deacons from 197385, compiling a 222-149 record for the third-most wins in school history. That included appearances in three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs. The Demon Deacons reached NCAA regional finals in 1977 and 1984, the latter featuring an overtime upset of top-seeded DePaul.

Former Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom, an assistant under Tacy, said the coach’s nickname of “Gentleman Carl” was well-earned.

“In my opinion, he was never given the credit he deserved as a

NC State student Max Goren produced his own version of “One Shining Moment,” similar to the video which CBS Sports showcases at the end of the men’s national championship game.

MADDY BRANDON VIA AP

basketball coach,” Odom said in a statement released by the school.

“He was a terrific tactician, teacher, and a fearless competitor who relished big games against the ACC’s best.”

Tacy resigned after the 1985 season and never coached again.

He was inducted into the Wake

Forest Sports Hall of Fame that year and had come to Demon Deacons sporting events while living in Winston-Salem in recent years.

“I don’t think he necessarily missed the grind of recruiting,” Tacy Jr. said. “I think that’s true for a lot of coaches. ... But I think he missed the Xs and Os of the

game though a lot.”

Tacy Jr. said the immediate family with have a memorial service this week but is holding off on a public gathering due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Tacy is also survived by his wife Donnie, and daughters Beth Tacy Kelly and Carla Tacy.

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

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Editor Shawn Krest

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♦ BOYD, NICHOLAS OBRINE was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 1021 GRIFFITH COMMONS DR on 4/5/2020

“THERE ARE NO LIBERTARIANS in a global pandemic.”

So goes the smug punchline of large-government advocates who point to the necessity of collective action in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. Without government, they say, we’d all be dead.

Few libertarians would disagree. The hardcore libertarians at Reason magazine aren’t spending their days fulminating over the evils of government-required lockdown orders in the face of a fast-spreading, deadly disease. That’s because they, like all other sentient human beings, recognize that collective action is sometimes necessary.

But here’s the dirty little secret: Institutional failures during this pandemic are more indicative of what our politics should be during non-pandemic situations, not the blunt-force ability of the government to shut down the global economy and force us all to stay home. The question isn’t whether government has power.

Government is power. The question is how and when to apply that power. And what we’ve seen is that government sucks at everything, even the most basic things it is supposed to do well.

Democrats and the media like to pretend that government’s failures in this process aren’t endemic to government control.

They like to blame such failures on Republicans, and on President Donald Trump specifically. But that’s just not the case. Human beings are fallible, stupid, gullible and self-interested. Human beings who have the power of government to back them are not less human for having that power. Their humanity just has direr consequences, which is why in nonemergency circumstances, checks and balances are absolutely necessary.

Take, for example, the early days of the pandemic. Democrats say Trump was slow to respond to the incipient threat. But so were Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently declared, “As Trump fiddles, people are dying,” but in late February, she was walking the streets of Chinatown, encouraging citizens to join her.

Than 1 (F), at 5471 Robinhood Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/5/2020 13:40. ♦ EAKES, MARK DANIEL was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 2745 DUDLEY ST on 4/6/2020

♦ BRANSON, JUSTIN DEWAYNE was arrested on a charge of ADW - INFLICT INJURY at 1215 N CAMERON AV on 4/6/2020 ♦ Brewer, Jacob Wyman (M/32) Arrest on chrg of 2nd Degree Trespass, M (M), at S Peace Haven Rd/mcgregor Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/1/2020 18:45.

♦ Gladden, James Eugene (M/53) Arrest on chrg of Impaired Driving Dwi (M), at 6149 Stadium Dr/cook Av, Clemmons, NC, on 4/6/2020 01:28.

