Posted on 06/09/2020 10:27:26 AM PDT by buckalfa
Gov. Roy Cooper ordered an Alamance County speedway that’s violated his executive orders against mass gatherings closed immediately, declaring the venue an imminent hazard.
In an order issued Monday night and obtained by The News & Observer, Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen said Ace Speedway could open again if it presents a plan to adhere to state guidelines and that plan is approved by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The speedway’s next scheduled night of racing is June 19.
The order said Ace Speedway must notify the public by 5 p.m. Tuesday that its upcoming race schedule and other events are canceled until June 22. The speedway’s website and Facebook page had not yet done so as of noon Tuesday.
An email sent by the N&O to Ace Speedway’s father and son owners, Robert and Jason Turner, for comment on the order was not answered Tuesday morning.
Amy Galey, chairwoman of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners, said in an email to the N&O she is leaving the issue up to Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson Johnson told the N&O in an interview last Friday that Cooper’s orders weren’t clear about why Ace couldn’t open to crowds larger than 25 while other outdoor events, such as churches and protests, are exempted from the mass gathering restrictions.
Johnson said he believed Cooper’s threats to Ace Speedway were political. He wondered why other speedways, such as 311 Speedway in Stokes County, are operating without Cooper threatening to shut them down.
“I assure you that I respect the Office of the Governor of North Carolina but I have serious reservations on the legality of his order,” Johnson wrote in a statement released Monday night.
Located in Altamahaw, near Elon, Ace Speedway held events on May 23 and 30 and June 6. All three times, there were thousands of people in attendance and all exceeded the 25 allowed at outdoor events under Cooper’s executive order that moved the state into Phase Two of his reopening plan on May 22.
Cooper called the events “reckless and dangerous” given the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
“People shouldn’t run a money-making operation that puts in danger not only their customers but people who come in contact with their customers,” Cooper said during a Monday news conference. “This is a reckless decision being made by the owners, pulling people together in that way that can cause spread of the virus.”
The imminent hazard order is signed by Cohen, secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. In it, Ace Speedway’s events are considered “likely to cause an immediate threat to human life, an immediate threat of serious physical injury, an immediate threat of serious adverse health effects.”
I hope the people of North Caroline don’t vote this idiot this fall!
So let me get this straight, you can protest, throw stones, chant, march and in general raise hell and that is OK. Attending a race, not so fast there — skippy? `I wouldn’t mind if there were an intellectually honest politician out there — you know saw something like “I no way can I support an obviously white supremacist sport like car racing, and therefore declare this to be closed” but to hide behind CoVID is ridiculous.
HEY GOVERNOR — YOU DIDNT HEAR — NO SUCH THING AS SYMPTOMATIC SPREAD. GFY
We will send Mayor Cheeseball Curry to you so we can consolidate them
What a jackass.
Just go.
Obviously there is no law.
Well, if they wouldn’t draft . . .
Ditto, but I knew that when I didn’t vote for him. Time to protest...
Cooper truly believes he is a dictator of all that lies between Murphy and Manteo.
Riots and looting are not an imminent hazard. Insanity.
Enforce the Dictator’s Decree with deadly force if necessary.
Had to check where you are from. I think you could say that about at least half of the goobers running the various states. I’ll go you one better:
My Governor is a DICTATORIAL idiot.
I think you mean asymptomatic.....
if rioters went there- what would the gov say then?
Did he allow vigils for Saint Floyd?
Wonder what the folks at Ace Speedway do next?
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND PAY YOUR TAXES!
Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said he did not cite the owner of the racetrack during the May race because he was unclear of the governor’s wording in the executive order, which allows crowds of more than 25 people for weddings and other events exercising someone’s first amendment rights.
The owner of the racetrack called Saturday’s event a “Unity Rally with Racing.” During the Saturday race, many fans held signs saying, “Racing for rights.”
Some folks who went say they went to protest the governor’s executive order restricting their right to assemble.
“A lot of folks don`t understand this racetrack as a small business, and with all the COVID-19 situation, a lot of small businesses have been put under a lot of great pressure, and many of them have closed. This race track has reached a point where they had to race or they were going to run out of money and were going to have to close,” Randy Pettit said.
Our crews did not see anyone from the sheriff’s office there. Only the track owner can be written a citation for violating the order. Fans can not be cited for attending.
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