August 30, 2020

Covid-19 Update, Community Testing Events

NCDHHS

NC.GOV COVID-19 Testing

https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/about-covid-19/testing/find-my-testing-place/pop-testing-sites

Resources, information and assistance from across state

Community Testing Events

Community testing events can last from one to several days. The table below lists events across the state. Many of these events provide tests at no cost.
Anyone interested in getting tested should contact the test site before they go to confirm testing criteria, availability, hours and registration.

Your personal information is private and strictly confidential. Some locations may ask for identification, but it is not required at all testing places.

Some locations offer testing at NO COST.

For more information, contact your local testing place before arriving.

(Su información personal es privada y estrictamente confidencial. Algunos lugares que hacen la prueba pueden solicitar identificación, pero no es obligatoria en todos los sitios. Algunos lugares ofrecen la prueba SIN COSTO. Comuníquese con el punto de prueba de su localidad antes de presentarse.)

How to see if there is a community testing event near you:

● Sort the table by County, City, Date, No-Cost Testing, or any column by clicking on the arrows in the top row.

● Use the Search box right above the table.

You can enter your ZIP Code, city or other information to search the list.

The content below (at the link) can be translated by clicking on the Google Translate dropdown menu at the top right of the page for those using Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers.

Organizations planning a single or multi-day community testing event should submit this information using this form instead.

Click the link for the drop down county by county menu for test events.

https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/about-covid-19/testing/find-my-testing-place/pop-testing-sites

❤lmsp

August 30, 2020

Today's Women's March in Belarus

Cross post from GD for Niyad, Hattip to soothsayer.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213994285



Hanna Liubakova
·
Aug 29, 2020
#Belarus How powerful these women are. They are chanting: “This is our city” while holding banners “Fight like a girl” and “Belarussy Riot". The mood has changed. These are peaceful protesters, but they are becoming more defiant, consolidated, more ready to send stronger messages


Hanna Liubakova
@HannaLiubakova
That’s how female protesters greeted one of the most courageous women in #Belarus,Nina Bahinskaya,at the march. Thousands of women are rallying now in the city centre of #Minsk. A @dw_russian journalist Pauluk Bykouski has been
detained a moment ago and taken to a police
station

Hanna Liubakova
@HannaLiubakova
Powerful. The fearless women of #Belarus are chanting "You are someone's children" and "Where is your mom?" in front of riot police officers who blocked them

#Belarus. One of the most powerful moments of today's Women's March. Riot police are trying to stop and block women, they are chanting, "We are the power!" And look at how a man approached an officer, and the women immediately came to them and hugged the man to protect him

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1299707872775991296

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1299712530756009992

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1299719476926181377

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1299722183724457984

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1299749167150006272

Link to Hannah's Twitter account:

Check out Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova): https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova

❤lmsp

August 28, 2020

NPR Fact Check: Trump's Address To The Republican Convention, Annotated

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/27/901381398/fact-check-trumps-address-to-the-republican-convention-annotated

Fact Check: Trump's Address To The Republican Convention, Annotated

August 27, 20209:30 PM ET

President Trump is accepting the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, the final day of the Republican National Convention.

Throughout the week, RNC speakers have argued that Trump would restore "law and order" and make America a safer country than his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Republicans have focused more on what they call a bleak future under Democrats rather than on the record of Trump's actions over the last four years.

Trump's address comes a week after Joe Biden promised to lead the country out of a "season of darkness." (Read our annotation of Biden's speech here.)

Trump, who is speaking at the end of tonight's program, is expected to talk about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as the threat of Hurricane Laura and unrest in Kenosha, Wis., where the shooting of Jacob Blake by police led to protests, followed by another shooting by a civilian.

NPR reporters are providing fact checks and analysis of Trump's remarks live. Watch a livestream of the convention and read the annotations below.

❤ lmsp

August 26, 2020

Covid-19 Update, Important Budget Update

People need a safe, stable place to call home, especially during this pandemic. Today, Gov. Cooper announced that the state is directing $175 million in programs that will help North Carolinians pay their bills and avoid eviction.

https://governor.nc.gov/news/governor-cooper-announces-175-million-assist-rental-utility-payments-north-carolinians

Facebook Video here:
https://www.facebook.com/NCgovernor/videos/634251480566308/

***Important Update Follows ***

Budget Recommendations have been updated.

Budget PDF Download (24 pages) available at the link. ***

WEDNESDAY, AUG 26, 2020 3:18 PM

Governor Roy Cooper today shared a recommended budget,

***Support for a Determined North Carolina**

which outlines how to use the state’s remaining federal coronavirus funding and make responsible investments in the state’s future.

"Today I am sharing a recommended budget that offers Support for a Determined North Carolina," said Governor Cooper. "The budget I propose takes on the challenges of today while building for the promise of tomorrow. We have to rise to the occasion of this pandemic response now and focus on ways to emerge from this crisis stronger than before."