♦ BRIM, JAQUANTE JAPRI was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT - IN PRESENCE OF A MINOR (AFFRAY, DEADLY WEAPON, ET at 1217 E ELEVENTH ST on 4/6/2020

♦ GOMEZ, JAIME MORALES was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 2746 PEPPER CT on 4/5/2020

♦ CARTER, DQUA ASHOD was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 799 W FOURTEENTH ST on 4/5/2020 ♦ Davis, Kristina Marie (F/36) Arrest on chrg of Assault-simple (M), at 2455 Ashley Woods Ct, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/6/2020 23:23. ♦ Dohmhernandez, Maureen Joann (F/33) Arrest on chrg of 1) Trafficking In Methamphetamine Or Amphetamine (F), 2) P/w/ i/s/d Cocaine (F), 3) Poss Marijuana Misd (M), 4) Maintain Dwelling (F), and 5) Drugsposs Controlled Substancemethamphetamine>less

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Stop pretending pandemic politics are the new norm

♦ Evans, Emily Ann (F/24) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possesses Count/instrument/currency (F), 2) Forgery-uttering (F), 3) Fraud-obt Property (F), and 4) Poss Stolen Goods (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/6/2020 11:25.

♦ Brown, Dominique Lorenzo (M/23) Arrest on chrg of 1) Vand-personal Prop (M), 2) Drug Paraphernalia (M), 3) Resisting Arrest (M), 4) Speeding To Elude Arrest (F), 5) Reckless Driving (M), 6) Ndl - Suspended / Revoked (M), 7) Speeding - Posted (M), and 8) Hit & Run (M), at 7910 North Point Bv, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/1/2020 15:47

APRIL 13

OPINION | BEN SHAPIRO

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio has ripped Trump for his supposed downplaying of the virus, but De Blasio spent a month poo-pooing its threat. When confronted about that simple fact by CNN’s Jake Tapper, De Blasio conveniently suggested that he should stop looking backward.

Why should we trust these people, exactly?

Or take the roots of America’s inability to provide the health care resources necessary to hospitals across the country. While state and local governments were frittering away billions of dollars on useless government spending, they did precisely nothing to prepare for exactly the sort of black swan events for which governments were presumably invented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent a month failing to produce useful tests and prevented physicians in Seattle from performing proper testing, even after President Trump issued a travel ban on China.

For years in advance, members of the federal government of both parties had been warned about the need for ventilators and masks. No one produced or stockpiled them. The Food and Drug Administration’s red tape prevented the quick development of new measures to deal with the novel coronavirus.

Why should these people control our lives, when the threat of the red death isn’t hovering on our doorstep?

The government is a giant, lumbering idiot. Sometimes we need a giant, lumbering idiot. Almost always, we do not. And those who have used this pandemic response — one of the rare times we need a giant, lumbering idiot to intimidate people into preventing mass infection of one another, and to borrow the money necessary to redress the injuries thus incurred — as a rationale for a government-run “new politics” should have their heads examined.

Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com.

WEEKLY CRIME REPORT ♦ BEARD, ROBERT DWIGHT was arrested on a charge of IMPAIRED DRIVING DWI at 5598 BECKS CHURCH RD/ BETHANIA STATION RD on 4/6/2020

MONDAY

♦ Gonzalez, Fredy (M/25) Arrest on chrg of 1) 2nd Degree Trespass (M) and 2) Fail To Appear/compl (M), at 1300 Blk Old Hollow Rd, Winston Salem, NC, on 4/3/2020 21:38. ♦ GORE, ANTOINE JOVON was arrested on a charge of 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS at 1425 SILAS CREEK PW on 4/7/2020 ♦ Gwyn, Michael Lee (M/32) Arrest on chrg of Probation Violation (M), at 445 Bethaniarural Hall Rd, Rural Hall, NC, on 4/5/2020 21:13. ♦ HAMBY, JOSEPH ANDREW was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT-SIMPLE at 414 E NORTHWEST BV on 4/5/2020 ♦ Haynes, Jordan Ray (M/18) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault-simple (M) and 2) Communicate Threats (M), at 4884 Oak Branch Ln, Walkertown, NC, on 4/5/2020 19:00. ♦ Jones, Cordell Alexander (M/24) Arrest on chrg of Resisting Arrest, M (M), at 1448 Lewisville-clemmons Rd/marty Ln, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/1/2020 23:15

