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It’s Thursday, May 21.

Happy Last Day of Phase 1, everybody. Thanks for waking up with us once again. We’ve got a refreshing amount of non-COVID news this morning, which is, I’ll be honest, a nice change of pace. So let’s get right to it.

First, three quick announcements:

Since so many high school and college students missed out on graduation (and other rites of passage) this year, the INDY is going to publish graduation announcements in our June 17 issue. Sign your favorite grad up here. We’ll run their name, photo, school, and a message of up to 20 words for $25. Using Cole as our model, it will look something like this:

Since they announced it in their newsletter yesterday, I want to thank Ari and the folks at Ninth Street Bakery, who made a sizable contribution to our newsroom. We’re trying to figure out the right project to put it toward. They are extraordinarily good friends of the INDY and this newsletter, but don’t support them (just) because of that. Support them because they run an amazing business and make terrific stuff. If you’ve been, I don’t need to sell you on it.

Lastly, in the interest of transparency, I’ll mention that the INDY was awarded $7,000 from the Google News Initiative’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund. I signed the paperwork today; once the money’s in the bank, I’ll share more about our plans for it.

As always, please share this newsletter with your friends and ask them to join us.

PRIMER is made possible by the INDY Press Club, which is helping us keep fearless, independent local journalism viable in the Triangle despite the utter carnage our industry is witnessing. We really do appreciate you all.

—Jeffrey C. Billman, INDY editor. Follow me on Twitter @jeffreybillman.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY[2020-05-21]

Above the Fold

→ REOPENING: PHASE 2, COMING TOMORROW.

In a surprise to, well, no one — considering they telegraphed it Tuesday, then gave the restaurant lobby a heads-up, then leaked a document Wednesday morning outlining details — the Cooper administration announced yesterday that, come Friday at 5:00 p.m., it would move to a modified phase 2 of the gov’s three-part reopening plan.

“North Carolina’s stay-at-home order will lift Friday, and restaurants will be permitted to allow dine-in customers as the state enters into the second phase of reopening, Governor Cooper announced Wednesday. Bars and night clubs, however, remain closed, along with many other businesses.”

“The step is more modest than initially envisioned, Cooper said, in part because the number of coronavirus cases statewide continues to increase. In what Cooper dubbed ‘safer at home,’ phase 2 will still require social distancing and encourage folks to avoid large crowds.”

The state met three of four key benchmarks, officials said. The percentage of positive tests and the number of cases with COVID-like symptoms were declining, while hospitalizations had leveled off, even as the number of confirmed COVID cases had risen past 20,000 by Wednesday; 702 residents have died.

WHAT PHASE 2 MEANS: Restaurants can open their dining rooms at 50 percent capacity. Barbershops and hair salons can reopen with decreased capacity. Bars and entertainment venues must stay closed, as do gyms, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and museums. Gatherings of up to 10 people are allowed indoors, and up to 25 outside.

REACTIONS: House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger both went with the “What took you so long?” approach.

Moore: “While North Carolina’s reopening has lagged our neighboring competitors for too long, this is welcome news for thousands of families who rely on revenue from businesses in our state. All businesses rely on certainty from state government to plan for challenges ahead in any economic circumstance, so it is essential that moving forward our economic response to this pandemic be based in transparent data that considers stark contrasts in urban and rural regions of our state.”

Berger: “I’m glad the Governor has responded to the calls of senators, small business owners, and unemployed workers to let them get back to work. When I asked Gov. Cooper to reopen restaurants and personal care services last week, the Governor said it wasn’t safe to do so. But according to data for yesterday, when the Governor began notifying people of his decision, North Carolina had more cases, more hospitalizations, and fewer tests performed than when I issued my call last week. It seems strange that it was unsafe to reopen last week, but it’s safe to reopen now with worse numbers.”

Fact check: Reopening on Friday comports with the timeline Cooper laid out weeks ago. As for the governor caving to pressure, that, too, seems off: Polls have consistently shown that residents support his cautious approach. Berger is right, however, that things aren’t demonstrably better this week than last, though the plan was always to wait 14 days to ensure there wasn’t a surge in new cases.

WHAT ABOUT DURHAM? Good question. The city/county’s stricter, indefinite order is still in effect. Mayor Steve Schewel told me yesterday that they’d announce amendments later this week — so today or tomorrow — but I got the distinct impression that he and Board of Commissioners chairwoman Wendy Jacobs were still figuring out what those amendments would be.

State & Local

→ UNC TO RETURN TO CLASSROOMS THIS FALL.

At a (virtual) Board of Governors meeting yesterday, UNC System president Bill Roper said he expects classroom learning to begin again in the fall and the system wants to finalize its guidance to campus chancellors by the end of the month.

