Opinion Roundup: Constitution Party removed from ballots, state worker pay, online sales tax, rising tides and more

Saturday, June 23, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Lawmakers take big step to increase state worker pay, new opioid crime measures signed by Gov. Cooper, Constitution Party removed from ballots, N.C. regulators deny Duke Energy rate increase request and more.

GARY ROBERTSON: March primary, opioid crime measures signed by Cooper (AP reports) – N.C.'s even-year primary elections are moving from May to March and police will get new tools to track illegal opioid transactions as Gov. Roy Cooper signed nearly 30 bills into law.

ROB SCHOFIELD: Lawmakers sent a flood of bad bills to Cooper (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- Take a step back from the trees, however, and really examine and contemplate the character of the lawmaking “forest” that has come to be in downtown Raleigh, and it quickly becomes apparent that the current situation is neither “normal” nor acceptable.

REGGIE PONDER: SEANC director: Lawmakers took giant step on state worker pay (Elizabeth City Daily Advance reports) - -The executive director of the State Employees Association of N.C. told members of the association’s District 69 that the General Assembly Lawmakers

N.C. passes retroactive “Sore Loser” law, removes Constitution Party members from ballot; Lawsuit coming (Election Law Blog column) – This is some brazen stuff.

Constitution Party nominees who ran last month off ballots (AP reports) -- Three people nominated by a new official N.C. political party to run in November won't be on ballots because of a law finalized this week.

KEVIN MAURER: Chief NC judge urges judiciary to resist politics (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- North Carolina’s chief justice said Friday the judiciary must resist politics. “All judges do their best to resist partisan politics of any type,” Martin told the Star-News during an interview after his speech. “We live in a very divisive time.”

LAURA LESLIE: Online sales tax ruling may boost state, local budgets (WRAL-TV reports) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that states can require online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases made by their residents could be a boon for state and local budgets in the coming years.

McCrory barks at successor over sculpture (AP reports) -- Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has a bone to pick with his successor over a dog sculpture.

JIM MORRILL: McCrory howls that his successor dissed his dog – and his cause (Charlotte Observer) -- Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory criticized his Democratic successor Friday — over a dog. More specifically, McCrory blamed Gov. Roy Cooper for removing a metal sculpture of McCrory's dog, Moe, from the grounds of the governor's Western Residence in Asheville.

LISA PHILIP: New NC Lab Schools Aim To Meet Kids Where They Are (WUNC-FM reports) -- On a recent spring morning, kids at the Catamount School in Sylva kick soccer balls into multiple goals on a field outside their school. The day has just begun at the school, which is nestled in the mountains of Jackson County in western N.C. “You missed!” one boy yells at another, before doubling over into a frenzy of laughter. The fifty or so students at the middle school start every day with some variation on this hormone-filled, somewhat chaotic activity. It could be soccer, or a cross between badminton and baseball, depending on which elective they selected.

DEON ROBERTS: Duke Energy can't raise its rates in Charlotte, the state ruled. That rarely happens (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Duke Energy's request to raise rates in an area that includes the Charlotte region was denied on Friday by the North Carolina Utilities Commission. That was a rare rejection for the Charlotte-based utility.

N.C. regulators deny Duke Energy rate increase request (AP reports) – N.C. regulators denied on Friday a request from Duke Energy to raise electric rates, ordered the utility to refund $60 million in deferred taxes to customers and fined it $70 million for the way it handled coal ash.

TRAVIS FAIN: Duke gets some coal ash costs, but loses out on multibillion grid charges (WRAL-TV reports) -- Duke Energy won't be able to charge customers up front for $13 billion it wants to spend burying power lines and making other changes to its electric grid, the N.C. Utilities Commission said. In a lengthy and heavily technical order, the commission laid the groundwork for electricity rates the utility giant’s Duke Energy Carolinas unit will charge customers in coming years. Denying upfront funding for the grid modifications comes as a blow to the company, but it can still come back to regulators later to recover those costs if it goes through with the work.

WILL MICHAELS: How Did 115,000 Fish Die In White Lake? (WUNC-FM reports) -- “Look at that boat right yonder. They’re going around picking up dead fish,” says a man who identifies himself on YouTube as Kyle McGee.

ADAM WAGNER: What’s next in the offshore drilling debate? Hint: It involves fish (Wilmington Star-News) -- Environmental groups are keeping a close eye on the National Marine Fisheries Service to see whether the federal agency will grant permits that would likely pave the way for seismic testing off the Atlantic coast, including N.C. “Seismic airgun blasting is the first step toward oil and gas drilling and could lead to catastrophic consequences. ... (If approved), this is an investment in offshore drilling,” said Diane Hoskins, Oceana’s campaign director for offshore drilling. The steps to seismic testing in the South Atlantic include approval of the incidental harassment authorizations by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which could then be followed by approval of the permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

We've been warned about rising tides (Greensboro News & Record) -- Like the tides, the warnings about increased danger of devastating flooding in North Carolina’s coastal areas just keep rolling in.

PATRICK CONWAY: The key to improve long-term health: Start young (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- As the CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield N.C. and as a practicing pediatrician, the health and well-being of children across N.C. is a central focus of my professional life. In my work, I’ve seen the direct link between early childhood development and overall health. I have treated thousands of children with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like abuse, poverty and malnutrition. I believe that every child should have the opportunity to live a life of good health, happiness and success. While our state has made great steps toward that goal, there is much more to be done. That is why Blue Cross NC is investing in early childhood development efforts across the state, as part of a larger $50 million community investment.

From sweet tea to sunglasses: How N.C. companies capitalize on made-up holidays (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Made-up commemorations are ways to drum up sales and brand awareness -- and North Carolina companies are capitalizing on the trend, too.

JEFF HAMPTON: Site of long lost N.C. port yields artifacts and mystery about what happened there (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports) -- Divers find early American relics including thousands of shoes in the dark waters of the Pasquotank River. Many of the artifacts are on display at the Museum of the Albemarle

Diana King, a Leading Teacher in Overcoming Dyslexia, Dies at 90 (New York Times obit) -- Diana Hanbury King, a master teacher who helped generations of students struggling to read fluently, write and spell — and being stigmatized for it — because of an often undiagnosed learning disability called dyslexia, died on June 15 at her home in Lakeville, Conn. She was 90 . … In a 2014 interview with the founders of Camp Spring Creek in North Carolina, she recalled “those few moments when someone expressed confidence in me and my ability to learn.” She was nine when a neighbor, a Royal Air Force pilot, taught her long division.