Robert “Luke” Queen and four other Republicans won the 2020 School Board elections and quickly got bogged down in the same old “follow the science” routine. They finally got schools partly started before the end of the 2020-2021 school year. And, by the start of the 2021-2022 School Year, they were mired in the Delta Variant of the COVID-19 virus.
All this time, the newly hired Cleveland County Health Department Director Tiffany Hansen, under the overall direction of the Cleveland County Manager Brian Epley, who reports to the Cleveland County Commissioners was attending school board meetings giving confusing and off the target updates to both the pre-election and post-election School Boards. On all occasions Hansen flatly refusing to sum up the available information and provide a recommendation to the School Board on what to do and how to handle the COVID Pandemic as it related to Cleveland County Schools. On several occasions Hansen flatly refused to provide directions to the School Board, even when directly requested to do so by School Board Members.
I mention this Health Department failure of responsibility in a large number of my published articles and at every opportunity to both School Board members and the County Commissioners. I even suggested that if Hansen was not capable of handling this obviously complicated situation, to go and hire consultants who are capable of taking all the data and making appropriate recommendations. The Commissioners did nothing. The Health Department did nothing, The School Board did nothing.
Why was that? I wondered.
In the meantime, the Delta Variant of the COVID-19 was developing in India and spreading itself around the world. In the meantime, the American Legion World Series-former Commissioner Eddie Holbrook’s crowd-was firing up. In the meantime, the Catawba Indian Casino was firing up with 500 or more slot machines and maybe a bunch of Video poker games. And reportedly big crowds from outsiders was swarming into Cleveland County. Do a time line study of the COVID outbreak in Cleveland County and you will se a direct relationship with the Casino and the ALWS with the surge in COVID-Delta Variant in Cleveland County that is NOW termed a Health-Care Disaster.
Also note that some of the outside the County and State baseball teams that played in the American Legion World Series have returned home and a number of those home states are now in a COVID Delta Variant Disaster also. Especially Idaho. The ALWS winner. Idaho now is the number one state with the Delta Variant disaster. Other top Delta Variant states also had teams at the ALWS. Many of those states, like Idaho, are very rural, like Cleveland County are usually not conducive to the fast spread of airborne diseases. Is it possible that the Delta Variant came in with only one or more of the teams and before long it was spread to them all? Remember, This Delta Variant started in India and got to Cleveland County somehow. No single mosquito from India got caught-up in a high-altitude jet stream air current and ended up here in Cleveland County, North Carolina. That, however, is a project for somebody else to study on. There is much more to the story right here in Cleveland County.
But the fact remains that The Commissioners have put Millions of Cleveland County taxpayer tax dollars into the American Legion World Series. Mostly on the quiet. Other than my articles, the county taxpayer connections to the ALWS, through the Commissioners was a total secret. Same with all the secret land deals around the Casino. There is no legitimate doubt that the ALWS and the Catawba Casino were both Commissioners “Pet Projects” and the Commissioners had plenty of political pressure (and perhaps, in Holbrook’s case anyway, financial pressure) on them to look the other way, through County Manager Brian Epley to make the Casino and ALWS both a go, even when this deadly COVID Delta Varian was bearing down hard on Cleveland County and all of North Carolina..
At this point, I would report that I have attended two Freedom Rallies regarding educating oneself about COVID vaccines and mask mandates. The first Freedom Rally was at the East side of the Earl Scruggs Center (The old Cleveland County Courthouse) on the East side of the Square. There were a number of speakers, including State Senator Ted Alexander. There were also Atrium people present wearing “theatrical” masks to hide their identities from Atrium “spies.” As Atrium had allegedly threatened to terminate any Atrium employee that was present at the Rally. The Rally included a march down Washington Street to the Atrium Hospital sidewalk. Again, at the Hospital, Atrium sent out spies to identify employees. Also, an Atrium Doctor came out and tried to run-off some of the people from off the sidewalk nearest Grover Street. Nobody paid any attention to the Doctor as far as I could see.
The Second Freedom Rally (on 9-11) was held in Rutherfordton at the Rutherford County Courthouse. I brought a chair to this Freedom Rally. The people there were all friendly and I knew some of them and talked to a bunch. Jeff Gregory from Cleveland County running for the US Congress was there and spoke. Former CCS School Board Candidate Samantha Davis was there and spoke. Even the Rutherford County District Attorney came by and spoke to the large crowd. There were a goodly number of Health Care people that spoke. Urging people to inform themselves about the vaccines and masks mandates. There were many warnings that Hospitals and other companies were in the process of putting out warnings to workers, get vaccinated or you are fired. Some of those Healthcare workers had many years of emergency care experience and did NOT think these mandates were necessary. For me, the takeaway was that America is under attack-Again!! Government entities are abusing their power by trying to force people to give away their Constitutional rights on plans and mandates that are only “half-baked” and without the proper scientific or emergency justification for implementation. Especially telling was the division of the Healthcare community. Those with management jobs are pushing the mandates and many of those that actually work with the patients say the “science” is suspect.
Now, let’s fast forward a bit to the Commissioner’s Meeting on September 7, 2021, the School Board Meeting of September 13, 2021 and the Cleveland Community College Board of Trustees Meeting on September 14, 2021. Let’s also just stick to the COVID stuff. As much as possible, that is.
At the unusually short Commissioners Meeting on September 7, 2921 the COVID discussion was led by Health Department Director Tiffany Hansen and EMS Director Tommy Mc Neilly. Mostly Hansen.
To me, it was the same old history from day one; about now many total cases and deaths without regard to more recent trends either up or down. Trends that tell you whether things are getting better or getting worse.
Hansen went on to COVID Cases were now at 100 per day. One of sixty were dying (1.7%). That the Delta variant was more transmissible. Hansen said the County COVID prevention policy was Vaccinations and testing. Unvaccinated persons were five times as likely to get COVID as Vaccinated. Unvaccinated cases were fifteen times as likely to die. And at home rapid test kits would become available in Mid-September. Johnny Hutchins asked how many CCS students were out of school because of COVID. Hansen said about 1,000. Doug Bridges commented, “We will get through this.” There seemed to be no sense of urgency about anything COVID.