Opinion Roundup: Judge delays ruling on party labels, 13 UNC football players suspended, Atlantic Coast pipeline permits and more

Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Judge hands NC legislators temporary loss in lawsuit over political labels, panel summarizing constitutional amendments makes progress, red states may be ready to expand Medicaid, appeals court tosses key permits for Atlantic Coast pipeline and more.

LAURA LESLIE: Judge delays ruling on party labels in judicial races (WRAL-TV reports) -- A judge wants another week to decide whether to issue an injunction in lawsuit over party labels in judicial races.

TRAVIS FAIN: NAACP, environmentalists sue to keep constitutional amendments off the ballot (WRAL-TV reports) -- The state NAACP and an environmental non-profit plan to sue state legislative leaders Monday morning to keep four proposed constitutional amendments off the ballot this fall.

GARY D. ROBERTSON & ALEX DEROSIER: Lawsuits target GOP amendment referendums, candidate labels (AP reports) -- Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and other opponents of legislative Republicans filed a flurry of late-hour lawsuits Monday to block referendums on constitutional amendments and to let a state Supreme Court candidate disclose his party affiliation on ballots.

WILL DORAN: Judge hands NC legislators temporary loss in lawsuit over political labels (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The N.C. Supreme Court candidate who is suing the state government and legislative leaders won a partial victory in court.

STEPHANIE CARSON: Hearing Today to Determine Ballot Measures on November Ballot in NC (Public News Service reports) -- A Wake County Superior Court will hear a request from Clean Air Carolina, Forward Justice and the N.C. NAACP to prevent the state Legislature from placing four constitutional amendments on the November ballot. The Southern Environmental Law Center is representing the groups in the lawsuit. Their case argues that the amendments would impact voting rights, restructure the government and reduce the separation of state powers. June Blotnick, the executive director of Clean Air Carolina, says the changes could further reduce environmental protections.

Panel summarizing constitutional amendments makes progress (AP reports) - A panel tasked with writing summaries for the public describing six proposed amendments to North Carolina's constitution on November ballots made progress while meeting the first time at full strength.

Do the challenges to N.C.’s proposed constitutional amendments have a chance? (Charlotte Observer) — The bar for challengers is different in N.C. than most states, says a state constitution expert.

MAXIM TAMAROV: Sen. Tillis speaks with military families during Camp Lejeune visit (Jacksonville Daily News reports) — U.S. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina visited Camp Lejeune Monday afternoon. Tillis said he came for several reasons, including to get an idea of what the choices are for military families. He spoke with Marines and their spouses about living conditions and moving in and out of their homes, among other topics, and said he believes people in Washington, D.C. don’t pay enough attention to the day-to-day challenges military families face.

DAWN VAUGHAN: Women are paid less than men in Durham. City may be step closer to addressing it (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Women generally earn less than men in Durham. Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson read those words before the Durham City Council on Monday night in a resolution supporting the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

MICHAEL GORDON Judge tosses former candidate’s lawsuit against parent volunteers, CMS and the Observer (Charlotte Observer reports) — A lawsuit filed by a political candidate against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, several school employees, two volunteers, a Charlotte attorney as well as The Charlotte Observer has been thrown out of court.

N.C. is right to join suit against posting of plans for 3-D guns (Greensboro News & Record) -- Imagine a gun you could build in the privacy of your home in much the same way that you assembled model cars and planes as a youth.

MARILYN PAYNE & LAUREN BROWNLOW: UNC QB Surratt, 12 others will miss games for selling gear (WRAL-TV reports) - UNC announced that 13 football players, including some returning starters, will miss at least one game due to suspension, and nine athletes will be suspended four games following a secondary NCAA violation committed by each of the athletes during this past offseason. The suspensions come down after the UNC self-reported the violations that came from players selling team-issued Nike Jordan Brand shoes following the end of the 2017 season.

BOB ORR: UNC football players should send NCAA a message -- by boycotting (Charlotte Observer column) — The members of the UNC football team have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strike a blow for the rights of college athletes and their teammates. Monday’s announcement that 13 players on the team would be suspended for up to four games for violation of NCAA rules cries out for the players to circle the wagons.

LUKE DECOCK: UNC shoe mess another compliance black eye for a university that has had too many (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — A difficult start to the football season just got tougher for North Carolina, and that’s not even the Tar Heels’ biggest problem. The announcement that 13 players will be suspended for selling their team-issued Air Jordans – nine of them for four games, including quarterback Chazz Surratt and three defensive ends.

MICHAEL HEWLETT: Los Angeles man pleads guilty to stealing $1.9 million from App State (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty last week to charges that he created a fake company and posed as a construction company employee in a scheme to steal nearly $2 million from Appalachian State University.

CHRISTINE VESTAL: Red States May Be Ready to Expand Medicaid — In Exchange for Work (NC Health News reports) — In several states this year, the march to bring health care benefits to more low-income residents came with the insistence that able-bodied adults — who are just a fraction of all Medicaid recipients — put in hours of work or volunteer time each month to retain the assistance. North Carolina has ruled that if it decides to expand Medicaid, it would do so with a work requirement.

DENISE LAVOIE: Appeals court tosses key permits for Atlantic Coast pipeline (AP reports) -- A federal appeals court threw out two key permits for the Atlantic Coast pipeline, a ruling environmental groups said should halt construction on the 600-mile natural gas pipeline, but project developers insisted should not result in a lengthy delay. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit was "arbitrary and capricious" because it provided no specific limits for the allowable impact on five threatened or endangered species. The ruling elaborates on a decision first issued in May.

CRAIG JARVIS: Atlantic Coast Pipeline can’t cross Blue Ridge Parkway, judge rules (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — A federal appeals court revoked the right-of-way that the National Park Service had granted the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross underneath the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. The decision by the three-judge panel will cause some delay for the project, which has already begun construction in North Carolina and West Virginia but not Virginia.

SCOTT DiSAVINO: Dominion does not expect U.S. court order to hold up Atlantic Coast pipe (Reuters reports) — A U.S. appeals court vacated permits by two federal agencies that allowed Dominion Energy Inc to build its Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, a decision the company does not expect to hold up its $6.0 billion to $6.5 billion project. In response to the court’s concerns about the environment, Dominion said it would work with the agencies to reinstate the permits for the 600-mile (966-km) pipe from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina.

CATHERINE KOZAK: Carova Beach Parking Dispute Continues (Coastal Review reports) -- A judge has rejected a request for a temporary injunction that would have halted a new county fee on nonresident beach parking in Currituck County, but a Virginia off-road club vows to keep fighting.

CRAIG JARVIS: Are toxic chemicals in our drinking water? Statewide testing should let us know (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — North Carolina’s leading university science researchers will try to find out if water supplies in the state have been contaminated with toxic compounds like GenX, an unregulated chemical discovered in the Cape Fear River last year. Over the next year, each municipality in the state will have its water tested at the point where the water enters the public system.

RICHARD BARRON: Greensboro's tap water now safe, city officials say (Greensboro News & Record) — Greensboro’s water was declared safe after the city took steps to deal with high levels of PFOS, a harmful compound that has been linked to firefighting foam and the coating on cookwear, city officials said.

TIM BUCKLAND: Chemours declines local meeting to update GenX efforts (Wilmington Star News reports) — Chemours has declined New Hanover and Wilmington’s request to hold an in-person meeting with the area’s residents, according to a release. New Hanover Commissioners Chairman Woody White and Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo asked the company in a July 19 letter to meet with residents. The company’s only appearance in Wilmington was a closed-door session with Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender leaders on June 15, 2017.