Opinion Roundup: Charlotte & Donald Trump, revisiting prison reform, N.C. begins to lead in solar power and more

Wednesday, July 18, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: RNC backers see economic windfall for Charlotte, Trump's clarification draws mixed reactions from local lawmakers, Cumberland death row inmates say rights were violated, how N.C. is pushing beyond solar to become a leader in clean energy and more.

Fingers crossed, Charlotte. Here comes Donald Trump’s convention (Charlotte Observer) — Cross your fingers, Charlotte. That’s what our City Council did Monday when it voted to move forward on bringing the 2020 Republican National Convention here. The vote was close - 6-5 after some Democrats reluctantly nodded yes - a reflection of the hesitancy surrounding the event and the president it will celebrate.

ELY PORTILLO: RNC backers see an economic windfall for Charlotte. Some experts say it’s complicated (Charlotte Observer reports) — Forget red and blue: Most of the arguments in favor of bringing the 2020 Republican National Convention to Charlotte are focused on green.

WESLEY YOUNG: 11 sites, two Saturdays part of early-voting plan (Winston-Salem Journal reports) — The Forsyth County Board of Elections found an early-voting plan that all four members could agree on, choosing an 11-site plan with two days of Saturday voting. Stuart Russell, a Republican member of the elections board, put forward the compromise plan that won unanimous support, after Democrats tried and failed to win approval of an early-voting site at the Anderson Center on the campus of Winston-Salem State University.

TRAVIS FAIN: He's given more than $5M to NC political campaigns, but no one's saying what he wants (WRAL-TV reports) — The most generous donor in North Carolina politics gave even more in the last few months, bankrolling a new political committee and donating six figures to both the state Republican and Democratic parties. Greg Lindberg, a Durham investor largely unknown to North Carolina politicos until he started writing eye-popping checks, has given more than $5.2 million to state political campaigns in the last two and a half years.

Many state lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct run again (AP reports) -- An Associated Press review finds that 25 state lawmakers who have been accused of sexual misconduct are running for re-election or another office this year. Of those, 15 have already advanced to the Nov. 6 general election. Seven did not even face a challenger in their primary. … In N.C., Allison Dahle initially did not plan to bring up the allegations against Rep. Duane Hall as she challenged him in the Democratic primary. The 54-year-old office manager from Raleigh eventually decided to send two mailers late in the campaign noting the calls by others for Hall to resign, then won the state's May 8 primary.

NC candidate apologizes for old expletive-filled rant on ‘Mexicans’ (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Cathy Von Hassel-Davies is a Democratic candidate for N.C. state House. A 2006 post on her blog rails against Mexican immigrants. It says the US spends tax dollars “putting up signs in Spanish and American.”

JOHN HINTON: Trump's clarification draws mixed reactions from locals (Winston-Salem Journal reports) — Two local Republicans supported President Donald Trump as the president sought to clarify his position on American intelligence agencies, saying he had misspoken when he said he saw no reason to believe Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

LAURA LESLIE: NC lawmaker tells Trump, 'Don't come back' (WRAL-TV reports) — Many politicians took to social media with strong opinions about President Donald Trump's comments in Helsinki on Monday. But a tweet by state Rep. Grier Martin, D-Wake, went further than most.

MARC FISHER: How Trump retreats: Grudging apologies, plus a wink and a nod to the original insult (Washington Post analysis) -- As the president pulled back on his statement in Helsinki, his unscripted aside and what appeared to be his handwritten addition on his script were reminiscent of other signals that he has inserted into apologies to remind his followers that he will never be the kind of politician who is managed by staffers.

Republicans join Democrats in condemning Trump's remarks (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Congressional representatives of eastern N.C. joined the swift and sweeping condemnation directed at President Donald Trump after he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a stunning appearance in Helsinki.

