A Week in the Life: Here’s What’s Happened Since the INDY Went to Press Last Week

Tues., May 26 

• Barnhill Contracting Company, which frequently does business with the city of Raleigh and other local governments, announced that it hired a new head of Triangle business development—MARY-ANN BALDWIN, who happens to be the mayor of Raleigh. 
• Amid mounting complaints, Governor Cooper replaced LOCKHART TAYLOR as head of the state’s unemployment office. Former lawmaker Pryor Gibson took over. 
• The Department of Justice informed defense attorneys for Senators Dianne Feinstein, James Inhofe, and Kelly Loeffler that it was no longer pursuing investigations into possible insider stock trading. It pointedly did not tell SENATOR RICHARD BURR the same. 
• Eleven inmates at the BUTNER CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX filed a lawsuit alleging that prison leaders’ “deliberate indifference” had led to a COVID-19 outbreak. They asked to be released, saying that only reducing the prison population could make the complex safer. 

Wed., May 27

• A group of GYM OWNERS filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that they should not be excluded from phase 2 of Governor Cooper’s reopening plan. 

Thurs., May 28

• NORTH CAROLINA BAR OWNERS announced that they planned to sue over being left out of phase 2 of Governor Cooper’s reopening plan. 
• Both houses of the GENERAL ASSEMBLY passed a bill that would allow bars to reopen with outdoor seating. 
• COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS in North Carolina reached a record high for the second straight day.
• National Republicans gave Cooper an ULTIMATUM: Approve their plans for a full-attendance Charlotte convention by June 3 or they’ll go somewhere else. 
• The state House passed a bill to expand access to VOTING BY MAIL. 

Fri., May 29

• BAR OWNERS backed off their lawsuit threat—for now—after Cooper agreed to meet with them. 
• Governor Cooper told national Republicans he needs more details on the party’s plans for its CHARLOTTE CONVENTION before he can approve it. 

Sat., May 30

• MORE THAN 300 DEMONSTRATORS rallied in downtown Durham to demand justice for George Floyd, the Black man killed by a white Minneapolis cop. The protest was powerful while still—because of the cooperation of the Durham Police Department—remaining relatively calm.  
• A peaceful demonstration against police brutality in downtown Raleigh turned chaotic after POLICE DISPENSED TEAR GAS and looters and vandals began smashing storefront windows and setting fires. Police made 12 arrests.  

Sun., May 31

• Governor Cooper said that he had called in the NATIONAL GUARD in cities that had requested it—Raleigh and Charlotte—in the aftermath of Saturday’s riots. 
• PROTESTERS AND POLICE clashed in downtown Raleigh for the second straight night, with police shooting tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds of demonstrators, often without provocation.

Mon., June 1

• SENATE LEADER PHIL BERGER said the protests of police brutality look “more and more like organized domestic terrorism.”
• After two nights of unrest in Raleigh, MAYOR BALDWIN enacted a curfew. 

Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at jbillman@indyweek.com. 

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