Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: Schools Draw Up COVID Plans; Business Reopenings Delayed Again

Parents, students and teachers got the word they had been waiting on for weeks: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will begin the upcoming school year in the classroom then switch to all-remote learning.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state’s public school systems can reopen with a hybrid of in-person and remote teaching, while South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the state’s public school teachers are at odds over McMaster’s reopening plan for schools.

The reopening of North Carolina’s economy will stay in Phase 2 for the time being as coronavirus hospitalizations continue to set records. The head of the CDC, Robert Redfield, came to Charlotte to make the case for mask-wearing, saying that masks could “drive this epidemic to the ground” within two months.

For the first time since the financial crisis, Wells Fargo ended a quarter in the red, and said deep cuts – including layoffs – were on the table as a result.

The Local News Roundup has more on those and other stories.

GUEST HOST

Erik Spanberg, Charlotte Business Journal managing editor (@CBJSpanberg)

GUESTS

David Boraks, WFAE reporter (@davidboraks)

Mary C. Curtis, Roll Call columnist, WCCB News analyst (@mcurtisnc3)

Jonathan Lowe, Spectrum News 1 anchor and reporter (@JonathanUpdates)

Annie Ma, Charlotte Observer education reporter (@anniema15)

Mary C. Curtis: NC Schools Will Reopen in August

CHARLOTTE, NC – Governor Roy Cooper announced North Carolina schools will reopen in August. Political contributor Mary C. Curtis has a breakdown of the governor’s plan.

POLITICAL WRAP: Coronavirus Mask Mandate; Presidential Poll Numbers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The debate over a mask mandate, just one part of how the coronavirus pandemic is becoming increasingly political.

Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis has more on the recent spike in cases we’re seeing in the South, and the strategies for the presidential campaigns, as we move closer to November.

POLITICAL WRAP: Confederate Monument Controversy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Trump is speaking out about the removal of monuments.

“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments,” the President said during a rally on Saturday night.

It comes as Governor Roy Cooper orders the removal of Confederate monuments in Raleigh, citing public safety concerns.

Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis has more on the debate surrounding monuments and other Confederate symbols.

A mercurial Trump foils Charlotte’s best-laid RNC plans, probably

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, especially for a city that wants to be world class. Charlotte would join that list of cities to have hosted both Democratic and Republican national conventions. Its hotels and restaurants and streets would be bustling. Its arena would be filled with crowds, greeting the acceptance speech of repeat GOP standard-bearer Donald Trump, guaranteed grabber of headlines (and other things, as the Access Hollywood video attests).

And the world would be watching.

Well, the world is watching, all right, as what was a somewhat grudging but eventually accommodating relationship has deteriorated into sniping and bickering, with a nasty split on the horizon.

As usual, the catalyst for the acrimony was Trump himself.

Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: Charlotte Protests, CMPD Response; RNC May Leave Charlotte

Charlotte has faced several days of protests, both peaceful and violent, after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. The protests have involved clashes with CMPD and many complaints about how the police have handled the protesters, but several police officers hope to have constructive conversation with the protesters. Thousands have hit the streets of Charlotte to protest, from Beatties Ford Road to uptown to Myers Park. We’ll talk through the demonstrations, the protesters, the chaos and the police response.

President Trump and the Republican National Committee are exploring other cities to hold the RNC this year, after Trump said this week that he’d move the convention out of Charlotte. We’ll talk about Gov. Roy Cooper’s negotiations with the RNC about having a safe convention in the midst of the pandemic and what options there still are to hold a part of the convention in the city.

We’ll give the latest on the coronavirus, as officials worry that the protests in Charlotte and the recent Phase 2 opening will result in a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Plus, we’ll have an update on the Mecklenburg County budget, which was approved this week, forcing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. We’ll have more on the discussions at that meeting as well.

Guests:

Erik Spanberg, managing editor at the Charlotte Business Journal

Glenn Burkins, founder and publisher of QCityMetro.com 

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com and WCCB 

Ann Doss HelmsWFAE education reporter

Mary C. Curtis: Pres. Trump Moving RNC From Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC — President Donald Trump says the Republican National Convention will be looking for another host for its convention in late August.

Governor Roy Cooper isn’t planning to ease social distancing guidelines for a full-scale convention.

Here’s our political contributor Mary C. Curtis with the latest on the controversy.

Mary C. Curtis: Pres. Trump Demands Answer From Cooper on RNC

CHARLOTTE, NC — President Trump says governor Roy Cooper has about a week to decide on whether the Republican National Convention can be at full capacity in August.

Gov. Cooper says he supports having the convention in North Carolina but he has to put the health and safety of citizens first.

Here’s our political contributor Mary C. Curtis.

POLITICAL WRAP: Phase II Reopening; RNC Planning

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Phase II of reopening is underway in North Carolina. It comes as coronavirus cases are increasing, but so is testing.

We’re taking a closer look at how things are playing out.

And we’re following the latest on the Republican National Convention in Charlotte. Will it move toward virtual events?

And how will things play out among President Trump, Governor Cooper, and Mayor Lyles?

Our political contributor, Mary C. Curtis, has more in the video above.

Mary C. Curtis: Dr. Fauci, Other Experts Testify on Pandemic Response, Gov. Cooper Calls for More Testing in NC

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The nation’s top health experts issue a warning on the coronavirus pandemic.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, was one of four top health experts who testified virtually before a Senate committee on Tuesday, where he others were pressed on whether the country is ready to reopen.

Meantime, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is calling for more testing as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.

WCCB Political Contributor, Mary. C Curtis has the latest in the fight against coronavirus.