Opinion Roundup: Improving voting machines, parting mid-term reflections, Medicaid expansion and more

Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Parting reflections on last week’s midterm elections, creating an unbiased voter ID system, Congress needs to improve voting machines, broadband is now essential, Margaret Spellings' premature exit, Gov. Cooper urges feds to help fisheries, WRAL wins 8 NC journalism awards and more.

Our voting machines are aging fast. Congress should improve them (Washington Post) — Even absent an interference attempt (or at least one that officials are aware of), the problems with voting machines during last week’s midterms were manifest and manifold. In Texas and several other states, technological flaws led to some votes reportedly getting flipped from one candidate to another. In NC, some systems did not work because of the humidity. New York also experienced large-scale breakdowns.

SUSAN CHIRA: There’s No Nice Lady Caucus in Congress (New York Times reports) -- A database of all bills introduced to the House of Representatives from 1963 to 2009 showed that women not only propose more legislation than men, but they also do so on a wider range of issues. That research, conducted by Mary Layton Atkinson and Jason Harold Windett, political scientists at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, found that women who were successful at deterring challengers in primaries introduced twice as many bills as men. They deduced that women feel they must demonstrate more accomplishments than men to stay in office.

RICHARD CRAVER: Medicaid expansion prospects may be little brighter in N.C. (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- The prospects got a little brighter for expanding Medicaid coverage for up to 670,000 North Carolinians with the apparent ending of Republican super-majority rule in the state legislature.

DAVID SINCLAIR: Moore County Lawmakers Expect More Compromise in Raleigh (Southern Pines Pilot reports) -- The three Republican legislators who will represent Moore County the next two years agree that the dynamics in the how the N.C. General Assembly does business will change.

JONATHAN MARTIN & ALEXANDER BURNS: Democrats Have Two Paths for 2020: Daring or Defensive. Can They Settle on Either? (New York Times reports) -- For Democrats, the victories, near wins and stinging losses on Tuesday have intensified a debate in the party about how to retake the White House, with moderates arguing they must find a candidate who can appeal to President Trump’s supporters and historically Republican suburbanites, and progressives claiming they need someone with the raw authenticity to electrify the grass roots. Rather than clarifying which strategy to adopt for 2020, the patchwork of outcomes has only deepened the disagreements.

Lessons Learned in 2018 Elections (Southern Pines Pilot) -- Looking at the returns from this year’s midterm elections, we take away two key observations: Experience Counts -- Up and down the ballot, we saw voters opt for candidates who either had the requisite experience for the job or the influence of incumbency. That was most clearly illustrated in the landslide choice of Ronnie Fields for sheriff over Steve Adams. Fields had more than 30 years in law enforcement, while Adams touted his time and experience as a businessman. But voters clearly wanted a lawman for the job. Fields netted almost 75 percent of the vote.

JEFF DONN: Whitaker may have violated group's tax-exempt status (AP reports) -- Matthew G. Whitaker, the nation's new acting attorney general, repeatedly chided presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in public statements during 2016 while he was speaking for a group, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, that is barred by its tax-exempt status from supporting or opposing political candidates during a campaign. … FACT has also sometimes asked for investigations of Republicans including Rep. Mark Meadows of N.C. over an employee's severance pay, former Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana over alleged use of official resources for his campaign, and former Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri for an allegedly improper in-kind donation.

LISA O’DONNELL: Strong showing at ASU, in Ashe County helped weatherman flip N.C. House seat (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- A weatherman’s surprise win in a state house race helped break the Republican’s super majority in that chamber, clouding what had been a sunny day for the GOP. Ray Russell, known to thousands in Northwest North Carolina for his weather predictions on Ray’s Weather Center, beat Republican incumbent Jonathan Jordan in the N.C. House’s 93rd District, which covers Ashe and Watauga counties, flipped to the Democrats for the first time since 2010.

Washington’s a mess; local and state government doesn’t have to be (Wilmington Star-News) -- Much of government action that directly affects our day-to-day lives takes place closer to home. And there are plenty of challenges ahead.

It could have been here (Winston-Salem Journal) -- A false alarm about a mass shooting in a nearby school should still be a signal to us: gun-law reform is long overdue.

CELIA RIVENBARK: A tale of K.C. and ‘where-the-sun-don’t-shine’ band (Wilmington Star-News column) -- The famous Trump baby blimp that debuted earlier this year in London to protest the president’s visit, is on a sort of world tour these days and it made a stop in my hometown recently. I paid a few bucks toward hurricane relief to have my picture taken with the baby blimp, which is bigger than you can imagine, also more unsettling because, well, baby chest hair. Regardless of your politics, it’s always fun to see oddities like this.

