Trump threatens to move RNC without assurances from governor
President Donald Trump is threatening to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina if the state’s Democratic governor doesn’t immediately sign off on allowing a full-capacity gathering in August despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s tweets Monday about the RNC planned for Charlotte come just two days after the state recorded its largest daily increase in positive cases yet. Gov. Roy Cooper’s office responded with a brief statement that state officials are working with the GOP on convention decisions. Cooper allowed the state to enter a second phase of gradual reopening Friday with some further loosening of restrictions on hair salons, barbers and restaurants.
AP-ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-CONVENTION
Georgia gov offers state as GOP convention host amid virus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is demanding assurances from North Carolina’s Democratic governor that the Republican National Convention can go forward in August despite coronavirus fears. This comes as at least one GOP governor began lobbying for the convention to move to his state. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sent an open plea to Trump Tuesday to consider his state as an alternate site for the quadrennial convention, which is set to gather more than 2,500 delegates and thousands more guests, press and security officials. Plans have been underway for more than a year to host the convention in Charlotte, but Trump and national Republican officials have expressed concerns that local officials may not allow gatherings of that size amid the pandemic.
AP-NC-HAND SANITIZER STATIONS
North Carolina town installs sanitizer stations on sidewalks
SOUTHPORT, N.C. (AP) — A coastal town in North Carolina has installed hand sanitizer stations on sidewalks in its downtown. The Charlotte Observer reports that that the town of Southport announced the move on Saturday as crowds traveled to the North Carolina coast for Memorial Day weekend. Health experts have long recommended that people sanitize their hands to avoid contracting the coronavirus.
WILD HORSE EUTHANIZED
North Carolina wild horse euthanized after snake bite
COROLLA, N.C. (AP) — The Corolla Wild Horse Fund says a horse belonging to a herd on North Carolina’s Outer Banks died over the weekend following complications from a venomous snake bite. The organization announced Monday that the young horse named Valor was euthanized Saturday after veterinarians determined her wounds were too critical. Officials say the bite was found on one of the horse’s front legs May 17 and had become infected. Caretakers discovered the wounded mare after a caller reported the horse had been standing in the same spot for a day. The group says the horse was born on Memorial Day in 2018 and was just two days away from her second birthday.
AP-NC-TURTLE KILLED
Nesting loggerhead turtle found dead, investigation underway
MANTEO, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says it is investigating after a nesting loggerhead sea turtle was found dead on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach, with signs that the creature was run over by a vehicle. The female turtle came onto the beach early Monday morning and had begun to lay eggs in a nest in the sand, according to a news release from the federal park. That’s when it is believed a motor vehicle struck the the turtle. Intact eggs thought to be viable were discovered nearby, the park said. Loggerheads are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
CYBERSTALKING SENTENCE
North Carolina man sentenced to prison for cyberstalking
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after sending hundreds of harassing messages to a woman in Maryland. The Charlotte-based federal prosecutor’s office said in a news release that 57-year-old Charles Timothy Browne of Statesville, was sentenced Thursday to 43 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to cyberstalking. Prosecutors say that Browne sent the woman approximately 730 harassing or intimidating text messages in December 2017 and January 2018. Authorities say that the text messages caused the woman substantial emotional distress and caused her to fear for her life.
POLICE SHOOTING-CHURCH SERVICE
Sheriff: Deputy shot armed man who disrupted church service
WAXHAW, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a man who was armed with a knife when deputies responded to a complaint that he had disrupted an outdoor church service in North Carolina on Sunday. A spokesman for the Union County Sheriff’s Office said investigators were trying to determine why the man interrupted the service outside Oak Grove Baptist Church in Waxhaw, North Carolina. The man’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening. Deputy Tony Underwood said the man lives across the road from the church and, from a driveway about 200 yards from the outdoor service, had been shouting obscenities at congregation members on Sunday and on previous occasions.
AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-DIARY-ALTERED-MEMORIAL-DAY
VIRUS DIARY: A Memorial Day visit, altered but not stopped
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Almost every year since 2010, writer Gary Fields has visited the grave of Lance Corporal Kevin Adam Lucas, a U.S. Marine. It’s a story that is etched in his memory. Lucas was 20 when he died in 2006 on a mission in Iraq’s Anbar province. He’d taken the place of a man whose child was about to be born. Fields met Lucas’ family doing a story and began to visit his grave at Arlington National Cemetery. He’d take Dr. Pepper, Lucas’ favorite, and pour it on his grave. But not this year. Because of the pandemic, this year Fields can’t go. But he’ll be having that Dr. Pepper at home.
