Ron Tober is arguably the father of Charlotte mass transit.
He was the first chief executive of the Charlotte Area Transit System, from 1999 to 2007.
He led the construction of the original Lynx Blue Line from Interstate 485 to uptown.
And he created a long-range transit plan, which includes the Blue Line extension (which opened in 2018); the Gold Line streetcar (under construction); and the commuter rail line to Lake Norman (stalled for more than a decade due to an impasse with Norfolk-Southern railroad). Ron Tober was the first chief executive of the Charlotte Area Transit System, from 1999 to 2007.
Tober talked at the SouthPark Starbucks last week as the Colonial Pipeline crisis was unfolding and the Charlotte City Council was preparing to vote on the Future Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. In a stop at the Mecklenburg EMS Agency COVID-19 vaccination clinic Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper praised the work of county officials and paramedics.
The vaccination clinic on Wilkinson Boulevard has the capacity to administer 450 shots a day. Until a few weeks ago, the clinic was at full capacity for vaccine appointments, county medical director Dr. Meg Sullivan told the governor.
But demand for vaccines has quickly dropped in Charlotte and across the state.
Cooper has said the state may be able to lift all mask requirements once at least two-thirds of North Carolinians have received at least one shot.
Mecklenburg Co. focuses on improving access to vaccinations for marginalized communities
Mecklenburg County focuses on reaching vaccines to underserved communities By WBTV Web Staff | July 3, 2020 at 7:22 PM EDT - Updated May 5 at 7:54 PM
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) - More than 41 percent of people in Mecklenburg County have been administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said Wednesday.
Also, 31 percent of people in Mecklenburg County are fully vaccinated.
Still, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris says the focus is to distribute the vaccinations to those in marginalized communities.
“Our focus is to improve access and availability to them,” Harris said.
Cooper has said the state may be able to lift all mask requirements once at least two-thirds of North Carolinians have received at least one shot.
And the threshold for reaching herd immunity, when a large majority of the population is vaccinated, is likely higher - but experts worry slowing demand for vaccines may mean the state won’t reach that level.
So on Wednesday, Cooper and state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen urged all state and Mecklenburg County residents to get the vaccine.
“We want to make sure that our whole state is protected,” Cohen said. “I think it’s important to remember: Vaccines not only protect you as an individual, the more people who get vaccinated, it protects us all.”