Opinion Roundup: Stay home is safer; church and risks; Burr's shuffle; prison testing; Medal of Honor recipient recalled; and more

Friday, May 15, 2020 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: staying home saves lives; go to church and risk it; Burr's shuffle; Silent Sam lawsuit ends; state budget worries; prison concerns and testing; Medal of Honor winner remembered; and more.

Staying home has saved 4,000 lives in Charlotte, official says touting national study (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio says stay-at-home orders have saved thousands of lives in Charlotte and so far have kept an estimated 40,000 people out of the hospital, citing a recent Big Cities Health Coalition study. The study included 30 U.S. cities and used modeling to estimate the impact of stay-at-home orders.

Study Shows Stay-At-Home Orders Prevented 2.1 Million Hospitalizations and 200,000 Deaths in 30 Major U.S. Cities (Big Cities Health study) -- Today, the Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) released estimates that show that early actions by BCHC members, leaders from America’s largest metropolitan health departments, to get the public to stay home led to an estimated 2.1 million hospitalizations avoided and over 200,000 lives saved. These estimates, based on 45-day shelter-in-place/stay-at-home orders, were calculated by the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health using a model published by The New York Times.

Are we ready for more reopening? No, says Baptist Health expert. (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- An infectious disease expert with Wake Forest Baptist Health says we'll likely have to wait a while longer to visit hair salons and gyms or dine-in at restaurants, given the state’s continued increase in COVID-19 cases. Thursday, Dr. Christopher Ohl said he does not think North Carolina, and specifically Forsyth County, are ready to transition to Phase 2 of reopening — which would allow limited opening of gyms, indoor worship services, restaurants and bars, barbershops, hair salons and other businesses still closed under Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order.

NC hitting benchmarks in slowing coronavirus spread as Cooper mulls move to Phase Two (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday the state’s approach to slowing the coronavirus spread continues to work as he decides whether to relax more social restrictions next week. Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, updated the situation during a news conference on Thursday, with both saying trends continue to move in a positive direction overall.

NED BARNETT: UNC coronavirus expert: It’s not safe to reopen (N.C. McClatchy column) -- Lisa Gralinski calls Durham home, but these days where she really lives is in a sealed lab on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There she is immersed in finding ways to treat the new coronavirus and stop its spread. The assistant professor of epidemiology at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health specializes in how coronaviruses enter and affect the body. She is part of a 15-member team of researchers headed by Dr. Ralph Baric, one of the world’s foremost experts on coronaviruses. Since a sample of the new coronavirus – SARS-CoV-2 – arrived at the lab in early February, Gralinski, 39, has been working seven days a week – most of those days 12 hours long.

NC’s COVID-19 medical shelter will soon go dormant but won’t be dismantled yet (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- As with many hospitals in North Carolina, everyone who enters the former Sandhills Regional Medical Center must first have their temperature taken and answer several questions about their health to screen for coronavirus. What’s different here, though, is that this hospital doesn’t have any patients. The state leased the building and stocked it with beds and other equipment to care for non-COVID-19 patients should hospitals elsewhere become overwhelmed treating people with coronavirus. About 60 doctors, nurses, EMTS and other medical personnel from the N.C. National Guard have manned this medical shelter since April 28. The shelter hasn’t been needed. The surge of contagious coronavirus patients that North Carolina prepared for hasn’t happened, largely because people have stayed home and physically apart, state and hospital officials say. So on Sunday, the medical shelter will go dormant, and the National Guard members will go home. But the state isn’t dismantling the shelter just yet.

Doctors and researchers worry about possible effects of reopening on nursing homes (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina, nursing homes have accounted for less than one-fifth of all COVID-19 cases in the state, but more than half of the state’s deaths. Now, with the state beginning to relax its stay-at-home orders, doctors and researchers warn that reopening too quickly could cause another, even worse spike in lethal cases in nursing homes. Kim Powers, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, said the state needs to move cautiously in reopening and “not be cavalier about this virus,” for the sake of long-term care facilities.

Controversial virus research seen both as groundbreaking, reckless (WRAL-TV reports) -- Years before the world knew what the novel coronavirus was, a local researcher was sending out warning signs.

