Reopening decision this week: Does the data support it?
Ballantyne praises decision on new high school; City Council to consider tax money for Quail Hollow Club; 2 dead, 12 injured at 'block party' early Monday; Social media rides to the rescue of Lang Van
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Is N.C. moving too quickly to reopen, or too slowly? You can marshal facts for either view; ‘surge’ or ‘flat’?
by Tony Mecia
Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to make some big decisions this week on the state’s response to the coronavirus. Chief among them: Will we all be required to wear masks in public? And can North Carolina move forward with reopening businesses such as movie theaters, bowling alleys, bars and gyms?
Cooper and state health officials say repeatedly that data and science are guiding their decisions. While that sounds straightforward, the decisions that state leaders will make this week will also include factors such as politics and their own personal preferences. That’s the way decision-making works.
As a thought experiment, we’re going to write two short news stories about Gov. Cooper’s pending decisions this week. Each is 100% accurate and based on the real state health statistics. But they are very different in the facts they are choosing to include and exclude.
Additions and omissions: Writing and editing is the process of making choices: what to write about, what to include, what to omit. It is easy to slant articles based on those choices — which incidentally is why you should gather information from multiple places to be an informed citizen.
Here we go. Article #1:
As Covid cases surge, Cooper faces a choice
As the number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to jump to new highs, Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to decide this week whether to continue reopening businesses or follow a more cautious approach that could slow the spread of the disease.
The number of Covid patients in North Carolina hospitals, which reached 845 on Sunday, has hit new highs five out of the last seven days. The numbers have risen 80% since mid-May, when many restaurants and other businesses started reopening. On Sunday, the state said there were 1,412 new confirmed cases, for a total of 52,801, and that a total of 1,220 people have died.
State officials had considered opening bars, gyms and other businesses last month at the same time that they reopened restaurants for indoor seating, but they held off because the number of confirmed cases and other indicators were rising faster than expected. Since then, the number of cases has continued to spike, and hospitalizations and the percentage of tests that are positive have risen sharply, while social distancing has decreased.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said this month: “I am very concerned about these trends moving in the wrong direction.”
Mecklenburg officials have said models anticipate a peak of cases in late August or early September.
That gives you one version of reality — completely accurate.
Here’s another, Article #2:
As economy struggles to recover, Cooper faces a choice
Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to decide this week whether to take steps that would help additional businesses reopen, which could help combat the state’s record-high employment and put people back to work.
The state’s unemployment rate hit 12.9% in May — the 19th-worst rate in the country, the Labor Department said Friday. Businesses including movie theaters, bowling alleys, gyms and yoga studios remain closed under a state order set to expire Friday. Those businesses have pleaded for Cooper to allow them to reopen with safety precautions, as other businesses have been allowed to do.
State officials say the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have been increasing in recent weeks but that hospitals are in no danger of being overwhelmed. State data shows hospitals have about 3,800 empty beds as of Sunday. The number of Covid patients hospitalized in the state fell by 4% on Sunday, to 845.
North Carolina has not experienced the levels of cases and deaths that were forecast in early April, when researchers at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill predicted at least 250,000 cases by Memorial Day. Through Sunday, the state had recorded 52,801 Covid cases and 1,220 deaths. About 65% of the deaths are in long-term care facilities. North Carolina’s population is 10.5 million.
State officials say the key to slowing the spread of the disease is frequent hand-washing, social distancing and wearing face coverings. Cooper said at a news conference this month: “The priority is getting our children in school in August, and we want to do that. We also want to continue taking steps to ease restrictions to reignite the economy.”
—
Those are two different views — both legitimate, both accurate. The first one accentuates the increases in numbers, while the second contrasts those increases against bigger numbers and higher earlier predictions and economic figures. Data can be ambiguous and point in different directions.
When Cooper announces his decision this week and says it is based on data and facts, the real question is, “Which ones?”
Parents pleased with plans for new high school near Ballantyne – now how about a middle school?
Parents in the Ballantyne area say they’re grateful that the county and school board seem headed toward building a new high school that will help alleviate overcrowding. But they also say they’re going to continue to push for a new middle school to help relieve Community House Middle, which has nearly 2,000 students.
“I am grateful that the county put more money together for the school district to help our area,” said Heather McAfee, who serves on school leadership teams at Ardrey Kell High and Community House Middle. “It’s just in dire need.”
The Ledger reported Friday that county commissioners allocated $27.5M for the school district to purchase land for a new high school on Johnston Road north of I-485. It would help relieve overcrowding at the state’s three largest high schools: Myers Park, Ardrey Kell and South Meck. Each has more than 3,200 students.
Growing area: The new high school is not scheduled to be completed until 2024. The area is continuing to grow: The Waverly and Rea Farms area are continuing to expand, there’s a new 16-story apartment tower under construction on Ballantyne Corporate Place, and the city granted approval for the big Ballantyne Reimagined project just this month. It will eventually have nearly 2,400 apartments and townhouses.