DAVID NAKAMURA, SEUNG MIN KIM & JAMES MCAULEY: Critics pile on after Trump cancels visit to U.S. military cemetery outside Paris, citing weather (Washington Post reports) -- The U.S. president, engaged in several political fights back in Washington, seemed subdued as he began a pared down weekend of ceremonies to mark World War I.

DAVID NAKAMURA: Trump’s insults toward black reporters, candidates echo ‘historic playbooks’ used against African Americans, critics say (Washington Post reports) -- The president’s supporters say he fights all opponents with equal gusto, but some wonder why he often questions blacks’ intelligence and qualifications.

TIM WHITE: Plenty of ‘wow’ in that Election Day, wasn’t there? (Fayetteville Observer column) -- This was not your average Election Day. Faced with a jam-packed and controversial-in-places ballot, the voters nevertheless took their time and made some thoughtful — sometimes surprising — choices. One of them qualifies as a downright shock: Young lawyer Caitlin Evans upsetting long-serving Judge Tal Baggett. She didn’t just edge him out, either. She walloped him, by more than 9,000 votes. Where did that come from? Baggett is a veteran Cumberland County politician.

ALLEN JOHNSON: Parting reflections on last week’s midterm elections (Greensboro News & Record column) -- Republican state Sen. Trudy Wade finally got what she deserved in the Nov. 6 general election: a fair fight in a balanced district.

Time to create a fair, unbiased voter ID system (Fayetteville Observer) -- Members of the N.C. General Assembly will get some legislative exercise to help burn off their Thanksgiving calories this year, returning to Raleigh for a late-November special session that will, among other things, write the rules for the state’s newly enacted constitutional requirement for voters to show a photo ID at the polls.

ANDREW DUNN: What the Democratic sweep means for Mecklenburg County (Charlotte Agenda column) -- For the first time in decades, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners will be controlled by a single party. Democrats swept all 9 seats on the county board, ousting three incumbents in suburban, traditionally conservative districts: Jim Puckett, Bill James and Matthew Ridenhour. What does the departure of any GOP presence from the dais mean? Five things to watch.

Broadband is now essential (Hendersonville Times-News) -- High-speed internet, once considered a luxury, is today an essential need in any community that wants to harness the power of entrepreneurship and widespread markets in order to boost economic opportunity for its residents. This is why the municipal leaders from Fletcher, Hendersonville and Laurel Park are foresighted.

Veterans Day reminders of the elusiveness of peace (Fayetteville Observer) — One hundred years ago today, the battlegrounds of Europe fell quiet as an armistice halted the War To End All Wars. Peace was declared on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

A century ago, world embraced peace with ‘Great War’ armistice (Wilson Times) — Wilson’s newspaper of record carried an editorial that day celebrating the Germans’ defeat and the end of the Great War. Today, we’re republishing that editorial in its entirety to commemorate the armistice’s 100th anniversary. The date the war ended, known as Armistice Day, evolved into what we now know as Veterans Day.

THOM TILLIS: Strengthening the nation’s commitment to veterans (Fayetteville Observer column) — On Veterans Day, we not only honor the brave Americans who served our nation but also rededicate ourselves to fulfilling the promise made to every man and woman in uniform that our nation will be there for them once their uniformed service has concluded and they return to civilian life.

LEONARD PITTS JR: What journalists do (Fayetteville Observer column) — Consider it a public service for the benefit of Failed President Trump. As he reminded us Wednesday in a characteristically bizarre news conference, he has not a clue.

KIRK BRADLEY: Toward a more perfect union (Fayetteville Observer column) — Recent controversies surrounding Confederate monuments across NC can be tied directly to a lack of understanding of the Civil War itself. The state’s newest educational initiative, the NC Civil War & Reconstruction History Center, will play a crucial role in improving our understanding of that time.

Margaret Spellings' premature exit (Greensboro News & Record) — It’s bad news for NC and its university system that Margaret Spellings is leaving the job of UNC president after only three years. Her departure is bad news for the university because Spellings has done a remarkably good job, considering the obstacles she has been up against — with the UNC Board of Governors looming large among those obstacles.