D.G. MARTIN: An imaginary Putin-Trump contract (Wilson Times column) -- When Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki this week, it might have been useful if they’d had a written contract to reference their previous understandings. No such written contract exists, but if it did, it might read like this imaginary July 2016 letter from Putin to Trump:

MARK VITNER: The clearest path to improving economic mobility (Charlotte Observer Column) — Improving job training is the clearest path to boosting economic mobility and it all starts with securing a quality education, preferably beginning with pre-K. That quality education does not simply mean preparing students for college but rather preparing them to deal with the ups and downs of life. An education provides you the opportunity to call an audible when things change.

AMES ALEXANDER: Why did a top NC prison officer hide bloody shanks in his office ceiling? (Charlotte Observer reports) — A former high-ranking administrator accused of fostering violence at one of N.C.’s most dangerous prisons acknowledged in federal court Tuesday that he kept homemade weapons such as shanks hidden in the ceiling of his prison office.

COLLIN WARREN-HICKS: Teens behind bars with grownup inmates at Durham jail. Why some say that’s a bad idea (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Advocates gathered outside the Durham County jail Monday night to remember a teenager who killed herself in her cell and to stress the dangers of incarcerating young people and adults together.

TYLER DUKES: Civil rights group: NC death penalty cases rife with racial bias (WRAL-TV reports) — Lawyers with a prominent national civil rights group told the state's highest court Tuesday that four black death-row inmates deserve the opportunity to challenge their sentences after prosecutors systemically excluded black jurors from their cases.

PAUL WOOLVERTON: Cumberland death row inmates say their rights were violated (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- Four death row inmates from some of the Fayetteville area’s most-notorious homicides this week continued their years-long battle to avoid the death chamber. Their lawyers filed motions with the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Harnett shooting finally heads to court (Fayetteville Observer) -- John David Livingston and his family will finally get their day in court. We can thank U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle for that. The federal judge has rejected the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office request that he dismiss a civil suit brought by the family over a 2015 incident in which a Harnett deputy beat, shot and killed the unarmed man — a kind of frontier justice that may have been commonplace in the county at that time.

United States' stance on breast-milk resolution was a bad formula (Greensboro News & Record) -- When did recommending that breast milk is healthier for most babies become a matter of international tension?

ANNA DOUGLAS: Angry over anti-Trump sign, he threatened to call police on Vietnamese-American couple (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Tin Nguyen and his partner, Cat Bao Le, say they will continue to confront white supremacists and hatred after an unknown white man banged on their door, yelled racial slurs, threatened to call police, and argued with them about a sign in their yard that says “F--- Donald Trump.”

STEVE HARRISON: Charlotte unveils new transit options, including a billion-dollar tunnel through uptown (Charlotte Observer reports) — The Charlotte Area Transit System on Tuesday unveiled detailed options for light rail to the airport, rail or bus to Lake Norman, and a possible tunnel through uptown. CATS chief executive John Lewis wants to spend up to $7 billion finishing the 2030 transit plan, which calls for rail lines to all corners of Mecklenburg County.

ALEX GRANADOS: State Board of Education loses power over DPI leadership (EdNC reports) — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson sent a letter July 2 to top leaders at the State Department of Public Instruction telling them that they now report only to him. The leaders were in positions called dual-report positions, meaning they reported both to the Superintendent and to the State Board of Education.

Her Kids Didn't See Themselves In Books. So This NC Mom Started Writing (WUNC-FM reports) -- Judy Allen Dodson remembers reading The Magic Tree House series to her seven-year-old son when he asked, “Mommy, how come I don’t see me? Any children that look like me in there?” “ And I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to write you that story’,” Dodson said.

N.C. must get serious about rural education (Gatehouse Media) -- The solution is at once simple and complex. How do you create prosperity in North Carolina’s rural counties? You get them the same resources that the urban counties enjoy. But that is oh, so easier said than done. And yet, we have to try. Because for many of this state’s rural counties, joblessness, poverty and despair are a way of life.

CANDACE SWEAT: Students say SAT score calculations led to lower results second time around (WRAL reports) — Across the country, students are opening their much anticipated SAT scores, only to be shocked and confused by the results. Tens of thousands of parents and college hopefuls say the June test results were calculated in such a way that lowered scores, even if test takers had more correct answers than on previous tests.

