Opinion Roundup: Castle Doctrine, youngest voters influencing N.C. elections, Mission-HCA deal and more

Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: 4 ways NC lawmakers can make a voter ID bill less than awful, charities could see record-breaking "Giving Tuesday," congressmen decry detention of immigrant who left church, coach Larry Fedora fired after seven seasons, Chemours pact is first step on a long road, a chance to improve hog operations and more.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Session agenda (The Insider reports) -- Voter ID and hurricane relief aren't the only topics on the legislature's agenda when it returns this week. One is a time-sensitive issue: The current law governing the state's elections and ethics board has been struck down in court, with the decision set to take effect after Dec. 3, when this year's post-election work should be complete. Lawmakers plan to pass new legislation to address the ruling, but details of what they're considering hasn't been released. Legislators also plan to take action in response to another ruling that rejected the structure of six other boards and commissions.

NC health care committee gets Medicaid status update (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- A state Medicaid status check will dominate the likely final joint legislative healthcare committee meeting for 2018. Leading the agenda for today’s 1 p.m. meeting is an update on the state Medicaid waiver initiative. The meeting comes about a month after federal health regulators approved key elements of N.C.’s request to create a “whole body” approach to care.

4 ways NC lawmakers can make a voter ID bill less than awful (Charlotte Observer) -- NC voters approved a photo ID amendment. It’s unnecessary, but here are steps lawmakers can take to help protect the vote.

Cautious optimism on voter ID implementation (Wilmington Star-News) -- North Carolina’s lame-duck legislature is going back into session Nov. 27, which must set some sort of record. It seems like the Honorables in Raleigh have been pulling special sessions every few ideas, usually to push through the leadership’s latest big idea. (Remember HB-2, the Bathroom Bill?) This, however, is serious.

TYLER DUKES: Castle Doctrine: Self-defense or license to kill? (WRAL-TV reports) -- In late 2011, two years before Christian Griggs was shot to death, state lawmakers enacted an expansion of gun rights that made the Castle Doctrine explicit. And they added a new, major protection for those who killed someone while in their homes, vehicles or workplaces: the presumption of fear. That presumption means that in those places, people who say they've killed in self-defense no longer have to prove they feared serious injury or death. Instead, it's up to the other side – typically the state – to prove otherwise.Presumption of Fear is a five-part multimedia investigative series examining North Carolina's Castle Doctrine and its role in the 2013 death of 23-year-old Christian Griggs, who was shot and killed by his father-in-law, the Rev. Pat Chisenhall, in Harnett County.

KEVIN FRIKING: Senate GOP taking up judicial nominee some call 'the worst' (AP reports) -- Senate Republicans are working to soon fill the nation's longest judicial vacancy with a N.C. lawyer whose nomination has raised objections from black lawmakers and civil rights groups concerned about his work defending state laws found to have discriminated against African-Americans.

It’s time to eliminate gerrymandering (Winston-Salem Journal) -- One of the big political stories of the 2018 election was the outsized influence gerrymandering played in keeping control of state houses in Republican hands. In several states, including Ohio, Wisconsin and, yes, North Carolina, Democrats and Republicans were roughly evenly divided when it came to voters, but Republicans maintained a lopsided number of seats because of the district lines they’d drawn to their advantage. This is unfair and undemocratic.

ANTIONETTE KERR: Expand Medicaid (Greensboro News & Record) -- As many as 670,000 North Carolinians could gain sorely needed Medicaid coverage if Gov. Roy Cooper and members of both parties in the legislature will work together to help them.

ANTIONETTE KERR: N.C. charities could see record-breaking "Giving Tuesday" (Public News Service reports) -- As Giving Tuesday approaches, a report from the N.C. Secretary of State's office shows an almost $6 million increase in charitable gifts from 2017 to 2018, offering hope to local charities for this year's event.

BILL BARROW: Midterms reveal South split along urban, rural differences (AP reports) -- This month's midterms revealed a South that is essentially splitting in two. In states like Georgia and Texas, population growth and strong minority turnout propelled liberal Democrats such as Stacey Abrams and Beto O'Rourke to come close to statewide victories once thought impossible. Yet the Old Confederacy states in between are mostly holding to form, with white majorities giving President Donald Trump high marks and conservatives a clear advantage going forward.

JIM MORRILL: ‘It’s changed me forever’: How women fueled a political shift in Mecklenburg (Charlotte Observer reports) – Rachel Hunt, who defeated Rep. Bill Brawley, R-Mecklenburg, by 68 votes, will be one of 45 women in the 170-member General Assembly -- the most in a decade. Nationwide, record numbers of women were elected to state legislatures and to Congress, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That's after record numbers filed to run for everything from Congress to state houses.

