Marcie Rudzinski of the Virtual Academy after spelling the final word “primordial” winning the Randolph County Schools Spelling Bee at Randleman Elementary school in Randleman on February 15th, 2022. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
RANDLEMAN — Maycie Rudzinski of The Virtual Academy at Randolph was the winner of Randolph County School System’s District Spelling Bell on Tuesday at Randleman Middle School.
Rudzinski, a seventh-grader, emerged from a field of 25 entrants.
She spelled “primordial” – meaning existing at or from the beginning of time — correctly to clinch the victory.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Rudzinski said of winning and the opportunity to advance to a regional round.
One student participated from each elementary and middle school in the district, according to information from Larry Chappell, director of instructional support services for the Randolph County School System. Chappell is the spelling bee’s facilitator.
Justine Carter, principal of The Virtual Academy, said: “We are so proud of Maycie. She is a very bright young lady.”
Carter said Rudzinski is an aspiring writer. Her teachers have described her as a student “always knows background information on the subject, and is always willing to share that information with her teachers and her peers.”
The Virtual Academy at Randolph was added within the RCSS for this school year to provide an option for students in grades K-8. Rudzinski previously attended Randleman Middle School.
“This type of learning environment has been very beneficial to students like Maycie, who are critical thinkers and independent and driver learners who rigorously question and analyze their education,” according to information Carter gathered from teachers at the academy.
The runners-up were Gavin Black of Trinity Elementary School, Kylie Staples of Southmont Elementary School, Leona Johnston-Oliveau of Liberty Elementary School and Ben Barr of Hopewell Elementary School.
This was a preliminary competition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Rudzinski advances to the Carolina Panthers Regional Spelling Bee, which is presented by Bank of America, to be held March 13 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
BUFFALO, W.Va. — Toyota Motor Corp. announced Friday that it will further expand production of electric vehicle parts at plants in West Virginia and Tennessee in a $90 million investment.
The announcement comes three months after the Japanese automaker said it would invest $240 million to add a production line dedicated to hybrid powertrains at its facility in Buffalo, West Virginia. The latest upgrade involves spending $73 million at the plant to annually assemble an estimated 120,000 rear motor stators, a key component in electric motors.
“Toyota is moving quickly toward an electrified future, and West Virginia will play a critical role in that journey,” David Rosier, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, said in a statement. “Our team embraces this challenge, and it’s clear Toyota has faith in our ability and trusts us to take the company to new heights.”
A year ago Toyota invested $210 million at the Buffalo plant and added 100 new jobs to expand capacity of its four- and six-cylinder engine lines. The plant employs about 2,000 workers.
Toyota also said Friday that it will spend $17 million to increase the production capacity for hybrid transaxle cases and housings at its nearly 400-worker facility in Jackson, Tennessee.
The automaker said it is committed to offering electric vehicles across its lineup of Toyota and Lexus vehicles by 2025.
PINEHURST — Citizen groups across the globe are protesting vaccine mandates as vaccine effectiveness against new variants of the COVID-19 virus has waned and Americans who are vaccinated are not showing high demand for boosters. On January 23, tens of thousands of people rallied on the National Mall to oppose government vaccine requirements.
Mitch Lancaster, a Moore County resident and former Southern Pines councilman, was one of the attendees from across the country to attend the event.
Rally attendees on the National Mall (L-R) Phil and Linda Vandercook, Lydia Boesch, Mitch Lancaster, John Boesch and Janice Cantelou. (Contributed Photo)
“I was thoroughly impressed with the doctors, their speeches and their commitment to the patient/doctor relationship. These men and women have taken a stand for truth and freedom and it was very inspiring,” said Lancaster.
During one of the speeches, Lancaster said he was heartbroken hearing from those who suffered an injury from the vaccine and how the federal government was “hanging those folks out to dry.”
“They were encouraged to take a shot that has injured them and now they are faced with medical expenses and hardship for who knows how long,” said Lancaster, who added that a group was formed to help those who have suffered from adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.
“Overall it was great to see so many people, from all walks of life, committed to defeating these harmful mandates and fighting to restore our God-given freedoms,” he added.
Attendees gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 23 at a rally opposing government vaccine mandates. (Contributed Photo)
Protests, such as the one in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23, have sprung up around the world in response to government mandates.
