Opinion Roundup: Employers struggle to fill tech jobs, Charlotte private school front for foreign athletes, N.C. consumers could see $5B coal-ash cleanup bill and more

Saturday, July 7, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Changed law could have a big impact on NC's Supreme Court race, state elections board updating ballot security, employers struggle to fill tech jobs even without Apple, Charlotte private school was front for foreign athletes to dodge ICE, N.C. consumers could see $5B coal-ash cleanup bill and more.

JIM MORRILL: How a small change in the law could have a big impact on NC's Supreme Court race (Charlotte Obsever reports) -- Normally Democratic Supreme Court candidate Anita Earls would be listed first on the ballot this fall. But a little-noticed ballot change will make her last among three candidates. That could make a difference in the outcome.

LAURA LESLIE: NC congressional candidate trades harassment charges with ex-wife's husband (WRAL-TV reports) — A judge on Friday denied a protective order a local candidate for Congress sought against his ex-wife's current husband. Steve Von Loor, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic 4th District Congressman David Price, claimed that A.J. Robey was harassing him and making him afraid for his safety. He claims Robey has a collection of "assault knives" and has thrown rocks at his car. Meanwhile, Robey claimed the opposite was true, accusing Von Loor of threatening behavior toward Maria Robey, who divorced Von Loor in 2010.

TRAVIS FAIN: Democrat turned Republican says he's no stalking horse in Supreme Court race (WRAL-TV reports) — One of the two Republicans running this year for state Supreme Court was a registered Democrat just a month ago. Raleigh attorney Chris Anglin changed his affiliation in early June. Three weeks later, he put in for the Supreme Court race, joining it on the last day of filing. Republicans figure him for a Democratic plant, meant to siphon votes away from incumbent Justice Barbara Jackson, the endorsed Republican in the race.

TIM BUCKLAND: Fallin enters U.S. House race as Constitution Party challenger (Wilmington Star News reports) — A Pender County man who narrowly lost a primary for county commissioner will be on the November ballot running against U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C. David Fallin, who lost a primary challenge to incumbent Republican Pender County Commissioners’ Chairman George Brown by a scant 30-vote margin, will be on the ballot for U.S. House as a candidate for the Constitution Party, which was recognized by North Carolina as an official party in June.

JANNETTE PIPPIN: Candidate filing ends in judicial, soil and water races (Jacksonville Daily News reports) — With the latest candidate filing period now closed, there will be a mix of contested and uncontested judicial races on area ballots during the General Election.

JULIE HAVLAK: State elections board updating ballot security (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) — North Carolina will spend $10.9 million to modernize election systems and tighten the security of voters’ information. Under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2018, the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement received $10.4 million from the federal government and $519,000 from a state match to improve election security and technology.

Man who challenged black family's use of pool loses job (AP reports) — A white man who challenged a black family's use of a gated pool in a NC neighborhood has not only resigned from the homeowner's association board — he's also lost his job. Sonoco announced Friday that Adam Bloom is no longer employed by the packaging and industrial products company, saying it doesn't condone discrimination of any kind, even if it happens outside its workplace.

UNC professor: Impact of potential trade war will be gradual for Triangle consumers (WRAL reports) — Now that the United States and China are headed toward a trade war, Triangle residents are starting to wonder how it will affect them. UNC economics professor Patrick Conway said the effects will be gradual for consumers.

RICK SMITH: Employers struggle to fill tech jobs even without Apple, Amazon HQ2 (WRAL TechWire reports) —Thousands of high tech and other jobs are going unfilled across the Triangle and North Carolina as unemployment continues to drop. And this challenge for employers is becoming more desperate for companies even as tech giants Apple and Amazon mull bringing as many as 60,000 engineering and other tech jobs paying six-figure salaries to the region.

State demonstrates need for minimum wage increase (Greenville Daily Reflector) — On Sunday, when the state budget kicked into a new fiscal year, many employees across state government will get a nice boost to their paychecks: Their hourly wage will be elevated to $15, with the State Highway Patrol getting a little more. Legislators added this adjustment last month in their now-infamous, closed-door, one-party, no-discussion, take-it-or-leave-it adjusted biennial spending plan of nearly $24 billion. That budget passed along party lines and was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper, who had other budget priorities. As has become de rigueur in Raleigh, the Republican supermajority vetoed his veto. North Carolina is the first state in the union to reach $15 an hour. Adjusting the pay scale for government employees to a livable wage is an appropriate and noble act. But why have legislators consistently opposed this for the workforce in general? What’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander?

