Opinion Roundup: Benefits of renewable energy blow past political dilemma

Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on the commercial sense behind wind and solar energy, the narrowing timeframe to fix gerrymandered districts, the numbers behind President Trump's immigration proposal and more.

Ready for the wind (Greensboro News & Record) -- Smart politicians can tell which way the wind is blowing, which may be how Gov. Roy Cooper worked out of a political dilemma last week.

STEPHANIE CARSON: Public-Private Partnership Repairs NC Waterways After Hurricane Matthew (Public News Service) -- – It's been a little over 10 months since Hurricane Matthew ravaged parts of North Carolina causing flooding in river basins across the state. Although the water has receded, the cleanup continues and the state is partnering with the nonprofit group Resource Institute to restore rivers, streams, wetlands and ponds impacted by the storm.

JULIE COHEN: Predicting How Seawalls Affect Ecology (Coastal Review analysis) -- A new study provides insight into how different types of shoreline hardening affect the ecology across a variety of coastal settings, giving scientists a model for better predicting the effects.

​​POLICY & POLITICS

KIRK ROSS: Clock ticking for lawmakers to draw themselves new districts (Carolina Public Press column) -- The N.C. General Assembly has less than a month to draw new legislative districts after a federal court issued an order setting in motion a new round of redistricting. Given reviews, possible challenges and other legal actions, the process could extend into December, but the schedule is far shorter than the one proposed last week by a legislative committee.

JOSH BOAK & ASTRID GALVAN: Shaky assumptions in Trump immigration pitch (AP Fact Check) -- TRUMP: "The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers and puts great pressure on our taxpayers." THE FACTS: That doesn't reflect the weight of recent economic research. In North Carolina, for every dollar spent on health care and education, the economy got $11 back from Hispanic residents in consumer spending and taxes paid — a finding that includes immigrants in the country illegally, said James Johnson, a demographer at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Pass charity game night bill, let Cooper's 3 other vetoes stand (Wilson Times) -- At the General Assembly’s summer school, playing hooky can postpone the final exam. Pivotal override votes on four bills Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed could be delayed during today’s special session due to lawmakers unable to attend.

A question of access (This editorial appeared in the Greensboro News & Record, The Carolina Peacemaker, The High Point Enterprise and the Jamestown News) -- We want to thank Gov. Roy Cooper for protecting the First Amendment rights of Guilford County newspapers — and by extension, the county’s citizens — by vetoing House Bill 205.

We can support – or shatter – young immigrants’ dreams (Charlotte Observer) -- Sen. Lindsey Graham is co-sponsoring a new bipartisan Dream Act to protect DACA youth. It deserves support.

ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS & STEPHANIE SAUL: Affirmative Action Battle Has New Focus: Asian-Americans (New York Times analysis) -- A lawsuit accuses Harvard of discriminating against Asian-Americans in admissions by imposing a penalty for their high achievement and giving preferences to other racial minorities. Students for Fair Admissions, a conservative-leaning nonprofit based in Virginia, has filed similar suits against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin, asserting that white students are at a disadvantage at those colleges because of their admissions policies.

SHAHIEN NASIRIPOUR: DeVos offers a lifeline to for-profit law school that hired her former adviser (Bloomberg analysis) -- Early this year, Charlotte School of Law looked ready to collapse. The government had cut off the private equity-backed, for-profit law school's access to federal student loans, determining in a review that it had violated federal law and misled students.

KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: 11 things to know about North Carolina's school nurses (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Did you know that, on average, N.C. has one school nurse for every 1,086 public school students? That was one of the figures presented at the State Board of Education meeting.

RICK SMITH: New Research Triangle Foundation CEO ready to take on challenge (WRAL-TV TechWire) -- Scott Levitan, the new CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation which oversees the RTP, is walking into an extreme challenge: Implementing the strategic plan calling for the utter transformation of the Park. And he's eager to get started. In an exclusive conversation, Levitan talks about the plan, why he took the job, and much more.