NC COVID METRICS CONTINUE DOWNWARD TREND, LESS THAN 1,000 HOSPITALIZED: At least 989,338 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 12,862 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,501 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up from 1,394 reported the day before. At least 926 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Friday, a slight increase from 925 the day before. As of Wednesday, the latest day for which data is available, 3.8% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Roughly 51% of adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 45.9% are fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article251459833.html

HENRY MCCOLLUM AND LEON BROWN AWARDED $84 MILLION FOR WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT: An eight-person jury awarded McCollum and Brown $31 million each in compensatory damages — $1 million for every year they spent in prison after they were wrongfully convicted, twice, of the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Red Springs. McCollum and Brown, both intellectually-disabled with IQs in the 50s, were teenagers when they were charged after they signed confessions they insisted they didn’t understand. The jury also awarded them $13 million in punitive damages after the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, one of the defendants named in the civil suit, settled its part of the case earlier on Friday for $9 million. The judgment on Friday came against former SBI agents Leroy Allen and Kenneth Snead, both of whom were part of the original investigation in 1983 that led to McCollum and Brown’s convictions.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article251411148.html

BILL RAISING LEGAL MARRIAGE AGE FROM 14 TO 16 PASSES UNANIMOUSLY: Fourteen- and 15-year-olds would no longer be allowed to marry in North Carolina under a bill the state Senate unanimously adopted on Wednesday. North Carolina has the lowest minimum marriage age in the country at just 14. Sen. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, initially pushed to raise the marrying age to 18, saying she found that most child marriages involve abuse and poverty and end in divorce. But she backed off after hearing from people who said their mothers or grandmothers had married at younger ages and had happy, if difficult, lives. The International Center for Research on Women reviewed marriage license applications in 50 North Carolina counties from 2000 to 2019 and found more than 4,000 minors had applied to be married during that time.
https://www.wral.com/senate-oks-raising-legal-age-to-marry-in-nc-from-14-to-16/19674831/

REPUBLICANS WANT TO CONCEAL-CARRY IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Three unidentified Council members and “many” House members requested the permit exemptions, according to the chief bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell of Beaufort County. Kidwell said he's received death threats in the past, and expects other colleagues have as well. Another co-sponsor, GOP Rep. Mike Clampitt of Swain County, said he wore a bulletproof vest on the campaign trail last fall. Bill opponents focused on the portion of the measure that would allow for armed legislators in their offices, committee rooms and on the House and Senate chamber floors. The legislative complex has undergone significant security upgrades in the past three years, with the installation of metal detectors at the main entrances and ID badges for legislators, staff and news media. “We just spent untold dollars protecting our means of ingress and egress. And we have a robust police force," said Rep. Deb Butler, a New Hanover County Democrat. “I just think that this is just a terrible idea.”
https://www.wral.com/nc-bill-exempts-lawmakers-others-from-concealed-gun-limits/19671246/

EXPAND VOTING OPPORTUNITIES, DON'T LIMIT THEM: Current state law requires any mail-in ballots to be postmarked on Election Day AND be received by the local board of elections within three days – unless they are sent from those in the military service or overseas. Now, the folks who run the legislature noticed that 45% of the nearly 1.1 million North Carolinians who voted by mail were Democrats compared to a mere 21% being Republicans. Now they want to command that ALL mail-in ballots must be received ON election day. The impact would be significant. They really think they’d be curtailing Democratic votes. But the reality is that there’s no telling which voters cast ballots when. There is no reason to set this date other than to deny some voters a chance to cast ballots. Votes aren’t officially counted for several days after Election Day – with the official canvass. The REAL votes for president aren’t cast until the Electoral College meets on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, as set by federal law.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-expand-voting-opportunities-don-t-limit-them/19664866/