North Carolina has more than $900 million left in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds from the federal CARES Act. Governor Cooper’s budget lays out a plan to use this money to continue the state’s response to COVID-19.

$175 million for critical public health services including: $25 million for testing and tracing; $50 million to target rural and historically marginalized populations; and $40 million for early childhood services

$49 million to build a state strategic stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE)
$132 million to help K-12 public schools to protect students, teachers and staff and ensure students most impacted by COVID-19 receive support
$200 million in aid for local governments
$50 million to establish an emergency grant program to expand high-speed internet access
$27.5 million to combine with other funds to create a $50 million relief program to support NC businesses with rent, mortgage and utility relief
$18 million to combine with other funds to create a $33 million grant program for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) that have been left out of other support programs
$25 million to provide equipment for health care and first responder workforce programs at community colleges to continue the state’s pipeline of necessary, qualified workers
$25 million to research obstacles to reliable, rapid COVID-19 testing
$50 million in direct aid to food banks, emergency feeding organizations, and community organizations for food and nutrition assistance
The Governor’s budget also proposes a responsible investment of North Carolina’s state dollars to ensure the state has a stable foundation to succeed in the long-term and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger.

A one-time $2,000 bonus to K-12 public school teachers, instructional support personnel, principals and assistant principals
A one-time $1,000 bonus to K-12 non-certified public school personnel
A one-time $1,500 bonus to UNC System and NC Community College System personnel
$50 million to support the highest needs students, schools, and districts and early childhood education as a part of the state’s commitment to providing a sound basic education to all students
$86.5 million to provide state matching funds for FEMA Recovery programs from Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Dorian and Isaias, and to assist with recovery in Alleghany County after the August 9 earthquake

Supporting North Carolinians Out of Work

Governor Cooper’s budget also proposes a responsible expansion of the state’s unemployment benefits program, which is currently among the stingiest in the nation. North Carolina provides among the lowest maximum benefits and is dead last in number of benefit weeks. Cooper’s proposal would increase the duration of available benefits from 12 weeks to 24 weeks and increase the maximum weekly benefit to $500. The budget would suspend any formula-driven unemployment insurance tax increases through 2022.

This proposal would keep the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Balance above $2 billion. There is currently $3.05 billion in the fund.

“This pandemic has put many North Carolinians out of work through no fault of their own, and we can do more to support them and also support our local economies,” said Governor Cooper.

Closing the Health Care Coverage Gap

Governor Cooper’s budget recommends expanding Medicaid to cover 600,000 more North Carolinians who are currently in a health care coverage gap. Expansion is 90% funded by the federal government with the remaining cost paid by health care providers and insurance companies, leaving the state with no additional cost.

“Medicaid expansion is perhaps the most important decision we can make right now to save lives, protect people’s health, boost our economy with billions of federal dollars, and save our rural hospitals, and it won’t cost the state anything,” said Governor Cooper. “North Carolina is one of only 12 states that still hasn’t expanded Medicaid – even Indiana did so when Vice President Mike Pence was their governor. As people find themselves suddenly without a job, underemployed, without the health care they counted on, we have a solution.”

Investing in Critical Infrastructure

Through the use of bonds, North Carolina can take advantage of historically low interest rates to improve the state’s health care infrastructure and response to COVID-19 as well as make other critical investments in schools, water and sewer systems and affordable housing.

The Governor proposes a $988 million health care infrastructure limited obligation bond to support health facilities, public health labs, vaccine development and more. In addition, his budget recommends placing a $4.3 billion infrastructure general obligation bond on the November 2021 ballot that would invest:

$2 billion in school construction
$800 million for water and sewer infrastructure
$500 million for UNC System facilities
$500 million for the Community College system
$500 million for affordable housing
Each $1 million in investment sustains or creates up to 13 direct jobs and 28 indirect jobs, helping support the economy as it recovers.

In April, the Governor directed the Office of State Budget and Management to issue directions to state agencies and universities to reduce expenditures, including not filling vacant positions, freezing salary adjustments, limiting purchases and limiting travel.

The Governor’s budget proposal finds additional savings by taking unused money from the private school voucher program. Any student currently receiving a voucher would continue to do so, but new students would not be added to the program.

https://governor.nc.gov/news/governor-cooper-proposes-budget-continue-fighting-covid-19-while-investing-nc%E2%80%99s-future

###

❤lmsp

August 26, 2020

We're $2,095 away from our One Million Dollar goal!

Donate, please. Let's close the gap.

Thanks to Omaha Steve for everything he does to support the cause!

❤ lmsp


https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duforjoe

August 24, 2020

The six political states of North Carolina

The six political states of North Carolina
Story by David Weigel Map by Lauren Tierney
Aug. 23, 2020

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/north-carolina-political-geography/

For a long time, Republicans who ran for president didn’t have to worry about North Carolina, even when Democrats did well down ballot. Democrats have held the governor’s office here for all but four years this century, and since the 1970s, no Senate race here has been won with more than 55 percent of the vote. And until 2010, Democrats controlled the legislature, drew the state’s maps and kept conservatives locked out of power.

