North Carolina
5 things to know: New school year begins, COVID numbers climb again in N.C.
Faculty college students are beginning to transfer again into their dorms. Youthful college students in North Carolina’s traditional-calendar faculties are on the point of begin a brand new 12 months in a pair brief weeks.
North Carolina’s coronavirus case numbers have seen a bump in current weeks, fueled by yet one more new variant. However greater than two years into the pandemic, the talk has modified.
Faculty boards in North Carolina, for essentially the most half, have dropped the heated, divisive discussions on masking. Vaccines are extensively out there, even for the youngest college students. And most of those that will not be vaccinated have some immunity as a result of they’ve already had the virus, public well being consultants say.
With a brand new time period on the horizon, right here’s what we find out about COVID to start out the third college 12 months of the pandemic:
What’s the COVID state of affairs in North Carolina?
COVID numbers in North Carolina have gone up over the summer time, this time pushed by the BA.5 variant.
There are greater than 1,350 folks within the hospital with the virus, based on the Division of Well being and Human Companies. North Carolina hasn’t had that many COVID sufferers within the hospital since late February.
Wastewater monitoring, a measure of how a lot virus is in wastewater across the state, continues to extend. With folks doing extra at-home assessments, public well being officers use wastewater monitoring as a extra reliable measure of how many individuals are contaminated.
Well being officers say that fewer individuals are ending up within the hospital or in intensive care due to vaccinations and new remedies for folks vulnerable to COVID’s worse signs. DHHS knowledge reveals that on common there have been 152 sufferers with the virus in intensive care models across the state.
Out of 100 counties in North Carolina, 67 are thought-about “excessive danger” by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. The CDC advises folks to put on masks in public indoor areas in high-risk counties.
How many individuals are vaccinated or immune?
“Over 95% of the inhabitants in most of our districts will both be vaccinated, contaminated or each previously 12 to 18 months, which places each kids and adults within the college setting at a great state of affairs for COVID,” mentioned Dr. Danny Benjamin, a Duke pediatrician who studied masking in faculties in the course of the pandemic. He additionally suggested Wake County faculties on COVID insurance policies.
Statewide, about 63% of individuals are absolutely vaccinated, based on DHHS knowledge. About 59% of individuals in North Carolina have obtained not less than one booster shot.
Vaccines at the moment are out there for all age teams, together with the youngest college students.
The very best vaccination charges within the state are within the Triangle. Dare and Hyde counties on the coast, Inexperienced County within the east, and Buncombe County within the mountains all have vaccination charges about 65%, based on DHHS knowledge.
“There are some counties in North Carolina the place the vaccination charges are fairly low,” Benjamin mentioned. However, he added, “The mixed complete of vaccination plus an infection can be a excessive quantity in every of the counties in North Carolina.”
Are any faculties requiring masks?
No public college methods in North Carolina plans to require face masks originally of the college 12 months.
“We’re not listening to an entire lot of speak about COVID points from our members,” mentioned Leanne Winner, head of the North Carolina Faculty Boards Affiliation. Her group represents college boards from throughout the state.
“Our members are extra centered on staffing points and faculty security,” she mentioned.
“We’re at a degree within the pandemic the place many of the faculties act more often than not as if we’ve moved from an acute pandemic stage again to a give attention to training and scholar emotional wellbeing and the full well being of the scholar,” Benjamin mentioned.
“That’s excellent news not just for dad and mom and kids but additionally for directors and faculty boards,” he mentioned.
When ought to faculties require masks?
Benjamin, who spent a lot of the final two years determining how you can hold COVID out of colleges, mentioned requiring masks in faculties must be a final resort.
He mentioned it’s time for varsity well being insurance policies to get again to extra routine approaches to preserving college employees and college students wholesome. Consider how faculties dealt with the flu in 2019, he mentioned.
However his analysis does present that if faculties get a critical outbreak, whether or not that’s COVID or the flu, masks can sluggish the unfold.
“Implement masking provided that it’s to maintain the college open or if it’s in a particular circumstance, like we get a brand new variant sooner or later,” Benjamin mentioned.
If a virus received so dangerous that it threatened to close down a college with instructor absences, that’s when a college ought to think about a brand new masks mandate, he mentioned.
“In the event that they get a brand new variant or have a lot of infections, whether or not it’s influenza, RSV or another virus, then they’ve instruments at their disposal,” Benjamin mentioned.
What about youngsters and employees who’re in danger?
Benjamin mentioned anybody who’s medically susceptible must be vaccinated and, in the event that they’re eligible, boosted.
“Any little one who’s significantly susceptible or at larger danger medically, clearly you ought to be in contact along with your little one’s pediatrician,” he mentioned. “Sporting a masks for that individual little one will not be as properly researched as common masking however most likely helps some.”
“It’s one thing that oldsters might do in the event that they so select,” he mentioned.
For employees and college students with at-risk relations at house, he mentioned they need to use at-home assessments to ensure they aren’t bringing the virus house.
Analysis revealed not too long ago by Benjamin and Duke Medical’s ABC Collaborative discovered that when kids get COVID at college they typically solely transmit that to somebody at house 25 to 30% of the time.
The principle message from Benjamin is that this 12 months faculties must be able to get again to educating college students, with out face masks, however be prepared to reply in case there’s a giant virus outbreak, whether or not that’s the annual flu or a brand new spike in COVID circumstances.
North Carolina’s solar energy landscape is at a crossroads as the state works to meet its ambitious climate goals.
Under House Bill 951, passed in 2021, North Carolina is required to cut carbon emissions in the energy sector by 70% from 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, meeting these targets is proving difficult as energy demand surges.
