A year ago, we lost Kobe Bryant. We will never forget this legend. 

May him and Gianna always rest in peace.

Beginning on Jan. 27, North Carolina will have only 120,000 doses to allocate across the entire state. A large portion of those doses are committed to the large-scale events planned several weeks ago to address the backlog in vaccine. As a result, many providers are getting small or no allocations for the coming week. Through no fault of their own, they will be postponing appointments.

Please check WRAL during the day as NC DHHS is expected to provide an update on new procedures for vaccine rollout in the midst of shortages.

NCDHHS reports that 88 percent of all first doses have been reported as being administered. Providers reported administering more than 260,000 doses this past week.

As of Monday, the CDC ranked North Carolina 10th in total vaccines administered and 29th in vaccines administered per 100,000 people.

Morrisville Carpenter Road Project begins on Jan 25th! ReceiveText Alerts for Morrisville Carpenter Road

Share your opinions by Jan 31 at the Bond Portal:

https://www.townofmorrisville.org/government/2021-general-obligation-bond-referendum/-fbclid-IwAR20OWQFmHNtjzl3FUdoeuy8Je3uLE4e5Cm2VMTDb5zeJ_hUWo1SjtI5wOs.

Biden proposes $50 billion plan Covid 19 testing Plan and calls for the Creation of a Pandemic Testing Board and states that everyone will be able to get a vaccine by spring.   

VP Harris gets second dose of the vaccine.

Biden signs Executive Orders reinstating Covid 19 Variant Travel Restrictions from Brazil, United Kingdom and South Africa. 

House Delivers Impeachment Articles to Senate/Triggering 4th Impeachment Trial in History.  

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/impeachment-article-senate-house/index.html

Thanks for attending IMMIGRATION REFORM FIRESIDE CHAT WITH JEREMY ROBBINS, EXEC. DIRECTOR, NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY

(Immigration Reform Update will be provided in next newsletter)

My Message:  https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/10157541164106360

Today, Jan 26th, India’s 72nd Republic Day is celebrated in India and around the world.  I was honored to read the Indian Independence Day Proclamation with my colleague, Council Member Anne Robotti at last week’s Council meeting and am very grateful for all of the contributions our Indian American community makes to Morrisville, the Triangle Region and the entire state of North Carolina.  

Republic Day honors the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950 replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India and thus, turning the nation into a newly formed republic.

The Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950 with a democratic government system, completing the country's transition towards becoming an independent republic. 26 January was chosen as the date for Republic day because it was on this day in 1929 when the Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj) was proclaimed by the Indian National Congress as opposed to the Dominion status offered by the British Regime.

While India's Independence Day celebrates its freedom from British Rule, the Republic Day celebrates the coming into force of its constitution. A draft constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Constituent Assembly on 4 November 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of two years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on 24 January 1950. Two days later which was on 26 January 1950, it came into effect throughout the whole nation.

On this day let us make a promise to strive for justice, freedom and equal rights for every democracy and for peace and unity among all who are fortunate enough to live in freedom.  As the recent riots and attacks at the US Capitol demonstrated, freedom and democracy will always prevail if we have faith in our democratic institutions.  

Liberty will never die if we always fight for it.  

The father of India, Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in this world." and those words are relevant even today, no matter where you are.  Be a Leader. Make the Difference. 

Join us on Jan 26th on International Broadcast Media Television at 10 am to celebrate and discuss Indian Republic Day with Padman Bhushan Swadesh Chatterjee. WorldEdition at www.ibmtv.tv.  

Recently, I have been fielding a number of phone calls from our Seniors in Morrisville with confusion as to how to get an appointment for a vaccination.  Here are some of the best ways to move forward with securing an appointment. 

Go to covid19.ncdhhs.gov/findyourspot to see a list of Counties and I have seen some seniors get appointments at other Counties by going to this site and setting up an appointment.  You do not have to reside in the County of where you get vaccinated.  Lines may be shorter in other counties.  

