News About Town: On Friday evening (September 2), the Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to discuss ways to help bars in Matthews expand their footprints for reopening with outdoor space. The meeting ended in a resolution granting existing restaurants and bars an extension into public right-of-way under the newest Executive Order by Governor Cooper to allow maximized social distancing. Following the unanimous adoption of the resolution, the Board voted to amend the downtown guidelines adopted for restaurants at the start of Phase 2. This amendment includes adding bars to the guidelines and allowing both bars and restaurants a temporary permit for use of up to four public parking spaces for tables and seating.

News Around Town: If you’re interested in COVID contact tracing, NC Department of Health and Human Services has just the thing for you: SlowCOVIDNC. Download the app then enable Bluetooth and notifications. Your phone will have “tokens” to exchange with other phones. If you’re ever diagnosed COVID-positive at any point, enter a PIN in the app, which will examine the data and notify those who meet a set of threshold criteria of your positive, allowing faster tracing and better containment.