In early November, the Biden administration announced a vaccine-or-test mandate for companies with at least 100 employees. The rule — which would have impacted more than 80 million U.S. workers — was originally set to go into effect on Jan. 4.
“The goal is to show a unified front of bringing people together — vaccinated, unvaccinated, Democrats, Republicans, all together in solidarity,” Matt Tune, one of the national protest organizers, told the Washington Post in an interview before the event.
Opposition to required vaccination is rising as the omicron variant of COVID-19 has become the dominant strain of the virus globally. Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a “fireside chat” with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on January 11 that omicron “will ultimately find just about everybody.”
Demonstrations in European cities such as Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris, and Stockholm each drew thousands, according to an Associated Press rundown of the protests.
The protests follow several defeats for the mandates in U.S. courtrooms.
Most notably, President Joe Biden’s mandate for employers with 100 or more employees to require COVID-19 vaccinations was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Following that decision many companies which had announced they were complying with the Biden administration’s order backtracked from their requirements.
The Biden administration has officially withdrawn a rule that would have required workers at big companies to get vaccinated or face regular COVID testing requirements.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed the withdrawal Tuesday. But the agency said it still strongly encourages workers to get vaccinated.
U.S. corporations have been split over whether to mandate employee vaccinations. United Airlines began requiring vaccines in August; the company says 99% of its workers have been vaccinated or have requested medical or religious exemptions. Tyson Foods, which also announced a mandate in August, says 96% of its workers were vaccinated by a Nov. 1 deadline.
But other big businesses, including Starbucks and General Electric, scrapped previously announced vaccine mandates for their employees after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
OSHA indicated that the rule could return in some form. While it is no longer an enforceable standard, it remains a proposed rule, OSHA said. For now, the agency said it will prioritize the health care mandate.
David Michaels, an epidemiologist and former OSHA administrator who now teaches at The George Washington University, said the agency could consider a new rule that would include other measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces, such as requiring face masks, distancing, and better ventilation systems.
Across the border in Canada, truckers have recently protested a Canadian government rule that imposes a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers. Truckers, with horns blaring, blocked the downtown of the Canadian capital Ottawa over the weekend and protestors blocked a border crossing in southern Alberta.
In this Jan. 14, 2009 photo, Bob Snyder, also known as Pineland Bob, right, maps out a transportation plan with a soldier during the Special Forces’ Robin Sage exercise in Ramseur, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
RALEIGH — Special Forces candidates will participate in a two-week training exercise across 25 North Carolina counties this week, a news release from the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School says. The participants are students at Fort Bragg.
Robin Sage is the culmination exercise and has been the litmus test for Soldiers striving to earn the Green Beret for more than 40 years.
Special Forces candidates patrol through a wooded area during the final phase of field training known as Robin Sage in central North Carolina, July 9, 2019. (Ken Kassens/U.S. Army via AP)
“We appreciate the support and consideration the citizens of North Carolina extend to the soldiers participating in the exercise and thank them for their understanding of any inconveniences the training may cause,” the news release states.
The exercise is the final test for soldiers going through the Special Forces Qualification Course.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially go online.
The website, COVIDTests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to access an order form run by the U.S. Postal Service. People can order four at-home tests per residential address, to be delivered by the Postal Service. It marks the latest step by President Joe Biden to address criticism of low inventory and long lines for testing during a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the website was in “beta testing” and operating at a “limited capacity” ahead of its official launch. The website will officially launch mid-morning Wednesday, Psaki said.
There were isolated reports Tuesday afternoon of issues relating to the website’s address verification tool erroneously enforcing the four-per-household cap on apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings, but it was not immediately clear how widespread the issue was.
At points Tuesday more than 750,000 people were accessing the website at the same time, according to public government tracking data, but it was not immediately known how many orders were placed.
She added that the administration was anticipating a “bug or two,” but had IT experts from across the government working to get the site ready.
Biden announced last month that the U.S. would purchase 500 million at-home tests to launch the program and on Thursday the president announced that he was doubling the order to 1 billion tests.
But Americans shouldn’t expect a rapid turnaround on the orders and they will have to plan ahead and request the tests well before they meet federal guidelines for when to use a test.
The White House said “tests will typically ship within 7- 12 days of ordering” through USPS, which reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States.