♦ LOWNES, BRANDON MATTHEW was arrested on a charge of 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS at 801 N MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DR on 4/6/2020 ♦ Mendoza, Salvador (M/44) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 5400 Nestleway Dr, Clemmons, NC, on 4/1/2020 03:10. ♦ Mills, Lavar Lenard (M/39) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female, M (M), at 5704 Hawesuaser Rd, Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/3/2020 02:13 ♦ Mitchell, Tyonna Nyrae (F/20) Arrest on chrg of Assault-simple (M), at 700 Woodbriar Path, Rural Hall, NC, on 4/6/2020 18:37. ♦ Oneal, Cody Lee (M/30) Arrest on chrg of Felony Habitual Larceny, F (F), at 6455 Yadkinville Rd, Pfafftown, NC, on 4/5/2020 14:26. ♦ Patterson, Tyson Jovan (M/41) Arrest on chrg of Vio. Protective Order By Courts Another (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/2/2020 13:25. ♦ PAULING, JAVAD RAYSHAUN was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 2734 N PATTERSON AV on 4/7/2020 ♦ Powers, Mandala Lynette (F/40) Arrest on chrg of Probation Violation, M (M), at 2455 Lewisville-clemmons Rd, Clemmons, NC, on 4/1/2020 13:26. ♦ PRICE, JAMES CALVERT was arrested on a charge of 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS at 100 W FIFTH ST on 4/6/2020 VREID, DQUAYSHIA KESHAI was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT - IN PRESENCE OF A MINOR (AFFRAY, DEADLY WEAPON, ET at 1217 E ELEVENTH ST on 4/6/2020 ♦ Russell, Ziyon Shyreck (M/19) Arrest on chrg of P/w/i/s/d Marijuana, F (F), at Main St/ Us 52s, NC, on 4/3/2020 15:14.

♦ Sawyer, Amanda Diane (F/35) Arrest on chrg of Drugsposs Sched Ii (F), at 6060 Germanton Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/5/2020 04:06. ♦ Shields, Damon J Ray (M/21) Arrest on chrg of 1) P/w/i/s/d Marijuana (F), 2) Poss Marijuana Fel (F), 3) Maintain Dwelling (F), 4) Drug Paraphernalia (M), and 5) Ccw - Firearm (M), at 3700 Pine Hall Rd/main St, Walkertown, NC, on 4/3/2020 11:41. ♦ VILLAREAL, HECTOR CORTEZ was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT-SIMPLE at 800 MORAVIA STREET on 4/6/2020 ♦ WASHINGTON, JOHN EMEROY was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 1010 MANLY ST on 4/7/2020 ♦ WATSON, RICKY LEE was arrested on a charge of PROBATION VIOLATION at 4865 REGALWOOD DR on 4/6/2020 ♦ Williams, Christopher Denton (M/35) Arrest on chrg of Poss Heroin (F), at 6760 Bowman Rd, Walnut Cove, NC, on 4/2/2020 16:03. ♦ WILLIAMS, JOSEPH BENJAMIN was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 1229 PLEASANT VIEW DR on 4/6/2020 ♦ Williams, Nicole Tashawn (F/37) Arrest on chrg of Impaired Driving Dwi, M (M), at 5300 Reidsville Rd, Walkertown, NC, on 4/4/2020 22:16. ♦ WILSON, FAITH LEA was arrested on a charge of ADW - INFLICT INJURY at 2388 BETHABARA RD on 4/6/2020 ♦ Ziglar, Latoya Veronica (F/31) Arrest on chrg of Discharge Firearm Within 3000 Ft Of Dwelling, M (M), at 6016 Cain Forest Dr/cain Forest Ct, Walkertown, NC, on 4/1/2020 20:19.

DEATH NOTICES ♦ Tammy Renee Sprinkle Banner, 57, of Lexington, died April 1, 2020.

Judy Carter Barr, 66, of Advance, died April 1, 2020.

Sherri Sapp Bates, 66, of Forsyth County, died April 4, 2020.

Mary Etta Lambeth Beshears, 101, of Winston-Salem, died April 6, 2020.

Wade Daniel Burleson Jr., 91, died April 04, 2020.

Maxine Lowdermilk Clark, 102 of Winston-Salem, died April 5, 2020.

Alvin Royce Crawford, 91, of Forsyth County, died April 4, 2020.

Kent Robert Curlee, 60, of Forsyth County, died April 1, 2020.

Queenie “Penny” Pendleton Dilworth, 98, of Winston-Salem, died April 5, 2020.

