VIRUS OUTBREAK-SATELLITE INTERNET

NC to participate in satellite internet pilot for students

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Public school students in some of North Carolina’s most isolated areas could benefit from a new initiative that offers high-speed internet through low-orbit satellites. Gov. Roy Cooper’s office says the pilot program will target young people in Hyde and Swain counties who lack reliable broadband service, or have none at all. The program was assembled by several state offices and paid for with federal COVID-19 relief funds. Cooper’s office says the funding will also be used to research and recommend how best satellite technology can help improve rural healthcare and rural economic development. The satellite internet company is connected to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

BC-NC-UNC COMMENCEMENT-FAUCI-CORBETT

Fauci, Corbett set for UNC-Chapel Hill virtual commencement

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The class of 2021 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will hear from Drs. Anthony Fauci and Kizzmekia Corbett for their spring commencement. A news release from the school says the spring commencement in May will feature virtual remarks from Fauci and Corbett as well as live ceremonies which will host a limited number of invited guests to Kenan Stadium. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNC will host smaller graduation ceremonies over three days during the weekend of May 14-16. Graduates will hear from the two speakers at each of the ceremonies. Corbett is an alum of the UNC School of Medicine.

DOGFISH HARVEST

NOAA to allow more harvest of dogfish in coming year

BOSTON (AP) — Federal fishing regulators are considering letting commercial fishermen catch more of a species of shark in the coming year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it’s considering allowing more harvest of spiny dogfish in the 2021-22 fishing year. Fishermen catch dogfish off the East Coast. The top producing states include Massachusetts and Virginia. NOAA says the proposed revisions increase catch limits by nearly 10%. That would increase the commercial fishing quota to more than 29 million pounds. Members of the seafood industry have attempted to increase interest in using dogfish as food in America in recent years.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-OUTDOOR ATTENDANCE

More bills seek to increase attendance at NC school events

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More North Carolina state legislators are trying to get more spectators at school sporting events or college graduations that are beyond what Gov. Roy Cooper’s COVID-19 latest executive order allows. The House voted on Wednesday for two bills that attempt to raise the capacity of venues from Cooper’s 30% limit to as high as 50%. One measure would apply statewide and include K-12 schools, community colleges and University of North Carolina campuses.  Another bill would apply to outdoor sporting events at public and private K-12 schools in roughly a dozen counties. The Senate has approved separate measures focused on outdoor high school sporting events.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-REOPENING SCHOOLS

NC education board wants schools reopened by end of March

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina education leaders have approved a resolution signaling their desire to get all of the state’s K-12 public school students back into the classroom for at least some days. Some members of the state Board of Education want public health officials to go further in their reopening guidance. Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt urged the state Department of Health and Human Services to better explain what it wants to see before recommending all districts offer daily, in-person instruction. Officials with the state Department of Health and Human Services say they want to heed the advice the federal government has provided.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina to offer reopened schools widespread testing

North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services says it will provide rapid COVID-19 tests upon request by schools. The tests can serve as weekly screening for teachers and staff, be made available to students, families and school personnel who have symptoms or got exposed to an infected person, or both. Thursday’s news comes as state health and education leaders work to get more kids back into physical classrooms. Teachers are currently eligible to receive a vaccine. The state’s top public health official also announced she will personally get vaccinated on Friday.

CONFEDERATE STATUES-IREDELL COUNTY

NC’s Iredell County votes to remove Confederate memorial

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Officials in North Carolina’s Iredell County have voted to move a Confederate memorial that has stood outside the court house for more than a century. The Statesville Record & Landmark reports that county commissioners voted 4 to 1 on Tuesday to relocate the memorial. It includes a granite base and a statue of a Confederate soldier. Statesville’s Fourth Creek Cemetery and Oakwood Cemetery have been chosen as possible relocation sites. The two cemeteries were chosen because many of Statesville’s soldiers who died in the Civil War were laid to rest there. Confederate monuments across the southern U.S. have long been viewed by many as symbols of white supremacy.

AP-NC-SORORITY THREATENED-MAN CHARGED

North Carolina man accused of threatening college sorority

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man is accused of threatening members of a sorority during an event last month. News outlets report Town of Holly Springs spokesperson Mark Andrews says 23-year-old Colin Daniel Nicolson threatened to shoot members of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at at a Feb. 11 sorority event at Campbell University. According to Andrews, Nicolson is acquainted with some members of the sorority. He is accused by authorities has been charged with communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property. Nicolson was arrested at a country club where he is listed as the golf pro.