Officials emphasized that the federal website is just one way for people to procure COVID-19 tests, and shortages of at-home test kits have shown signs of easing as more supply has hit the market.
Since Saturday, private insurance companies have been required to cover the cost of at-home rapid tests, allowing Americans to be reimbursed for tests they purchase at pharmacies and online retailers. That covers up to eight tests per month.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for COVID-19 and “is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home,” her office said in a statement Sunday evening.
The Democratic congresswoman’s office said Ocasio-Cortez received a booster shot last fall.
With the nation dealing with another surge of the virus since the emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant, numerous members of Congress have reported breakthrough cases despite being fully vaccinated and boosted.
ASHEBORO — This week’s meeting of the Randolph County Board of Elections was canceled after the recent rescheduling of 2022 primaries in the state.
Melissa Johnson, who’s director of the Randolph County Board of Elections, sent a notice announcing the cancellation of Tuesday’s meeting. The next meeting of the board is set for 5 p.m. Jan. 11.
Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court suspended candidate filing for all offices for the 2022 primary election. This included municipal contests.
In doing so, the North Carolina Supreme Court pushed back the date of the primary from March 8 to May 17.
For any candidate whose filing has been accepted by the State Board of Elections or any county board of elections, that candidate “will be deemed to have filed for the same office” in the May primary, subject to any court rulings that would impact that candidate’s eligibility, according to the Supreme Court order.
Those candidates would be able to withdraw their candidacy during the new filing period. Any individual who withdraws their candidacy is free to file for any other office for which they are eligible during the reopened filing period.
ASHEBORO — Rep. Allen McNeill (R-Randolph) announced last week that he won’t seek re-election for another term in N.C. House in 2022. McNeill is in his fifth full term in the House after replacing long-time Randolph County representative and former Speaker of the House, Harold Brubaker.
Neal Jackson, pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Bennet, announced last week that he would run as a Republican to replace McNeill.
RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly wrapped up late Monday nearly all of its work for the calendar year, although vetoes, redistricting rulings or other items could bring lawmakers back to Raleigh for more activity within weeks.
The session, which began the session in January, ended with votes on more than a dozen measures before members of the House and Senate left Raleigh.
One bill heading for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk — that sources say he is likely to veto — would prohibit election boards and officials in counties from accepting private money to run elections, which happened in 2020. It was approved on a party-line vote with Democrats opposing the bill. Another measure receiving final approval — spurred on by a stinging state audit last year of Rocky Mount’s finances — places new conflict-of-interest rules upon local government officials across the state, subjecting them to possible felonies when personal financial gain is the result.
The approval of a 35-page measure making mostly technical changes to the new state budget sets aside another $107 million for Piedmont Triad International Airport improvements should an airplane manufacturer choose to expand in Guilford County. The company isn’t identified in the bill text, but one legislator referred to it as “Project Thunderbird.”
Another finalized bill likely to get scrutiny from Cooper in part would prohibit local governments from barring a type of energy service based on the fuel type — such as natural gas, for example.
After Monday, the legislature will hold no-vote meetings until Dec. 10 — a parliamentary maneuver designed to limit Cooper’s time to act on legislation to no more than 10 days.
Then lawmakers could return starting Dec. 30 for limited purposes, such as veto overrides, votes on last-minute negotiated measures between the two chambers and to address bills that are related to redistricting. But legislative leaders said any necessary actions are unlikely to occur until early January 2022.
This year’s session, which began in earnest on Jan. 27, marks the second longest uninterrupted annual session since at least 1965, when calculated by the number of days lawmakers hold chamber floor meetings, according to legislative data.
The longest was in 2001. This year, COVID-19 precautions and aid, a later tax filing deadline and a massive revenue surplus all combined with redistricting to extend the session into the late fall.
Randolph County’s legislative delegation had a busy session. Rep. Pat Hurley (R-Randolph) is the senior member of the delegation. She sponsored 78 bills during the long session, serving as a primary sponsor on 29 bills and the lead sponsor on eight. Eighteen of her bills were passed by both chambers with 17 of those bills becoming law. The final bill, one regarding UNC System requests and COVID policies, is pending action by a conference committee of House and Senate members.