HAL TARLETON: Money can't fix lost lives, missed milestones (Wilson Times column) -- Congress has appropriated more than $2 trillion to compensate for the loss of jobs and income caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lawsuit filed to block N.C. governor orders on churches (WRAL-TV reports) -- Conservative Christian leaders sued Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday, asking a court to throw out his restrictions on indoor religious services in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic. They argued the limits, initiated by Cooper with health in mind, violate their rights to worship freely.

Senate leader calls for restaurants, salons to reopen (WRAL-TV reports) -- Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger called on Gov. Roy Cooper to grant counties local flexibility to reopen hair salons and barbershops, and to allow restaurants to provide dine in service at reduced capacity.

NC Senate bill would allow state’s college athletes to benefit from name, image and likeness (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- A bill introduced Thursday in the N.C. Senate would allow the state’s college athletes to financially benefit from their name, image and likeness while in school, and be able to hire an agent beginning in 2023. The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Wiley Nickel (D-Wake) and Sen. Paul A. Lowe (D-Forsyth), also would create a study commission on student-athlete compensation and a “fair and equitable system” of compensation.

Legislative buildings reopen to public next week (AP reports) -- The public can return to North Carolina's legislative complex to watch the General Assembly conduct business when it reconvenes its annual session after a two-week break, but health precautions will continue.

Berger: Expect Legislative Building to open, more COVID funding to wait (WRAL-TV reports) -- The General Assembly comes back into session next week as Republicans tick up pressure on Gov. Roy Cooper to reopen.

Plenty Obstacles On Path to State Budget (Coastal Review reports) -- Uncertainty over federal coronavirus relief and the state’s financial challenges loom large as the legislature resumes its 2020 short session next week with plans to take up another round of pandemic response measures.

Asymptomatic spread (The Insider reports) -- COVID-19 frustrates health officials because the virus can spread from patients who are asymptomatic, said Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Cohen told a group of lawmakers Thursday that it has been one of the hardest things for her to grasp. “Some people can be completely fine, and transmitting the virus,” Cohen said. “That’s what can be so hard.”

House group looks at school nutrition, broadband, and reopening schools amid COVID-19 (EdNC reports) -- The education working group of the House Select Committee on COVID-19 met today to look at issues surrounding child nutrition, internet connectivity, and concerns over reopening schools in the fall. The meeting comes just prior to lawmakers returning to Raleigh on Monday, May 18 for a continuation of the 2020 short session of the General Assembly.

Democrats file bill to place $3.9B bond referendum on November ballot (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- Several Democratic lawmakers filed a bill Thursday that would place a $3.9 billion bond for schools, colleges and universities, and water and sewer infrastructure  on the November ballot.

Will the FBI probe into his NC colleague affect Sen. Thom Tillis’s re-election? (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- FBI seizure of Richard Burr’s phone comes months before Tillis’s reelection effort.

Trump’s Ad Team Blitzes Biden, Spending Millions to Define Him Early in the Race (New York Times reports) -- President Trump’s campaign has launched a long-promised barrage of attack ads in N.C. and other key states against Joseph R. Biden Jr., focusing on his age and his past comments on China. The ads focusing on Mr. Biden’s age are running only on Facebook, and are running largely in eight battleground states, according to data from the platform: Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. The Trump campaign has spent $660,000 on Facebook ads over the past week.

DPS rolls out plan to test NC prison staff (WRAL-TV reports) -- The state rolled out a plan to test thousands of workers at N.C. prisons for coronavirus. But advocates for workers call it "too little, too late."

Prison workers get free testing; gear going to nursing homes (AP reports) -- North Carolina government is offering widespread testing or protective equipment to workers in two of the more vulnerable living settings for COVID-19 outbreaks.

NC officials set up a free COVID-19 testing plan for state prison system employees (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- Starting Monday, North Carolina prison, probation and juvenile justice employees can go to a chain of urgent care centers for free COVID-19 tests, the state Department of Public Safety said. The department announced Thursday an initiative struck with the State Health Plan, the Department of Health and Human Services, FastMed Urgent Care Centers and LabCorp, which will be processing the tests. The department has more than 21,000 employees who are eligible for the testing.

