VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Cooper to announce “next phase” in virus restrictions for NC

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is ready to make changes to his orders prohibiting certain retailers from opening their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooper plans to hold a Tuesday news conference to share information about “the next phase of easing restrictions” to begin later this week. Current restrictions keep bars, movie theaters and amusement parks shuttered until Sept. 11. Gyms also have been closed since March, although some are reopening using a medical exception. Cooper announced on Monday his order requiring restaurants to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. has been extended until Oct. 2.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA UNIVERSITIES

Since reopening, 3K N.C. college students got coronavirus

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — At least 3,000 college students across North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus since schools reopened in early August. Roughly four in five cases across the state have come from UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and East Carolina University. The spike in coronavirus cases prompted the three campuses to halt undergraduate in-person classes and move students out of their dorms as classes go fully online. Dozens of private and public colleges in the state have wildly different standards for reporting coronavirus information and the state public health department cannot force the universities to turn over much of their data.

SESSION RECONVENES

Payments to parents in NC Republicans’ virus relief package

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina legislature will reconvene briefly starting Wednesday to propose spending leftover federal COVID-19 relief funds to reach the pockets of parents, the unemployed and poll workers. House and Senate Republicans have agreed on a package they want to send to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper this week to spend a little over $1 billion in coronavirus relief from Congress. The package would include sending $325 payments to households with children to help parents with child care and education. Cooper didn’t have such payments in his relief proposal. He’ll have to decide whether to sign the General Assembly’s final package or veto it.

BC-NC-PRISONS-TASERS

Supervisors in North Carolina prisons are getting Tasers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Supervisors at North Carolina’s maximum security prisons are being armed with Tasers to break up fights. The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday that the devices have been given to hundreds of supervisors at seven maximum-security prisons and will be issued to those in five more. Tasers are designed to immobilize attackers with high-voltage shocks. Critics worry that stun guns could be fatal for inmates with heart problems. State Department of Public Safety spokesman John Bull said that Tasers “provide safety and security in the close custody prisons.” But North Carolina CURE, a group that advocates for inmates, questioned whether officers would know which inmates had heart conditions that could make them vulnerable to death or injury.

MISSING CHILDREN-FLOODWATERS

2 children missing after car is swept away in North Carolina

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina are searching for two children who were in a car that was swept away by floodwaters early Tuesday. Officials say a woman called 911 around 1 a.m. and reported that her car had been swept off the road and into a creek near Smithfield with her and her kids inside. Fire Chief John Blanton says the woman was rescued, but her children, ages  4 and 5 remain missing. He added that four rescue boats overturned during the efforts and crews had to be saved.

CYBERSTALKING ARREST

‘Antifa hunter’ gets 3 years for online racist threats

A Florida man who waged an online campaign to terrorize and harass people who opposed his white supremacist ideology has been sentenced to more than three years in prison. A federal judge in Virginia sentenced Daniel McMahon on Monday. McMahon pleaded guilty in April to using social media to threaten a Black activist to deter the man from running for office in Charlottesville, Virginia. McMahon also admitted that he threatened to sexually assault the young autistic daughter of a woman who protested against white nationalists.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Cooper extends early cutoff for restaurant alcohol sales

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s governor is extending an executive order that limits the hours that restaurants can serve alcohol to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday that he’s extending his order that requires restaurants to stop serving alcoholic beverages at 11 p.m. until Oct. 2. State law usually allows sales until 2 a.m. The order originally went into effect in July. The order doesn’t apply to grocery stores, convenience stores and other retailers that sell beer and wine for consumption off premises. Bars remain closed under Cooper’s executive orders. Cooper said that the state has been stabilizing COVID-19 numbers but that it’s important to stay vigilant.

BC-NC-EARTHQUAKE-SBA LOANS

SBA offers loans to homeowners, businesses hit by earthquake

SPARTA, N.C. (AP) — The federal government will begin offering low-interest loans to homeowners and small business owners who were impacted by North Carolina’s earthquake. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin offering the loans on Monday. More than 500 structures were reported to be damaged by the 5.1-magnitude earthquake on Aug. 9 near the town of Sparta in the northwestern part of North Carolina. The loans will be available in Alleghany, Ashe, Surry and Wilkes counties as well as Grayson County in Virginia.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.