PAUL FAIN: Land-Grants Team Up on Completion (Inside Higher Ed) -- A growing number of universities are trading notes on how to improve student success rates. And the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities wants to take this cross-institutional collaboration to the next level. Over the weekend the group – which includes the UNC system, N.C. State, NC A&T, ECU, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Wilmington – released details on an ambitious project involving 130 universities and systems that have pledged to work together in 16 “clusters” to boost their student access and completion rates while also curbing equity gaps. “These are burning issues for everybody,” said Rick Miranda, provost and executive vice president of Colorado State University, which is part of the effort. “Working together is a way to do it better.”

JANINE BOWEN: Confederate flag, 'restore Silent Sam' banner fly over Triangle (WRAL-TV reports) -- For the second time this month, a plane with a Confederate flag and "restore Silent Sam" banner was seen flying in North Carolina.

ANNA JOHNSON: This plane flew a Confederate flag over UNC. ‘ALL Veterans Matter,’ organizer says. (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Kevin Stone, N.C. Division Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, took credit on Facebook for the flight and said he was proud to fly on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which coincides with Veterans Day. “If you are in the Triangle today keep looking as he will be in the air for a couple of hours showing the citizens of NC that ALL Veterans Matter and that those brave men who were called to serve their Country deserve to be honoured!” Stone wrote on Facebook.

State revokes school’s charter (Rocky Mount Telegram reports) — The newest charter school in the Twin Counties may be closing soon after its charter was revoked by the state. Upon the recommendation of the Office of Charter Schools, the State Board of Education voted Nov. 1 to revoke the charter of Global Achievers School.

CONNIE LEINBACH: N.C. Secretary of Environmental Quality visits Ocracoke’s microgrid (Ocracoke Observer reports) -- Ocracoke's electric microgrid is serving as a laboratory for how North Carolina can embrace clean energy to become more competitive not only to attract big companies here but also to benefit consumers. That's what Michael Regan, secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, said when he toured the Tideland EMC facility in October.

JEFF HAMPTON: Texas company wants to build gigantic solar farm near Elizabeth City (Virginian-Pilot reports) — Pasquotank County officials find themselves in a quandary over whether to welcome or discourage a proposed solar farm that would be one of the largest east of the Mississippi River.

JOHN HAWLEY: Planners: Limit solar farms' proximity to bypass (Elizabeth City Daily Advance reports) -- Pasquotank County should allow large-scale solar farms, but away from the U.S. 17 Bypass, the county's planning board recommended in split votes

MIKE SHUTAK: Cooper urges feds to help fisheries (Carteret County News-Times reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper has requested help from the federal government to assist state fisheries hit by Hurricane Florence, and some local fishermen and seafood dealers are pleased with his actions.

BRIE HANDGRAAF: Company to turn farm waste into renewable natural gas (Wilson Times reports) -- Byproducts from Wilson swine and crop farms will soon be transformed into renewable natural gas thanks to a $33 million investment from a Raleigh company. A variety of community and business leaders gathered Thursday for a ground breaking ceremony on the 6400 block of Woodbridge Road where Green Energy Sustainable Solutions International, or GESS, plans to use 15 acres to build a biogas facility. Farmer R.C. Hunt said he's been raising pigs for half a century and has had an increased interest lately in improving the industry, so partnering with GESS was a natural evolution of that mission.

TAYLOR KNOPF: Veteran and his dog, story of mental health recovery (N.C. Health News reports) -- Quinn, a 4-year-old boxer goes everywhere with Billy DeWalt, keeping him safe, providing him with alerts, acting as a companion and helping him with PTSD.

WRAL wins 8 NC journalism awards (WRAL reports) — WRAL won eight awards at the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas/Associated Press awards luncheon Saturday. The station and website won five first-place awards and three second-place awards. Their division had 310 entries.

ANNA DOUGLAS: Is there an actual gold mine under Charlotte? (Charlotte Observer reports) — Christian Ciciarelli was golfing with an old friend one day when he heard about mysterious tunnels far below uptown Charlotte. It was the first time Ciciarelli, a Wells Fargo employee, had heard such a claim — and it seemed too interesting to not investigate. Are there gold tunnels under Charlotte and can you access them?

JOBY WARRICK: Marine’s mysterious death in World War I’s final days still haunts his family (Washington Post reports) — For half a century, the young Marine stood watch over a lonely corner of my grandmother’s house, next to a writing table no one used, in a formal living room reserved for company. In every memory of my childhood visits, he is there, familiar, yet deeply mysterious.