JCP Week in Review, August 21 | Photo & Video – Johnson City Press (subscription)

The number of active Coronavirus cases in Northeast Tennessee declined for the fourth-straight day on Thursday, the first time its declined for at least four days since mid-May, when there were only 30 active cases in the region.

Two residents at a Johnson City nursing home have died after contracting the novel coronavirus, and one new fatality was reported in Sullivan County, bringing the regions death toll to 56.

If the active case count decreases again on Friday, it will be the first time active cases have decreased five days in a row since April 13-17. As of Thursday, there were 2,918 active infections.

The regions 61 new cases meant that number was fewer than 100 for the third time this week.

Carter County Mayor Rusty Barnett said during a Health and Welfare Committee meeting on Tuesday that the county would see an additional 74 cases added to its total on Wednesday due to an error by the health department that misattributed where those cases were. Those cases had yet to appear in Carter Countys case count as of Thursday.

According to Ballad Health, there were eight new hospitalizations reported in the region on Thursday.

While parents and students deal with the very real aspect of COVID-19, they are also having to battle technical difficulties with the new school year.

This was the districts second week of virtual learning, and during the first week of classes, technical difficulties were a main concern among teachers, parents and students. Monday proved to be no different, as at 8:02 a.m., the district said it was experiencing technology issues. About an hour later, the district said issues were resolved, but the early problems had already created a nightmare day.

Mondays problems mainly had to do with the districts internet access, as some instructors worked from home to work around those issues, and the districts tech department worked to resolve the issues. These are complications that should continue in the future, as all technical snags have a way of popping up, but the schools and parents, as well as the students themselves, are dealing with it quite well. We hope.

Motivated in part by a First Amendment lawsuit filed by protesters at the 2018 TriPride Festival, Johnson City plans to move the management of events at three downtown sites in-house.

The Johnson City Commission voted unanimously Thursday to terminate its management agreements with the Johnson City Development Authority for King Commons Park, Founders Park and the Pavilion at Founders Park. The city will add an employee to manage special events under its communications and marketing department. That position will be funded with money reallocated from the JCDA.

The JCDA has offered to continue to be the connection between the Johnson City Farmers Market and the city and will offer support to anyone organizing events downtown. They have also asked that the city continue to provide rental income that the organization has relied on to fund programming like Founders After 5.

In June 2019, three protesters filed alawsuitagainst Johnson City and seven city police officers, claiming that their First Amendment rights were violated during the TriPride Festival.

Plaintiffs in the case stated they were peacefully sharing their Christian message on a public sidewalk and park during the TriPride Festival in September 2018. They claim officers with the Johnson City Police Department told them they could not preach in Founders Park, where the festival was held, could not bring their signs into the festival area and could not stand on the sidewalk outside the festival area. They claim that the officers then threatened to arrest them.

Founders Park was leased by the TriPride organization ahead of the event, and protesters were given areas along the parade route to demonstrate. Some later were along the fencing at Founders Park, and police instructed them to move back.

Johnson City attorney Erick Herrin said it will be more beneficial for the city have a central location to implement a policy regarding gatherings, noting that the key to First Amendment issues is consistency.

See the original post here:

JCP Week in Review, August 21 | Photo & Video - Johnson City Press (subscription)