North Carolina Is the State with the 8th Most Coronavirus Restrictions

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With the U.S. starting to open up more but a full reopening only possible once we achieve widespread vaccination, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States with the Fewest Coronavirus Restrictions.

To identify which states have the fewest coronavirus restrictions, the site compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 14 key metrics. Their data set ranges from whether restaurants are open to whether the state has required face masks in public and workplace temperature screenings.

North Carolina ranked among the top 10 most restrictive states and South Carolina ranked among the top 10 least restrictive states:

States with the Fewest COVID-19 Restrictions

Overall Rank  State Total Score  Delta in Overall Rank vs. October 6, 2020 
1 Oklahoma 84.69 3
2 South Dakota 81.63 -1
3 Iowa 76.05 2
4 Arkansas 75.85 6
5 Florida 75.51 6
6 Utah 75.20 -3
7 Missouri 73.47 1
8 Wisconsin 72.65 -2
9 Alaska 72.31 3
10 South Carolina 71.60 9
11 Kansas 67.21 6
12 Alabama 66.33 2
13 Montana 65.99 15
14 Idaho 65.68 -12
14 North Dakota 65.68 -5
16 Wyoming 65.37 -9
17 Nebraska 64.80 4
18 Georgia 62.04 -5
19 Tennessee 59.05 -1
20 Indiana 57.42 -5
21 Mississippi 57.35 1
22 Louisiana 56.80 3
23 New Hampshire 51.36 3
24 Maryland 50.88 0
25 West Virginia 47.72 2
26 Kentucky 45.78 11
27 Nevada 44.97 -7
28 Texas 43.06 7
29 Michigan 42.55 1
30 Arizona 42.04 15
31 Ohio 40.51 -15
32 Minnesota 39.86 0
33 Delaware 39.35 -2
34 New Jersey 39.01 13
35 Pennsylvania 37.62 7
36 Rhode Island 36.05 -7
37 Oregon 35.58 7
38 Colorado 33.88 8
39 New York 33.67 -1
40 Maine 33.54 8
41 Connecticut 32.52 -2
42 Illinois 31.74 -19
43 Hawaii 28.64 8
44 North Carolina 26.26 -11
45 Vermont 26.05 -4
46 Washington 24.83 -10
47 New Mexico 23.50 -13
48 District of Columbia 21.63 -5
49 Massachusetts 21.09 0
50 Virginia 18.57 -10
51 California 16.67 -1

Note: Rankings are based on data available as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Monday, January 25, 2021.

Casino Developer in NC Gets Approval For Housing Project Near Interstate-85 Site

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Recently, the local council approved a rezoning request to pave the way for the development of 600 homes and luxe apartments opposite Interstate 85, according to the Charlotte Observer. Wallace Cheves, NC’s casino developer, got the approval for his housing development project after a 4-2 vote by the Kings Mountain City Council. The new housing units will occupy more than 80 acres near the $273 million proposed casino. According to Cheves, the planned Catawba Village housing development will attract casino employees and individuals locked out of the Charlotte-Gastonian market. Catawba Village homes will cost between $300,000 and $400,000, while apartments will have a monthly rent of $1,500. If you’re looking for ways to enter the real estate market, becoming a property developer might be the right option for you. However, you must be patient and understand what’s involved in property development projects for you to succeed. 
Purchasing Land
At this stage, developers investigate available land depending on their loan approval status. This process entails conducting a feasibility study for your project before purchasing any property. You want to be sure that your proposed housing or commercial property development plan is practical. For this reason, consult a town planner and architect. A good planner will help you determine your project’s viability while an architect drafts concepts that fit your expectations. If you’re working on a large project, ensure you hire a project manager or quantity surveyor to calculate land and construction costs. Once you have identified a suitable site for developing housing units or commercial property, negotiate the prices and sign a sale contract.
Understanding The Process of Pre-Construction
Ideally, pre-construction comes after the planning and designing phase, but it’s critical to know what you’re getting into beforehand. During pre-construction, you will obtain quotes from building contractors, prepare a budget, hire a project management team, and find ways to finance your development project. This is also the phase, you must think of site preparation. In addition to consulting soil engineers for testing, you’ll need to outsource land clearing services in North Carolina. These contractors will remove debris, clear bushes, get rid of tree stumps, and select trees to pave the way for grading and paving.
Planning And Designing
This phase entails designing plans that meet zoning codes in the City of Charlotte to avoid legal issues. Besides hiring a reputable architect, you’ll need the services of a town planner. Town planners do not offer feedback on property designs only but also prepare development applications. They also handle other requests like objections and cases in the court of appeal. Services of land surveyors also come in handy because you’ll need title boundaries for your land and expert opinion on how neighboring properties affect your project.
Property development creates numerous opportunities for investors looking to build wealth and maintain consistent streams of income. As a property developer, you’re also assured of a quick and safe way to build a portfolio that demonstrates your credibility. However, to enjoy these perks, you must know all the property development phases, from acquiring land to planning, financing, and construction.

