Opinion Roundup: Burr's bare feet; state fined for remapping; historic portrait removed; saving sea turtles; and more.

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Impeachment fact check; historic portrait removed; state fined for remapping; mumps on a UNC campus; saving the sea turtles; and more.

TRAVIS FAIN & LAURA LESLIE: Campaign finance complaint filed against Sons of Confederate Veterans (WRAL-TV reports) -- Long-time watchdog builds on The Daily Tar Heel's reporting, wants the State Board of Elections to investigate $28,500 in donations.

Board of Elections asked to probe Confederate group and its political activities (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- A local campaign finance watchdog filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections asking for an investigation of the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans and its NC Heritage political action committee.

Watchdog files complaint over NC Heritage PAC, Sons of Confederate Veterans (N.C. Policywatch) -- Citizen watchdog Bob Hall filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections Wednesday alleging the NC Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans illegally financed a political action committee that attributed donations to individuals who were not true donors and filed false campaign finance disclosure reports with the state board. The Sons of Confederate Veterans have come under increased scrutiny since the controversial UNC Board of Governors settlement that gave the group the Silent Sam Confederate monument, $2.5 million in a non-profit trust and a separate $74,999 payment to assure that the group would not use Confederate flags in on-campus protests.

Court orders North Carolina to pay $102K in remapping case (AP reports) -- N.C. must pay over $102,000 to the winning side in a recent legislative redistricting case and the outside expert who helped analyze redrawn district lines, state judges have ruled.

Lawmakers ordered to pay $100,000 after gerrymandering court loss (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $100,000 related to one of the gerrymandering cases the legislature lost last year, a panel of judges ruled.

NC appeals court hears arguments over voter ID challenge (AP reports) -- N.C.'s voter photo identification mandate already may be blocked for the upcoming March primary by a federal judge, but others are still trying to fight the ID requirement in state courts. Lawyers for five voters who sued over the newest ID mandate and for the Republican legislative leaders who helped enact the 2018 law argued before a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal. Last summer, a trial court denied the voters' request to block voter ID before their lawsuit went to trial. The voters appealed that decision, prompting Wednesday's appeals court hearing.

PAUL SPECHT: Fact check: Tillis says Cunningham, Smith support immigrant sanctuaries (PolitiFact/WRAL-TV reports) -- Like many Republicans up for election, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis is putting immigration at the forefront of his campaign. To contrast himself with his Democratic opponents, he’s pointing to state-level policies. In a Jan. 10 email newsletter, the Tillis campaign said Democrats Cal Cunningham and state Sen. Erica Smith, D-Northampton, support “sanctuary policies.” The headline says: “Sanctuary policies result in gruesome violence, do Cunningham and Smith still support them?”

Conservative group files complaint vs. NC Senate candidate, outside group (McClatchy D.C. reports) -- A conservative watchdog group has filed a federal elections complaint alleging improper coordination between U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham and an outside group spending big on his behalf.

Democratic Senate Candidates Meet In Charlotte (WFAE-FM reports) -- With a little more than five weeks before N.C.’s primary, the leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate met on stage for the first time Tuesday night at West Charlotte High.

KATE MARTIN: Candidate in competitive state Senate primary faces domestic violence claim (Carolina Public Press reports) -- Dennis Nielsen, a Johnston County gun shop owner and Republican candidate for N.C. Senate District 11, faces allegations of domestic violence from his wife. With a redrawn district and the retirement of Sen. Rick Horner, R-Nash, at the end of the current term, the District 11 race has attracted five major-party candidates, including three Republicans, making for the biggest field and the largest Republican primary in any state Senate race this year. One of Nielsen’s primary opponents, N.C. Rep. Lisa Stone Barnes, R-Nash, said that Nielsen has said she was not qualified to hold the office because she is a woman.

EUGENE SCOTT: Black lawmakers’ presidential endorsements are the most spread-out they’ve been in recent history (Washington Post column) -- Nearly half of black Americans are solidly behind one Democratic presidential candidate — former vice president Joe Biden, according to the most recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll. And there’s significant support — 20 percent — behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) among black voters. But black lawmakers — and some rather high-profile ones — are making headlines for the diversity of their support, raising the question: What impact could this have on the black electorate?

As rural N.C. shrinks, it will affect political redistricting after the 2020 elections (Durham Herald-Sun/Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Gerrymandering was one of the biggest political stories last year in North Carolina as lawsuits forced the Republican-led legislature to draw new maps for the districts used to elect members of Congress and the N.C. General Assembly. The new maps, analysts predict, will be more Democratic-leaning but could still favor Republicans. They will only be used once, in the 2020 elections. Whichever party takes control of the state legislature in those elections will be in charge of drawing new maps for the next decade.