Mary Ethel Ferguson, 90, of Pfafftown, died April 2, 2020.

Marjory Ann Sweinberg Franklin, 87, of Winston-Salem, died April 2, 2020.

Joseph Houston Haggler III, 74, of Winston-Salem, died April 3, 2020.

Bobbie Cothren Hall, 78, of Forsyth County, died April 5, 2020.

Eddie Ralph Henderson, 65, of Winston-Salem, died April 1, 2020.

Marcia Vickers Hoffman, 80, of Winston-Salem, died April 5, 2020.

Doris Marie Crews Ingram, 76, of Forsyth County, died April 2, 2020.

Kevin Scott “Fuzz” Jackson, 53, died April 4, 2020.

Lola Lawing Jones, 86, of Winston-Salem, died April 6, 2020.

Thomas Edward King, 64, died April 1, 2020.

Betty Easter Koehn, 91, of Winston-Salem, died April 2, 2020.

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

3

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT NFL

Kuechly, Peppers on All-Decade Team New York Tom Brady, J.J. Watt and Adrian Peterson were among eight unanimous selections to the 2010s NFL All-Decade Team announced Monday by the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Also chosen on every ballot of the 48-member Hall of Fame selection committee were Von Miller, Aaron Donald, Joe Thomas, Marshal Yanda and Justin Tucker. All but tackle Thomas and guard Yanda are active. Two former Carolina Panthers, defensive end Julius Peppers and linebacker Luke Kuechly, were named to the team.

Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New England’s Bill Belichick were chosen as the coaches.

SPONSORED BY

Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell dies at 84 The running back playing for both Washington and Cleveland and was later a Redskins scout and assistant GM

By Stephen Shyno The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bobby Mitchell, the speedy Hall of Famer who became the Washington Redskins’ first black player, has died. He was 84.

Mitchell split his career with the Cleveland Browns and Redskins and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. The Hall of Fame said Sunday night that Mitchell’s family said he died in the afternoon but didn’t provide

any other details.

“The game lost a true legend today,” Hall of Fame President & CEO David Baker said in a statement. “Bobby was an incredible player, a talented executive and a real gentleman to everyone with whom he worked or competed against.”

When Mitchell joined the Redskins in 1962, they became the last NFL team to integrate. After playing his first four seasons in Cleveland, he spent seven more with Washington and retired with the second-most combined offensive yards.

Mitchell became a Redskins scout and later served as assistant general manager.

“His passion for the game of football was unmatched by anyone

I have ever met,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said. “Not only was he one of the most influential individuals in franchise history, but he was also one of the greatest men I have ever known. He was a true class act and will be sorely missed.”

Retired NFL running back Brian Mitchell, who has no relation to Bobby but became friends with him, said he learned from the Hall of Famer. “Tough times don’t remain, tough people do, and you don’t let what you go through change who you are unless it’s for the better.”

Bobby Mitchell said during a 2015 episode of Showtime’s “60 Minutes Sports” that he understood pretty quickly upon signing in Washington “there was no one in this town used to having a black

star.” Friend and fellow Hall of Famer Jim Brown took it one step further.

“Bobby was an individual that was thrown into the arena of being a victim for no reason,” Brown said. “He had to suffer for being black more than any person I know that played football at the time I played. With that kind of ability, if he were white, everybody on this earth would know who he was.”

Mitchell played halfback for the Browns from 1958-61 and moved to flanker with the Redskins, leading the NFL in yards receiving in 1962 and 1963. He was a threetime All-NFL selection, played in four Pro Bowls, and his 7,954 all-purpose yards were the second-most in league history when he retired in 1968.

Mitchell grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, played baseball in high school and starred in track and football at the University of Illinois. The Hall of Fame flag on the museum’s campus in Canton, Ohio, will be flown at half-staff in Mitchell’s memory.

GOLF

British Open canceled until 2021 St. Andrews, Scotland The British Open will not be played this year for the first time since 1945, with the R&A choosing to play golf’s oldest championship next year at Royal St. George’s and move the 150th Open at St. Andrews to 2022. It was a major piece of golf trying to reconfigure a schedule brought on by the spread of the new coronavirus. Golf organizations were expected to announced later Monday the PGA Championship moving to August, the U.S. Open going to September and the Masters to be played in November, two weeks before Thanksgiving.

