Opinion Roundup: Masks as fashion; COVID-19 politics takes flight; churches; rules; and more

Wednesday, May 13, 2020 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on:  masks as a fashion statement; strip clubs and political consultants finding common ground; GOP Council of State's  COVID-19 politics; COVIC-19 politics takes flight; and more.

ERIN BROMAGE: Virus spread. The risks - know them - avoid them (Capitol Broadcasting Co. opinion column) -- An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have crested in deaths at 70,000, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown. As states reopen and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. If you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover.

Governor defends rules for businesses, churches (AP reports) -- Stating “pandemics cannot be partisan, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday defended his eased stay-at-home order as criticism mounted from elected Republican officials and demonstrators who gather weekly outside his home.

SARAH OVASKA: ‘Rely On The Science’: Cooper Says NC Won’t Loosen Coronavirus Restrictions Before May 22 (Cardinal & Pine reports) -- Gov. Cooper and DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen emphasize a measured approach to reducing coronavirus social distancing orders, despite pressure from protesters.

Sheriffs, GOP officials, ministers want to know why NC churches can't hold indoor services (WRAL-TV reports) -- Churches should be allowed to hold indoor services during the coronavirus pandemic, North Carolina law enforcement authorities, ministers and Republican officials said Tuesday.

Dan Forest: NC officials should have say in state's reopening plans (WRAL-TV reports) -- Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said he and five other Republican state officials want Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to allow them to have more input in how the state resumes business and social activities during the coronavirus pandemic, believing the governor is moving too cautiously. Forest is challenging Cooper for re-election.

NC Rep. Jarvis to attend Return America rally (Lexington Dispatch reports) -- Rep. Steve Jarvis, R-Davidson, will attend a news conference Thursday, May 14, at 11 a.m. in front of the North Carolina General Assembly with Return America. The topic will be the lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of churches in North Carolina against Gov. Roy Cooper. A press release from Jarvis states he is in full support of the lawsuit and the efforts of Return America as pastors across the state are being denied their ability to assemble.

How to protest when you’re immuno-compromised and can’t hit the streets? ‘Plane banner!’ (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- The plane banner made perhaps the biggest splash at ReOpenNC’s fifth week of protests, a personal triumph for Todd Stiefel, the Raleigh philanthropist who rented it. Stiefel had wanted to add his voice the debate because, as a teen, he developed common variable immune deficiency, or CVID. The idea of people calling the virus a hoax and flouting public health restrictions rankled him. But his risk for coronavirus is so great that doctors have advised him not to go out and to avoid even takeout food.

ReOpenNC protesters converge on Raleigh for a fifth week. Counterprotesters take to sky. (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- Protesters gathered in downtown Raleigh for a fifth week Tuesday, calling for Gov. Roy Cooper to immediately reopen North Carolina and cancel restrictions on business. The ReOpenNC group had drawn more than a thousand in earlier protests but saw its numbers dwindle last week to about 200 people. Tuesday’s protest started with about 100 people but swelled to about 400 during a march around downtown. Counterprotesters took their message to the sky Tuesday, with a small plane circling downtown with a banner that read, “Fewer graves if we reopen in waves.”

ReOpen NC protests for fifth week, citing support for civil rights and small businesses (WRAL-TV reports) -- ReOpen NC gathered around the Executive Mansion again today to protest against Governor Cooper's Three-Phase plan for reopening the state, saying it's too slow to protect small businesses and that he's reaching beyond his power.

Fact check: NC shut down to save lives, but are rising unemployment rates deadly, too? (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- In an April 17 post in the Reopen NC Facebook group, leader Ashley Smith said, “The rule is for every 1% rise in unemployment, there is a 2% rise in death rates overall.” Professor M. Harvey Brenner Brenner’s research found that mortality due to high unemployment increased years after a recession, during an economic expansion. Regardless, there is evidence that during times of high unemployment, mortality actually decreases, said Christopher Ruhm, professor of public policy and economy at the University of Virginia.

Revised forecasts significantly increase NC death estimates for COVID-19 (WRAL-TV reports) -- Newly revised modeling from researchers at the University of Washington has sharply increased the number of deaths expected in North Carolina as a result of COVID-19, a fourfold rise over their previous projections.

State quietly changed rules on who could be tested for coronavirus (WRAL-TV reports) -- More than 200,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in North Carolina, but state officials never publicized a decision to relax the rules on who could be tested.

NC Senate wrote coronavirus bill in private, and Democrats object (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- The N.C. House and Senate took different approaches to transparency in their COVID-19 response. The House publicly formed committees, met via video conferences and gathered input from their constituents. But the Senate kept its proposals under wraps until filing a 51-page COVID-19 response bill on April 28, the first day of the session. The NC Insider asked all 50 senators about their involvement in the weeks leading up to the session’s start. Views on the process split almost entirely down party lines. Senate Republicans said it was a collaborative effort where both parties worked together.

Researcher of Legislature's study advises against getting coronavirus antibody test outside of studies (WRAL-TV reports) -- Dr. John Sanders of Wake Forest Baptist Health, who is overseeing a state legislature-funded coronavirus antibody study, said the test will give a better idea of the extent of the virus in North Carolina. He said people shouldn't run out to get a test, however, as they don't provide clear information as to immunity or risk of spreading the virus to others.

Local government funding (The Insider reports) -- Local governments will get a total of $150 million from the legislature’s recent coronavirus relief package, but cities and towns could get left out if their county leaders don’t agree to share. The bill parcels out funding from the federal CARES Act and gives 97 county governments a share of money they can use for coronavirus-related costs, such as testing supplies, protective equipment for first responders and sanitation expenses. The three remaining counties — Wake, Guilford and Mecklenburg — got their share of CARES Act money directly from the federal government.

