North Carolina News – November 24

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE TESTING

Some N.C. colleges to require negative COVID-19 after break

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Some North Carolina colleges plan to require students to show a negative COVID-19 test in order to return to campus after their winter break. At the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors meeting last week, President Peter Hans said schools will do re-entry testing or require students to show a negative test before they can return for the spring semester. The News & Observer reports that Hans also sent a letter to chancellors on Nov. 2 suggesting strategies for the end of the fall semester and spring. Those efforts are intended to keep students and employees safe and keep universities running this spring without serious spikes in cases and disruptions.

HOLIDAY ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Much NC highway construction halted to ease holiday traffic

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina transportation officials say they’re temporarily halting much construction work along interstates and other major routes to ease congestion for holiday travelers. The North Carolina Department of Transportation said in a news release that it was shutting down work along interstates, U.S. routes and key state routes from Tuesday through next Monday. In certain exceptions, work that doesn’t impact travel lanes and certain projects that would make it unsafe to open all travel lanes will continue. The agency encouraged drivers to check road status on DriveNC.gov   if they have questions about a particular route. It also asks travelers to follow safety rules.

RDU HOLIDAY TRAVEL

RDU predicts 167,000 Thanksgiving flyers, a drop from 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Raleigh-Durham International Airport says that it expects this year’s Thanksgiving holiday traffic to be much lower than it was last year due to the pandemic. The airport said in a news release Monday that it’s expecting 167,000 passengers to fly through the airport from Nov. 23 to Nov. 30. It predicts the busiest travel day will be Sunday, with about 9,100 passengers. The airport says it expects about 8,400 travelers to fly through the airport on Tuesday. By contrast, 54,800 passengers flew through the airport on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2019.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Cooper revamps N.C. mask mandate, maintains occupancy limits

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has issued a new directive to boost mask wearing and tighten business restrictions amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Occupancy and mass gathering limits remain unchanged in Monday’s executive order. The state’s top public health official, Dr. Mandy Cohen, warns that North Carolina is “on very shaky ground” heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. Cooper’s executive order goes into effect Wednesday and expires Dec. 11. Businesses and individuals will be subject to fines for refusing to follow the statewide mask mandate, first issued in June. Customers must wear masks at all times in gyms and in restaurants unless they are actively eating or drinking.

HEROIN DEATH CONVICTION

North Carolina man convicted in 2017 heroin death

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has been convicted of providing heroin in 2017 to a man who died of an overdose. The Raleigh-based federal prosecutor’s office said in a news release Monday that 37-year-old Randon Austin Jenkins of Jacksonville was convicted by a federal jury last week of distribution of heroin resulting in death along with other drug and firearms charges. The news release said when the deceased victim was discovered they found bags of heroin with a unique stamp in his room. Court documents say that Jenkins provided the victim with the drugs in May of 2017

AP-NC-DRUG CHARGES-SENTENCING

North Carolina man gets 14 years on multiple drug charges

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on multiple drug charges for which he pleaded guilty in May. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release that 47-year-old Malcolm Lamont Jackson of Shallotte was sentenced on Monday. Court records indicate that authorities found marijuana and cocaine on Jackson in two traffic stops in 2018, In 2019, authorities apprehended Jackson after he drove off from a gas station and threw crack cocaine, cocaine and marijuana from his car during a chase.

WALMART ATTACK

Police: Woman attacked with baseball bat at Walmart

BURLINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say a woman was arrested and charged with striking another woman with a baseball bat at a Walmart. The Burlington Police Department said in a news release Sunday that officers were called last Wednesday afternoon to the store in response to reports of assault. The news release said officers located the woman who had been struck with the bat and had non-life threatening injuries. Witnesses told WFMY-TV that the woman who was struck was left bloody and appeared to have been attacked without provocation as she was walking. Other shoppers and employees came to the woman’s aid.

HUNTING STAND DEATH

Mississippi hunting stand accident kills North Carolina teen

IUKA, Miss. (AP) — Authorities in Mississippi say a North Carolina teen died when his hunting stand turned and he fell onto his rifle barrel. WTVA-TV reports that Tishomingo County coroner Mack Wilemon identifies him as 17-year-old Justin Lee Smith of Supply, North Carolina. He says Smith was in a ladder stand Saturday afternoon in the northwest part of the county near the Alcorn County line. According to Wilemon, the stand apparently turned to one side and Smith fell 10 feet onto the rifle barrel and was impaled. He says Smith was able to call 911 on his cellphone, but died shortly afterward. A state wildlife agent is investigating.