Triumph and Tragedy Marked the Pandemic Year for North Carolina Restaurants
Owners in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Tarboro talk about how they survived the shutdown
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It’s been just over a year since Gov. Cooper ordered a statewide shutdown in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, and if there is one thing North Carolina’s restaurant industry knows for certain it’s that nothing, absolutely nothing, is certain anymore.
The past year has been marked by both triumph and tragedy, with some businesses creating new ways forward while others were forced to shutter. Restaurant and bar employees were laid off by the hundreds of thousands. Bills went unpaid and families went hungry.
Women Came to Hope Community Church Looking for Fellowship and Healing. Disrespectful Behavior from Church Leaders Drove Them to Leave.
Stylized photo by Jade Wilson
On a pair of Sunday mornings in late November and early December of last year, a group of survivors and their supporters gathered in front of a megachurch located on Buck Jones Road in west Raleigh.
As members of Hope Community Church streamed in for services, the protesters held signs confronting Hopeâs leadership on its record of handling sexual abuse and assault. Over the last few months, the
INDY has worked to vet these allegations and the churchâs response to them. Unfortunately, church leaders, including founder and lead pastor Mike Lee, have not responded to multiple inquiries, effectively stonewalling the