North Carolina News – October 27

ELECTION 2020-PENCE-NORTH CAROLINA

Mike Pence making 2 more campaign stops in North Carolina

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is making his second and third campaign stops in North Carolina in three days for President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. Pence is scheduled to hold rallies at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro at midday Tuesday and at the Wilmington airport in the evening. He’ll be in Greenville, South Carolina, for an event in between. Pence remains on the campaign trail after his chief of staff and other close contacts tested positive for COVID-19. Pence tested negative and decided to keep traveling after consulting White House medical personnel. That included a campaign stop in Kinston on Sunday.

AP-NC-NAIL TRAP

Man injured by ‘nail trap’ in the North Carolina wilderness

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A man who was walking his dog has suffered deep puncture wounds to his heel after stepping on a so-called “nail trap” in the North Carolina wilderness. The Asheville Citizen Times reports that the incident occurred Sunday in western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. The trap was buried in a rut and covered with leaves. It was made of plywood and 2-inch nails with the points facing up. The words “PETA paybak” were written on the trap and possibly referred to the group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The group is based more than 400 miles away in Virginia. PETA denies any involvement and is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

DOCTOR-SURGERY-LAWSUIT

Suit claiming doctor ruined pregnancy chances dismissed

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accuses a doctor of secretly inserting a device into a woman during surgery that she claims stopped her from getting pregnant. Winston-Salem Journal reports the decision against Kimberly Bryant’s lawsuit was issued Friday by Forsyth County Judge Eric Morgan. Bryant had filed the lawsuit against multiple parties including the doctor, Mehmet Tamer Yalcinkaya and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for the incident in 2007. Her lawsuit says she found out about the device in 2017, and needed to have emergency surgery. Yalcinkaya said he told both Bryant and her husband about the device and mentioned it in the post-operation notes.

AP-NC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina to get nearly 3.2M BinaxNOW virus tests

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it’s sending nearly 3.2 million rapid coronavirus tests to North Carolina. The Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 point of care antigen tests can diagnose coronavirus infection in as little as fifteen minutes. The department said Monday the tests will be distributed at the discretion of Gov. Roy Cooper to support testing K-12 students, teachers, nursing home patients and staff, higher education, critical infrastructure, first responders, and other priorities. As of Oct. 26, more than 1.3 million BinaxNOW tests have been shipped to North Carolina.

AP-NC-STUDENTS RETURN-WAKE COUNTY

Wake County elementary students return for in-person classes

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Wake County elementary students have returned to school for in-person classes for the first time since March 13. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the county’s 160,000 students have been taking online classes only since March due to the coronavirus. On Monday school officials estimated that about 8,000 elementary students returned for in-person instruction as part of a plan to gradually bring more children back to school. The county is phasing in the return of students. Many elementary schools only had around 50 students on campus Monday. That number will rise over the next three weeks.

ELECTION 2020-EARLY VOTE

Early vote total exceeds 2016; GOP chips at Dems’ advantage

The number of people casting an early ballot in the presidential election now surpasses those who voted early during all of 2016. That’s more than 58 million people voting with eight days to go before Election Day. Democrats have been dominating early voting, but Republicans are slowly narrowing the gap. That’s because in-person early voting has kicked off in a number of states and President Donald Trump has convinced many of his supporters they should not vote with mail ballots. One out of every 4 of the voters is either new or infrequent, a sign of a potential record-setting turnout.

PLANE-CRASH-ALABAMA

Servicewomen killed in Alabama plane crash identified

FOLEY, Ala. (AP) — Authorities have identified the two service members who were killed when their plane crashed in a residential Alabama neighborhood. U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett and U.S. Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross were on a routine training flight Friday out of Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida when their plane crashed in Foley, Alabama. The T-6B Texan II aircraft crashed around 5 p.m. Friday. No one was injured on the ground. Garrett was a student aviator for the Coast Guard. She was identified by the superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Ross was later identified by the Navy.

AP-NC-SCHOOL VIRUS CLUSTERS

Private schools are reporting more coronavirus clusters

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Private schools in North Carolina have reported having more coronavirus clusters than public schools have. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Monday that there were 14 active coronavirus clusters at private K-12 schools across the state. There were 11 active clusters at K-12 public schools. No deaths have been reported from the active clusters. The information came from the Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina has more than 2,500 public schools and 751 private schools. A majority of public schools started the school year online. Many private schools opted for full-time, in-person classes.