“During its meeting, the board approved $44 million in coronavirus funding set aside for the system, divvying it up between the system’s 17 campuses, the state arboretum, and the system office. In addition to the campus payouts, there’s $5 million for digital learning enhancements system-wide.”

“The General Assembly also appropriated another $50 million or so direct to certain campus programs during its recent coronavirus session, primarily for COVID-19 research and to help teaching hospitals attached to UNC system campuses. The legislature approved another $20 million that will go to private universities in the state.”

RUMOR MILL: I’ve heard that UNC-Chapel Hill will announce its plans for the fall today. In what looks like confirmation, the university’s leaders held a campus-wide Zoom call laying out some details yesterday.

Kris Jordan: “The university is committed to transparency. There are plenty of students listening in on the meeting, as well. This isn't coming from an official channel because nothing is official, yet, but it's an open dialog in the spirit of figuring out how to make safe forward progress.”

BOG DRAMA: Citing family obligations, former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer announced that he was resigning his seat on the Board of Governors. That would have been but a minor point of interest had a source not been telling me at literally that moment that Fetzer was about to be knifed. Joe Killian at Policy Watch got some details:

“In his comments to the board, Fetzer acknowledged he has often been at odds with his fellow board members, but said he will miss the ‘impassioned and sometimes heated exchanges’ he had with even longtime friends on the board.”

“Fetzer’s announcement comes as the board is finalizing changes to its policies and procedures that would more strictly outline its members’ responsibilities. The policies will include censure and recommendation for removal of board members who overstep their roles. The changes were instigated by repeated problems with Fetzer acting in ways his colleagues said were inappropriate and possibly legally dangerous for the UNC System.”

“While most of the board was silent on Fetzer’s announcement, two members spoke to Policy Watch about it Wednesday. … ‘I think the writing was on the wall for him that the board wasn’t going to put up with the kinds of things he was involved in,’ one board member said. ‘We are putting some teeth into our policies and he is not stupid. He’s a very intelligent man. He knows if he continues to operate the way he has, he’s going to end up in trouble.’”

Fetzer had a habit of going rogue, which made him persona non grata to at least some board members. Last year, for example, while BOG-hired investigators were slow-walking a probe into interim ECU chancellor Dan Gerlach, Fetzer and his own lawyer secured the surveillance video showing Gerlach stumbling to his car and leaked it to the media, which led to Gerlach’s resignation. The board considered sanctioning him for his trouble.

FORGOT TO MENTION: On May 11, the BOG held a special conference-call meeting to reelect Randy Ramsey as its chairman. That meeting was announced two days earlier, on a Saturday. The day before that, a publication called The Charlotte Ledger reported that Ramsey — who signed off on the Silent Sam deal — had, shall we say, exaggerated his credentials.

“Until the end of April, his biography on the UNC Board of Governors website said he had a degree in marine propulsion from Carteret Community College. That would be an associate degree, which requires two years of work. However, Carteret Community College says he graduated in 1981 with a diploma in marine diesel mechanics, a one-year program.”

“Ramsey, who makes custom sports fishing boats, built his Beaufort business without attending a four-year college. No rule requires board members to have college degrees, and he’s not the first without one. But he’s the first board chairman in the university system’s 48-year history without at least a bachelor’s degree.”

To recap: Confronted with the news that its degree-less chairman had boosted his resume, the BOG rushed to reelect him. Sounds legit.

→ DOMINION MIGHT BUILD A PIPELINE ALONG THE AMERICAN TOBACCO TRAIL.

Dominion Energy wants to build a 12-inch, 13-mile pipeline between Cary and Durham, and the state Department of Transportation is set to give the energy giant the greenlight — an easement, technically — in exchange for $3 million. The problem is that the company says the route with the least disruption to the landscape and property values falls along the American Tobacco Trail.

“NCDOT owns the former railroad corridor, which ranges from 100 to 200 feet wide with the trail down the middle. Dominion Energy would bury the pipeline 40 to 45 feet from the center of the trail, in a 30-foot-wide clearing, [Dominion spokeswoman Persida] Montanez said. The company would replant native trees and shrubs to create a natural buffer between the trail and the pipeline, she said.”

Montanez: “We understand and value that the American Tobacco Trail is enjoyed by many for recreational purposes and its natural beauty. As with any Dominion Energy construction project, if this is the route selected, we would work with the utmost respect and care.”

Curt Devereux, president of the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy, said that any construction along the trail would fundamentally alter the trail’s character of the popular trail: “What you’ll have is kind of a skinny canopy along the trail, rather than trees that go back 9 or 10 deep. It’s going to change the character of the trail markedly for a while during construction, and then the long-term change to the canopy will not be a plus.”

