Cohen tells Union County schools to rescind policy + Why this Charlotte-area restaurant is raising its prices

Happy Friday Eve, Charlotte! This is Caroline, taking over for Kristen to give you today’s Afternoon Observer. Let’s get into today’s top stories.

1. Cohen tells Union school board to follow COVID requirements or face possible legal action

Dr. Mandy Cohen of N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told the Union County School Board yesterday that failing to follow required policies may result in legal action.

In Cohen’s letter, she urged the board to follow required policies for quarantining, isolating and excluding students, teachers and staff who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to COVID-19.

Not following the rules poses “an imminent hazard to public health,” Cohen wrote to UCPS Board of Education Chairperson Melissa Merrell.

Read more in Anna Maria Della Costa’s article here.

2. This Charlotte-area restaurant is raising prices — and giving the money to its staff

Do you frequent Loyalist Market? Starting next week, the Charlotte-area restaurant is raising prices on its prepared food by $1 per item. But higher food costs aren’t to blame — the money is going to straight to its staff.

Founder Christopher Sottile announced the market and restaurant’s first ever across-the-board price increase in a video on Instagram, saying: “I feel very confident that as you learn more about the why about what we’re doing, not only will you appreciate what I’m trying to accomplish, but you’ll be willing to back it because of the reasons for it.”

Full time employees at the market known for its high-end cheeses and meats make $15/hour. But that “pretty much scrapes the bottom of what a true living wage means,” Sottile said. “Our people deserve more.”

What’s changing?

• Prices on retail charcuterie and cheese won’t increase. Beer and wine won’t either. But each item on the menu of sandwiches, salads and cheese and charcuterie boards will go up by $1.

• Sottile said the change will bring in an estimated $45,000 in revenue, all for his staff.

• Every full time employee will get the equivalent of a $2 per hour raise, and every part-time employee will get a $1 per hour raise.

Due to the changing restaurant industry, the founder said that the adaptations have become necessary to stay in business.

“The places that don’t are going to die,” Sottile said. “This industry is broken.”

To learn more about what to expect the next time you visit Loyalist Market, read Heidi Finley’s article here.

3. Despite teacher’s death, a school board near Charlotte makes masks optional again

Despite a high countywide COVID-19 positivity rate and the death of a beloved teacher and pastor the night before, Lincoln County Schools became the first Charlotte-area school system to make masks optional again.

What to know:

• In a 4-3 vote, board members also agreed to end most quarantining of students and staff, according to a Charlotte Observer review of a recording of the meeting on the school system’s YouTube channel.

• Contact tracing will remain the responsibility of the county health department, board members said at the meeting.

• Lincoln rejoins Union County as one of the few N.C. school districts where masks will be optional.

• Lincoln County will switch back on Sept. 29, the board voted Tuesday.

Learn more in Joe Marusak’s article here.

4. This road near Charlotte got new lanes months ago. Why do barrels still block drivers?

A $15.3 million road widening near Charlotte appeared to be finished months ago, yet orange barrels still blocked drivers from using the new lanes this week. What gives?

The details:

• Blythe Construction Inc. of Charlotte widened the 1.3-mile stretch of N.C. 273 (South Main Street) in the Gaston County city of Mount Holly to four lanes with a divided median.

• The stretch runs from Tuckaseegee Road at Beatty Drive to Highland Street at A & E Drive.

• The project will relieve congestion and reduce the number of crashes through the downtown area, the N.C. Department of Transportation reported on the N.C. 273 widening project page in 2012.

• From March 2008 to March 2011, some 81 crashes occurred along the stretch, although none fatal, according to NCDOT data on the project page.

• In a July 2017 news release updating plans for the work, NCDOT wrote: “Drivers in Gaston County will soon see improvements” along the stretch.

The barrels from the project have even prompted wisecracks on the private Mount Holly Town Talk Facebook page, where one group member joked, “Slide to the Left, cha cha — slide to the Right, cha cha — everybody lane change.”

So, when will the new lanes finally open to traffic? And when will the barricades finally disappear? The Observer’s Joe Marusak reports on the latest from NCDOT here.

5. Panthers won’t commit to chanting ‘Keep Pounding!’ Shout it loud, and they’ll have to

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. And you don’t mess around with Sam, or with the “Keep Pounding” chant, the Observer’s Scott Fowler writes.

The Carolina Panthers must return to issuing a prompt every week — from now until forever — to guide their fans into all chanting “Keep” and “Pounding” together, Fowler says.

So, why was there no stadium-wide “Keep Pounding” chant during the season opener in Charlotte on Sunday against the New York Jets? Read more details in Fowler’s article here.

Quick programming note: This newsletter is taking the day off this Friday! We won’t see you in your inbox tomorrow, but we’ll be back at it with the day’s top news on Monday. See y’all then.

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