This information is provided by George Shaw as his contribution to the community during this pandemic. Big Picture North Carolina eases stay-at-home order.  Governor Roy Cooper announced yesterday that the existing stay-at-home restrictions would be eased starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8 in a phased approach.   Under Phase 1 businesses that had not been considered essential would be able to be open up to 50% of capacity.  Worship services may be conducted outside as long as social distancing is practiced.  Indoor groups would remain restricted to 10 people.  Additional easing of restrictions in a Phase 2 depends on continued progress in flattening the curve as well as testing, tracking and provision of personal protection equipment.  No decision is likely to be made before May 22. Unemployment likely to remain a significant issue.  Updated national unemployment figures will be released on May 8; estimates for states and major metropolitan

Wake Forest homeowners can breathe easier and stop fussing. The Town of Wake Forest will resume collecting yard waste on Monday, May 11. In late March the Town was forced to suspend yard waste collection in response to the closure of the Raleigh Yard Waste Center due to COVID-19. Although the yard waste center reopened to Raleigh residents in mid-April, the facility remains closed to outside residents and municipalities. The location of a private facility willing to accept the Town’s yard waste makes it possible for Wake Forest to resume normal yard waste collection service. After weeks of exploring possible alternatives following the closure of its normal yard waste disposal site, the Town of Wake Forest has located a private facility willing to accept the Town’s yard waste. As a result, Wake Forest will resume yard waste collection service Monday, May 11, at 7 a.m. Crews will follow the normal

Tuesday night the Wake Forest Planning Board unanimously turned down the request by owner George Mackie Jr. and family members as well as potential developer Russell Gay to approve a plan for 167 single-family homes and 10 townhouses on 47 acres on the south side of Wait Avenue next to the Bowling Green subdivision. Planners questioned the layout and the connections to Bowling Green, particularly the connection to Frog Hollow Way, a narrow street which would be the only way to reach a signalized intersection because a traffic signal is planned where Bowling Green and Bishops Grant meet Wait. There will be no traffic signal at the entrance to Radford Glen from Wait because it is so close to the already-approved signal. The second layout and connection problem raised by Joe Kimray, Grif Bond and Karin Kuropas was the townhouse section which was cut off from the rest of the

We have to back our mayor in her latest venture. Her honor, Vivian Jones, has entered into a big bet with John Bryne, the Wake Forest native who strayed from home, hailed up in Fuquay-Varina and appears to be headed for mayor for life in that little burg. The bet is about which town, Wake Forest or Fuquay, can get the most residents to complete their very easy 2020 Census questionnaires. The payoffs are fierce. The winner gets to wear the other’s town gimme cap and the loser buys the other lunch. Right now Wake Forest holds a narrow lead – 65.7 percent completion versus 64 percent for Fuquay-Varina. Find your Census mailing or go online to 2020Census.gov and fill out the information about your household. It will take only 10-15 minutes, you do not have to give any names, just information about age, sex, education. Make our mayor the