→ NORTH CAROLINA HAS THE MOST COVID OUTBREAKS AT MEATPACKING PLANTS.

Across the country, COVID-19 outbreaks are generally happening at prisons, elder care facilities, and meat-processing plants. North Carolina, home to almost 10 million hogs and an estimated bazillion chickens, has more than its share of meatpacking plants — and more than its share of COVID outbreaks at them, according to a new report from the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

There have been 23 COVID outbreaks at North Carolina plants since the start of the pandemic—more than in any other state—infecting 1,340 workers (we’re third in that category).

“Since FERN began gathering data, there has been a steady rise in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 among workers at meatpacking plants, food-processing facilities, and on farms. When we first published our map on April 22, there were 1,950 cases among these workers. The cumulative total on May 19 was over 16,400 — a more than eight-fold increase in less than a month. In that time, 66 workers have died of the disease.”

→ DURHAM BULLS ARE HOPING FOR GAMES THIS YEAR.

Pro sports leagues like NASCAR and the German Bundesliga have already resumed competition without fans, but minor league teams like the Durham Bulls worry that a season without fans could be ruinous. After all, they don’t have TV contracts to fall back on. With that in mind, Durham Bulls vice president Mike Birling says he hopes that baseball can pick back up with (some) fans come July.

The goal is to run a condensed season with capacity at DBAP reduced to 50 percent, he said.

Birling: “We have made it very clear to Major League Baseball that in no way do we want to have a season if there are no fans in the stands. It just doesn’t work. At the major league level, it works because you have hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue. The amount of money we are losing already, and then if you throw in team travel and everything else, no team would be able to survive that.”

→ DURHAM BUSINESS PIONEER ANDREA DAVIS HAS DIED.

Andrea Davis, who co-founded the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development in 1986, passed away Wednesday morning. Over the last three decades, her Durham-based nonprofit has helped thousands of women- and minority-owned businesses across North Carolina.

“Investing in populations with limited net worth is far less costly than the negative social consequences of economic isolation,” she said in 2015. “We must work towards widely shared prosperity as an economic imperative.”

→ WEATHER: 🌧🌧🌧 🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧 OH MY GOD IT WILL NEVER STOP RAINING 🌧🌧🌧 🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧 (high of 67)

Nation & World

→ REPUBLICANS ARE **VERY** INTERESTED IN HUNTER BIDEN AGAIN, FOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR.

In a move as predictable as the sunrise, Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to subpoena documents related to Hunter Biden’s work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, in what is rather patently an effort to envelop Joe Biden in endless hearings while offering thin-reed justifications for President Trump’s attempted extortion of Ukraine’s president last year, which led to his impeachment.

Quick recap: Hunter got a sleazy, do-nothing gig on Burisma’s board of directors in 2014, while Daddy was vice president. In 2015, Joe Biden leveraged a loan guarantee to force Ukraine’s president to fire a state prosecutor. Trump and his allies have claimed that the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was investigating Burisma, and Biden got him to protect Hunter.

Yeah, but: Not quite. Shokin wasn’t investigating Burisma — which was part of the problem; he didn’t investigate oligarchs or do much of anything about corruption. The U.S., the EU, and the IMF saw him as an impediment to needed reforms. By forcing Shokin out, Biden was carrying out administration policy.

Committee chairman Ron Johnson: “The question I would ask is: What is everybody worried about? If there’s nothing there, we’ll find out there’s nothing there. But if there’s something there, the American people need to know that.”

Johnson plans to release a report on the matter before the election. Definitely no bad faith here.

Coincidentally, Russia-aligned, Rudy Giuliani-friendly Ukrainian PM Andriy Derkach just released recordings of phone calls between then-vice president Biden and then-Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. The recordings don’t provide new information, but Trump’s allies are nonetheless touting them as evidence of wrongdoing.

CONTEXT: A new Quinnipiac poll has Biden beating Trump by 11, 50–39. More important, Biden’s favorable-unfavorable rating is 45–41; four years ago in this same poll, Hillary Clinton’s was 20 points underwater, down 18 points in a year following tenacious Benghazi investigations. And that’s why there’s so much renewed energy around Burisma and whatever Obamagate is supposed to be.

→ FIRED STATE DEPT. IG HAD FOUND WRONGDOING AMONG TOP POMPEO AIDES.

State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — whom Trump fired in a Friday night news dump — had just finished up an investigation into two top officials at State’s Office of Protocol who had failed to report workplace violence, including the old chief’s habit of carrying around a whip.