The Importance of Developing a Strong Landing Page

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Without a doubt, the world of writing has changed significantly during the past few years. Even though it is true that everyone has to make sure they can produce strong content, there is much more to the world of writing than only developing strong content. For example, content also plays a significant role in the world of digital marketing. As a result, everyone needs to make sure they can write for digital marketing purposes. Landing pages are a vital marketing tool.

Landing pages are designed to help people interested in a product or a service convert to paying customers. For example, someone may click on an advertisement that interests them in some way. Then, they will be redirected to a landing page where they will be asked to do something else. The chances of them taking the desired action are incumbent on building a strong landing page. How can this be done? 

Landing Pages Have To Grab Someone’s Attention Quickly

First, landing pages have to grab people’s attention as quickly as possible. The reality is that people’s attention spans are shorter today than they have ever been in the past. Therefore, anyone who is working on a landing page has to grab someone’s attention quickly. This means choosing words carefully and minimizing the amount of text on the page in favor of graphics instead. It might help generate letters at random to help people decide which words they are going to use. The less text that is on the page, the better this is going to be. Simultaneously, people have to understand what they are looking at when they visit the page.

In addition to thinking carefully about the words on the page, it is also a good idea to think about the color scheme. For example, it might be a good idea to use colors on the page relevant to the brand of the company. This will help the company make sure they are at the front of whoever is visiting the page. 

Tie the Landing Page to the Link Closely

Even though this may seem obvious, many people who are designing a landing page forget to tie the landing page to the link. Remember to think about the advertisement from which people are coming when they land on a landing page. It is crucial to make sure that the landing page is relevant to the lake itself. Otherwise, people may get confused when they visit the landing page and be unsure what they are doing. Because many landing pages are tied to advertisements that play a role in pay-per-click campaigns, everyone must make sure they get the most out of their advertising dollars. This means using a landing page that is relevant to the advertisement that was on the other side. 

Design the Best Landing Page Possible

These are just a few essential points that everyone should keep in mind when designing a landing page. Landing pages play a significant role in digital marketing, which goes hand-in-hand with content marketing. When people think about the nature of the landing page they are using, they place their advertising campaign in the best position possible to be successful. That way, they can maximize their conversion rates, get the most out of their leads, and generate more revenue for the company. 

Godiva Just Announced Plans To Close All North American Stores – Including Here in Charlotte

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Legendary chocolatier Godiva has just announced that they will be closing all stores in North America due to the pandemic, including here in Charlotte.

The Belgium Company, originally founded in 1926, said they were forced to make the decision after almost 9 months of continued losses from their stores.

“Our brick & mortar locations in North America have had a clear purpose since we first opened our doors in this market – to provide an in-person experience for consumers to enjoy the world’s most exquisite chocolates,” said Nurtac Afridi, CEO of Godiva in a statement. “We have always been focused on what our consumers need and how they want to experience our brand, which is why we have made this decision.”

Here in Charlotte, Godiva operates a store inside the South Park Mall, which will soon be closing along with 127 other locations around North America.

Godiva still plans on selling their chocolates and other treats here online.

Duke Customers Will Now Save Over $1.1 Billion In New Coal Ash Settlement

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NC Attorney General Josh Stein just announced a new agreement with Duke Energy to not charge customers over $1 billion worth of coal ash cleanup costs from last year’s historic settlement.

“Today’s settlement is a win for every Duke Energy customer,” Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement. “I have long held that North Carolinians should not bear the full cost of cleaning up coal ash. As a result of today’s settlement, we won’t — to the tune of more than $1 billion.”

Last year, Duke Energy conceded a long-fought court battle, agreeing to the largest environmental cleanup in the history of the United States. They agreed to excavate over 76 million tons of coal ash from open and unlined dump sites at 6 facilities (enough to fill over 30,000 Olympic sized swimming pools), as well as an additional 3 million tons of non-impoundment coal ash, moving all of the coal ash into on-site lined landfills, and install a myriad of protective measures at the sites. Last year, they said that most of the cost of the cleanup would be passed onto their customers through rate increases.