Wake County Covid Vaccine Hotline is open!  Call (919) 250-1515 to set up your appointment and go online to fill out request form!  and visit https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/findyourspot ! You can fill out the wait list and you will be texted when vaccine is available after you fill out the on line form. https://covid19.wakegov.com/wake-county-public-health-vaccine-request-form/  

For answers to Durham County COVID-19 vaccine questions, call our hotline at 919-635-8150 or email us at DCoCOVIDvaccines@dconc.gov. 2-1-1 or 888-892-1162.

There will be a mass vaccination site in Durham this week which will vaccinate as many as 45,000.  

Call Duke Raleigh Regional Hospital at (919) 620-5167 even on the Weekend to set up appointments. 

Information from Rep. Kelly Alexander:  

Right now, frontline healthcare workers and adults 65 and over are eligible to receive the vaccine. This week, the state government has shifted strategy to mass vaccinations in large public spaces. They already had a mass event at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend that vaccinated approximately 16,000 people.

Currently, the only mass vaccination event that is still open for appointments is through Atrium Health at the Bank of America stadium. 

Sign up and schedule your appointment through the Atrium Health online portal, which you can find https://my.atriumhealth.org/MyAtriumHealth/Authentication/Login?&_ga=2.39295655.567024748.1611581563-1192070116.1611581563 

PLEASE SCHEDULE AS SOON AS YOU CAN; spots are filling up quickly. The vaccine is FREE.

These are the days and times available:

Dose 1:

— Friday, January 29, 8AM-1PM

— Saturday, January 30, 8AM-6PM

— Sunday, January 31, 8AM-6PM

Dose 2:

— Friday, February 26 to Sunday, February 28 (no times listed)

President-elect Joe Biden will step into the White House on Wednesday facing an array of crises, from COVID-19 to nationwide tension surrounding racial justice.

Over the past several weeks, Biden has laid out several things he wants to do in his first 100 days in office. The proposals include tackling the pandemic, reversing immigration policies put in place under President Donald Trump and addressing criminal justice reform.

On Thursday, Biden laid out a COVID-19 relief package that he hopes to see pass through Congress in the immediate weeks after taking office.

Biden will soon sign an Executive Order mandating masks in places “where he can under the law,” such as in federal buildings, planes and buses.

Covid Relief Package

On Thursday, Biden laid out a COVID-19 relief package that he hopes to see pass through Congress in the immediate weeks after taking office.

The $1.9 trillion plan includes $20 billion for a national vaccination program, $1,400 stimulus checks and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Biden has also pledged to provide 100 million doses of the vaccine during the first 100 days of his administration.

Biden also said that he wants to begin reopening schools in the first 100 days of his administration. His relief package proposes $130 billion to help schools safely reopen.

Biden has said that his COVID-19 relief plan will help “stimulate the economy," with the help of $1,400 stimulus checks, grants for small businesses and billions for schools to reopen, among other proposals. He will introduce that recovery plan next month during his address to a joint session of Congress.

Biden has also said he will propose a new tax plan that includes raising corporate income taxes to 28%. Currently, the corporate tax rate is 21%, which was set under Trump’s 2017 tax plan.

Under his tax plan, Biden said no one making less than $400,000 will see their taxes increase, but that a 12.4% Social Security payroll tax will be imposed on those who earn $400,000 or more.

During his tenure, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which focuses on goals to help mitigate climate change.

On the first day of his administration, Biden rejoined the Paris Accords.

Biden has said that within the first 100 days of his administration, he wants to host a climate world summit to “directly engage the leaders of the major greenhouse gas-emitting nations of the world to persuade them to join the United States in making more ambitious national pledges, above and beyond the commitments they have already made.”

He also pledged on his first day in office he would take actions that require “aggressive methane pollution limits for new and existing oil and gas operations.” He said the goal is to develop “rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring 100% of new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be zero emissions and annual improvements for heavy duty vehicles.”

Biden is already undoing many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies within hour of being sworn in.