N.C. Democrats to hold state convention online (AP reports) -- The North Carolina Democratic Party will hold its state convention online next month rather than in person, in keeping with social distancing rules from the coronavirus pandemic.

MOSTLY FALSE: Does Tillis want states 'to go bankrupt' instead of seeking federal aid? (PolitiFact/WRAL-TV) -- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham tweeted "Mitch McConnell said he wanted states to go bankrupt instead of the federal government providing relief. Today, Thom Tillis agreed." That misrepresents what Tillis has said.

TOM EDSALL: Trump Is Staking Out His Own Universe of ‘Alternative Facts’ (New York Times column) -- David Kreiss, a professor of journalism and the media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, suggested in an email that there has been a dramatic shift in the political environment over the past 12 years: "What has changed between 2008 and 2020 on the right is the emergence of a vast extended network of digital and other media that is designed to strengthen the collective identity of the right and its constituent groups and generate internally consistent narratives and ideas about politics." The conservative media, he continued, is "designed to create that self-referential universe. It exists to not only deflect criticism but literally to create new narratives of Trump (such as transforming his handling of the virus into a success), and to strengthen political and social divisions, undermine opponents, and provide people with identity and ideational resources to refute counter-narratives." The 2020 election, Kreiss predicted, will be “a big test of whether empirical reality will outweigh motivated partisan reasoning.” If the test Kreiss anticipates does determine who our next president is, and if the digital world becomes a key battleground, as it certainly will, Democrats believe Joe Biden and his campaign need to be better prepared.

What strip clubs and political consultants have in common: They’re fighting for PPP loans. (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- Should political consultants have the same right to federal relief as strip clubs? That’s essentially the case that attorneys planned to make Tuesday in a federal appeals court in Washington. Like strip clubs, consultants and lobbyists are barred from receiving coronavirus relief money under rules from the Small Business Administration. Other industries are considered ineligible, too, such as payday lenders. At stake is a share of the $669 billion Congress has approved for small business loans under the Paycheck Protection Program.

ROBIN GIVHAN: Senators wore a wide variety of masks, but their voice wasn’t muffled — it was amplified (Washington Post reports) -- The suits accessorized with face masks. The congressional establishment is making a broad visual statement that these are uncommon times. Scientists have said that masks are less effective when worn over a beard. All that chin fuzz makes the gap between face and fabric even more pronounced. But no matter. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) was sporting a gray shutdown beard under his University of North Carolina Tar Heels face mask. The senator, whose stock trades in the early weeks of the pandemic are under investigation, looked decidedly more rumpled than usual. The message: He’s been hunkered down like his constituents, deprived of even a haircut and shave.

Grocery prices surge to highest level in almost 50 years (WRAL-TV reports) -- If it seems like your bill is higher after a typical grocery store run, you're not crazy.

Durham extending strict city-county stay-at-home order (WRAL-TV reports) -- Mayor Steve Schewel said Tuesday that Durham and Durham County will extend their stay-at-home order past its scheduled expiration on Friday.

Incentives package OK'd for foundry move to rural N.C. (AP reports) -- A North Carolina-based company could benefit from a state cash incentives proposal approved on Tuesday if its Charlotte foundry moves to rural Stanly County.

GARY PEARCE: In praise of inside players (Wilson Times column) -- Politics, like basketball, has an inside game and an outside game. You can win either way. But rarely do you see a political player who is good at both.

PAM KELLLEY: Silent on Sam, UNC chairman eyes a full term (Charlotte Ledger reports) -- Board of Governors chairman Randy Ramsey is praised as a ‘common-sense’ leader. But he won’t answer questions about the monument controversy or his educational background.

Despite controversy surrounding his biography, Ramsey elected to full term as UNC board chair (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- Behind the routine elections at the UNC Board of Governors this week there was drama. At the heart of the controversy: questions about Chairman Randy Ramsey’s official Board of Governors biography, which until recently said he earned a degree that he does not hold.

ANN DOSS HELMS: Remote Learning Comes With Language Barriers For 128,000 NC Students (WFAE-FM reports) -- Being forced to home-school during the pandemic is tough for most families, but imagine trying to do it in a second language. That’s the reality for more than 128,000 North Carolina students and their families.

Here are a literacy task force’s initial ideas on bettering the teaching of reading (EdNC reports) -- A team of education leaders, charged with recommending improvements to reading instruction in classrooms across North Carolina, is refining its final proposals. The State Board of Education’s literacy task force has taken on big questions in recent months: How can reading instruction improve? How can teachers be better prepared in college? How can current teachers learn more effective strategies?

Greensboro couple makes $11 million gift to UNC's business school (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- ​​​​​​​UNC-Chapel Hill said it will use an $11 million gift from a Greensboro couple to expand its business school. The university said Tuesday that the gift from Steve and Jackie Bell is the largest single amount given by individuals to UNC Kenan-Flagler in the school's 101-year history.

THOMAS GOLDSMITH: As COVID-19 menaces NC, therapists reach out to people with speech, memory problems (N.C. Health News reports) -- COVID-19 has brought changes in routine for people with dementia and other speech and memory problems. The community of speech therapy is offering new methods of care as the need continues to emerge.

Atrium Health loses $30M in first quarter of 2020 (AP reports) -- A North Carolina health care system lost nearly $30 million in the first quarter of this year as it dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.