What Women Dying In Prison From COVID-19 Tell Us About Female Incarceration (MARSHALL PROJECT) -- Women are the less visible victims of COVID-19 behind bars—as they are so often overlooked in a criminal justice system that was not designed for them. Though only a small number have died—at least 13 reported as of Wednesday—their stories illuminate the unique problems women face in prison. They also reflect the all-too-common ways they get there in the first place: drug addiction and violence involving the men in their lives. … A violent crime also led to prison for Faye Brown, who died of COVID-19 on May 6 while locked up in North Carolina. Brown, who had been in prison for more than four decades, was by all accounts a model prisoner. While serving time, she once worked in a homeless shelter and then in a popular "meat-and-three" diner. Since 2005, she had worked full-time at a cosmetology school. She took home leave most weekends, staying with a niece in Raleigh or with her mother 100 miles away.But she had a politically unmovable barrier to being released permanently: her involvement in a botched 1975 bank robbery that ended in the murder of a state trooper—a crime that even became a political flashpoint a decade ago.

COVID-19 in prisons (Greensboro News & Record) -- Releasing more prisoners is smart because prisons were short-staffed before the pandemic. Now, with staff members being infected, things are worse. Reducing the numbers also would make it a little easier to provide some distancing and precautions for those still incarcerated. Our justice system is supposed to protect citizens and to see that those who break the law pay their debt to society in an appropriate way. None of the prisoners who would be considered for early release face the death penalty. But if kept in a prison where the coronavirus is rampant, that might be what they get.

NC demonstrators wielded guns and terrorized a family. Where were the police? (N.C. McClatchy editorial) -- We hope that as police continue to confront COVID-19 protests throughout North Carolina, they’ll find a better balance of enforcing laws and protecting bystanders while acknowledging protesters’ rights to speech and assembly. That balance can be tricky.

Durham trying to help homeless, low-income residents get their federal stimulus money (WRAL-TV reports) -- Many people are still waiting for their federal stimulus money, including some who didn't know the IRS needs more information from them before issuing a check. In Durham, city leaders are working to help residents get their money.

Amazon to bring distribution center to North Carolina (AP reports) -- Retail and distribution giant Amazon is bringing a distribution center to North Carolina, where it will create 200 jobs.

Menorah vandalized in Elon (Burlington Times-News reports) -- ​​​​​​​Elon police are investigating an act of vandalism as a hate crime. A menorah in the front yard of the Chabad Center on Truitt Drive was knocked over about 10:16 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, police said. Surveillance video shows the vandal stopped in a vehicle, getting our and knocking over the menorah, police said.

I don't feel safe going back to work. Can I still collect unemployment in North Carolina? (Asheville Citizen-Times:  As Phase I of Gov. Roy Cooper's plan to gradually relax COVID-19 restrictions allows more businesses to operate, more North Carolinians have gotten the call that it's time to go back to work. But what about workers whose health conditions put them at higher risk from COVID-19? And people who can't work without child care?  And more baffling still, what about the people who receive more from unemployment benefits than their full-time job?

Richard Burr Steps Back From Senate Panel as Phone Is Seized in Stock Sales Inquiry (New York Times reports) -- The move is a major escalation in the investigation into the senator’s sale of stocks that came as President Trump and other Republicans were playing down the threat of the coronavirus.

Sen. Burr to Step Aside as Intelligence Panel Chairman While Facing Stock-Trade Probe (Wall Street Journal reports) -- Sen. Richard Burr will temporarily step down as the chairman of the high-profile Senate Intelligence Committee after FBI agents seized his cellphone in their investigation of stock trades he made shortly before the coronavirus roiled markets.

Burr stepping aside as Intelligence Committee chair amid FBI investigation of senators’ stock sales (Washington Post reports) -- A burgeoning insider trading investigation scrutinizing members of the U.S. Senate led the chairman of its Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, to step down Thursday after FBI agents seized his cellphone, seeking evidence related to stock sales he made before the coronavirus pandemic crashed global markets.

