My Weekly Update: https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/321088959759143/?t=18

Download WRAL Weather App to see if stormy weather on its way:  

Please Donate to help the Kelly family, whose house burned down a few weeks ago in the Providence Community.  We pray for the Kellys.

Wake County Year-Round Schools Start Today

Parkside Elementary Starts at 9:15 am

The Tampa Bay Lightning, defeating the Montreal Canadiens, won the Stanley Cup.  

England Plays Denmark in Euro Final. 

 

Outer bands of rain from Tropical Storm Elsa started moving into the North Carolina Sandhills around 5 a.m. According to the 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, the center of the storm was located about 50 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina. Elsa was traveling northeast at 18 miles per hour.

The storm is expected to quickly continue its way up through North Carolina, tracking just west of Interstate 95. The biggest chance for severe storms and spin up tornadoes is to the east of the center of Elsa.

Elsa remains a weak tropical storm with sustained winds at 40 miles per hour. Central North Carolina is not under any tropical storm or hurricane watches or warnings (a tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast). However, a flash flood watch is in effect Thursday from 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. for the entire region.

Elsa is expected to dump between 1-3 inches of rain (with isolated areas getting as much as 6 inches of rainfall) in central North Carolina and bring wind gusts as strong as 50 miles per hour in spots.  

As the day progresses, the rain spreads north across the Triangle with the entire region seeing rain and storms by the afternoon.

Peak wind gusts Thursday will happened between 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. south of Wake County. Areas north of Wake County can expect the strongest winds between 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Elsa will move through North Carolina fairly quickly. The majority of the storm will be into Virginia by 9 p.m.

Duke Energy’s meteorologists are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Elsa and its potential impacts to our area.

As part of our preparation, we’re communicating with customers in the area to prepare and have a plan if an outage occurs. We’ve made calls to medical alert and critical care customers.We’ve emailed customers with resources and reminders. We are checking equipment, supplies and inventories to ensure we have adequate materials to make repairs and restore power outages. 

We appreciate your support sharing this information with the community:

Duke Energy maintains a detailed storm response plan. Today, more than 900 line technicians, service crews and other personnel are available to respond in those communities where storm-related outages are mostly likely to occur; an additional 500 workers are prepared to travel from other locations across the Carolinas to support restoration work, if needed.  

Check out Vetted Non Profits to donate to at https://www.nytimes.com/article/india-covid-how-to-help.html

Thanks for joining the India in Covid Crisis Roundtable at Wake Tech RTP (10908 Chapel Hill Road, Morrisville, NC 27560) with special guests, Swadesh Chatterjee, Chair US India Friendship Council, and US Congressman David Price (Congressional District 4) and US Congresswoman Deb Ross (Congressional District 2).  

During this Roundtable, we discussed the US Government Response, address community concerns, and share ideas on how we can help India through the crisis.  

Check out Live Stream "India Covid Crisis Wake Tech Swati Girglani" at https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/337344601324232

Check out The Urgent Need to Help India in its Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic with Mukesh Aghi of United States Strategic Indian Partnership Forum– Episode 8 of “Chambers Talks"​, a Podcast Series Hosted by John Chambers, former CEO Cisco Systems.

If you would like to help India, please visit pbs.org or nytimes.com for a list of vetted organizations accepting donations for medical and other greatly needed supplies. We cannot rest until the entire world gains control over the COVID-19 crisis.

Thanks to Congresswoman Ross and Dr. Ralls for hosting a Clean Tech Roundtable at Wake Tech RTP on July 8th.  It was great to hear from market leading companies like Duke Energy, RTI, ABB, SAS, NC State and others leaders on what we can do in North Carolina to be a leader in sustainability, renewable energy, and to do our part to achieve zero carbon emissions.  I was honored to provide a local government perspective to the Panelists. I will be coming to Town Hall with more ideas.

U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat, introduced the bipartisan legislation along with Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, and Young Kim, R-Calif.

Through the legislation, the child dependents of long-term visa holders, also called "documented Dreamers," would gain a pathway to obtain permanent residency, or a green card, so long as they have lived in the United States for 10 years and graduate from a college or university.

Under current immigration law, dependents of H1-B holders, like spouses and children, can obtain H-4 status. That allows them to stay in the United States for the same length of time as the H1-B holder.

To maintain H-4 status, children of H1-B visa holders must be unmarried and under the age of 21. After that, they age-out of that temporary legal status. This prompts many to return to native countries that they may barely know.

According to the bill's sponsors, over 200,000 children and young adults are living in the United States as dependents of long-term non-immigrant visa holders.

"These individuals grow up in the United States, attend American schools and graduate from American universities. Because they have maintained legal status, Documented Dreamers are not eligible for protection under DACA or the work authorization that comes with it," a spokesperson for Ross said in a press release.

I am working on arranging a Virtual Fireside Chat/Radio Interview with Congresswoman Ross on this issue in the next week or ten days. 

Thanks to everyone who came out to the July 3 Family Fest!

In the evening, it was an honor for our Town to accept an All-America City Award from the National Civic League.  We were presented with a Plaque and once again, thanks to all of the Citizens, Staff, and the Council for getting us to be an All-America City.  

The future looks very bright for our Town!  

Keynote speaker: Erika Poethig, Special Assistant to President Biden for Housing and Urban Policy, Domestic Policy Council, The White House. The moment we’ve all been waiting for, the announcement of the 2021 All-America City Awards!