“The probe into Cam Henderson … and a deputy of hers, Mary-Kate Fisher, could have been another factor in what [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo and his deputies have described as mounting frustration with the inspector general, Steve Linick, and might have contributed to the secretary’s push to oust him. The Pompeos worked closely with the Office of Protocol on a series of intimate, hush-hush dinners that featured influential conservatives, administration officials, and Wall Street financiers in what some critics have viewed as the improper use of taxpayer dollars.”

“Henderson took over as the chief of the Office of Protocol last summer, after her former boss, Sean Lawler, was pushed out. Some in that office accused Lawler of intimidating and harassing his staffers, and even carrying around a whip on the job. The inspector general had investigated further claims that Henderson and Fisher, while working under Lawler, had violated State Department policy by not reporting allegations involving Lawler and workplace violence to higher-ups. The person said Linick’s office had determined that Henderson and Fisher likely had violated regulations and that the State Department should take appropriate action.”

“According to the person familiar with the issue, the probe was finished about two weeks ago and Linick’s office was awaiting a response from the department.”

“Pompeo’s role in [Linick’s] ouster has come under growing scrutiny, with a slew of sudden reports about ways in which the inspector general was looking into his actions, those of his wife, Susan, as well as some of his aides.”

→ SUPREME COURT BLOCKS CONGRESS FROM GETTING MUELLER GRAND JURY FILES.

The Supreme Court sided with the Department of Justice and agreed to keep grand jury material from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe under wraps for now — and perhaps until after the November election. House Democrats had argued that they needed those records as part of an ongoing impeachment inquiry. Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the Court that the impeachment process was complete, so Congress had no need to see the entire Mueller file. A divided circuit court had previously ruled that the grand jury records, like all court records, should be released to Congress during impeachment investigations; an appellate court had agreed.

“As is customary, the short order gave no reason for granting the administration’s request to stay the decision reached by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The justices set a June 1 deadline for the administration to explain why the court should accept the case for full review. If the justices do not accept the case, the lower court’s ruling would go into effect and House Democrats would gain access to the additional evidence. But if the court agrees with the request, a hearing would not be scheduled until the fall absent special action.”

“Francisco had told the Supreme Court that its intervention was needed because release of the grand jury material to Congress would almost surely mean either a leak or simply its release. … Francisco [said a congressional committee] “may publicly disclose the grand jury materials if it wishes by a simple majority vote of the committee.”

To quote from our pal Ron Johnson: “What is everybody worried about? If there’s nothing there, we’ll find out there’s nothing there.”

→ AMERICANS ARE HAVING FEWER BABIES.

Have you noticed that the world feels … a little off right now? The pandemic and economic collapse, sure, but even before that, there was Donald Trump, global warming, resurgent white nationalism, economic inequality, the Great Recession, the Iraq War, the War on Terror, 9/11. For many millennials, this has been their entire adulthood. And now, [gestures at everything]. No wonder they’re skeptical of having kids.

The United States saw 3.7 million births last year. That’s the lowest number of births in 35 years — and the continuation of a downward trend every year (save one) since 2007.

The pandemic will probably drive this number lower. A prolonged recession could cause maybe-parents-to-be to think hard about whether they want to bring a child into [gestures at everything].

“Experts say there are a number of causes, but chief among them are shifting attitudes about motherhood: Many women and couples delay childbearing and have fewer kids once they start. The economy is a factor, but not because of short-term cycles in hiring. Many jobs are low-paying and unstable, and that coupled with high rents and other factors have caused women and couples to be much more cautious about having kids, said Dr. John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health.”

This could be a problem. From a certain point of view, anyway. We won’t have enough workers to replace retirees, nor will we have enough workers to finance old-age programs like Social Security and Medicare — at least without massive immigration.

If that bothers you, don’t read this: Sperm counts among men in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, and Australia have declined by more than 50 percent in the last half-century, but we’re not sure why.

→ FLORIDA RIGHT-WINGER TRIES TO SUE GOOGLE FOR RICO.

Here’s the first sentence of a new federal lawsuit filed in (of course) Florida: “Google is a billion-dollar racketeer that discriminates against conservatives and defrauds consumers because of their ideology and political views.” It gets more, um, interesting after that. In essence, a businessman claims that Google buried his senior-care webpage because he’s a Trump supporter.

One of the two attorneys who affixed their names to this complaint — which seeks 90 MILLION DOLLARS — has also represented crazypants Republican Congressman Devin Nunes in a bunch of half-baked defamation lawsuits. “You file a suit on behalf of somebody you never talked to?” a federal judge once scolded him. “I mean that’s astounding. That’s astounding.”

Read the whole thing before it’s dismissed, which will probably happen just as soon as whichever poor judge inherits this case stops laughing.

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#news #NC #Trump Administration #UNC #Dominion Energy #Hunter Biden #Steve Linick #Mueller Report