Opinion Roundup: Gerrymandering case may draw a line in the sand

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 -- A roundup of opinion, commentary and analysis on the arguments in NC's partisan gerrymandering case, the hiring of several new state education staff members, an intense debate on offshore drilling and more.

​TRAVIS FAIN: Arguments wrap in NC's partisan gerrymander case (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Such partisan efforts have long been accepted, but the federal courts may eventually draw a line in the sand.

​LYDIA WHEELER: Senate panel advances Trump court pick opposed by civil rights groups (The Hill) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the nomination of a controversial judicial nominee who has been opposed by civil rights groups. In an 11-9 vote, the panel sent Thomas Farr’s nomination to a seat on the federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to the Senate floor for a vote.

​Senate Panel Votes For NC Nominee Opposed By Black Lawmakers (AP/WUNC-FM analysis) -- A Senate panel narrowly backed the nomination of a Thomas Farr, a N.C. attorney, to fill the nation's longest judicial vacancy over the objections of Democrats, black lawmakers and some civil rights groups.

​ERIK SPANBERG: Raleigh ‘values’ PAC dives into Charlotte politics, sees to link HB2 opponents to Harvey Weinstein (Charlotte Business Journal analysis) -- On the first day of early voting for city races, the NC Values Coalition launches a campaign linking Democrat Vi Lyles with current Mayor Jennifer Roberts while comparing the LGBT bathroom policy to the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

​JULIA SIMS AND MATTHEW BURNS: Legislative leaders: Cooper 'lied about wanting to end focus on HB2' (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Legislative leaders angrily fired back at Gov. Roy Cooper over his agreement to settle a federal lawsuit over transgender access to public bathrooms that was filed after House Bill 2 went into effect last year.

​Personnel law: Where government goes to hide (Fayetteville Observer) -- North Carolina has some pretty good open-meetings and public-records laws. For the most part, the state’s residents have free access to the inside workings of government. Even the emails sent and received by public officials in the performance of their duties are open to public scrutiny. So are most meetings by elected and appointed boards. But the state’s lawmakers have persisted in cloaking most details about public employees’

​4 N.C. regions enter running for Amazon's HQ2 (AP) -- North Carolina's three largest metropolitan areas and Hickory are chasing the huge job and investment that would go along with becoming hometown to Amazon's second headquarters.

​TYLER DUKES: Year after year, richest areas claim most job incentive cash (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Since at least 2009, the state's 20 most prosperous counties have claimed the largest number of grants from the two biggest incentive programs, the Job Development Investment Grant and the One North Carolina Fund.

​SUSAN LADD: Revolution Mill shows transformative power of historic tax credits (Greensboro News & Record column) -- With the closing of the last operating Cone Mills factory, the continuation of historic and new-market tax credits is more important than ever.

​BOB ETHERIDGE: Trump's and GOP's proposed budget cuts would hit farmers, seniors (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- When it comes to our national and state priorities, it’s been said that a budget is a moral document. A budget is a statement of public commitments and considerations for its people.

​Want to honor the flag? Vote (Wilmington Star-News) -- We have breaking news: Apparently a vast majority of the folks in our local towns and cities are completely satisfied with how their governments are run. Since there are no important issues to be debated for places like Wilmington, Leland, Surf City and the H2G0 utility district, we are discontinuing letters to the editor. OK, not true.

​Honor fallen soldiers (Greensboro News & Record) -- More than 100 people lined Ramsey Street in Fayetteville Monday to pay respects to a pair of Special Forces soldiers who were stationed at Fort Bragg.

​JONATHAN LEMIRE: Trump’s daughter-in-law becomes face of re-election effort (AP analysis) -- Lara Trump, married to Eric Trump, was viewed by many on the last campaign as a secret weapon after helping deliver her home state of North Carolina for her father-in-law, and she has become a central figure in a nascent re-election bid that already is fundraising, staging rallies and helping the president challenge the credibility of the news media.

​DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHN: Departing Durham mayor Bill Bell wants Farad Ali to replace him (Durham Herald-Sun analysis) -- Retiring Durham Mayor Bill Bell endorsed Farad Ali to be the next mayor of Durham, calling him an experienced leader and instrumental in the city council’s focus on neighborhoods during Ali’s term. Ali served one term from 2007 to 2011.

​KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: With $700,000 to spend, NC superintendent begins hiring new staff for his office (WRAL-TV analysis) -- North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson has begun hiring new staff for his office, using $700,000 in taxpayer money given to him by the General Assembly this year. Johnson can create up to 10 full-time positions and hire staff without approval of the State Board of Education, a key provision lawmakers granted him as he battles the state board in court over control of the public school system.

​FERREL GUILLORY: Keeping the ‘public’ in universities and schools (EdNC column) -- The Southern Regional Education Board has released a package of data that documents the ongoing shift from government funding to tuition revenue in the financing of public universities. This trend comes even as North Carolina, as well as the South and the nation, needs to prepare and propel more of its high school students into community colleges and universities.

​GILBERT BAEZ: Cumberland schools suspend sex ed program after parents complain (WRAL-TV analysis) -- A sex education program that was supposed to start at nine Cumberland County middle schools this month has been put on hold after parents complained.

​Curbing bullying (Winston-Salem Journal) -- It’s tempting to think of bullying as a childhood phase that children eventually grow out of and forget. But it’s often much more serious.

​ALLISON BALLARD: Environmentalist, Oil Exec Face Off at Forum (Coastal Review analysis) -- Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, and John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil Co., shared their perspectives on offshore drilling Tuesday in Wilmington.

​TYLER DUKES: State fills science board to study GenX, new compounds (WRAL-TV analysis) -- State officials say they've officially appointed members to an expert science panel to advise regulators and public health officials on everything from coal ash contaminants to GenX, more than three months after they originally announced the creation of the group.

​VAUGHN HAGERTY: NC to expand testing for toxic GenX (Wilmington Star-News analysis) -- With more wells tainted by the chemical, state regulators eye Chemours’ air emissions.

​JOHN DOWNEY: New complaint accuses Duke Energy of bad faith in solar negotiations (Charlotte Business Journal analysis) -- Birdseye Renewable Energy asks regulators to consolidate its complaint against Duke Energy with one filed earlier by four other solar developers based on the same issues.​

​ROSE HOBAN: Senior Suicides Spike, Especially for White Men (N.C. Health News analysis) -- The suicide rate for seniors is ten times that for young people, and the numbers for white men really climb once they hit 80.

​Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, Marathon Runner Into Her 90s, Dies at 94 (New York Times obituary) -- Harriette Thompson, a classical pianist and cancer survivor who started to run marathons when she was 76 and ran the fastest time in a marathon for a woman over 90, died on Monday in Charlotte, N.C. She was 94.​​