Rep. Allen McNeill (R-Randolph) sponsored the most bills from the Randolph delegation with 102 bills. He was a primary sponsor on 48 bills and the lead sponsor on 18. Twenty of McNeill’s bills became law.
Sen. David Craven (R-Randolph) is serving his first full term in the state Senate. He sponsored 52 bills in the upper chamber serving as a primary sponsor on 19 bills and the lead sponsor on five. Nine bills he sponsored are now law with one additional bill awaiting a conference committee vote. Craven’s bill allowing community colleges to determine eligibility for in-state tuition for recent high school graduates was signed by Roy Cooper marking his first lead-sponsorship of an enacted law.
At the state level, the session was marked by the first comprehensive budget bill that Cooper agreed to sign into law since he took office in 2017, and the first enacted in over three years. There was no such budget approved in 2019 because of a stalemate between the governor and GOP legislative leaders.
The enacted budget included billions of dollars for COVID-19 relief and recovery funds. The bill also included significant income tax cuts for individuals and businesses; average 5% raises for teachers over two years and bonuses of up to $2,800; and 5% raises and bonuses over two years for most rank-and-file state employees.
Republicans gained leverage over Cooper in the budget talks as several Democrats seemed willing to join the GOP in overriding any vetoed budget. Still, Cooper continued to use his veto stamp effectively, given that Republicans lack veto-proof majorities. None of his 12 vetoes this year have been overridden.
Debate on some high-profile bills that idled this year — including those that would authorize sports gambling in North Carolina and legalize marijuana for medical use — could resurface when lawmakers go back to work in 2022.
RALEIGH — The recently passed state budget was the first to be enacted in a span of over three years and marked the only budget bill signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
The two-year state budget passed the state House with a vote of 104-10 and in the State Senate 41-7. Both of those vote totals would have been more than enough to overcome a gubernatorial veto.
The Randolph County’s three primary representatives in Raleigh — Rep. Pat Hurley, Rep. Allen McNeill, and Sen. David Craven — all have seats on budgetary committees in the legislature.
Hurley and McNeill both serve as vice chairs of the full appropriations committee in the House with Hurley chairing the subcommittee on Education funding and McNeill chairing the subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety funding. Craven, in his first full term in the Senate, serves on the appropriations subcommittee on Education/Higher Education.
Last week, the three members issued a joint release touting the impacts of the state budget on Randolph County and the state. The group called the budget “historic” and highlighted “four critical areas: education, healthcare, infrastructure, and savings.”
According to legislative researchers, the budget includes the most money ever spent on education. The county delegation also said the budget puts North Carolina “in a stronger position to serve its citizens, secure its future, and compete globally.”
In Randolph County, one area related to global competition in the 1,825-acre megasite in the Northwest corner of the county.
The state budget includes $320 million for the site. Included in those funds is more than $5 million for
Randolph Community College.
While the budget does not disclose which company might be moving to the megasite, it allocates $135 million to fund the new tenant. Bloomberg reported Friday that Toyota was the likely company and that the automaker would partner with Panasonic to build batteries in Randolph County.
Economic development projects of this size are typically kept secret until certain commitments and votes can be held at the state and local levels. The next scheduled meeting of the board of county commissioners is Dec. 6.
In addition to the megasite, the budget also includes $75 million in funding for the North Carolina Zoo’s long-planned Asia/Australia exhibits. The budget also includes $5 million to expand the zoo’s parking areas and to replaces the trams.
The state budget also includes $16 million in funding for a “Randolph County Farm, Food, and Family Education Center.” According to the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, the center would be an agriculture center funded by the American Rescue Plan Act funds. In an August release in support of the funding, the extension service called the facility a hub for agriculture education.
Some of the largest line items included $6 million for water and sewer improvements in Trinity, $1.9 million for a third fire station in Asheboro, $1.5 million for the Acme-McCrary Textile Mill, $1.5 million for Asheboro downtown facilities, and $1.3 million for the Luck’s Cannery Project in Seagrove.
The towns of Archdale, Liberty, Ramseur, and Randleman also received funding for various projects. The state budget also includes policy provisions, and Randolph County is affected directly by two provisions. The budget authorizes the City of Asheboro and Randolph County to establish a joint airport authority at the Asheboro Airport. The budget also exempts Randolph Hospital from the certificate of need laws to allow it to establish behavioral health beds.