NHL

Hacker posts racial slur on fan chat with black NHL prospect New York A hacker posted a racial slur hundreds of times in an online fan video chat Friday with a black New York Rangers prospect. The NHL team scrambled to disable the hacker on the Zoom chat with K’Andre Miller, the 20-yearold former Wisconsin defenseman drafted No. 22 overall in 2018. The hacker repeatedly posted the oneword slur in all capital letters on the Rangers’ “Future Fridays” series on Twitter.

Miller signed a three-year, $3,825,000 contract a day before the NHL announced it was suspending the season because of the coronavirus.

The 6-foot-5 defender from St. Paul, Minnesota, played two seasons at Wisconsin.

SOCCER

Player sentenced to 3 months at home for flouting curfew Belgrade, Serbia Serbian soccer player Aleksandar Prijovic has been sentenced to three months of home detention for flouting a curfew imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The 29-year-old striker who plays for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad pleaded guilty at a video link trial in Belgrade on Saturday. Police had arrested Prijovic and 19 others for gathering at a hotel lobby bar in Belgrade on Friday and violating the country’s 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. lockdown orders. He is the second Serbian soccer player to be caught violating the stay-at-home orders joining Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic.

GUS CHAN | AP PHOTO

Browns and Redskins halfback Bobby Mitchell poses with his bronze bust after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Mitchell died Sunday at 84.

NC State student has ‘One Shining Moment’ CBS Sports has created a tradition with the NCAA Tournament montage

NC State student Max Goren produced his own version of “One Shining Moment,” similar to the video which CBS Sports showcases at the end of the men’s national championship game.

By Tom Foreman Jr. The Associated Press WINSTON-SALEM — When it was apparent there would be no NCAA men’s basketball tournament and no Final Four, Max Goren set out to save the one tradition associated with all the hoopla.

The coronavirus pandemic stopped March Madness before it could begin. But Goren, sitting at home after NC State shut down, put together his own video version of “One Shining Moment,” the CBS Sports tradition that usually follows the national championship game. It always includes the song of the same title written by David Barrett and sung by the late Luther Vandross. It would have played after the final buzzer Monday night, had there been a game.

“Obviously, I was bummed out,” Goren said, referring to his reaction that postseason basketball was gone, meaning he wouldn’t know if the Wolfpack would make the field of 68. “I was on YouTube watching just a bunch of the old ‘One Shining Moment’ videos from past tournaments.”

Goren remembers seeing online a mention that, despite the lack of a tournament, the traditional video should go on.

“I thought that was something that I could do,” he said. “So, the Saturday morning before what would have been Selection Sunday, I just kind of sat down, and I did it.”

Goren’s work became something of a sensation, drawing

MADDY BRANDON VIA AP

nearly 63,000 views as of Monday, and requests to simulate his work for other sports.

“I got on my laptop. I downloaded the song. As I went, I searched YouTube for clips to add until I got to the three minutes and five seconds which ‘One Shining Moment’ is,” he said.

The video, which Goren said he finished in three and a half hours,

features a variety of buzzer-beating shots, including the layup by Nathan Bain that took Stephen F. Austin to an upset victory over then top-ranked Duke on the Blue Devils’ home court. Duke was featured again in its own buzzer beater against North Carolina. There’s Michigan State guard Cassius Winston kissing his home court as he comes out of the last

“So, the Saturday morning before what would have been Selection Sunday, I just kind of sat down, and I did it.”

Max Goren, NC State student game of college career.

Dayton’s Obi Toppin and his highlight-quality dunks are included, and Goren gave a nod to his own school as he featured the Wolfpack’s Markell Johnson and one of his three half-court shots.

He did include highlights from the few conference tournaments that were completed before college basketball was brought to a halt.

“I think Max did a terrific job,” Barrett said in an email. “I hope he considers that line of work actually, because he has an artist’s eye. There are a lot of young men who worked hard all year for their ‘shining moments.’ Max did his best to celebrate them. Congratulations.”

Barrett considers Goren’s effort a hit, but despite his suggestion for him to pursue the line of work, the NCState student is done for now. His foray into video production provided a bit of routine in a time when the normal is anything but.