It was a great weekend of world class cricket in Morrisville this weekend as we hosted USA Womans Cricket for in the Qualifier Rounds.  Congratulations to the Eastern Zone Team, who won this round.

Next round is for the Eastern Team to go on to play in the Nationals being held in Florida Aug 2-8. From there the National team will be selected to play in World Cup qualifiers to be held sometime in September v Canada, Argentina and Brazil.

A special thanks to USA Cricket, Jerry Allen from Parks and Recreation, Asia Sheikh, Supriya Desai, Rupali and all of the Volunteers, the Triangle Cricket League and all of the volunteers who worked so hard to make this Tournament a Success!

We are on our way to becoming the Cricket Capital of the United States!

See my July 4th Edition for my ideas on how we can transform our Cricket Presence in the US!

My July 4th Message to Radio Nyra: https://www.facebook.com/radionyrausa/videos/234842491790054

July 8 - 6:30 p.m. Planning & Zoning Board

July 8 - 6:30 p.m. Senior Advisory Committee

July 13  6:00 p.m. Town Council Meeting.  

Email Public Comments to publiccomments@townofmorrisville.org by 3 pm.  Streamed at www.townofmorrisville.org!  

Work on the south side of Morrisville Carpenter Road (between Church Street and Misty Groves Circle) in connection with the road widening operations will continue. The temporary shoring work for the culvert is ongoing.

Drivers should be prepared for flagging operations in this area between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Northbound traffic for Town Hall Drive continues to be redirected along the southbound side of the median.

For current project details visit: https://bit.ly/mcrcp1

Thanks for attending our July 3 Family Fun Festival which included live music and entertainment, magic shows, carnival games, food trucks, family-friendly games, prize giveaways, Morrisville’s small businesses, Town project information displays, and more. I will be showcasing some of the Small Businesses in my next few newsletters!

A laser light show on Town Hall Drive concluded the evening!

Throughout July, the following street sidewalks and parking lots will receive repairs and maintenance. Work progress and upcoming paving activities will be listed on the Town website and posted to the Town’s social media pages. The sidewalk repairs are currently underway to remove over 560 trip hazards. Residents may be asked to move their vehicles in advance of repair work. For questions, contact the Morrisville Public Works Department by calling (919) 463-7070.

Registration is open for the Sunday, July 11 "pop-up" dog park at Morrisville Community Park! Participating dog owners must register in ActiveNet and fill out a waiver prior to participating. Click here to visit the Town’s webpage for additional information, future dates, rules, requirements, and forms.

The Green Drive & Fairview Avenue stormwater project will commence construction on Monday, June 28. Work will start on Fairview Avenue and will continue for approximately two months and move to Green Drive for another two months. The project aims to reduce flooding in the area by upsizing culverts. Questions about the project can be directed to the Stormwater Division by calling (919) 463-6191 or clicking here.

Come out to the Western Wake Farmers' Market (WWFM) every Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., for healthy and fresh food, goods, and live music from small and local businesses! Visit http://wwfm.ag/ to learn about the WWFM, to see a complete list of local vendors, for special event dates, and to learn more about how you can support your community by shopping local. Sign up for the weekly WWFM newsletter sent out on Friday mornings! Email debbie@wwfm.ag to subscribe!

Tropical Storm Elsa dumped heavy rain on the Southeast and prompted warnings as far north as Massachusetts.

Delta is now the dominant variant of the virus in the U.S., the C.D.C. estimates.

A study from Israel found that the Pfizer vaccine was effective against it.

President Biden plans to direct federal regulators to crack down on noncompete clauses to bolster worker power

Donald Trump sued Facebook, Twitter and Google to restore his accounts. His political operation immediately began fund-raising off it.

Haitian officials said the police killed four people and arrested two others suspected in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, but didn’t name them.  Moïse’s wife, Martine, was also shot. She is in critical condition, an ambassador said.  Moïse had shown signs of authoritarianism, refusing to leave office and trying to rewrite the Constitution. Thousands of Haitians had protested.  Claude Joseph, the interim prime minister, said he would run the country and placed Haiti under a form of martial law.   Haiti has struggled to recover from an earthquake in 2010. Armed gangs control parts of the capital, and poverty and hunger are on the rise.

July 13th Town Council Meeting 6 pm

Submit Public Comments to publiccomments@townofmorrisville.org.

Streamed at www.townofmorrisville.org.

July 14 Morrisville First Responders Lunch  11:30- 1pm  

Register at https://business.morrisvillechamber.org/events/calendar/2020-03-01 or call (919) 463-7901. 

July 27th NC RIOT Augmented Reality Challenge at Meymandi Hall!

Immersive augmented reality technology experiences, a pitch contest with up to $40k up for grabs, an all-star panel of judges, craft beer, augmented reality artists and more!

Register in advance at https://bit.ly/RYRfinalpitch

Join me Sunday 4 PM on Radio Nyra for another update on local issues.

99.9FM HD4, 101.9 FM and 1490 AM!

Join us every Friday on World Edition at 10 am for the Great America Project Panel where we discuss how we rebuild Americas' image with leaders from around the country and world.

Public Open Dialogue TV is a worldwide multilingual, multi-demographic network focused on inspiring, educating and entertaining the global community. We provide unique programming in areas not covered by traditional media, and provide a platform for the audience to engage with those shows. Formerly IBMTV.