MYRON PITTS: Response overblown to Rep. Maxine Waters’ fiery remarks (Fayetteville Observer column) — You probably know U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, has been tangling with Trump Administration officials, and the president. At a rally last month, Waters responded to a string of incidents where administration officials were challenged in restaurants, including in Lexington, Virginia, where a restaurant owner denied service to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. But calls for civility by Trump supporters, media seem a few years late

We see racism in our president (Greensboro News & Record)— What we would like to believe is that with Trump, as with many Americans, is that, however inflammatory, his comments are not intended to be racist. He is never one to moderate his feelings, and when you combine that with a modest command of the language, you are left with a tongue that moves much more quickly than the synapses that should direct it.

DAWN VAUGHAN: He's been called 'racist, misogynist, and transphobic.' Should he speak at DPAC? (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Controversial Canadian professor and "culture critic" Jordan B. Peterson is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center in September, and not everyone is happy about it. Peterson, who has garnered a following for his YouTube commentary, wrote the self-help book "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos." The New Yorker described Peterson's ideas as a "gospel of masculinity." The Washington Post described his audience as generally young, white men.

ANN DOSS HELMS: Charlotte private school was a front for foreign athletes to dodge ICE, feds say (Charlotte Observer reports) —Evelyn Mack has pleaded guilty to federal charges of using her small private school next to East Mecklenburg High to falsely enroll foreign teens who were being sought by basketball recruiters and coaches. Mack, who has run the school on Monroe Road since 2000, pleaded guilty this week to a felony charge of concealing, harboring or shielding unlawful aliens. She has not yet been sentenced. She faces up to 10 years in prison and is out on bond.

EMERY DALESIO: N.C. consumers could see $5B coal-ash cleanup bill (AP reports) — A string of decisions by North Carolina regulators means electricity consumers could be seeing a multibillion-dollar bill to clean up mountains of waste Duke Energy created by spending decades burning coal to produce power. State utilities regulators late last month decided that both NC divisions of the country’s No. 2 power company could charge ratepayers the first $778 million chunk of a cleanup projected to cost about $5 billion.

Comment period on proposed Chemours requirements ends Wednesday (Fayetteville Observer reports) — The 30-day comment period for a proposed court order to require Chemours to eliminate or reduce impacts of GenX ends Wednesday, a the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality release said. DEQ filed a proposed court order June 11 to require the company to implement numerous measures to eliminate or reduce air emissions and water impacts caused by GenX and related compounds, and to address contamination in and around the Fayetteville Works facility in Bladen County on the border of Cumberland County.

Fourth was a grand party; tropical storm season is here (Fayetteville Observer) — For the tropical depression that’s sitting just southeast of the North Carolina coast. It could turn into an early-season problem if it develops further. The storm system formed just as we began watching newly spawned Hurricane Beryl, which is still down in the Caribbean.

MIKE SHUTAK: Shellfish leases on hold pending legislative action (Carteret County Times reports) — While state legislators continue to hash out shellfish leasing regulations, new leases have been on hiatus from Bogue Sound south. The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission directed the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries in February to refrain from issuing new shellfish leases in state waters from Bogue Sound south after concerns were raised about user conflicts in public trust waters.

LUKE NOTESTINE: ’Inspire change:' NC State students build solar electric car (WRAL reports) — A group of North Carolina State University students who want to make a positive difference in the way people travel have logged countless hours building something they think will change the way people get from place to place. For more than a year, at least 40 N.C. State students have volunteered their time to build a solar electric car from scratch.

ANITA RAO & LAURA PELLICER: 300 Years Later, Blackbeard’s NC Shipwreck Continues To Turn Up Archaeological Treasures (WUNC reports) — Blackbeard’s stolen vessel, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, ran aground off the North Carolina coastline three hundred years ago this summer.To mark the anniversary, a pair of archaeologists who worked on the wreckage together for years have written a comprehensive look at the many artifacts they recovered from the ocean floor and the stories those artifacts reveal about the infamous pirate and life aboard the ship.

Bookmarks bookstore turns 1 (Winston-Salem Journal) — It was a year ago that Bookmarks, the nonprofit literary arts organization that promotes reading and writing, opened its landmark bookstore in a 4,600-square-foot former garage on Fourth Street in downtown Winston-Salem. As a literary organization, Bookmarks is largely celebrated for its annual book festival, the largest in the Carolinas. It draws many bestselling and award-winning authors to town, including big names like David Sedaris, Diana Gabaldon and John Grisham.

MARTHA WAGGONER: Once known as the awkward rhino, Stormy fathers baby (AP reports) — The zookeepers just didn't think Stormy the male rhinoceros had it in him. Now, they owe him an apology. Zoo officials say Stormy had often tried to breed with the four female rhinos at the North Carolina Zoo, but the zookeepers had never seen him succeed. So color them surprised when Linda turned up pregnant, then gave birth July 2 to a rare southern white rhinoceros.