This week’s settlement is now expected to save Duke customers $1.1 billion between now and 2030.

    • In the 2019 rate case, Duke Energy will write off more than $485 million in coal ash costs for retail customers.
    • In future rate cases, Duke Energy will write off more than $270 million in additional coal ash costs for retail customers.
    • Duke Energy will also reduce its return on equity for cleanup costs, resulting in additional savings for retail customers of tens of millions of dollars.
    • In addition to the new savings for ratepayers shown above, the parties have asked the Utilities Commission to keep in place the $100 million penalty that it ordered in 2017.

“Today’s settlement shows that sustained and determined grassroots and legal pressure can move even a monopoly corporation to do the right thing,” said Dave Rogers, Southeast deputy regional campaign director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “This agreement means Duke will pay for a portion of the coal ash clean up, lifting a burden of more than $1 billion off of families and businesses who would have otherwise been forced to pay. Now, all that’s left is for Duke to retire its remaining coal-burning plants and help communities transition to the clean energy future they demand and deserve.”

What do you think about the decision? 

Beginner Tips for Playing Steel Tongue Drums

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Being a newly created instrument, steel tongue drums already have multiple names. Tongue drums, hank drums, buta drums, hand drums… Yep, it’s all about the same notion. These are charming percussion instruments crafted from propane cylindrical containers. Getting the gist of these honeys is not too challenging.

They are compact and boast a cute saucer-like shape. They produce soothing sounds and are widely used in meditation melodies, music therapy, and yoga. – https://musiccritic.com/equipment/microphones/best-kick-drum-mic browse this link as they host instrument and equipment guides, especially for newbies. They provide impartial reviews, they help you find the best musical instruments and equipment for your money. If you’re a newbie who’s just purchased steel tongue drums, you’re welcome to read my today’s tips for delving into the essence of these lovely instruments and consider checking out the Best Steel Tongue Drum Review. 

Talent or Practice?

Steel tongue drums are a cakewalk to master. You don’t have to flaunt any unique talents to get to grips with them. You can play this instrument using your hands, mallets, or sticks. Whether you’re an experienced drummer or just a beginner musician, mastering the art of playing this type of drums is something you won’t have to spend years on. Just enjoy practicing, and you will succeed.  

Hands or Additional Accessories?

Here are some insights on ways of playing steel tongue drums:

  • utilizing sticks or mallets results in a richer, flashier sound;
  • using your hands is more challenging. But it allows you to be more creative in the process;
  • some musicians use rubber finger picks to play these drums, which prevents hand fatigue and allows them to play in a diverse, free way;
  • you can place the instrument in your lap when playing it. That way, you get to feel the instrument and its sounds on a deeper level. Alternatively, you can rest the instrument on any flat surface.

Some More Beginner Hacks

If you’ve just purchased this type of drum, you need to invest some time in getting used to it, as well as getting comfy handling it. Follow these tips and routines to make the best of your experience:

  • focus on playing the entire scale by beginning with the lowest note and proceeding to the highest one. Repeat when you’re done;
  • play all notes in a cyclic manner; start with any note you choose;
  • work up your own unique patterns of notes;
  • enjoy experimenting with multiple tunes and sounds;
  • come up with two notes complimenting each other, play them simultaneously to create a chord. Repeat this chord and create another one;
  • try various levels of force: first be gentle, then go harder.

Remember that if you’re just a beginner steel tongue drum player, experimentation should always be the driving force of your practice. Take pleasure in it; make some creative noise; let your new music tool get under your skin and teach you how to play it via lots of training. 

Practice makes perfect, that’s a given. Over time, you will succeed and even learn to generate your own musical pieces. If you have anything to add on the topic of these drums, you’re welcome to make the most of the comments box below. Have you tried playing them? Was it relatively easy to learn or not? Any additional tips for your fellow-musicians? Your two cents are highly appreciated.

5 Tips to Improve Your Business’s Website

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Having an effective, functional website is crucial to every business. Long gone are the days of needing just a brick and mortar store, just about every business out there has some sort of website. A website is a crucial way to improve the success of your business and gain more attention. How else are people supposed to find out about your business if there is no website? Your website should list important facts about your business, how people can get in contact, and links to any social media. Your website should be easy to navigate and aesthetically appealing. You should also be able to easily track the analytics of your website as well, to have an idea of how many people are visiting your site. Having a successful website is crucial for all business, especially if you have a small business you are trying to get off the ground. The right site can make or break your business, and here are 5 tips to improve your business’s website:

  • Make sure it is mobile friendly

Most people have smartphones, which means most people access the internet and various websites through their phones. If your business’s website is not mobile friendly, it is going to be extremely difficult for people to access your site. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to navigate a website that does not work on your phone, so make sure your site is mobile friendly before going public. There are plenty of sites out there with free website templates that are also mobile friendly like PlaceMy.Link.

