Opinion Roundup: COVID-19 spread; election costs; postal politics; meat-worker safety; and more

Tuesday, May 12, 2020 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: how COVID-19 spreads; counter-protest fly-over; investigating gun carriers; undercover legislating; using courts to balance the budget; COVID-19 and election costs; postal politics; affordable daycare; slaughterhouse worker safety; and more.

1,000 coronavirus particles can infect you. Here's how to avoid hitting that threshold (WRAL-TV reports) -- With parts of North Carolina's economy resuming under the first phase of a three-part plan, a lot people are wondering how safe it is to go out. That depends on where you want to go and how long you plan to be around other people.

Health chief: N.C. church service restriction being reviewed (AP reports) -- North Carolina legislators and leading sheriffs want Gov. Roy Cooper to clarify or remove a portion of his executive order that limits how religious services can convene under his eased stay-at-home rules for COVID-19.

WakeMed dismantles its COVID triage tents, but that doesn’t mean the outbreak is over (NC McClatchy reports) -- The coronavirus triage tents that WakeMed erected outside its three hospital emergency departments as the illness began to spread in late March were taken down on Monday, but hospital officials say it doesn’t mean the outbreak is over.

NC just changed important language that measures our COVID-19 progress. What’s going on? (NC McClatchy editorial) -- If you’re an avid follower of North Carolina’s coronavirus data — we know you’re out there — you may have noticed a critical change in language involving one of the benchmarks the Department of Health and Human Services uses to measure how well our state is slowing the spread of COVID-19. If you’re a conspiracy lover who thinks that change might be nefarious, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

That Order Keeping NC Meat Plants Open Could Get Workers Killed, Advocates Say (Cardinal & Pine reports) -- Meat plants are considered ‘critical infrastructure,’ but COVID-19's spread in North Carolina facilities raises labor concerns.

Flyover plans to counter protest ReopenNC rally in downtown Raleigh (WRAL-TV reports) -- A man plans to counter protest ReopenNC on Tuesday with a plane carrying a banner that reads, “Fewer graves if we reopen in waves #ScienceSaves." The man who organized the flyover said he is at risk of getting coronavirus.

Raleigh police investigating armed protest group (WRAL-TV reports) -- WRAL has analyzed this protest group and believes it represents an anti-government movement that feels its First Amendment rights are being violated by business closures and the stay-at-home orders.

Raleigh police to investigate group that carried guns downtown (NC McClatchy reports) -- Raleigh’s police chief says the department is considering criminal charges against people who carried weapons through downtown in recent organized events — including a Saturday incident that left a Raleigh family fearful. State law prohibits possessing a weapon while participating in or watching a protest, but nothing bars people from walking on a city sidewalk displaying firearms, Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said in a statement released by the Police Department on Monday night. The Police Department contacted a person who described an encounter with a demonstrator on social media, according to the police chief. She did not name the person, who she said did not want to pursue the matter. But video of his encounter captured by multiple media outlets has been reviewed, she said.

Secrecy in the N.C. Senate (The Insider reports) -- The N.C. House and Senate took different approaches to transparency in addressing the COVID-19 response. The House publicly formed committees, met openly via video conferences and gathered input from their constituents. But the Senate kept its proposals under wraps. Views on the Senate's secretive process split almost entirely down party lines. Republicans said it was a collaborative effort where both parties worked together. Senate Democrats said they did not know what their Republican colleagues had been doing and that they’re frustrated by the lack of public input. Despite that, 19 of the Senate’s 21 Democrats did co-sponsor the bill.

New Bills Address Reforms, Virus Response (Coastal Review reports) -- Recently filed bills in the North Carolina General Assembly include measures to carry out planned changes at state ports and the Department of Environmental Quality, along with COVID-19 relief.

BRANDON GARRETT: Court fines and fees shouldn’t be used to recover lost revenue from pandemic (Washington Post column) -- How crushing is the court debt burden? Exhibit A is North Carolina, where lawmakers erected toll booths in the courts, with dozens of fines and fees designed to extract millions from the most minor criminal cases, like traffic cases. In an effort to run around the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bearden v. Georgia, which prevents punishing people for poverty, the lawmakers set up a system to make it as hard as possible for judges to waive fines, even where people are manifestly unable to pay.