COREY FRIEDMAN: Hunt adds familiar name to state House rolls (Wilson Times reports) - Rachel Hunt, a Democrat who defeated influential House Finance Chairman Bill Brawley by 68 votes in a Republican-leaning suburban Charlotte district, will attend orientation sessions for incoming legislators this week while current General Assembly members convene to set voter identification rules and divvy up hurricane relief funds. "We have a long way to go in restoring our state to the great public school state it once was under Dad," she said, "and I am very, very committed to making that happen."

JONATHAN MARTIN: Across South, Democrats Risk Speaking Boldly and Alienating Rural White Voters (New York Times reports) -- Mike Espy, the Democratic nominee in the Mississippi Senate election Tuesday, has had to choose between satisfying African-Americans and white liberals or driving away conservative-leaning voters.

MARK SCHULTZ & CAMILA MOLINA Congressmen say ICE entrapped Mexican man taken into custody, vow to seek his release (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Congressmen David Price, G.K. Butterfield say ICE entrapped Mexican immigrant Samuel Oliver-Bruno who had been in sanctuary in Durham, North Carolina, and was taken into custody. They vow to seek his release.

Congressmen decry detention of immigrant who left church (AP reports) -- Two North Carolina congressmen are slamming the Trump administration as "callous" and "cruel" after an immigrant who sought refuge from deportation in a church was arrested after arriving at an appointment with immigration officials.

JOYCE ORLANDO: Word of Faith center of A&E series (Hendersonville Times-News reports) -- A new cable documentary series will take a closer look at Word of Faith Fellowship Church. After months of being scrutinized by the media, the Spindale-based church will once again be in the spotlight with A&E Network’s new, six-part original docu-series “The Devil Next Door.”

SARAH MASLIN NIR: Liberal Couple With N.C. Roots Became 2 of N.Y.’s Biggest Trump Backers (New York Times reports) -- In some ways, they are a typical political power couple seeking to “Make America Great Again.” They are throwing a $5 million fund-raiser for President Trump this winter, and are quick to make it known that they have the president’s sons’ cellphone numbers on speed dial. But Bill White and his husband, Bryan Eure, are not red state evangelicals or die-hard right-wingers. Eure, 39, a commercial insurance broker, grew up in North Carolina, and met and fell in love with Mr. White in an AOL chat room 18 years ago. A Republican, he nonetheless steered substantial sums to the liberal causes that his husband once supported. The couple say they have been condemned not just for hypocrisy, but for what has been seen as a betrayal of their own community, by backing a man who has scaled back L.G.B.T. protections.

MARK GIBB: Why amendments in the first place? (Greensboro News & Record column) -- In the recent battle over six proposed amendments to the N.C. constitution, much was said about the pros and cons of each amendment. Lost in this discussion was a bigger question: Is amending our constitution the best way to reform state government?

STAN MCCHRYSTAL: Americans need to set aside icons like Robert E. Lee (Fayetteville Observer column) -- From my earliest days, Robert E. Lee felt close at hand. I attended Washington and Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, and began my soldier’s life at Lee’s alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy. Today, if Lee still lived in his childhood home in suburban Alexandria, Virginia, we would be neighbors.

SARAH MONOSON: Antisemitism is rife in US culture (Hendersonville Times-News column) -- On multiple occasions, I’ve been moved to tears while attending synagogue. Most of the time, this is because I’m overwhelmed with the love I have for my people and my culture. However, sometimes it’s because I’m imagining that a Neo-Nazi is about to walk through the doors and begin shooting.

WILL DORAN: As hate crimes rise, some look to an impeached NC governor for lessons (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Ex Durham politician Eddie Davis says North Carolina should honor Reconstruction Gov. William Woods Holden, who was impeached for his views on racial equality.

DREW WILSON: Wilson Christian grad shares insights on ambassador post (Wilson Times reports) -- Wilson Christian Academy graduate Cherith Norman Chalet was named representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.S. Management and Reform with the full rank of ambassador on Oct. 15. Chalet, who graduated from Wilson Christian Academy in 1994, is the daughter of Norman and Marilee Norman of Wilson.

DREW JACKSON: Former NC highways chief defends Trump’s decision to send troops to US-Mexican border (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Former NC Transportation Secretary Tony Tata appeared on Fox and Friendswith a message of support for sending U.S. troops to the border with Mexico, and his comments drew the tweeting approval of President Donald Trump. The retired brigadier general and current novelist spoke on the cable news show Sunday morning.

KIRK ROSS: Youngest voters influencing NC elections (Carolina Public Press reports) — Participation by two generations of younger voters, millennials and Generation Z, grew strongly in the 2018 elections, both nationally and in NC. Generation Z voters, those born around 2000, are the latest generational cohort to begin reaching voting age. Their numbers will only grow in future elections as more age into the voting pool. Millennials are the preceding generation, which came of age around 2000.

