North Carolina News – July 30

North Carolina News – July 30

EVICTION MORATORIUM-NORTH CAROLINA

EXPLAINER: Will NC tenants be evicted when moratorium ends?

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The end of some tenant protections has raised concerns that tens of thousands of North Carolina residents will be unable to afford their monthly rent and could face eviction. A federal freeze on evictions expires Saturday. The state has set aside nearly $1.3 billion to help with outstanding rent and utility payments. North Carolinians who are evicted will be left to find a new home in a state where rental costs have risen in recent years. Realtors are seeing demand for apartments greatly outpace supply. Some groups seeking to help tenants fear housing instability could be more severe than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

FOOTBALL PLAYER-FATAL SHOOTING

College-bound North Carolina football player shot to death

ST. PAULS, N.C. (AP) — A sheriff’s office says a standout high school football player who had signed to play at a North Carolina university has been shot to death. News outlets report the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office says 19-year-old Marqueise Coleman of St. Pauls was shot early Thursday. A news release says Coleman was taken to UNC Southeastern Medical Center in a private vehicle where he was pronounced dead. Coleman, who led St. Pauls High School to the state 2-AA high school championship game, had signed to play football at Fayetteville State University as a running back this coming season.

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS-RECLAIMED BENEFITS

Aid to unemployed NY substitute teachers clawed back

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Advocates believe there are thousands of substitute teachers and other educational workers statewide told to give back federal unemployment benefits without proper investigations. Arguments hinge on notices districts routinely send substitutes at the end of school years providing a “reasonable assurance” there will be work available for them next school year. These legal assurances can effectively exclude substitutes from unemployment benefits over summer breaks. They argue that reasonable assurances of future work were not possible at that point in the pandemic. State labor officials stressed that benefit eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis and there are valid reasons to recover payments

JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDES

North Carolina declare justifiable homicides in two deaths

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina police department has declared two separate deaths as justifiable homicides. The first of two news releases from Charlotte Mecklenburg police on Thursday says officers responding to a call on July 10 found 69-year-old Calvin Blair Hilton on a street with an apparent stab wound. Hilton was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel. The other news release says that on March 14, officers found 18-year-old Milton Howard with a gunshot wound. Howard was pronounced dead at the scene. In both instances, police said the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office agreed with the decision by detectives that no one should be charged.

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina reverses course, urges masks in all schools

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday called on all K-12 public school students and staff to wear a mask indoors, even if they are already vaccinated. He’ll let his statewide mask mandate expire on Friday. Cooper had previously announced plans last week to let the statewide mask mandate expire and ease masking requirements for high school students starting on Friday. Spread of the more contagious delta variant rose sharply leading up to his earlier announcement and has only continued to skyrocket. Several COVID-19 metrics are at their worst levels in months. But there are some signs of encouragement that more people may soon come in for a vaccine.

CHEMICALS-CREEK

North Carolina seeks origin of chemical spill on creek

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — State officials are for the second time trying to determine the source of potentially harmful compounds found in foam floating on a North Carolina creek. The Fayetteville Observer reports that in both instances, the man-made chemicals found in the Gray’s Creek area do not appear connected to the Chemours plant, which is in the same general area and makes a similar compound. The state Department of Environmental Quality says in a memo dated June 22 that tests were conducted in March on foam from an unnamed tributary of Rockfish Creek. The tests showed that the foam contained perfluorooctane sulfonate, also known as PFOS, and three other compounds.

SEX CRIMES-MAN CHARGED

North Carolina man accused of sexual assault of child

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina sheriff’s office has accused a man of committing sex crimes against two children dating back to 2015. The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 54-year-old Johnny Ray Perry is charged with statutory rape of a child age 15 or younger and two counts of first-degree statutory sex offense. According to the news release, the sheriff’s office received a report in August 2020 of a possible sexual assault involving a minor that allegedly occurred years ago. In January, there was another report of a sexual assault involving a different child. Perry is being held on a $300,000 bond.

HOUSE FIRE-THREE DEAD

Investigation into three deaths in North Carolina house fire

TROUTMAN, N.C. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a house fire in North Carolina in which three people died. The Charlotte Observer reports Iredell County Emergency Communications received a 911 call around 9 p.m. on Tuesday about a house fire in Troutman. The Troutman Fire Department and other fire departments responded and found the home engulfed on flames. Detectives confirm three people were in the house when the fire broke out. Officials on Wednesday said two people were killed in the fire. On Thursday, they announced that a third body had been found in the home. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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