  • Update your content

If someone goes on your website and the last thing they see is something posted from one year ago, they are going to think you went out of business. Do not let that happen. Update your content frequently. Updating your content ensures you will keep your customers up to date and keep them coming back. The more active your website appears, the more loyal your customers will be. Also, make sure to delete outdated content that is no longer relevant or applicable to your business. 

  • Use paid search advertising

You can have the best, most effective website, but if you don’t get any clicks, you are not going to get any business. Which is exactly why you need to use pay per click advertising. Pay per click advertising helps put your business’s website at the top of a search engine results page, which will drive more attention and bring you more customers. A PPC consultant can help you find effective keywords to use and optimize your site’s performance. 

  • Reply to comments

Engaging with your customers is an extremely important part of having a website. Interacting with your customers shows that you care about them and that they mean more to you than just business. You should especially reply to comments if people are asking questions. A business that quickly responds to comments and questions shows that they are active on the website and there to help.

  • Use images

You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Too many words on a website can be overwhelming and sometimes you can get the same message across with just an image. It is crucial to have high quality, professional images of your business and your products/services to show customers that you are legit. Do not risk having low quality images on your site and hire a photographer to take professional photos for you. You can find freelance photographers in your area on many websites, such as Upwork.

Having a website for your business is crucial for many reasons. Creating a successful, effective website cannot be done overnight and will take practice and research. However, the business that your website will bring will make it all worth it. Follow these simple tips when creating your website and your business will take off before you know it.

The Entire March Madness Basketball Tournament Will Be Played in Indiana

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One of the most significant sports events of the year is the March Madness basketball tournament. A popular time of year for Big Al expert picks, the March Madness basketball tournament is a 68 team college basketball tournament during March. Thirty-two teams earn automatic bids based on winning their conference basketball tournament. The other 36 bids are at-large teams that go to the next 36 deserving teams in all of college basketball. The game was not played last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even though the pandemic is still very much with us this year, there is no doubt that the tournament will be played. The reality is that the NCAA might not be able to survive if they cannot make the billions of dollars that usually make off of the college basketball tournament. To make the tournament more feasible, the committee announced that the entire college basketball tournament would be played in Indiana and hosted by IU. 

The Tournament Will Be Played at Various Stadiums Around Indiana

Even though the tournament is going to be hosted by Indiana University, this does not mean that every game will be played on their campus. In reality, there is a good chance that none of the games will be played in the stadium of Indiana University. Instead, Indiana University of merely going to act as the host for the tournament. There are plenty of places where schools can play games throughout Indianapolis, Bloomington, and some other major cities in Indiana. For example, there is a chance that the final four will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium, which is the home of the Indianapolis Colts, an NFL football team that recently made the playoffs. Furthermore, there is also a good chance that the tournament will use the home of the Indiana Pacers as well. It will be exciting to watch the college basketball tournament unfold this year, as it will take place in a single city for the first time. 

Will the Tournament Have 68 Teams?

Of course, many people ask whether or not the tournament will have 68 teams this year. Even though 68 teams have been the traditional number for several years, there is a chance that this might not be feasible given the amount of time it would take to play all of these games and the increased chances of having viral transmission. Even though the tournament would certainly like to have 68 teams again this year, if they have to shrink the tournament, they would probably shrink it to 64 teams. Then, that they need to drink it again, they would need to trim it to 48 teams or 32 teams. It will be interesting to see how the NCAA reacts to changing virus transmission rates during the season. Regardless, it will be nice to have the tournament back this year. 

Getting Ready for March Madness

The college basketball season is already underway, and there have already been a lot of upsets. As teams have to deal with each other and the coronavirus pandemic, some teams are merely going to handle this challenge better than others. It will be interesting to see how the college basketball season unfolds leading up to the tournament. 

A Comprehensive Guide to Create Custom Badge Buddies for your Medical Facility

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Medical facilities are diverse places, with workers leading a variety of roles at various levels. Your healthcare personnel should be easily identifiable, ensuring everyone can recognize the staff and view their details at a glance.