He has issued an executive order on the first day of his presidency to create a federal task force to reunite children with their parents who were separated at the border. As of December, 628 parents who were separated from their children at the border are still missing.

Trump also faced criticism over conditions for migrants at the border, enacted a travel ban for mostly Muslim-majority countries, and slashed the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the U.S.

Biden will send a bill to Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in the United States, and will also revoke the travel ban.

Within the first 100 days of his administration, Biden has said he will stop construction on the border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border by taking away funding.

Biden last year vowed that in the first 100 days of his administration, he would push to pass the Equality Act, which aims to extend federal protections in the areas of housing, education, credit and services to members of the LGBTQ community.

Amid a nationwide reckoning with systemic racism, Biden has vowed to make racial justice and criminal justice reforms a key part of his administration.

In his first 100 days, Biden has said, he is committed to creating a national police oversight commission.

Last year, the death of George Floyd, a Black Minnesota man who was killed in police custody, spurred protests nationwide and even across the world. Since then, there have been calls for police reform.

"I've long believed we need real community policing. And we need each and every police department in the country to undertake a comprehensive review of their hiring, their training and their de-escalation practices," Biden said in a speech last summer. "And the federal government should give them the tools and resources they need to implement reforms."

Wake Med Covid 19 Vaccine site: https://www.wakemed.org/patients-and-visitors/covid-19-information/covid-19-vaccine/

UNC Health Covid 19 Vaccine Site: https://www.unchealthcare.org/coronavirus/vaccines/

Duke Health System Covid 19 Site:  https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/covid-19-vaccine-update

To help accelerate vaccinations, state health leaders are teaming with NCDOT to make sure everybody can get transportation to a vaccination site.  Each local transit agency will receive state funding to accomplish that goal. For details, reach out to your local transit agency.

Johnson and Johnson Plans to have 10 million doses to United States by April.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with health systems, local health departments and community health centers across the state to host large community vaccine events for people currently eligible to be vaccinated. More than 45,000 vaccines are expected to be given through these events.

“The state will continue to support our local health departments and hospitals to get shots in arms faster,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D. “These partners were selected because they were able to rapidly increase the number of vaccines they could deliver as part of this effort.”

Partners were selected based on their ability to administer a large number of vaccine doses or to provide access to vaccine doses to marginalized communities. NC Emergency Management and the National Guard are also providing support in some locations. Vaccine events will be held in the following counties:

Some locations are providing the vaccine by appointment only. To learn more about the events, visit the websites of the providers listed above. Their websites can be found, listed by county, at covid19.ncdhhs.gov/findyourspot.

JAN 26th Virtual Town Council Meeting 6 pm   Stream Live at https://www.facebook.com/TownOfMorrisville/.

Email comments to publicomments@townofmorrisville.org by 3 pm!

Jan 26th NC RIOT Competitive Edge: How Edge Computing Takes Business to the Next Level!

Sign up at https://riot.org/event/competitive-edge-how-edge-computing-takes-business-to-the-next-level/.

Join me for SKEMA Business School Tech Talk on JAN 26th at Noon Superhuman, Achieving the Balance Between Man and Machine! With Special Guest Richard Boyd, CEO Tanjo.  

NC Tech Association 2021 Virtual Outlook for Tech Event 8:45 am to 12: 45 pm

Jan 27 Virtual Breakfast with Cary Mayor at Cary Chamber 8am!

Register at: https://web.carychamber.com/events/Breakfast-with-the-Mayor-1645/details

Register at:

http://business.morrisvillechamber.org/events/details/30th-annual-meeting-february-2021-2370.

FEB 2nd 7 pm  Next Generation Race Relations Forum with Tru Pettigrew!  

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, Feb 2, 2021 at 7 pm.  Tru Pettigrew and International Author Mike Rosas on FB Live as we discuss Race Relations in America and how to heal and move forward with and for the next generation!   

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

99.9FM HD4, 101.9 FM and 1490 AM!