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OBSERVATIONS
May 21, 2020 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Come on, folks: Let's pull together
and starting wearing those masks!
Earlier this week I was able to make my scheduled semi-annual visit to the dentist. I was lucky my appointment fell a week or so after they re-opened the office after an eight-week shutdown.
They surely take the coronavirus threat much more seriously than most folks out there: We had to wear masks to enter the building, and then our temperature had to be taken before we were admitted into an examining room. (Yes, the mask came off for the cleaning and check-up while the clinicians kept theirs on at all times.)
So why are so many folks defiant about wearing coronavirus face masks in public?
It's not just to protect oneself from others; it's to protect others from ourselves, who may be infected and not even know it.
Governor Cooper said it well during his news conference on Wednesday: "A face covering emphasizes strength and compassion for others."
It's obvious that a lot of the defiance of coronavirus protective orders issued by our governor and others is part of our national political discord, with one side ranting about individual liberties while the other insists on caring for our neighbors.
It might be a stretch, but I see the same mindset at work among those who refuse to wear masks and those who think it's "not cool" to use those turn signals.
Whatever happened to the Golden Rule?
He's concerned about timing of police-pay hike
Smithfield Councilman John Dunn sent the following statement to the Sun to offer a fuller explanation of his lone dissenting vote last week against a plan for higher police pay starting July 1:
My decision to vote against the proposed increase was based on several factors. First, I would like to say that each and every employee of the town is crucial --- particularly the police since they often find themselves in uncertain situations and often, potentially, in harm’s way.
In the current year budget, since we have had vacancies, we are going to be under budget in this expense item. The decision to roll this surplus forward will cover the increase for the upcoming proposed budget should it pass.
My concern is that with the uncertainty that we are now faced with, lost revenue from our portion of the sales tax, potential lost revenue from property-tax collections, potential lost revenue from a decrease from electric and water usage from businesses that may or may not fully recover in the near future, and potential bad debt that may be uncollectable may put us in a economically unpleasant situation.
The expense of roughly $174,000 in salary and benefits is not a one-time thing but recurring. My thought was to try to put this off until a time when we could better assess the situation that the COVID-19 pandemic has put us in.
--- JOHN DUNN, CPA
The Neuse Riverwalk / Buffalo Creek Greenway has been especially busy with bikers and walkers in recent weeks while so many other places were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A river advisory for users of the Greenway
Heavy rainfall expected in our region today (Thursday) has prompted the National Weather Service to project minor flooding of the Neuse River at Smithfield by Friday night. That means the Greenway may be under water below the Girl Scout Hut, beyond the boat ramp, and beneath the Buffalo Road underpass for a day or so.
Here's the link to that official river-depth forecast>
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