Opinion

Opinion Roundup: Amazon narrows HQ2 list

Friday, Jan. 19, 2018 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on Amazon's hunt for a second headquarters, a Supreme Court move on N.C.'s congressional map, a legislative update on the class-size mandate and more.

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Amazon Chooses 20 Finalists for Second Headquarters
Friday, Jan. 19, 2018 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on Amazon's hunt for a second headquarters, a Supreme Court move on N.C.'s congressional map, a legislative update on the class-size mandate and more.
POLITICS & POLICY
JOSEPH PISANI: Amazon narrows for second HQ; Raleigh makes the cut (AP News analysis) -- Amazon has narrowed its hunt for a second headquarters to 20 locations, concentrated among cities in the U.S. East and Midwest. Toronto made the list as well, keeping the company's international options open.
TRAVIS FAIN: Cooper: NC's incentives won't be biggest Amazon's offered (WRAL-TV analysis) -- The goal is to be competitive enough to get a seat at the table, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
RICK SMITH: Developer John Kane says Raleigh can win Amazon HQ2, offers ‘Prime’ corridor plan for real estate (WRAL-TV/TechWire analysis) -- John Kane, the driving force behind the development of Raleigh’s North Hills as well as a strong backer of more development in Raleigh’s Warehouse District, believes Raleigh could win the massive Amazon HQ2 project. And he’s put together a real estate corridor labeled “Prime” that he says would meet Amazon’s requirements for space.
MIKE WALDEN: What does making final 20 for Amazon HQ2 mean for Triangle? (WRAL-TV/TechWire column) -- I see two categories in the list – big regions like NY, Boston, LA, etc, and medium sized regions – including Austin, Columbus, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh. … It seems to me the first decision Amazon will have to make is whether it wants a location in a large region or in one of the medium sized regions. While – as I mentioned – the large regions have size and other attributes as pluses, in one of the medium sized regions Amazon would automatically be the biggest player, and the company could have a big say in developing infrastructure and other characteristics it wants.
LAURA STEVENS: Amazon Narrows Choices for ‘HQ2’ to 20 (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- Amazon named 20 metropolitan areas as finalists for its second headquarters after reviewing 238 proposals from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. New York, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis are among the choices.
JOHN COOK: GeekWire picks Raleigh No. 10 in Amazon HQ2 search (GeekWire column) -- My logic has changed a bit since I first published my top contenders. I’ve also noticed some interesting patterns in the 20 cities selected — more than half (11 cities, if you include Atlanta and Pittsburgh) are on the East Coast, playing into a theory that the tech juggernaut wants a home in the Eastern time zone. Two cities in the no-income-tax state of Texas — Austin and Dallas — made it into the finalist list (and I think both have a good shot).
RICHARD CRAVER: Triad misses out as Amazon narrows list of cities for second HQ; Raleigh only NC city on the list (Winston-Salem Journal analysis) -- The Triad — as expected — did not make Amazon’s cut of 20 finalists for its second headquarters campus, but Raleigh did, the online retailer said.
ANDREW DUNN: What Charlotte can learn from being snubbed by Amazon (Charlotte Agenda column) -- Amazon finally released a list of its 20 finalists, and they’re a who’s who of up-and-coming cities — including most fast-growing Southern ones. Yes, our archrivals Atlanta and Raleigh both made the list. Peers like Indianapolis, Nashville and Denver, too. No Charlotte.
We can’t believe we’re saying this about Raleigh and Amazon (Charlotte Observer) -- Charlotte didn’t make the cut as a finalist for Amazon’s HQ2. Our NC neighbor did.
MATTHEW BURNS: Supreme Court blocks redraw of NC congressional map (WRAL-TV analysis) -- The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the decision of a lower court ordering North Carolina lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts by next week. A panel of three federal judges recently struck down the map drawn in 2016 as excessively partisan and demanded a new map be completed by Jan. 24. At the same time, the judges wanted to appoint an independent expert to draw a second map for them to consider.
ROBERT BARNES: Supreme Court says North Carolina does not have to immediately redraw congressional maps (Washington Post analysis) -- The Supreme Court said that North Carolina does not immediately have to redraw its congressional
ADAM LIPTAK & ALAN BLINDER: Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks North Carolina Gerrymandering Ruling (New York Times analysis) -- The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a trial court’s order requiring North Carolina lawmakers to produce a revised congressional voting map, making it likely that the midterm elections this year will be conducted using districts favorable to Republican candidates. The trial court had found that Republican legislators in the state had violated the Constitution by drawing congressional voting districts to hurt the electoral chances of Democratic candidates. The Supreme Court’s move was expected and not particularly telling.
BRENT KENDALL: High Court Pauses Ruling That Invalidated North Carolina House Districts (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday postponed the effect of a lower-court ruling that found Republicans in North Carolina unlawfully gerrymandered the state’s congressional districts to maximize their partisan advantage.
GARY ROBERTSON: Supreme Court delays order for North Carolina to redraw maps (AP news analysis) -- The U.S. Supreme Court delayed a lower-court order that would have forced North Carolina Republican lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts by next week because of excessive partisan bias in current lines.