The pandemic will drive up election costs, and so far NC isn't ready (WRAL-TV/news consortium reports)) -- As the state elections board continues discussions with lawmakers, county elections officials are the ones left looking over budgets to see if they can afford to pay for changes in this year's election in reaction to the pandemic.

Many governors win bipartisan support for handling of pandemic, but some Republicans face blowback over reopening efforts (Washington Post reports) -- Two Democratic governors have earned at least moderate support across parties. In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper’s overall rating is 74 percent, including more than 9 in 10 of his fellow Democrats and more than half of Republicans. In Pennsylvania, 72 percent of adults approve of the performance of Gov. Tom Wolf in dealing with the virus, including about 9 in 10 Democrats, along with about half of Republicans.

Are State Polls Any Better Than They Were in 2016? (New York Times reports) -- The risk of a systematic error is lower this time, but there are still issues that seem to tilt these surveys to the left.

N.C. political operative makes federal court appearance (AP reports) -- A political operative at the center of a North Carolina absentee ballot fraud investigation made his first court appearance on Monday on federal charges related to campaign work.

ACLU criticizes handling of 'mob' outside black teen's home (AP reports) -- A North Carolina district attorney should not have waited five days to respond to an incident in which authorities say an all-white armed mob went to the wrong home in search of a missing girl, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday.

USPS forever (Greensboro News & Record/Winston-Salem Journal editorial) -- In this stressful time, it helps to have a functional national postal service. We just relied on it to deliver millions of Mother’s Day cards and we rely on it every day to deliver personal messages, professional documents, medical prescriptions and an increased number of packages with contents that help us cope with the difficult but necessary distances we must maintain to be safe. So it’s an unwelcome time for President Trump to practice his vendetta against both the United States Postal Service and Amazon founder and owner Jeff Bezos.

NED BARNETT: NC should step up inmate releases to keep prisons from becoming COVID-19 hot spots (NC McClatchy column) -- The women’s prison in Raleigh has the second largest outbreak in the state prison system. “If something happens, if I have to, I’ll file a lawsuit,” the mother said. The NAACP, ACLU, other groups and several inmates have already done that. They’re demanding that Gov. Roy Cooper free more inmates to allow for social distancing in prisons. The State Department of Public Safety has granted or will soon grant early release to about 640 inmates across the state. However the ACLU says those numbers “do almost nothing to allow for adequate social distancing among the roughly 33,000 people who remain in DPS custody.”

Court filings: Here’s what DPS says its doing for incarcerated people, juveniles (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- Most incarcerated people in North Carolina have been given at least two single-ply masks and get two bars of soap per week to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Department of Public Safety officials plan to discuss in the next month how to transition back to normal operations, according to Friday court filings related to a lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations and incarcerated people. Releasing people from facilities is not part of the agency’s 30-day plan.

FALSE: Did Trump bail out Wall Street, 'but not main street?' (PolitiFact/WRAL-TV) -- A group called the Lincoln Project, headlined by several high-profile Republicans and former Republicans who oppose President Donald Trump, recently released an ad that turned a famous re-election ad for President Ronald Reagan on its head.

County rolls out safeguards as it opens 4 library branches; staff wearing masks, gloves (Hickory Record) -- The Catawba County Library reopened the Newton location allowing visitors access to the building and its resources after having to close due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Alamance County courts, sheriff, ACLU progress on bail (Burlington Times-News reports) -- While it’s apparently not the end of the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Alamance County’s courts and Sheriff’s Office over local bail policy, the two sides agreed on some conditions approved by a federal judge Friday, May 8.