“Ballantyne is not going to stop growing,” said Janelle Clemons, who also serves on the Ardrey Kell and Community House SLTs and has a rising seventh-grader and 10th-grader. She said she was happy there was discussion at last week’s county commission meeting about a middle school in Ballantyne, too.
“The middle school right now, there aren’t any plans,” she said. “We are really hoping that the county and the school district can come together and be creative and help with the middle school.”
Community House is at 154% utilization, the highest in the district, according to CMS figures.
CMS challenged to build: At last week’s commissioners meeting, commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, who represents the area, pressed Superintendent Earnest Winston on the need for a new middle school in Ballantyne: “The thing that I hear most in my district, one of the biggest problems, is middle-school overcrowding. … Can you guys bring a project for a middle school to relieve overcrowding? … How can we address this extreme overcrowding situation we have in the middle schools?”
Winston acknowledged that the needs “are real in terms of overcrowding, particularly in the southern part of the county,” and he suggested that “one of the best ways to address that would be in a future bond.”
Rodriguez-McDowell replied: “I don’t want to wait until the next bond. That feels too far away. What I’m hearing from the residents in District 6 is that we can’t wait that long.”
Winston said CMS is assessing its capital needs and might have other options besides bond money. —TM
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Vermicelli victory: ‘Save Lang Van’ raises $44,000 in 2 days
The call spread on social media starting Friday to try to help Lang Van, Charlotte’s best-known Vietnamese restaurant, which has been struggling financially because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There were Facebook posts and tweets. A Reddit thread. A CharlotteFive article, in which the restaurant’s owner, Dan Nguyen, said: “For the first time in my life, maybe I have no more, nothing.” The eastside restaurant, founded in 1990, doesn’t look like much but regularly lands on local “best of” lists.
By Sunday evening, a GoFundMe page called “Save Lang Van Vietnamese Restaurant” had raised $44,000 from more than 650 donors.
The organizer wrote on the GoFundMe page: “I’m just blown away. We just got back from seeing Dan and everyone at Lang Van. Dan cried, I cried, it was fantastic. … There was a line out the door to get takeout.” —TM
Midtown Target all boarded up
The Target at Midtown, along Kings Drive, was boarded up and closed on Saturday afternoon, apparently because of anticipated protests. That Target took similar steps when protests first started in late May.
Coming Friday, at long last
A Charlotte awards ceremony like you’ve never seen before.
In brief:
Tax money for Quail Hollow? The City Council tonight is scheduled to consider negotiating an agreement with the Quail Hollow Club to provide up to $1.5M in tourism tax money associated with the PGA Championship that the club is scheduled to host in 2025. In the last 16 years, the club has “invested more than $30 million in infrastructure critical to support professional golf tournaments” that have “generated more than $1 billion in economic impact to the Charlotte region,” according to the City Council agenda. Tourism taxes can be used only for projects that promote tourism. (Council agenda)
Overnight shooting: Two people were shot to death and seven others were treated for gunshot wounds early this morning following an “impromptu block party” on Beatties Ford Road. Five others were injured by cars fleeing the scene, which police said was attended by hundreds of people. (WSOC)
License with no driving test: North Carolina 16-year-olds may now receive a temporary driver’s license without taking a driving test, under a new law signed Friday. The DMV stopped offering road tests in March because of the coronavirus. Young drivers still must take a driving course and written test and say they have have completed 60 hours of supervised time behind the wheel. They’ll have to take a driving test when the DMV resumes those, but it’s unclear when that might be. (News & Observer)
Empty rooms: Hotel-room revenues in Mecklenburg County fell 84% in April, compared with a year earlier, according to the county’s latest report on the economy. The plunge follows a 70% drop in March. (Mecklenburg County)
War monument defaced: A World War II monument on Central Avenue was vandalized over the weekend. The memorial at Evergreen Cemetery honored 507 Mecklenburg residents who gave their lives in World War II. It was covered with yellow and red paint and included the communist hammer and sickle symbol. (WBTV)
Double-digit unemployment: North Carolina’s unemployment rate remained at 12.9% in May, the same figure as April, according to figures released Friday. Before the pandemic, in February, the rate was 3.6%. In May, nearly 622,000 state residents were unemployed, compared with 183,000 in February. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Loves me some internet
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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The Charlotte Ledger is an e-newsletter and web site publishing timely, informative, and interesting local business news and analysis Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except holidays and as noted. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire; Reporting intern: David Griffith
News slant is critical in determining reality, thanks for putting the time and effort into both articles. You've generated a new subscriber.
The underlying assumption to the "don't open" article is that government can control the virus. That assumption is false. Many Mecklenburg residents are in South Carolina spending money. The Juneteenth party referenced in another article had an estimated 400 attendees. Also, the article ignores the cost of the shutdown. Trillions stolen from future generations to pay people to not work. Tax revenue to Mecklenburg county is in freefall. Rents in uptown likewise. Meck county will owe Cintra a big chunk of change come the end of the year for lost revenue on the toll lanes. The shutdown cannot be logically defended.