Just how much trouble could Sen. Burr be in for his coronavirus stock trades? (Washington Post analysis) -- So how much trouble could Sen. Richard Burr be in, both legally and politically? Let’s explore. It’s significant that FBI agents got a search warrant for his phone: That means that agents were able to go to a neutral judge and say they had probable cause that this phone could provide evidence of insider trading. And the judge agreed.

Burr to leave top Senate Intelligence post amid probe of stock sales (WRAL-TV reports) -- U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is stepping down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee as a federal probe of his financial activities in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic heats up.

Burr stepping down as chair of intelligence committee amid FBI investigation (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- U.S. Sen. Richard Burr said Thursday he is temporarily stepping down from his post as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee amid an ongoing federal probe of stock sales he made shortly before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. “It’s a distraction to a committee that’s extremely important to the safety and security of the American people and a distraction to the members of that committee being asked questions about me, so I tried to eliminate that,” Burr said.

Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ (AP reports) --  A Republican senator with access to some of the nation's top secrets became further entangled in a deepening FBI investigation as agents examining a well-timed sale of stocks during the coronavirus outbreak showed up at his home with a warrant to search his cellphone. Hours later, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina stepped aside Thursday as chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, calling it the “best thing to do." Burr has denied wrongdoing.

Civil rights group declares victory in ‘Silent Sam’ case (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law declared victory in a Silent Sam case today after an Orange County Superior Court dismissed the controversial lawsuit between the group known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the University of North Carolina over the “Silent Sam” statue. In a news release, the committee announced it has withdrawn its appeal of the court’s denial of a motion to intervene, filed on behalf of six students and a faculty member at the UNC-Chapel Hill.

Big changes for higher ed (Triangle Business Journal reports) -- For Raleigh and Durham, the health of its economy is driven by its flourishing universities, and any threat to the vibrancy of those campuses, both large and small, is a concern.

FERREL GUILLORY: Looking to federal fiscal power to avoid ‘great harm’ to a generation of students​​​​​​​ (EdNC column) -- The interconnected public health and economic crises have locked North Carolina in a box within a box. Think of the larger outer box as the national arena of pandemic responses. Think of the smaller inner box as the terrain of state-local responsibilities. Across the states, federal funding represents a relatively modest 5% to 15% of spending on K-12 schools. In North Carolina, the federal share is about 11%. Still, only the federal government has the resources and fiscal tools to bolster the coronavirus-endangered budgets of state and local governments upon which public education depends.

Alternate days for students? Screening for sickness? How NC schools could look in fall. (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- A task force gave lawmakers options being considered for reopening North Carolina’s public schools.

State Cuts Grow Deep (Inside Higher Ed reports) -- Seemingly daily lately, officials in states around the country have announced the need to make major cuts that could hit colleges and universities. 

MELBA NEWSOME: The Choice: Homeless or Housebound? (N.C. Health News reports) -- Domestic violence shelters operate by different rules during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wilkes Tyson Plant Closes Again, Struggles To Balance Operations And Worker Safety (WFDD-FM reports) -- The Tyson Foods Plant in Wilkes County is closing temporarily. This is the second time in a week the facility has shut its doors after an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. The company says it’s halting operations due to worker absences and to do more deep cleaning. This comes as meat processing plants across North Carolina are becoming coronavirus hotspots.

‘We are heartbroken.’ Fort Bragg mourns the loss of Medal of Honor recipient (N.C. McClatchy reports) -- After a yearslong battle against lung cancer, Medal of Honor recipient and former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II has died, the Secret Service announced Thursday. He was 41. Shurer joined the military in the wake of 9/11, when he felt called to serve, according to a U.S. Army biography. The Army Special Forces medic began his military career at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before seeking out his green beret.

Exotic pet surrenders surge at Durham animal rescue facility (WRAL-TV reports) -- Some exotic pets have lost their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. A Durham rescue has seen a surge of surrenders coming into its shelter.

Wake County man wins $250,000 on scratch-off ticket (WRAL-TV reports) -- Donzell Williamson Jr. of Willow Spring tried his luck on a 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket and walked away the winner of a $250,000 top prize.