ELECTION 2020-PENCE-NORTH CAROLINA

Mike Pence to visit Raleigh in push for schools to reopen

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence will travel to a private school in Raleigh, North Carolina, to highlight how they’ve worked to resume in-person classes safely in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit comes as President Donald Trump and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos urge states to adopt a default approach to let K-12 students go to classes in the fall entirely in person. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funds from districts that adopt a hybrid model or go entirely online. Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has directed school districts to reopen with a mix of online and in-person instruction or fully remote learning.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-GEORGE FLOYD HOLOGRAM

George Floyd’s family gathers in Virginia to unveil hologram

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The family of George Floyd witnessed the unveiling of a hologram in Virginia Tuesday night, where flickering lights came together to create an image of Floyd’s head and shoulders transposed over the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue. The event in Richmond on historic Monument Avenue was the first public unveiling of the George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project. A press release says the project aims to “transform spaces that were formerly occupied by racist symbols of America’s dark Confederate past into a message of hope, solidarity and forward-thinking change.”

BC-NC-RACIAL INJUSTICE-UNC BUILDING NAMES

UNC removes names of men from 4 buildings, cites racist ties

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is removing names of men from campus buildings who have ties to white supremacy and racism. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday that the campus Board of Trustees voted to remove the names of Charles B. Aycock, Julian S. Carr, Josephus Daniels and Thomas Ruffin Sr. The university’s Commission on History, Race & A Way Forward said the men used their power to disenfranchise Black people. The men include a former governor as well as a man who helped finance the state’s Democratic Party in the late 1800s. Another is a former publisher of the News & Observer. The fourth is a former state Supreme Court chief justice.

AP-NC-BUNCOMBE COUNTY-MISCONDUCT AGREEMENT

County law enforcement leaders to sign memo on misconduct

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The leaders of seven law enforcement agencies in western North Carolina’s Buncombe County are expected to sign an agreement on reporting officer misconduct. The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that the agency heads will sign a memorandum of understanding on Thursday at the Buncombe County Court House. The agreement will be with District Attorney Todd Williams. It will focus on standardizing the reporting and investigation process for officer misconduct. He said he would share more information at the signing. The agreement will follow in the wake of protests that erupted across the county over the death of George Floyd, a Black man whose neck was pinned under an officer’s knee in Minneapolis.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-ROXBORO CURFEW

North Carolina city enacts curfew, state of emergency

ROXBORO, N.C. (AP) — A city in North Carolina has declared a state of emergency after a police officer fatally shot a Black man, resulting in recent demonstrations. The city of Roxboro ordered a curfew for parts of the city from 5 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. The curfew is also set to occur from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday before it will then be rescinded. There have been demonstrations in Roxboro since Friday, the day 45-year-old David Brooks Jr. was fatally shot by officers. Investigators say they found a loaded sawed-off shotgun at the scene. They haven’t said whether Brooks was carrying the weapon.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Cooper: Alcohol sales at N.C. restaurants ending earlier

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says he’s curbing alcohol sales hours at restaurants starting later this week in another effort to stem COVID-19. Cooper announced on Tuesday that starting Friday the eateries, distilleries and breweries will have to cut off sales at 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Health officials says they’re concerned more young people are contracting the virus and want to discourage late-night gatherings where social distancing isn’t happening. The order doesn’t apply to grocery or convenience stores, and bars remain closed. The state reported a record number of virus-related hospitalizations on Tuesday, but the health secretary some case trends are stabilizing.

ELECTION 2020-MAIL VOTING-GOP

Here’s how Trump’s opposition to mail voting hurts the GOP

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s campaign against voting by mail is setting his party back in the race to sign its voters up for the easiest and safest way to cast a ballot during the pandemic. Republican strategists have worried privately for months that the president’s baseless claims of widespread mail voting fraud would put them at a disadvantage in November. Now that seems to be coming true. Republicans have traditionally dominated in mail voting in Florida. But now Democrats have leapt ahead in the race requesting mail ballots. The situation is similar is several other swing states.

AP-US-PROFESSOR-SOCIAL-MEDIA

Authorities: Professor died by suicide after backlash

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — The death of a North Carolina professor who recently announced his retirement amid backlash for comments he made on social media has been ruled a suicide. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said an investigation showed University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor Mike Adams had killed himself with a single gunshot wound to the head. Officials say his body was found last Thursday by deputies doing a welfare check at his home after he wasn’t seen or heard from in several days. The latest controversy involving Adams happened in late May when he called the state’s governor “Massa Cooper” on Twitter. An online petition and some celebrities had called for his firing.

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