DAVID SAVAGE: Supreme Court gives North Carolina Republicans a delay in partisan gerrymander case (LA Times analysis) -- The Supreme Court came to the aid of North Carolina’s Republican leaders Thursday, putting on hold a lower court’s ruling that declared the state’s election map an unconstitutional “partisan gerrymander”
TAFT WIREBACK: U.S. Supreme Court: N.C. congressional maps OK for now (Greensboro News & Record analysis) -- North Carolina legislators will not have to redraw the state’s congressional districts by next Wednesday as ordered last week by a three-judge panel. In a terse, two-paragraph ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly and said Thursday that the remapping process ordered by the Greensboro-based panel “is stayed pending the timely filing and disposition of an appeal in this court.”
RICK HASEN: Supreme Court, with Two Dissents, Stays Order to Redraw Congressional Districts After Lower Court Finding of a Partisan Gerrymander (Election Law Blog) -- This is what I expected, and is consistent with how the Court has been treating emergency motions in redistricting and voting cases (see my: The Supreme Court is in No Hurry to Protect Voters from Gerrymandering, Washington Post (Post Everything, June 28, 2017). What this means is that it is very unlikely that even if the Supreme Court agrees with the lower court that this is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, there will be time to consider the issue in time for the 2018 elections
It’s time to halt redistricting ‘gamesmanship’ (Fayetteville Observer) -- The judges got it right: Give North Carolina’s Republican gerrymandering team another break and we’ll end up in the same mess we’ve been in for years now.
TIM BUCKLAND: Redistricting creating ‘gridlock’ (Wilmington Star-News analysis) -- Forum held at UNCW on gerrymandering and reform.
JEFF TIBERII: Farr's Nomination For Federal Judge Moves To Full Senate (WUNC-FM) -- A committee of U.S. Senators has again approved a controversial pick for the Federal Bench. Thomas Farr is up for a life-time position in the Eastern District of North Carolina. He has been criticized for his work as an attorney defending recent voting laws passed by the Republican-led General Assembly – and also for his work on a Jesse Helms campaign in 1990.
SUSAN LADD: It's time for the grown-ups to craft a rational immigration policy (Greensboro News & Record column) -- Explaining things that appear self-evident became a weekly chore when Donald Trump entered the presidential race. Now that he’s president, it’s a full-time job. Ideas so ridiculous that serious-minded people dismissed them immediately now are presented as policy. The queen bee of all these absurdly childish ideas is building a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigration.
RICHARD BURR & THOM TILLIS: Tax cuts are paying off in N.C. already (Charlotte Observer column) -- Tax reform is leading to bonuses and other benefits for real people, Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis say.
STEPHANIE CARSON: NC Teen Founds Political Action Committee (Public News Service analysis) -- At a time when civic engagement is heightened across the country, a North Carolina teen has taken a big step to participate in the political process. Fifteen-year-old Ryan Hubbard of Charlotte founded the Youth Global Advocacy Political Action Committee last year. The group now has 15 members and has endorsed four candidates so far. Hubbard says his PAC was born out of a desire to be respected in the political process.
EDUCATION
TRAVIS FAIN: Legislature to take up class size issue in March (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Expect the state legislature to be in session this March and for it to take up school system concerns with class size restrictions that could otherwise trigger major changes for Wake County students, Sen. John Alexander, R-Wake, said Thursday.
JOE SIRERA: Felony conviction doesn't prevent Vandevender from coaching Trinity Christian (Greensboro News & Record analysis) -- Trinity Christian’s success on the court is the reason the Crusaders were invited to play Greensboro Day on Saturday in the N.C. Scholastic Classic at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. But in February 2017, Trinity Christian was in the news for a different reason. Longtime coach Heath Vandevender was charged with failing to pay $388,422.68 in North Carolina withholding tax. Vandevender was the payroll manager for Truth Outreach Center Inc., which operates Trinity Christian School as one of Trinity Christian Church's ministries, from 2008 through 2015.
FERREL GUILLORY: North Carolina democracy: A work of ‘demos’ and leaders (EdNC column) -- As EdNC completes its third year with a goal to accentuate the “public in public policy,” let us ponder a couple of signs of the times: More than half of Americans say the internet-driven proliferation of news sources makes it harder for them to be informed; “striking’’ differences across racial and ethnic lines on whether children can get a quality education.
AND MORE
The literate pirate (Fayetteville Observer) -- It turns out that pirates may have been a lot more intellectual than we’ve imagined. They didn’t just sit around saying “Arrrrrrr” to each other and teaching parrots to swear. Some of them may well have spent time reading literature. Yup, that’s right: Literate pirates who had their noses stuck in books between raids on merchant ships and small coastal outposts. Who would’ve thought such a thing?
ALLISON BALLARD: Historic Wrightsville Beach Cottage Relocated (Coastal Review column) -- The 1924 Ewing-Bordeaux Cottage in Wrightsville Beach now has a new location and purpose as an added feature of the town’s history museum, with space for exhibits and events.

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