Jeff Hughes, a commissioner with the North Carolina Utilities Commission, says that it’s challenging to maintain grid reliability while pursuing aggressive decarbonization goals.
“If we have two gigawatts of load coming in the next three or four years, it’s going to be very difficult to model our way, to solarize our way out of it,” Hughes said, pointing to the growing demand from industries like AI-driven data centers.
Duke Energy, the state’s largest utility, has said fossil fuels are essential to ensuring reliable power amid increasing demand. Critics argue that the company’s reliance on natural gas and coal could derail progress toward cutting emissions.
North Carolina has long been a leader in solar energy, initially driven by smaller, five-megawatt projects. Today, the focus has shifted to larger installations, which are more efficient but face growing local opposition.
Carson Hart, CEO of Carolina Solar Energy, said scaling up has been key to increasing clean energy capacity. “Moving to these bigger projects has been really beneficial for getting more megawatts in the ground and meeting the state’s climate goals,” Hart said. But she noted that large projects often draw pushback from residents concerned about aesthetics and land use.
Rural areas are at the heart of the state’s solar boom, hosting about 80% of large-scale projects. Reginald Bynum Jr., director of community outreach at the Center for Energy Education, said rural North Carolina plays a critical role in meeting the state’s clean energy goals.
“My job is to make sure rural communities don’t miss the movement,” Bynum said. “These projects bring jobs, economic growth, and opportunities to areas that desperately need them.”
The economic impact of solar energy is substantial. In counties with significant solar development, property tax revenues have increased by as much as 1,600%, according to the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. These funds have supported schools, infrastructure, and emergency services in areas facing population declines and economic challenges.
The state’s clean energy sector also supports more than 110,000 full-time jobs, according to a report from e2, with many more expected as solar development continues.
Hughes said the state’s carbon plan, which is updated every two years, will play a key role in charting a path forward.
“There’s a lot of check and adjust that will occur over the next few years,” he said.
As North Carolina advances its solar energy ambitions, balancing the needs of developers, communities, and environmental goals will be essential to achieving a sustainable and reliable energy future.
North Carolina
3 men charged in connection with woman’s death at Cook Out restaurant in North Carolina
Two men have been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee at a Cook Out restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, last month. A third is facing a weapons charge.
Two men have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a woman at the fast-food restaurant Cook Out in North Carolina.
Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Kenyon Carlton Jr. and 19-year-old Calvin Jerade Spence Jr. have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee late last month in Durham, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Friday.
A third man, 18-year-old Jamari Treyvon McKnight, is charged with one count of going armed to the terror of the people, which basically means terrorizing someone with a weapon like a gun.
USA TODAY could not immediately find attorneys representing the three men.
The shooting occurred just after 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Cook Out on South Miami Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s office. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Lee dead.
The sheriff’s office called the shooting “an isolated incident” that happened after shots broke out following a fight, WNCN-TV reported.
Arrests made in fatal shooting of Davicia Jean Ann Lee
Detectives arrested Spence and Carlton on Thursday and took them to the Durham County Detention Center without bond on charges of carrying a concealed gun, felony conspiracy, going armed to the terror of the people and first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
McKnight was also taken into custody and arrested Thursday night on misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people, according to the sheriff’s office. The Morrisville police arrested him and he is currently being held in the Wake County Detention Center until his first court appearance, the agency added.
The investigation into Lee’s homicide is ongoing, while all findings are now in the process of being turned over to the Durham County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to the sheriff’s office.
The USC Trojans are in pursuit of flipping two class of 2025 recruits, Nela Tupou and Alex Payne. Can the Trojans flip one or both of these players before national signing day?
Nela Tupou Player Profile
Nela Tupou is a 6-4, 220 pound tight end/defensive end out of Folsom, California. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the 43rd-best ATH in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.
Tupou committed to the Utah Utes in February of 2024, but he just recently visited USC last weekend for the Trojans’ 28-20 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
On3 is now predicting that Tupou will likely flip this commitment from Utah to USC.
Alex Payne Player Profile
Alex Payne is a 6-5, 265 pound offensive tackle out of Gainesville, Florida. He is rated as four-star recruit and ranked as the 16th-best offensive tackle in the class of 2025.
Payne committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels in January of 2024, but he as well as Tupou, visited USC last weekend.
In 247Sports recruiting analyst Tom Loy’s updated crystal ball prediction, he had Payne flipping his commitment from North Carolina to USC. Loy has a good track record of predicting where recruits will end up as his all-time hit rate for predicting recruits’ final destinations is 81.64 percent.
USC Bolstering Up Offensive Line to Go Along With Weapons
One of the glaring holes for the USC Trojans this season has been the offensive line. For USC to bounce back next season, they will have to get much better in the trenches. This has been exposed in their first season in the Big Ten. Landing Tupou, who can both be a factor in the run blocking scheme as a blocker, and Payne, one of the top tackle prospects in the country, would go a long way for next season and the future of the program.
Barring a flurry of transfer portal decisions, the Trojans will have an abundance of skill position talent coming back next season.
Freshman running back Quinten Joyner has been the second best back this season behind senior running back Woody marks.
Four of the Trojans five leading receivers are sophomores. Makai Lemon, Zachariah Branch, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Duce Robinson all have shown flashes of potentially being a number one wide receiver next season.
Add in the Trojans starting sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava and they have one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten. If USC continues to address the offensive line in the last days of the 2025 recruiting cycle and in the transfer portal this offseason, the Trojans could be a dangerous team next season.
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