By Collin Cunningham
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) Good morning, QCR Readers, and beware the Lake Norman Monster! Whether you believe in urban legends or not, Kiss 95.1 put out a fun list of tales that have allegedly taken place in the Metrolina area. If readers' New Year's resolutions are to get out more, searching for secret tunnels in Uptown could be their ticket.
Also shocking is the story of a Mooresville student who left school in an ambulance on Wednesday after being shocked by a downed power line. Again concerning schools, it is Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is exploring remote learning options amid COVID-19 and transportation difficulties.
StarMed Healthcare paused operations at one of its COVID-19 testing sites Wednesday after a man pulled a gun on workers. And today is the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Roundup will tell you which North Carolinians face charges for their involvement and how an event today hopes to capitalize on the Capitol conundrum.
It is Thursday, Jan. 6, and here's what every resident of the Queen City needs to know until tomorrow.
1. Downed power line burns Mooresville student
What happened: Around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, a student of Mooresville Graded School District touched a downed powerline and had to go to a nearby hospital with burn injuries. The district did not release any details about the student, but the electrical wire had been located on private property next to the grades four to six school.
After touching the live wire, Iredell County EMS crews transported the student from Mooresville Intermediate School at 1438 Coddle Creek Hwy to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville. From there, WBTV reports a helicopter flew the student to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. The student remained conscious during his trip to the hospital.
Why it matters: The power line fell during Monday's storms, when wind gusts reached up to 55 mph and caused around 59,000 people in the Charlotte area to lose power, per WCNC. The storms also took out a storage building in Mooresville.
In other news related to Charlotte-area schools...
2. CMS considering remote learning while dealing with transportation delays
What happened: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students are currently on their third day back to in-person learning after a three-week winter break, and the district says it's having issues getting students to school due to transportation delays. In response to the bus issues and the continuing spread of COVID-19, the district told WBTV that it is considering "a transition to remote learning on a class-by-class, grade-by-grade and school-by-school basis."
Why it matters: CMS is hamstrung from shifting to fully remote learning as it did during semesters in 2020 and 2021 due to Senate Bill 654. Signed by Gov. Roy Cooper in August of 2021, the legislation prevents North Carolina school districts from making schoolwide transitions to remote learning. That could be a hindrance to districts like CMS, which hosts more than 140,000 students.
3. The Man With the Dogs: StarMed halts South Boulevard COVID-19 testing after man threatens employees
StarMed Healthcare shut down its South Boulevard COVID-19 testing site early on Wednesday, but not because of long lines. Around 9:45 a.m., Charlotte police say a man who lived near the test site approached StarMed employees with two dogs and a shotgun and began issuing threats. Officers responded to the scene but did not arrest anyone.
StarMed representative Chris Dobbins later tweeted that the site near Arrowood road would suspend operations until the company could find National Guard members or some other form of external security to assist.
4. 1 year since Jan. 6: What role did North Carolinians play in the attack on the US Capitol?
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which saw droves of Donald Trump supporters congregate, break windows and forcefully enter the Senate Chamber in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.
Some of those supporters are North Carolinians, and 365 days after the attack over a dozen have been charged. The following Tar Heel State residents played roles in the attack and face consequences for their involvement:
- Stephen Baker of Garner — Faces charges of unlawful entry in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building
- Aiden Bilyard of Cary — Faces charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
- James Grant of Cary — assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury
- Lewis Cantwell of Sylva — Faces charges of civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a capitol building and grounds; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building
- Charles Donohoe of Kernersville — Faces charges of conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Laura Steele of Kernersville — Faces charges of charged with conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; tampering with documents or proceedings
- Edward George of Fayetteville — Faces charges of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and theft of government property, aiding and abetting
- Johnny Harris of Shelby — Faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on capitol grounds; engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct on the capitol buildings or grounds; parading, demonstrating or picketing in the capitol buildings
- Stephen Horn of Wake Forest — Faces charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building
- James Little of Claremont — Faces a single count of "parading, demonstrating or picketing" in a capitol building
- Grayson Sherill of Cherryville — Faces charges of assaulting a police officer
- Christopher Spencer and Virginia "Jenny" Spencer of Winston-Salem — Face counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a capitol building
- Matthew Wood of Winston-Salem — Faces charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
Meanwhile, in North Carolina's capital, community organizers are holding events at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. today, according to WRAL. The events will simultaneously reflect on the attack that killed five people and examine what lessons can be learned from it.
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Mooresville, continued: In other news concerning Mooresville Graded School District, anyone who enters a district building will have to be wearing a mask while they do it after the MGSD board voted on the matter at an emergency meeting on Tuesday, according to WSOC.
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