Some of the week's top stories: The Charlotte area looks back on the year since George Floyd was killed by police, North Carolina marks 1 million COVID-19 cases as residents mark the first holiday weekend with no major restrictions, and a three-part special examines the impact of the pandemic on a local elementary school.
WFAE There was gasoline at this ExxonMobil station in south Charlotte but also a long line of cars waiting for it.
If you ve been slacking on social etiquette over a year of social distancing, now’s a good time to brush up. In the biggest step back toward “normal” since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their face masks in most situations.
It didn’t take long for North Carolina to embrace the new guidelines. On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper lifted the state’s indoor mask mandate for most situations and fully eased capacity limits on businesses. The move came as more than half of North Carolina’s residents have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and after 14 months of a pandemic that’s claimed more than 12,800 lives in the state.
The articles from Inside Politics With Steve Harrison appear first in his weekly newsletter, which takes a deeper look at local politics, including the latest news on the Charlotte City Council, what s happening with Mecklenburg County s Board of Commissioners, the North Carolina General Assembly and much more.
Each Monday, Tommy Tomlinson delivers thoughtful commentary on an important topic in the news. Through these perspectives, he seeks to find common ground that leads to deeper understanding of complex issues and that helps people relate to what others are feeling, even if they don’t agree.
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Many journalists have read the book and seen the movie All The President s Men. The tale of the reporting behind the Watergate break-in has long been an inspiration for many to enter the profession, and it contains one of the most classic lines: Follow the money.
That means, of course, that money is the driving force in our world in good and bad and simply mundane ways.
And money was at the root of many of this week s biggest stories. To start, Charlotte s City Manager Marcus Jones revealed his budget for the upcoming year. In a presentation to City Council and reporters, he focused on how the budget did not include a tax hike, but contained higher starting salaries and raises for most employees.
Street Gang is reaching a new audience with the release of the documentary.
In 2004, Michael Davis was a senior editor at TV Guide. His beat was one that often flew under the radar: children’s television. But it was a perfect focus for Davis, who studied psychology and teaching before his journalism career.
He was covering children s television because, frankly, no one else wanted to. I was in no position to say, No thank you. But the truth is, I was very happy to take on children s television as a beat, Davis said recently, smiling.
Courtesy of Michael Davis