YATES MCCONNELL: Bloomberg picks Chapel Hill as site for campaign office (The Daily Tar Heel reports) -- Chapel Hill is no stranger to presidential campaigns. President Barack Obama visited UNC's campus in 2016 to campaign for then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders hosted a rally outside of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center in fall 2019. The trend continued when Tim O’Brien, senior adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, visited the campaign’s newly-opened Chapel Hill office to discuss policy and strategy with supporters. Most of the “strategy session,” however, focused on a question and answer session that involved asking members of the community about Bloomberg’s image in Chapel Hill, Durham and N.C. as a whole.

NC county removes portrait of famed judge and slavemaster from courthouse wall (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Thomas Ruffin was considered one of the top judges of his time. But research has revealed the brutality of his views and how slaves were treated on his plantation.

Portrait of judge taken down because of his 'racist past' (AP reports) -- A N.C. county has removed a portrait of a 19th-century state Supreme Court justice from a courtroom at the request of a judge who said it didn’t belong there because of the justice’s “racist past.” Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Carl Fox requested last week that the portrait of Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin be removed “because of his racist past and his participation in slave trading and slave ownership,” Orange County government said in a news release Wednesday. The county manager’s office complied with the request, the release said. Ruffin joined the Supreme Court in 1829 and served as chief justice from 1833 to 1852. During his era, he was known for his decisions on commercial law. However, it's a ruling in the case of a slave named Lydia that stands out today.

Mom of UNCC shooting hero speaks on gun rights (WRAL-TV reports) -- The mother of a young man who was shot and killed in the UNC-Charlotte school shooting is speaking out about gun rights. She's the mother of Riley Howell who was killed last year when he tackled a gunman.

Fact check: have witnesses been called in 'every other' Senate impeachment trial? (PolitiFact/WRAL-TV) -- Witnesses have been a key point of debate in the lead up to President Donald Trump's impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., delayed sending the Senate the articles of impeachment while seeking --among other things -- a commitment to call witnesses from Republicans who control the Senate.

Burr doesn’t wear socks — and impeachment is no exception (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has a long tradition of wearing shoes with no socks, including at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Courtroom sketch artist Art Lien captured the Republican lawmaker's bare feet in loafers Monday. The sketch took place as Burr and fellow Sen. Kelly Loeffler listened to Rep. Val Demings make the case for Trump's removal. Burr later made the image his profile picture on Twitter. Burr has been a longtime advocate of going sockless. He tweeted in September: "I got 99 problems but socks ain't one."

OODLES scam leads to guilty plea on federal charges (Carolina Public Press reports) -- Asheville-based Hal Brown Jr. admitted Tuesday to running OODLES as a Ponzi scheme, cheating investors out of $22 million from 2006 to 2019

JOHN WALKER: Three of four labor organizers found not guilty (Rocky Mount Telegram reports) -- Three of four farm labor organizers charged with second-degree trespassing on Oct. 25 at Greenleaf Nursery were found not guilty following a two-hour trial before District Judge Ed Brown in the Edgecombe County Courthouse.

JOHN L JOHNSON: Local leaders should not pass on Civil War center (Fayetteville Observer column) -- Fayetteville and Cumberland County can ill afford to turn down investments in the community.

New ECU chancellor must be culturally agile, team player (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Cultural agility, experience recruiting and retaining staff, an ability to work well with the UNC Board of Governors and a long-term vision for the success of East Carolina University are attributes faculty and staff members said the next chancellor should possess.

Teachers asked about striking for higher pay and Medicaid expansion (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- NCAE is surveying teachers about their willingness to go on strike, even though it’s against state law.

NICK STEVENS: NCHSAA amendments proposed: Seeks to change number of classes, realign annually (High School OT/WRAL-TV) -- Last week, the N.C. High School Athletic Association distributed ballots to every member school regarding two proposed amendments to the NCHSAA bylaws that would drastically change the way realignment in carried out in N.C.

UNC warns students about a case of the mumps on the Chapel Hill campus (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Mumps is highly contagious and symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, unusual tiredness, loss of appetite, headache and swollen glands.

North Carolina author Scott Reintgen returns to his roots at Lufkin Middle School (WRAL-TV reports) -- Scott Reintgen writes books for "the front-row sleepers and back-row dreamers" of middle school classrooms. This week he returned to his own middle school, Lufkin Road in Apex, to speak to the next generation of students.

JEAN BRANNUM: Local middle school students spread awareness on the dangers of single-use plastic bags (The Technician reports) -- Eighth graders at Exploris Middle School on Hillsborough Street are working to spread awareness of the environmental dangers of single-use plastic bags and pushing for stores to charge for them, according to Teagan Grantz, one of the students. Students Grantz, Bailey Hatchett, Nina Olshansky, Lucinda Lietz and Finley Gantt who attend the project-based charter school, chose to look into ways to prevent plastic bag use for North Carolina citizens.

