Opinion

Opinion Roundup: Analysis warns N.C. tax cuts plan will come at no small price

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on a grim N.C. budget possibility, a push to provide better rural medical training, a call to cut partisan labels from some elected offices and more.

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Tuesday, July 11, 2017 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on a grim N.C. budget possibility, a push to provide better rural medical training, a call to cut partisan labels from some elected offices and more.

GARY ROBERTSON: Analysis projects possible $1B gap; GOP says it won't happen (AP analysis) -- The newly approved North Carolina budget with its tax cut plan could contribute to a $1 billion-plus annual gap between revenues and projected government expenses by 2020, according to an analysis by the General Assembly's nonpartisan staff.
SARAH OVASKA-FEW: With WNC doctor shortage, budget boosts mountain medical training (Carolina Public Press) -- Medical schools are churning out enough doctors, but many choose to stay in urban settings where most of the nation’s schools are based. That’s why N.C. lawmakers carved out millions of dollars in the state budget for the medical school’s Asheville campus.
Partisanship takes another victim (Fayetteville Observer) – The General Assembly’s requiring that judicial candidates and those seeking seats on some city councils and school boards to list their party membership was just one more way of getting control of the political process.
CATHERINE CLABBY: Autism Researchers Extract Precious Data from Baby Teeth (N.C. Health News analysis) -- UNC Chapel Hill scientists have joined a quest to mine data about environmental exposures that could be locked inside milk teeth.
Debt but no degree (Greensboro News & Record) -- The Trump administration set out to reverse federal regulations developed by its predecessor, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is following that directive.
D.G. MARTIN: Jim Martin’s bridge (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- Can a former North Carolina governor bridge the gap between science and religion?
LAURA LESLIE: Lobbyist fundraiser invite raises questions (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Current lobbyist and former state lawmaker Mike Hager is a "co-host" of a fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, but says he hasn't broken the state law against political contributions by lobbyists. Good-government advocates say it's confusing and gives the appearance of impropriety.
TRAVIS FAIN: Who killed the dinosaurs? A state budget mystery (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Once, major funding to expand the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' popular dinosaur exhibit roamed the pages of North Carolina's newest state budget.
ROBERT PEAR: Foes of Obama-Era Rule Work to Undo Birth Control Mandate (New York Times analysis) -- An architect of the Trump contraceptive reversal, Katy Talento, has the experience and know-how that others in the administration lack. Ms. Talento, a former aide to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., spent years warning about health risks of certain contraceptives, especially birth control pills.
DAVE SEMINARA & SHIVANI VORA: Where and How to See the Total Eclipse This Summer in the U.S. (New York Times analysis) -- Coast-to-coast solar eclipses are an exceedingly rare occurrence. For about two minutes on Aug. 21, the sun will disappear behind the moon across a narrow band called a “path of totality” from the Oregon coast to North Carolina.
DAVE MAYFIELD: Dominion announces plan to revive offshore wind project near Virginia Beach (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot analysis) -- Visions of hundreds of wind turbines off the Virginia Beach coastline once again danced through the heads of politicians and business leaders after Dominion Energy on Monday announced a partnership with a Danish company.

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