TIM BUCKLAND: With Dems in charge, will New Hanover County gov’t change? (Wilmington Star-News reports) — In two weeks, a Democratic majority will take over the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners for the first time since 1991, when George H.W. Bush was president and “Terminator 2” was the top movie at the box office.

CELIA RIVENBARK: Turkeys don’t have a leg to stand on (Wilmington Star-News column) — Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way and we can resume our national bitterness, can we talk turkey for just a sec? Literally, I mean. As in: When did it become cool to bash turkey as the obvious star of the holiday table?

STEVE DEVANE: Superintendent looks to reboot special needs group (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- When Marvin Connelly Jr. was on his listening tour after becoming superintendent of Cumberland County Schools in July, he often heard from parents of students with special needs. Connelly wants to be sure the students and their parents have a voice. That’s why he’s trying to restart a group affiliated with the Parent Teacher Association,

ALFRED CHARLES: Fedora out as UNC football coach; 'I hate that it had to end this way' (WRAL-TV reports) -- After seven seasons and a 45-43 record, the Larry Fedora era is over at the University of North Carolina. Although he will no longer be coaching at UNC, the school is contractually obligated to pay him $12 million in order to satisfy the terms of his written agreement with the school, a pact that had been set to run until January 2024.

JONATHAN ALEXANDER: NC fires football coach Larry Fedora after seven seasons (Charlotte Observer reports) — Three years ago, Larry Fedora took NC to an ACC Championship game, and finished the 2015 season with an 11-3 record. In May 2017, the university awarded him with a contract extension through 2023. But on Sunday, after a 2-9 season, Fedora was fired.

Don't risk losing project now counting on ones to come (Elizabeth City Daily Advance) -- Typically when a developer says he wants to build a pollution-free industrial facility capable of bringing in potentially hundreds of thousands a year in extra property tax revenue, elected officials are slapping themselves silly over their community’s good fortune. Not so with Adani Solar USA’s proposed 3,000-acre Birchwood Solar farm in Pasquotank County.

ADAM WAGNER: Pipe dreaming; Water’s role in Wilmington’s boom (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Local officials say water and sewer is critical to the region’s development

JENNY DRABBLE: Buying a tree on Amazon or sifting through tree lots, N.C. trees are 'lush, beautiful' (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- While some people turn to the internet to find the perfect gifts for under the Christmas tree, others are turning online to find the perfect tree.

TRISTA TALTON: Navassa: Contamination Research Continues (Coastal Review Online reports) — The hope, in the end, is that less than half of the 245-acre grounds of a former wood-treatment facility here will be labeled a federal Superfund site. Between the land that is believed to be clean – about 100 acres – and areas where creosote-contaminated soil can be removed, perhaps about 90 acres will be deemed an Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, Superfund site.

Chemours pact is first step on a long road (Fayetteville Observer) — For the residents of the lower Cape Fear River basin, the holiday season began with something to celebrate. State environmental regulators, the Cape Fear River Watch and Chemours have reached an agreement that will see the company providing drinking water to homes with contaminated wells near its Bladen County plant.

KEMP BURDETTE: A chance to improve hog operations in N.C. (Wilmington Star-News column) — NC’s nearly 10 million hogs produce 9.5 billion gallons of waste each year. The Cape Fear River is ground zero for hog factory farms in N.C. -- there are more hogs raised here than any other place on earth. In Duplin County alone, 2.2 million hogs produce twice as much untreated waste as the sewage from the entire New York City metro area.

These adults — and teens — work to encourage sexual health and prevent pregnancy (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Shift NC educates adults — and other teens — who work with youth in North Carolina to teach them about their sexual health.

LISA SUHAY: Helping Dawn and receiving a reminder (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot column) – I know that we live in a nation that is in absolute chaos over differing opinions, but I think I have found something upon which we can all agree: Senior citizens on fixed incomes shouldn’t have to hitchhike from Hatteras, N.C., to Norfolk, just to see a doctor.

MARK TOSCZAK: Rural Leaders, Residents Have Questions About Mission-HCA Deal (N.C. Health News reports) -- Western NC elected officials and residents are asking questions about the pending purchase of Mission and the board of a new foundation the sale would fund.

ALFRED CHARLES: Highway Patrol trooper stops speeding van in Wake County and helps deliver baby (WRAL-TV reports) -- A State Highway Patrol trooper helped a woman deliver birth after he pulled over a speeding van.

Editor of Southport’s State Port Pilot dies (Wilmington Star-News obit) -- Edward “Ed” Harper was in charge of the community newspaper for 46 years