Opinion Roundup: Controversial special legislative session, death of UNC's Spangler, utility rate debate and more

TRAVIS FAIN & LAURA LESLIE: It's official: General Assembly back into session (WRAL-TV reports) -- The legislature is expected to write short summaries for six proposed constitutional amendments, taking over from a commission of majority Democrats.

GARY ROBERTSON: N.C. lawmakers returning to work on ballot wording (AP reports) -- The legislature has called itself into an unscheduled session starting Tuesday because some Republican leaders fear a Democratic-controlled panel could add ballot wording for proposed constitutional amendments that dim their chance of passage in November.

DAVE HENDRICKSON: Here's a look at North Carolina's proposed constitutional amendments (WRAL-TV reports) -- N.C. voters will decide on six proposed amendments to the state constitution in November.

SYDNEY ROBERTS: Who does the NC voter ID amendment target? My mother (Charlotte Observer column) -- The last thing my mother should have to worry about is a voter ID restriction constitutional amendment, and yet she’s the very type of person it targets. She works a 13-hour night shift at the local hospital just to keep the family afloat.  The realities of juggling jobs, raising children and managing everyday stresses can often leave electoral politics low on the list of priorities for people like my mother — not because they don’t care, but because voting hurdles can be just one more thing for those simply trying to get through the day. Despite this, or maybe because of it, the General Assembly has placed a vague voter ID restriction amendment on the ballot this fall that could put even more hurdles between low-income voters and the ballot box.

It’s mischief vs. mischief at the General Assembly (Fayetteville Observer) -- Just when we thought it was safe ... It appears the General Assembly may be rushing back into session again, just weeks after the lawmakers went home, ostensibly at least until after the November elections. The reason? Some members of the Republican majority fear that Democratic mischief is in the wings, and that it will mess up the GOP’s own mischief in the constitutional amendments that will appear on the November ballot.

NC Republicans worry their own law could backfire (Charlotte Observer) -- Republican legislators might call a special session this week to strip power from a bipartisan commission on constitutional amendments. That could backfire.

MATTHEW BURNS: Former UNC President C.D. Spangler dies (WRAL-TV reports) -- C.D. Spangler Jr., the Charlotte businessman who led the University of North Carolina system from 1986 to 1997, died Monday, UNC officials said. He was 86.

EMERY P. DALESIO & JONATHAN DREW: Billionaire, former UNC System president dies at age 86 (AP reports) -- Billionaire philanthropist C.D. Spangler Jr., who led North Carolina's university system for more than a decade, has died. He was 86.

JANE STANCILL & ELY PORTILLO: C.D. Spangler Jr., former UNC president and Charlotte businessman, dies (Charlotte Observer reports) -- C.D. Spangler Jr., the Charlotte businessman and former president of the University of North Carolina, died Sunday at the age of 86. He led the public university system in N.C. for 11 years, from 1986 to 1997. The billionaire business tycoon was a staunch advocate for low tuition, in solidarity with his predecessor, the late William Friday.

STEPHANIE CARSON: Prosecutors Join Fight to Uphold Rulings Under Racial Justice Act (Public News Service reports) -- North Carolina's Racial Justice Act was taken off the books five years ago when it was overturned by the state Assembly. That called into question the destiny of four inmates who already had successfully argued that race was a factor in their sentencing. Their cases now are before the state Supreme Court, and this month a coalition of some unlikely partners is working to convert their death sentences to life in prison without parole. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the N.C. Association of Black Lawyers and N.C. Council of Churches, among others, filed briefs with the state Supreme Court.

Trump and his ‘big hoax’ (Winston-Salem Journal/Greensboro News & Record) -- On Sunday night, President Trump walked back his walk-back on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The resultant vertigo is not good for truth or for America.

RICK SMITH: WRAL reporter says officials using apps to avoid disclosure is ‘inexcusable betrayal’ of trust (WRAL-TV/TechWire column) -- Any public official who seeks to avoid disclosure of information by using apps to “disappear” are committing an “fundamental and inexcusable betrayal of the trust the public places in its officials,” says WRAL’s public records reporter Tyler Dukes. When the Skinny read the alarming report from The Associated Press about public officials’ use of apps to “disappear” messages as a means of avoiding open records laws, the first person on the contact list was Dukes.

YASMIN BENDAAS: From hog farm to nuclear engineering lab, NC teachers take an energy road trip (EdNC reports) -- Seventeen science teachers stood on the flat top of a trash “cell,” a compacted trash mound sealed with soil. In the distance, a line of trucks dumped garbage into a new cell. A handful of gulls flew over the waves of trash and a giant tractor with spiked wheels, called a sheepsfoot compactor, rolled over the incoming waste — the flow of which amounts to 450,000 tons of municipal waste per year. The landfill was the second stop on an “energy road trip” focused on renewable energy for the middle and high school science teachers enrolled in the Energy Literacy Fellows Program.

GILBERT BAEZ: As school year begins, new Cumberland County superintendent emphasizes safety, graduation rate (WRAL-TV reports) -- He has officially been on the job less than a month, but Cumberland County's new superintendent of schools isn't wasting any time getting to know his students and teachers.

MOLLY HORAK: Grant to help digitize N.C. slave records (Asheville Citzen-Times reports) -- UNC-Greensboro has received a $300,000 grant to help digitize slave deed records from across the state.

TAFT WIREBACK: N.C. attorney general appealing ruling that allows Duke Energy to hike rates for coal ash cleanup (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- The N.C. Department of Justice has filed formal notice with state utility regulators that it will appeal a recent ruling that allows Duke Energy to charge customers for cleaning up its coal ash waste.

JOHN DOWNEY: NC attorney general, Sierra Club object to Duke Energy coal-ash ruling (Charlotte Business Journal) -- N.C. Atty. Gen. Josh Stein contends regulators ignored evidence demonstrating "Duke knew of the risks of storing coal ash ... and failed to take timely and appropriate action to address those risks.”

CATHERINE CLABBY: Proposals to Turn Hog Waste into Biofuel Spur Debate (N.C. Health News reports) -- As enthusiasm grows for turning NC hog manure into fuel, environmentalists and farm neighbors push for a clean-up agenda.

JOHN DOWNEY; Why Duke Energy's new community solar program in SC is less expensive than NC counterpart (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- The South Carolina program will be less expensive than a similar community solar initiative Duke Energy Corp. is proposing for North Carolina.

AMANDA LAMB: 25 years after death of Michael Jordan's father, convicted killer awaits latest bid for new trial (WRAL-TV reports) -- Twenty-five years ago Monday, Michael Jordan's father was killed. Ten days from Monday, the man convicted of shooting him will have a hearing in his effort to get a new trial in the case.

KIP TABB: Manteo Filmmaker Focuses on Surf Culture (Coastal Review reports) -- Manteo High School junior Logan Marshall delves into Outer Banks surf culture with his second film, “Outer,” which premiered earlier this month.

MYRON B. PITTS: During Jim Crow era, Green Books were more than just travel guides (Fayetteville Observer column) -- Fayetteville’s downtown had several listings for African-American travelers