North Carolina News – January 6

TECH COMPANIES-OFFICES

Tech firms planning offices despite work-from-home trend

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to work from home, but there are signs that office life will continue in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday that some tech firms are planning new offices in the region despite the recent trend of working from home. For instance, Epic Games announced last week that it would buy Cary Towne Center for $95 million. The firm has promised to redevelop the dying mall into a world-class headquarters for potentially thousands of workers. Pendo and Bandwidth are also going full-speed ahead with their new headquarters. Leaders of those companies have called office-based work a big part of their culture.

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID

Community college to offer course in mental health first aid

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City says it will offer a course in first aid for mental health amid the surge of mental health challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that the community college will conduct the eight-hour course this spring. It will be for students in the school’s human services technology program, which is for entry-level positions in mental health fields. The course will eventually be offered to professionals in such areas as law enforcement and education. Mental health first aid works much like first aid for physical injuries. It helps a person assist someone contemplating suicide, having a panic attack or another emergency.

AP-NC-ILLEGAL FIREARMS POSSESSION

North Carolina man gets 6 years for firearms possession

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina man was sentenced to six years for possession of firearms while being a convicted felon. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina says in a news release that a search of 21-year-old Nicholas Travon Edwards’ home turned up four pistols, a rifle, four ammunition magazines, a rifle mount and a scope. Investigators determined one of the firearms was stolen. The Raleigh Police Department also found marijuana and oxycodone. Edwards pleaded guilty to breaking an entering in November 2017 after authorities said he broke into a building and stole equipment from a tree service.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Most N.C. nursing home workers are refusing COVID vaccine

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen says most nursing home workers are refusing coronavirus vaccines. This comes as the state sees one of the slowest rollouts in the nation. Gov. Roy Cooper is deploying National Guard members to help accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations. Cohen says some will serve as vaccinators. Other members will help with logistics of vaccination events. Nearly 110,000 people in North Carolina had received their first dose as of Tuesday morning. This represents less than 1% of the state’s population of 10.5 million people. Hospital workers were the first in line to receive doses. Several counties will soon begin administering doses to the elderly people 75 years or older.

AP-US-ATLANTIC-COAST-PIPELINE

Regulators get plan for undoing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The developers of the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline are laying out plans for how they want to go about unwinding their work and restoring disturbed land. In a filing with federal regulators made public Tuesday, the pipeline company proposed an approximately 24-month timeline for efforts West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. Progress on the pipeline project ranged from none to essentially complete in some areas. The plan outlines where the company plans to clean up felled trees and where they plan to leave them behind, and it proposes abandoning the roughly 30 miles of installed pipe in place.

BC-NC-GOATS KILLED

Police: Nearly a dozen goats have been shot and killed

RAMSEUR, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say they’re investigating after nearly a dozen goats were shot and killed. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Tuesday that the incident occurred in the Ramseur area in Randolph County. The sheriff’s office said it had been called after a livestock owner reported finding several dead animals over the weekend. The department said that eleven goats were likely killed on Saturday afternoon. That number includes five baby goats that died. The area where the goats were killed is roughly 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Raleigh. Authorities are still seeking information about the deaths.

BC-NC-FAST FOOD RESTAURANT-THREAT

Police: Man used slur, threatened to shoot fast-food worker

HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina police department says a man used a racial slur and threatened to shoot a juvenile employee at a fast-food restaurant. The Hickory Police Department says in a news release on Tuesday that 53-year-old Jimmy Mott of Newton called the management at a Zaxby’s restaurant to complain after leaving the drive-through, using the slur and threatening to shoot the worker he had dealt with as he ordered food on Sunday. Mott turned himself into police, who charged him with ethnic intimidation. Mott was given a $1,500 unsecured bond and it’s not known if he has an attorney.

OBIT-LANDIS

Former North Carolina-based bank CEO Kel Landis III dies

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former bank CEO and economic adviser to a North Carolina governor has died at age 64. Brown-Wynne Funeral Home confirmed on Tuesday that Kel Landis III died at his Raleigh home on Saturday. An obituary from his family said he had cancer. Landis was president of Rocky Mount-based Centura Bank starting in the mid-1990s and became chief executive officer of RBC Centura after the bank’s sale to the Royal Bank of Canada. Landis became an economic adviser to then-Gov. Mike Easley in 2005. He also helped create Plexus Capital, which invests in small businesses. A public memorial service will be held later.