DREW C. WILSON: Exceptional children’s teacher honored (The Wilson Times reports) -- Hayley Baxley, an exceptional children’s teacher at Springfield Middle School, said she gets “a lot of love” out of her work. Baxley recently received the Educator of Excellence Award for Wilson County Schools at North Carolina’s 69th annual Conference on Exceptional Children in Greensboro. Baxley became interested in the career because of a personal connection. Baxley’s cousin had cerebral palsy.

ANNE BLYTHE: NC dentists and dental hygienists have been in long tug-of-war over practice limits. Hygienists just gained a bit of ground (North Carolina Health News reports) -- New scope of practice rules mean dental hygienists will be freer to practice without dentists present. Dentists were OK with the changes.

'Save Our Hospital' Group Holds First Public Meeting (WHQR-FM reports) -- The Save Our Hospital group held its first public meeting Tuesday evening in Wilmington. A standing room only crowd listened to speakers explain why they are opposed to the possible sale or merger of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center. North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell made the trip down from Raleigh to express his thoughts on a possible hospital sale.

Documentary on the troubling rise in NC youth suicides premieres today (N.C. Policy Watch) -- North Carolina’s teen suicide rate has doubled in the past decade. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of deaths among children ages 10-17 in our state. It’s a troubling fact that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. This Thursday, WRAL-TV will premiere its latest documentary on the subject in which a young woman shares her own story of overcoming depression, anxiety and an attempted suicide while highlighting the lessons she learned along the way.

Examining the health benefits of lemon water (WRAL-TV reports) -- VMany women are dehydrated, but some experts say drinking lemon water can help combat that.

Digging up Duke Energy’s coal ash will cost billions. Will customers pay for it? (Charlotte Observer reports) -- The news this month that Duke Energy will dig up 80 million tons of its coal ash ended years of wrangling over disposal of the gritty power plant waste. Left unsettled is who will pay billions of dollars for the cleanup: Duke's shareholders or its customers? North Carolina's attorney general is among critics who say Duke's mishandling of coal ash, including a massive spill and groundwater contamination, should make it liable for the tab.

JEFF GLEASON: ‘Environmental Justice Is Not Merely a Box to Be Checked’ (New York Times column) -- When concerns about a pipeline were dismissed by regulators, a rural black enclave went to court — and won.

Cold-stunned sea turtles wash ashore on North Carolina coast (AP reports) -- More than 100 sea turtles stunned by recent cold temperatures have washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the National Park Service said. Approximately 95 green and Kemp's ridley turtles washed ashore on the south side of Hatteras Island. The turtles were taken to the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island for rehabilitation. Many are expected to be released by the end of the week.

As Biodiversity Shrinks, Conservationists Shift Focus to Protecting Land (Public News Service reports) – N.C.'s mountains and coasts are teeming with biodiversity that conservationists say is under threat from global warming

ELIZABETH OUZTS: The N.C. Utilities Commission is almost fully filled with Cooper appointees. What will that mean in 2020? (The Energy News Network reports) -- The N.C. Utilities Commission is at full strength at last, having spent almost half of 2019 with four commissioners instead of seven. Now filled almost entirely with appointees from Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, the panel could steer Duke Energy and other utilities in its purview in a new direction. But while key orders are expected this year on electric vehicles, rate hikes, and other issues, advocates say many of the commission’s most consequential decisions on the state’s energy future will come in 2021. And while this crop of regulators may be more inclined than their predecessors to push Duke toward more renewables and less coal and gas, looming energy policy questions will still have to be resolved by the General Assembly — not regulators.

Injuries and fatalities will rise due to climate change, study says (WRAL-TV reports) -- Researchers analyzed U.S. fatalities from injuries over a 37-year period until 2017. The number of deaths were then associated with big temperature swings each month.

GILBERT BAEZ: Plans to close Fayetteville's Crown Arena and Crown Theater in 2022 (WRAL-TV reports) -- The Crown Coliseum used to be the backbone of entertainment for Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

Planters announces Mr. Peanut's death in new pre-Super Bowl ad (WRAL-TV reports) -- Say it ain't so.

Struggling Minnesota church asks older members to go away (AP reports) -- A struggling Minnesota church is asking its older parishioners to leave in hopes of making it more attractive to young families. Grove United Methodist Church in the St. Paul suburb of Cottage Grove is closing in June, with plans to relaunch in November. The present members, most of them over 60 years old, will be invited to worship elsewhere, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The church is asking that they stay away for two years, then consult the pastor about reapplying.

KATHY HANRAHAN: Christensen reveals name, menu for new fried chicken restaurant (WRAL-TV reports) -- Award-winning chef Ashley Christensen will open her first fast-casual chicken restaurant in Raleigh this summer.

Eight Foods You Should Stock up on in the Winter (WRAL-TV reports) -- Whether you're preparing for an impending snowstorm or trying to educate yourself just in case. there are a number of essential items you should have stocked in your pantry.