Welcome back to Robertson’s Reportings! Over the holidays, the amount of blood donated to Red Cross decreased drastically. Snow, ice, and extreme temperatures prevented some of the blood drives from being held. All people eligible are encouraged to donate, especially those with type O blood. In North Carolina, over 30 blood drives were cancelled in December, and about 1,500 planned donations were not collected. Donations in Greensboro are typically collected at the Greensboro Blood Donation Center. From now to the end of January, there are donation collection days almost every day. Potential donors must be 16 years or older, weigh 110 pounds or more, have a valid photo ID, and be in good health.

Although we did not receive much ice that stuck to the road, almost 7,000 Duke Energy customers in the triad went without power four hours and even days. Forsyth County, a county directly west of Guilford County, had over 5,000 power outages. The ice built up to about a third of an inch on trees and power lines, causing power lines to fail. Governor Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency on Sunday, January 13. Guilford County schools had a two hour delay on Monday because all schools had power, but members of the school board wanted to ensure the safety of students when they were getting to school since ice tends to refreeze overnight. In Forsyth County, at least one school was reported to be out of power.

The many protests in Paris have settled down, but over 2,000 immigrants from Africa and the Middle East entered the city and are set up with tents on the streets. People are staying near subway vents and making campfires to keep warm as the temperatures range from the twenties to forties. Officials are planning to open 1,200 shelters for these immigrants that are made up mostly of people from Afghanistan. Charities for these purposes are quickly filling up, so, by the end of the winter, there could be thousands still on the streets.

The United Teachers Los Angeles organization planned a strike day for January 14. Over 30,000 teachers went on strike for smaller classes and a larger pay. The schools in California stayed open despite the teachers being on strike. Since teachers left school, the requirements for being a parent volunteer relaxed. This strike affected over 600,000 students across the state. One California Spanish teacher said that she had 49 students in one class during the 2017-2018 school year, and there were not enough desks. During the protest, these teachers wore red and held red flags to emphasize the significant “Wear Red for Ed” slogan that teachers on strike began wearing years ago.

On early Tuesday, January 15, the Silent Sam pedestal was removed from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The statue, which was destroyed by protesters who called it racist, has been in storage since August. Crews took the pedestal away in the early morning from one to three o’clock, but, despite the time, a crowd of cheering students gathered to watch. Silent Sam is the statue of a Confederate soldier which stood from 1913 to 2018. Now, the pedestal has officially been removed after Chancellor Carol Folt made a statement declaring this plan on Monday. See you next time on Robertson’s Reportings, coverage you can count on!