LGBTQ+ students at Charlotte-area school may be kicked out + COVID patients in ICUs reaches new high
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Happy Friday Jr., Charlotte. Kristen here. In addition to today almost marking the end of the work week, it’s also National Dog Day! What better way to celebrate than to hit the town with your pup? CharlotteFive’s Melissa Oyler has a roundup here of dog-friendly spots around Charlotte. Will you be taking your dog out to one?
Let’s talk about today’s news:
1. Charlotte-area private school says LGBTQ+ students may be kicked out
Last week, students at Covenant Day School heard about a new policy that targets students and employees who identify as non-binary or transgender, and that defines sexuality outside marriage and same-sex relationships as sins. Employees who break the policy can be fired, the school’s handbook states, and students can face punishment and possibly expulsion.
Current students, alumni, former faculty and others in the community have criticized the policy, saying it’s discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community. A petition online protesting it has more than 1,000 signatures, and an Instagram account featuring student experiences of discrimination was created last week.
Head of Covenant Day School Mark Davis on Thursday didn’t answer questions from the Observer in an interview but spoke to a reporter on the phone and read a statement saying the school “strives to demonstrate, care, consideration and respect for everyone in our community.”
Learn more about the policy with the Observer’s Devna Bose.
2. Today’s COVID news
COVID-19 patients in ICUs reaches pandemic high in NC amid ongoing delta surge by Ben Sessoms
N.C. reported that 883 adults with COVID statewide are being treated in intensive care units as of Thursday.
ICU patients have more than doubled in August.
Cabarrus County issues mask advisory, saying it ‘cannot sustain the rapid rise in cases’ by Alison Kuznitz
Cabarrus residents and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, are now urged to resume wearing masks indoors and in crowded outdoors settings.
This is not a mask mandate, unlike Mecklenburg’s mask requirement that goes into effect Aug. 31.
Atrium Health expands COVID monoclonal antibody treatment sites in Charlotte area by Hannah Smoot
Atrium Health is expanding access to COVID monoclonal antibody treatments in the Charlotte area.
One study showed the treatment could reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 70% or more, according to Atrium.
Find the rest of our coronavirus reporting here.
3. Gas station that went viral for charging $9.99/gallon now faces lawsuit
Back in May, a Charlotte gas station went viral on TikTok for charging a mindboggling $9.99 per gallon during the gas crisis that followed the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and shutdown. Now, it’s being sued by North Carolina.
Details of the suit with the Observer’s Jonathan Limehouse:
According to the lawsuit filed in Wake County on Thursday, Mansa Travel Center Charlotte LLC sold mid-grade and premium gas at “unreasonably excessive prices” despite no material increase in fuel cost.
The prices at the Queen’s Market Exxon Mobil on W. Sugar Creek Road were increased by 278% on or before May 13.
State law prohibits businesses from excessively raising prices during a crisis. That goes into effect when the governor declares a state of emergency, which Gov. Roy Cooper did on May 10.
Charlotte truck driver Clarissa Rankin is named in the lawsuit because of the TikTok she made showing the steep prices.
“I’m proud for my name to be located on there,” Rankin told the Observer Thursday. “This lawsuit is really sending a message to not just one gas station, but to other business owners also. You cannot do wrong by people in such a time of crisis.”
4. Governor signs into law tighter restrictions on child marriage in N.C.
Children under 16 can’t get married anymore in North Carolina.
On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 35 into law, which outlaws the marriage of pregnant 14- and 15-year-olds and bans 16- and 17-year-olds from marrying someone who is four years older than them.
“This legislation is an important step toward ending child marriage in North Carolina and instituting more protections for children,” Cooper said in a written statement. “While it falls short of raising the age of marriage to 18, it will make our state a safer place for children.”
Learn more here with the News & Observer’s Danielle Battaglia.
5. Take a look at the new Carolina Panthers’ training facility
More than two years ago, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper told a Rock Hill crowd that big things were coming. Now, the new Panthers HQ in Rock Hill is underway and visible from a distance.
Though the construction was delayed by COVID — it was originally supposed to open Aug. 2022 — the plan remains to get the team and football operations in the new headquarters for training camp in 2023.
“We’re on a no-fail mission here,” COO of Tepper Sports & Entertainment Mark Hart said. “We’re gonna get here one way or another for training camp 2023.”
The Observer took a tour this week of the construction site 13 months after crews first broke ground. Take a look here with reporter Alaina Getzenberg and photographer Jeff Siner.
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