However, Goren doesn’t rule out another video if something hits him.

“If the inspiration strikes again, it wouldn’t be super unlikely, I guess,” he said. “If it happens again, it happens again.”

4

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

STATE & NATION

Chinese smartphone health code rules post-virus life The Associated Press WUHAN, China — Since the coronavirus outbreak, life in China is ruled by a green symbol on a smartphone screen.

Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or just enter Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the pandemic began in December.

The system is made possible by the Chinese public’s almost universal adoption of smartphones and the ruling Communist Party’s embrace of “Big Data” to extend its surveillance and control over society.

Walking into a Wuhan subway station, Wu Shenghong, a manager for a clothing manufacturer, used her smartphone to scan a barcode on a poster that triggered her health code app. A green code and part of her identity card number appeared on the screen. A guard wearing a mask and goggles waved her through.

If the code had been red, that would tell the guard that Wu was confirmed to be infected or had a fever or other symptoms and was awaiting a diagnosis. A yellow code would mean she had contact with an infected person but hadn’t fin-

ished a two-week quarantine, meaning she should be in a hospital or quarantined at home.

Wu, who was on her way to see retailers after returning to work this week, said the system has helped reassure her after a twomonth shutdown left the streets of Wuhan empty.

People with red or yellow codes “are definitely not running around outside,” said Wu, 51. “I feel safe.”

Intensive use of the health code is part of the efforts by authorities to revive China’s economy while preventing a spike in infections as workers stream back into factories, offices and shops.

Most access to Wuhan, the manufacturing hub of central China, was suspended Jan. 23 to fight the coronavirus. The lockdown spread to surrounding cities in Hubei province and then people nationwide were ordered stay home in the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. The final travel controls on Wuhan are due to be lifted this week.

Other governments should consider adopting Chinese-style “digital contact tracing,” Oxford University researchers recommended in a report published Tuesday in the journal Science. The virus is spreading too rapidly for tradition-

al methods to track infections “but could be controlled if this process was faster, more efficient and happened at scale,” the researchers wrote.

Once aboard the subway, Wu and other commuters used their smartphones to scan a code that recorded the number of the car they rode in case authorities need to find them later.

An attendant carried a banner reading “Please wear a mask throughout your trip. Do not get close to others. Scan the code before you get off the train.” Seats were marked with dots denoting where passengers were to sit to stay far enough away from each other.

Visitors to shopping malls, offices buildings and other public places in Wuhan undergo a similar routine. They show their health codes and guards in masks and gloves check them for fever before they are allowed in.

The health codes add to a steadily growing matrix of high-tech monitoring that tracks what China’s citizens do in public, online and at work: Millions of video cameras blanket streets from major cities to small towns. Censors monitor activity on the internet and social media. State-owned telecom carriers can trace where mobile phone cus-

OLIVIA ZHANG | AP PHOTO

In this April 1, 2020, photo, a passenger holds up a green pass on their phone on a subway train in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province. Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptomfree and it’s required to board a subway. tomers go.

A vast, computerized system popularly known as social credit is intended to enforce obedience to official rules. People with too many demerits for violations ranging from committing felonies to littering can be blocked from buying plane tickets, getting loans, obtaining government jobs or leaving the country.

A statement by the city government of Tianjin, a port city of 16 million people adjacent to Beijing, said the health codes were temporary but offered no indication when use might end.

The codes are issued through the popular WeChat messaging service of internet giant Tencent Ltd. and the Alipay electronic payments service of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company.

Some 900 million people use the

system on WeChat, according to the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily and other outlets. No total for Alipay has been reported.

Obtaining a health code is simple: Users fill out an electronic form with their identity details, address and whether they have a cough or fever. The system includes no steps to confirm whether a user is healthy.

Authorities have threatened that violators will be “dealt with severely,” though detailed penalties have yet to be announced.

Regulations say people who try to travel with a red health code will be marked down in the social credit system.

“Fraud, concealment and other behaviors” carry penalties that “will have a huge impact on their future life and work,” a statement by the government of Heilongjiang province in the northeast said.