ROBERT KINLAW: The art of welding at Pitt Community College (EdNC reports) — Every day that you rely on our world’s infrastructure, you rely on welders. Most welding is behind the scenes. But a visit to Pitt Community College’s Welding Technology department proved that welding isn’t just a trade skill, it’s an art.

North Carolina city to check wastewater for opioid use (AP reports) — A North Carolina city is launching a monitoring project that will target wastewater to determine how many opioids are being consumed. The town of Cary says on its website that the project would measure opioid metabolic waste. Officials hope the 12-week project provides another tool in developing programs that help people at risk.

SARAH OVASKA-FEW: SNAP Expected to be Harder to Use at Some Farmers Markets (NC Health News reports) — At farmers markets around North Carolina, the tables are piled high with tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, peaches and more. But even as the growing season is peaking, some folks who might want to buy will have a harder time bringing those fresh fruits and vegetables home. That’s because the technology company that currently processes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) benefits at 40 percent of the country’s farmers markets will stop doing so at the end of July.

JOHN DOWNEY: How N.C. is pushing beyond solar to become a leader in clean energy (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- A new Environment America report shows N.C. establishing itself as a clean energy leader beyond its well-established place high in national rankings for solar energy.

RUSTY JACOBS: NC Ranks Near Top Nationally In Solar Power (WUNC reports) — North Carolina joined California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas in seeing the greatest total increases in solar energy generation from 2008 to 2017, according to a report released Tuesday by Environment North Carolina Policy and Research Center.

CRAIG JARVIS: Solar energy is growing fast in NC, but state restraints have stifled wind power (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Clean energy is becoming an increasingly important part of North Carolina’s economy, a national report by an environmental organization released Tuesday shows, although it lags in some measures compared to other states.

TYLER DUKES: Health officials to begin testing Chemours neighbors for GenX (WRAL-TV reports) — Government health officials will soon begin testing a small group of residents near a Bladen County chemical plant for GenX and other unregulated contaminants with unclear impacts on human health

NC dams owner loses bid to force Duke Energy to buy power (AP reports) — The new owners of four North Carolina dams that the state fought to claim as a public resource are losing their bid to force Duke Energy Corp. to buy the generated hydropower.

ALLISON BALLARD: Shallotte Officials Update Riverfront Plan (Coastal Review Online reports) — The town’s 400,000-square-foot Riverfront Revitalization Project concept originated in 2008. Since then, there’s been progress in bringing this ambitious $88 million project to fruition. Among its components are a waterfront park, a retail center, a boardwalk that could one day connect the area to nearby Mulberry Park and roadwork to straighten Shallotte Avenue.

JULLET ELLPERIN & BRADY DENNIS: EPA eases rules on how coal ash waste is stored across U.S. (Washington Post Reports) -- The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to overhaul requirements for handling the toxic waste produced by burning coal, providing more flexibility to state and industry officials who had sought a rollback of restrictions put in place in 2015. The far-reaching rule will dictate how coal ash, which has contaminated waterways in two high-profile spills in N.C. and Tennessee in the past decade, is stored at more than 400 coal-fired power plants around the country.

NANCY McLAUGHLIN: New Smithsonian exhibit on Special Olympics honors local athlete Marty Sheets (Greensboro News & Record reports) — Marty Sheets, a Smith High graduate who was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, is among four athletes featured in a new "Special Olympics at 50" exhibit at the nation's history museum in Washington. The pioneering athlete and gold medalist in various sports, who was born with Down syndrome, died in 2015 at the age of 62

JOHN MURAWSKI: Former Triangle CEO accused investors of theft and abuse. Now he admits he was lying (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — A former Triangle pharmaceutical CEO who was forced out of his job in 2014, and afterward waged an anonymous disinformation campaign against a pair of Durham venture capitalists, has settled a defamation lawsuit and apologized for his actions.