THE CASH STUFF FOR 04-30-20

 STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 04-30-20

FOUR ARRESTED FROM TUESDAY’S REOPEN PROTEST

[RALEIGH] Four participants in Tuesday’s “ReOpenNC” protect in downtown Raleigh, including the cofounder - Ashley Smith, were arrested

and charged with resisting a public officer, and violation of an executive order. One of the other four - Jonathan Warren -  was charged with damage to property after damaging the “ north east gate the executive mansion by pulling on it so violently that it was broken, a police report said, noting that Warren caused the damage by trying to gain access during the demonstration.

Hundreds of predominately white protestors converged on the governor’s mansion, and the legislative building as the new special session began. They want Gov. Cooper to drop his COVID-19 restrictions.

NY TIMES POINTS TO TRIANGLE AS NEXT NATIONAL COVID-19 HOTSPOT

[RALEIGH] According to the New York Times, the Durham-Chapel Hill area ranks high for becoming the next COVID-19 hotspot because it has logged at least 20 COVID-19 deaths. Raleigh is twelfth on the list.

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NCNAACP URGES EXPANSION

OF MEDICAID DURING

SPECIAL GA SESSION

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In an April 28th letter, Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, the president of the NCNAAC, urged Republican legislative leaders of the N.C. General Assembly to use the COVID -19 pandemic crisis to expand Medicaid, and help the needy who are being struck hardest by it.

“You have with your power to immediately allow our widely respected State and County Health Directors to put into effect a Containment strategy, complementing the Mitigation strategy, which has slowed, but not reversed, the ring number of cases and deaths we now experience. With the new Medicaid money released, we can move to a testing and tracing containment policy in the hotspots that are pooping out across the state - nursing homes, prisons, jails, large plants, and other places. This action will give us the ability to truly control the pandemic.”

Spearman’s letter to Senate Majority Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore comes the NC legislature reconvenes in special session this week to consider further measures needed to deal with impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As of this writing, North Carolina had a confirmed over 9,415 cases, with over 336 deaths. At least 39% of those are in the African-American community.

Spearman also expressed concern that if the legislature does expand Medicaid, it would only only be for the duration of the  pandemic, as Speaker Moore has offered.

Gov. Cooper has held fast for expanding Medicaid permanently, even before the COVID-19.

And Dr. Spearman also cautioned how statistics are already showing how disproportionately impactful COVID-19 is being African-Americans.

“Expanding Medicaid now is crucial for the survival of all our state’s citizens,”  Rev. Spearman continued. “Today we have more than a half million neighbors unable to access healthcare, unless they are so sick they need costly emergency care. They are the frontline workers who some call heroes during the pandemic; some call them essential now…”

“Pandemics arise without warning and people need to have the ability to access care in place when they first happen,” rev. Spearman concluded. In that case, the best decision would be to expand Medicaid now.’