“One would think, but it is definitely NOT spelled out expressly as an exception, that undertaking activity to comply with a court order would be excepted from the stay-at-home rule. So, can I continue to travel to swap my kids out per my custody order?”

March 27. By Dave Yochum. The answer is yes you can. The Mecklenburg County stay-at-home order mentions essential travel includes travel “required by law enforcement or court order.”

Indeed, the stay-at-home order is doable and livable. You can go to the grocery, convenience or warehouse store—for anything, not just toilet paper—as well as the pharmacy, a health-care provider (call ahead), a restaurant for take-out, or to assist a friend or relative. You can even move to a new apartment or go out on the boat—but do so with no more than nine people.

Police are looking for voluntary cooperation through education and dialogue but if that doesn’t happen, they will enforce the restrictions through citations or misdemeanor charges, says Cornelius Police Chief Kevin Black. “To report a violation call 3-1-1 or go to the City of Charlotte’s website – see the COVID-19 updates page. The County/City is tracking all complaints so we are asking callers to report using the provided number,” Chief Black said.

The compliant will be routed to the appropriate jurisdiction, including Cornelius, Huntersville and Davidson

No one wants to burden first responders at a time like this, so it’s best to practice good citizenship—and protect family and friends.

Gov. Cooper was expected to announce a statewide stay-at-home order at 4 pm.

On the flip side, some people are reacting to some “essential businesses” businesses that are open—because the county’s stay-at-home order wants them to remain open.

This includes gas stations and businesses needed for transportation, including auto-supply, auto-repair and related facilities as well as bicycle shops, banks, hardware stores, laundry, trades like plumbers (who knows what’s gone down the drain since the toilet paper shortage began), Uber/Lyft and funeral services.

Jack Salzman, co-owner of Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep, said the Cornelius dealership performs service on not only the Cornelius Police Dept. fleet, but also Medic/Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services ambulances.

He anticipates April business to be down by as much as 75 percent due to the pandemic. He’s focusing on keeping staff on board and paid as the economy—locally and nationally—goes into a tailspin.

It’s far more than restaurants and bars that are being affected in spite of all the bravado suggesting otherwise on Facebook.

Unemployment claims caused by the coronavirus pandemic are soaring. More than 3.3 million people filed for unemployment during the week ended March 21, far surpassing a record 695,000 claims in October 1982.

North Carolina accounts for 93,587 claims, compared with 3,533 the previous week.

Since March 16 in North Carolina, according to the state commerce department, nearly 200,000 people have filed for unemployment, with COVID-19 accounting for most of them.

The economy is suffering mightily—but it’s by no means the end of the world or another Great Depression.

So says noted economist John Silvia in an exclusive interview with Cornelius Today. He’s the former chief economist at Wells Fargo and a previous Newsmakers Breakfast speaker.

“A recession, yes, but a depression, no,” Silvia said.

The federal stimulus package will help support “modest” 2 percent gains from the third quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021.