Hugs and kisses, deferred: Pandemic cuts physical contact

By Matt Sedensky The Associated Press To the lengthy list of losses from the pandemic, add these: hugs unexchanged, visits unmade, hands unheld.

Just when many feel they need it the most, the comfort of physical closeness is being denied.

Dr. Loren Olson, 77, a psychiatrist in Urbandale, Iowa, misses the hugs and kisses from friends who gathered for potlucks and dominoes and movies, before they all holed up only to emerge for grocery runs.

He thinks of the clients whose final appointments are approaching, the ones he’ll never get to send off with a handshake despite months of wrenching therapy together. The embraces he would have gotten on visits to his daughters and grandchildren are deferred, and no one quite knows how long.

“I didn’t know how important that was to me until now that I don’t have it,” Olson says of those lost touches.

Then there is the thing in the back of his mind — how those who contract the virus have often been robbed of final moments with the people they love because hospitals desperate to stop the spread have had to isolate patients and bar visitors. Olson and his husband have talked about how they would want to die in one another’s arms. Con-

IAN MAULE | TULSA WORLD VIA AP

In this Sunday, April 5, 2020 photo, CommonGround Pastor Tom Dillingham gives a thumbs up to a car while a church goer gives a social distance appropriate hug during a drive-in church service. juring it any other way seems too painful.

“To think that people are dying without that,” Olson says, “is tragic.”

Terrorist attacks, natural disasters and mass shootings have been followed by survivors clutched in the arms of loved ones — people collectively gathering to mourn, hands of neighbors grasped in prayer. But the pandemic has rewritten the script of tragedy. Final goodbyes may come by phone or not at all, travel to familiar places and faces is nixed, and people already

living isolated lives are more cut off than ever.

One of those friends Olson has been physically cut off from is Ryan Weidner, a 41-year-old financial planner, who now gives “air high-fives” to his assistant and “air hugs” to his teenage children. His 63-year-old father was diagnosed with COVID-19 and, though Weidner is certain he’ll recover, his underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a concern.

Normally, he’d rush to drive eight hours to Michigan and wrap his fa-

ther in a hug. But at a time that’s anything but normal, he’s left to think of the last time they saw each other, parting ways after a Thanksgiving trip to Mexico.

“You always think to yourself, what happens if you don’t see them again?” he says.

Some have been sustained by a video call, a palm pressed to a window or a blown kiss. But it’s not the same. Not really.

“There’s something still to be said about the human touch and being there in person,” said Aliza Sherman, 55, of Anchorage, Alaska, who sees her 13-year-old daughter on Zoom but is prevented from visiting her at the mental health facility where she’s being treated. “I just want to give her a hug.”

Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, 53, of Castro Valley, California, thinks of those who are blind like her daughter, who rely so much on their sense of touch to connect. When they go to the store now, she warns her daughter not to extend a hand to the cashier as she normally would.

And when her mother-in-law’s 79th birthday came, the family left a strawberry-rhubarb pie outside the door, then backed up and sang from across the lawn.

“Imagine now trying to explain to your child why she can’t hug her grandmother,” she says. “You’re very much missing the human contact when you’re standing 30 feet away.”

For April Kahgee, 37, of Petoskey, Michigan, it means there’s no certainty when she’ll be able to greet her fiancé, who lives in Australia, with her usual “flying tackle hug” — charging at him full speed, then launching into his arms. Their plans to narrow the 9,000-plus miles between their homes are on hold and their wedding is canceled.

For Jarrod Holland, 45, of Wilmington, North Carolina, it means his long-awaited first date with a woman he met online will most definitely not end with a first kiss.

They planned to eat takeout in a park, then take a walk, all at recommended “social distancing” guidelines.

Dr. Anne Peterson, who runs global programs for Americares, has been overseeing shipments of tons of protective equipment and other supplies to health workers around the world. Over the years, her work has involved responding to outbreaks of cholera, plague and Ebola, and the lessons of safe distancing ingrained her mind.

At home in Seattle, though, it’s more of a struggle as she tries to care for her 90-year-old father. He laments her sitting across the room.

She worries that if he loses his balance, she might not be able to catch him.

“I’m done with this,” he told her.

“I don’t care if you have coronavirus. I need you here beside me.”