That changed with the 2010 tea party wave, and since 2016 the state has been gripped by partisan warfare between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and a Republican legislature that has limited his power to defy them. In the past 10 years, Republicans drew maps and passed voting laws that repeatedly have been struck down as unfair, with one map judged to have targeted Black voters “with surgical precision.” North Carolina has become a microcosm of America: Cities and suburbs have grown bluer, White rural areas have grown redder, and, when one party wins, it makes the place inhospitable for the other one.

Yet presidential races here have gotten competitive ever since 2008, when Barack Obama became the first Democratic candidate in 32 years to win it. Obama didn’t need North Carolina to carry the electoral college, and he lost the state in 2012, but it has become a place Republicans need to compete for.

Three in 10 of all voters in 2016 were non-White, according to exit polls, and they backed Hillary Clinton by 61 points. White voters backed Trump by 31 points, but that was a smaller margin than Republicans got out of the White electorate in Georgia (54 points) or Texas (43 points). One reason: Most of North Carolina’s White voters hold college degrees, and that demographic, once solidly Republican, began to move in 2016.

More at the link.

❤ lmsp

August 24, 2020

A generous offer to help you with school supplies from Chrissy Teigen!!

If you are a teacher in need of supplies for the upcoming school year, please drop your amazon wishlist here, I will do as many as I can!

https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/1297634920144056320

Additional information:

hi again, it helps soooo much if you guys add your address to the registry. only 1 so far has already done this and it makes it so much easier for me! please do it if you can, I really wanna help you!

https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/1297641847200743424

Follow the tweet to post your request for supplies.

❤lmsp

August 21, 2020

N.C. State switches to virtual classes amid covid clusters...

N.C. State switches to virtual classes amid covid clusters, adding to the scramble of students moving
By Susan Svrluga
August 20 at 5:57 PM ET


North Carolina State University will switch all of its undergraduate classes online after clusters of covid-19 cases were found on campus this week, adding to the chaos of students scrambling to find new housing as more colleges shut down.

It was another sign of the challenge facing universities that have tried to hold some classes in person, with residential life — and student behavior — apparently making it more difficult to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Wednesday, N.C. State had announced two new clusters at two sorority houses on campus, with a total of 13 cases. On Thursday, Randy Woodson, the chancellor, announced that there were three clusters of cases at the 36,000-student university and that undergraduate classes would be held online-only, beginning Monday.

“In the last two days alone, we’ve identified three COVID-19 clusters in off-campus and Greek Village houses that can be traced to parties and behavior outside of our community standards and the governor’s mandates,” he wrote in a statement announcing the pivot. "We’re seeing significant infections in Greek life, and at this time there have been another seven Greek houses that have been quarantined due to a number of additional positive cases.”

More at the link.
❤ lmsp

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/20/nc-state-switches-virtual-classes-amid-covid-clusters-adding-scramble-students-moving/

August 18, 2020

NC State reports COVID-19 cluster off-campus, plus new cases among Greek community

NC State reports COVID-19 cluster off-campus, plus new cases among Greek community
BY DREW JACKSON
AUGUST 18, 2020 05:26 PM

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article245058250.html

N.C. State reported its first COVID-19 cluster found in an off-campus house where a party or gathering had been held earlier this month, according to an N.C. State alert.

The cluster came from a house on the 2700 block of Clark Avenue in Raleigh, the school reported. N.C. State said it had confirmed that multiple people in that cluster are university students. The Wake County Human Services Department notified the school of the cases.

A university spokesperson also confirmed eight students within N.C. State’s fraternity and sorority community have tested positive for COVID-19. The students were tested off-campus and self-reported their results to the school.

North Carolina defines a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity.

More at the link.
❤ lmsp

August 17, 2020

UNC-Chapel Hill pivots to remote teaching after coronavirus spreads among students during first week

Source: Washington Post

By Nick Anderson
August 17 at 3:49 PM ET
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the country to bring students to campus for in-person teaching, said Monday it will pivot to all-remote instruction for undergraduates after testing showed a pattern of rapid spread of the novel coronavirus.

Officials announced the abrupt change just a week after classes began at the 30,000-student state flagship university.

They said 177 cases of the dangerous pathogen had been confirmed among students, out of 954 tested. Another 349 students were in quarantine because of possible exposure to the virus, they said.

The remote-teaching order for undergraduate classes will take effect Wednesday, and the university will take steps to allow students to leave campus housing without financial penalty if they wish.

More at the link.

❤ lmsp

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/unc-chapel-hill-coronavirus-cluster/2020/08/17/8ebce060-e0ab-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html