City, hotelier spent $458,000 on NC Supreme Court fight (Asheville Citizen-Times reports) -- Asheville and a Raleigh development company spent $458,000 fighting over whether a hotel could be built downtown

Failure of NC relief package to adequately fund early childhood education was a big mistake (N.C. Policy Watch analysis) -- For years North Carolina legislators on both sides of the aisle, business leaders, and early childhood advocates have emphasized the powerful role that quality, affordable preschool education plays in supporting healthy development, family stability, and community economic well-being. Yet, too often, the rhetoric has not translated into the investment necessary to build an early childhood education system that supports children, families and educators.

At end of emotional rollercoaster of a career, UNCC’s Phil Dubois shares touching tribute (NC McClatchy reports) -- Phil Dubois turned his head to the side and leaned far enough to the right that his face was no longer in view of his computer’s camera, and when he came back into frame after a long pause, tears were rolling over his cheeks. It was the middle of an emotional day for the 69-year-old outgoing chancellor of UNC Charlotte, who just before this interview recorded a graduation message for the spring class of 2020 in his commencement regalia but had changed into a 49ers football jersey because he had a farewell video call with the school’s alumni board right after. It has also, of course, been an emotional year for Dubois, who’s found himself leading faculty, staff and students through the aftermath of the most devastating event in the history of the university as well as the worst pandemic the world has seen in more than a century.

Duke student files lawsuit seeking repayment for spring semester (WRAL-TV reports) -- Duke University is the latest local school hit with a lawsuit from frustrated students who say they aren't getting the education they paid for during the coronavirus pandemic.

Salem Academy and College names interim president (AP reports) -- Susan Henking, current interim vice president for academic and student affairs and dean of Salem College for women has been named interim president at the college and acadamy high school.

UNC System board re-elects the same slate of leaders as it deals with pandemic (NC McClatchy reports) -- The UNC System Board of Governors re-elected Randy Ramsey to serve as its chairman at a special meeting by video conference call Monday. Wendy Murphy was also re-elected as vice chair of the board and Pearl Burris-Floyd was re-elected as secretary. There was no contest for any of the positions and each one is a two-year term.

Virus sparks debate on whether more prospects will stay home (AP reports) -- Concerns about the coronavirus are preventing football prospects from visiting campuses this spring and keeping coaches from traveling to evaluate them.

NC Policy Collaboratory receives $29 million from state for COVID-19 research (Daily Tar Heel reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper signed a $1.5 billion coronavirus relief package last week that will allocate $29 million to the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory at UNC for research into COVID-19 treatment and testing. UNC is among five North Carolina universities identified in this bill to receive funding for coronavirus research. The relief package also gave research funding to Duke University, Wake Forest University, East Carolina University and Campbell University. A combined total of $85 million will be allocated to the five schools.

ROSE HOBAN: For workers who’ve lost jobs, what are the options for health insurance? (N.C. Health News reports) -- About a million North Carolinians have lost work in the past two months, and for many, lost health insurance too. What can they do?

Veterans groups, govt brace for surge in mental health needs (AP reports) -- The VA and its partner mental health providers have kept thousands of veterans in treatment during the coronavirus pandemic through telehealth appointments. But as job losses and increased social isolation take an extended toll, some veterans' advocates worry the already understaffed VA medical facilities can't keep up and that telehealth isn’t enough.

Federal declaration means help to N.C. counties for storms (AP reports) -- A disaster declaration for 18 North Carolina counties damaged by unusual winter thunderstorms and tornadoes means local governments will get help from Washington to pay for the cleanup.

12 feet, 1,000 pounds: Great white shark tracked along Carolina coast (WRAL-TV reports) -- Ironbound, a 12-foot white shark, was swimming off Bald Head Island Monday afternoon after having pinged Sunday night in Pamlico Sound.

Shaw Creek River Restoration Project Helps Veterans Heal (Public News Service reports) -- A river-restoration project on a farm for veterans in Hendersonville is bringing new life to a community space.

Retired Rockingham County firefighter wins $1 million NC lottery prize after buying two scratch-off tickets (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Kevin Simpson of Stoneville stopped to get gas for his lawnmower and walked away the winner of a $1 million scratch-off prize, according to a news release from the NC Education Lottery.