You will find durable, role-recognition cards that can hang behind a slotted ID card very resourceful for such applications. Badge buddies are perfect accessories, specifically designed to function alongside your staff’s existing ID cards. These badges are slightly scaled-up than the standard IDs, with a bright-colored strip at the bottom to highlight specific information. Every medical establishment follows different formats for their ID badges, and here’s how you can create customized ID badges for your medical facility.

Choose an Eye-catchy Color

Your facility would have key hospital staff, including doctors, nurses, RN, LPN, LVN and many more. A colored badge buddy role card with the existing ID badge can help staff and patients to distinguish between other medical practitioners in the facility easily.

The color strip can help you coordinate the job titles with a specific color. Leading dealers offer bold colors, which are visible even from a distance. You could fix the color for each profile, including administrative staff. For instance, blue would be best for vocational nurse badges.

Customize with Visible Staff Title Print

Your medical establishment will indeed have staff members holding titles, such as a doctor, nurse, assistant, respiratory therapist, to name a few.

With visible staff titles on the badges, you can reduce the time needed to identify qualified medical practitioners. It thus improves your team’s response time for meeting your patients’ needs.

For instance, a pathology assistant can have a badge buddy with the title printed inside a teal color border. Top outlets offer blank and custom badge buddies to customize the job title and highlight it on both sides, the way you want for your staff. 

Customize with the Required Orientation

Typically, the medical staff wears a badge buddy with their existing ID scheme, either having a vertical or horizontal orientation. More importantly, you might update the ID cards every year as a security measure. 

You can request bulk orders from reputable stores and get horizontal and vertical options for your crew, which they can attach to their lanyards like their ID cards. For example, you could go for a horizontally-oriented badge buddy, with a red color coding for physicians. While the badge fits nicely under the ID card, it will help people in your facility know their credibility.

Create a Badge Buddy with High Rigidity

Owing to their job profile, your medical staff would need badge buddies with high rigidity. Leading marketers in this arena offer options in Teslin and that are fully laminated. 

The best part is, while the critical posts get these highly-rigid badges, you can offer similar options for technicians handling even ultrasound and medical records.

Choose the Best-suitable Attachment Type

Your staff would already be wearing their ID cards. The attachment type you choose should let them add their badge buddy to their lanyard the same way their ID card does.

Leading online stores offer options like slot holes, adhesive and locking snap. You can match them with vertical or horizontal orientation and design a custom badge buddy for your team. Some even offer In-a-snap isolation alert clasps, which are very useful for quickly identifying and alerting medical caregivers of isolated patients.

Customize with Robust Material Type

In some scenarios, your staff may work in a harsh environment. It is best to choose a rigid material for the badge buddy that won’t wither under moisture or simple scuffing to make it perfect for all working conditions.

Top online retailers offer plastic, vinyl, and Tyvek materials, making the badge buddy water-resistant, tough to tear, and ready for long-term use in rugged conditions.

Select the Right Insert Size

The insert size you decide for your badge buddy should be the right size, ensuring it retrofits onto your pre-existing ID scheme.

Typically, named dealers offer options like 3 and 4 inches insert size for horizontal orientation. At the same time, they present 2 and 3 inches for vertical possibilities. These work perfectly with standard ID card dimensions.

Summing up

Today, a medical facility needs more than just an ID card to identify its key role players. The sophisticated badge buddies make it convenient to see each staff member’s title by displaying it large and bold underneath the ID card. Within a moment, you will know if you are speaking to a Doctor or an Assistant.

Enroll a reputable dealer to place bulk orders for top-quality pieces that match your medical establishment’s mission and vision. While allowing your staff to show their job title proudly, you can use the power of a badge buddy to provide essential identification information at a glance.

New Highly Contagious Covid Strain Detected in Mecklenburg – First Case in NC

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North Carolina has just reported its first official case of the new highly contagious mutated strain of coronavirus.

According to a press release from NC Department of Health and Human Services, the B.1.1.7 Covid-19 variant was identified in a Mecklenburg County adult.

“While expected, identification of this COVID-19 variant in North Carolina is concerning, especially at the same time as we are already seeing very high numbers of cases,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD. “It is more important than ever to practice the 3Ws.”

The new B.1.1.7 strain was first discovered in the U.K. in early December. It’s thought to be up to 50% more contagious than the original strain of Covid-19, but there has yet to be any indication that the new virus is more or less harmful than the original strain (on an individual level). There have now been 200 cases identified in 21 states across the US.

Covid vaccines are now available for North Carolina health care workers, long-term care residents and staff, and adults over 65. You can find out more information or schedule a time to receive a vaccine here – yourspotyourshot.nc.gov.