Opinion Roundup: GOP seeks new abortion restrictions, Gov. Cooper rescinds controversial appointment, BB&T merger and more

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Elections officials to hand federal investigators data on hundreds of NC voters, GOP seeks new abortion restrictions, Gov. Cooper rescinds controversial appointment, UNC-Chapel Hill dean named interim chancellor, Mecklenburg among top focus locations in Trump HIV plan and more.

REAL ELECTION FRAUD?

TYLER DUKES: Elections officials to hand federal investigators data on hundreds of NC voters (WRAL-TV reports) -- The State Board of Elections now says it will supply registration records for nearly 800 North Carolina voters in response to a subpoena from U.S. Attorneys, part of a secretive federal election fraud probe that cast a net across millions of voters statewide last fall.

Millions of N.C. voting records sought, hundreds given (AP reports) — NC officials said they will turn over nearly 800 voter files sought last year by a federal investigation believed to involve voter fraud that sought millions of records.

AMY GARDNER: Inaccurate claims of noncitizen voting in Texas reflect trend in N.C. and other Republican states (Washington Post reports) -- When Texas officials announced in late January that as many as 58,000 noncitizens may have voted illegally in state elections over nearly two decades, top Republicans — including President Trump — quickly warned about the prevalence of voter fraud and the need to crack down on it. But just as quickly, the numbers stopped adding up. The episode is the latest in bungled attempts by states to show that huge numbers of noncitizens are registered to vote and have cast ballots in U.S. elections. In North Carolina, legislative leaders said in 2014 that more than 10,000 suspected noncitizens were registered to vote, but state election officials found that number was vastly overstated and determined that only 11 noncitizens voted that fall.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Voter IDs (The Insider reports) -- The State Board of Elections is expected today to consider rules and procedures for county election offices to issue photo IDs to registered voters who request them. Under draft rules on the board's agenda, voters seeking the free photo IDs would fill out a form that includes their full name, date of birth, the last four digits of their Social Security number, their signature and the current date.

In NC, only some illegal voting interests US attorney (Charlotte Observer) -- US Attorney Robert Higdon went after noncitizens who voted in North Carolina, the Washington Post found. Meanwhile, the 9th District irregularities don’t grab his attention.

KIRK ROSS: Reckoning with Climate Change Ahead (Coastal Review Reports) -- In the wake of Hurricane Florence, the General Assembly has given more attention to climate change, though some legislators remain skeptical.

LAURA LESLIE: GOP seeks new abortion restrictions in NC (WRAL-TV reports) — Some of the first bills filed in the House this session would put new restrictions on abortion in NC. House Bill 28 would ban abortions after 13 weeks, down from the current 20 weeks. Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Alison Kiser said Wednesday that 13 weeks would be the earliest ban in the U.S. outside of some that have been blocked by courts.

TRAVIS FAIN: House reinstitutes 'floaters,' giving leadership more control (WRAL reports) — Top leaders in the House will be able to swoop in on committees and vote to kill or advance legislation this session after Republicans in the chamber voted Wednesday to reinstitute an old Democratic Party practice.

REBECCA MARTINEZ: NAACP Leader Scolds Alamance Commissioners For Backing Sheriff's 'Rape' Comment, ICE Plan (WUNC-FM reports) -- The leader of the Alamance NAACP chastised the county board of commissioners this week for supporting Sheriff Terry Johnson's immigration detention plan. Last month, commissioners approved a $2.8 million dollar investment for upgrades so the jail could be used to detain federal immigration inmates. In that meeting, Sheriff Johnson said undocumented immigrants are "raping our citizens in many ways." At this week's commissioner's meeting, the Rev. Curtis Gates said there was no data that immigrants were driving up rape or other crimes in the county.

TRAVIS FAIN: Cooper rescinds controversial appointment (WRAL-TV reports) -- A Charlotte City Councilwoman who referred to police as "homegrown terrorists" last year will no longer be considered for the state Human Relations Commission.

Governor rescinds appointment to civil rights board (AP reports) -- Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has cancelled a city councilwoman's appointment to a state civil rights panel the day after Republican legislators criticized his pick because of her tweet comparing law enforcement officers to terrorists.

STEVE HERRING: Cooper promotes Medicaid during Goldsboro visit (Goldsboro News-Argus reports) -- Dr. Dave Tayloe has one simple message for Gov. Roy Cooper’s efforts expand access to Medicaid. "Hang in there. You are on the side of the angels," he said. " Politics is a fickle way to do health care, but we are making progress." With the sounds and activities of Tayloe's busy Goldsboro Pediatrics in the background, Cooper met with representatives of local health care and social service agencies, as well as Mayor Chuck Allen and Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce, for a roundtable discussion on the need to expand Medicaid.

JULIAN BARNES: Key Senator, Burr, Warns of Dangers of Chinese Investment in 5G Networks (New York Times reports) – Sen. Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned American corporations that using Chinese technology in next-generation telecommunication networks could pose security risks, but stopped short of endorsing a ban on such equipment that the Trump administration is considering. Burr said China was making investments in key technologies, like the kind that will power fifth-generation, or 5G, cellular networks, to have “economic dominance, military dominance” over the United States. “We have to get 5G right,” Burr said. “And getting it right is contingent on the hardware that goes into the highway.”

ANTIONETTE KERR: Historic March Focuses on Education in NC (Public News Service) -- With this year's theme of And a Little Child Shall Lead Them, thousands are expected to gather at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Shaw University in Raleigh to take steps toward justice in North Carolina. The 13th annual HK on J, which stands for Historic Thousands on Jones Street, is set to focus primarily on educational equality, according to the founder of the rally and the National Poor People's Campaign, the Rev. William J. Barber.

MATTHEW BURNS & LAURA LESLIE: Cooper tells Congress to step up in climate change fight (WRAL-TV reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper urged Congress to take a more active role in battling climate change.

SARAH KRUEGER: 'Fear, sadness, trauma': Woman detained describes ICE raid at Sanford business (WRAL-TV reports) -- One of the 27 people who was taken into custody on Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a raid does not understand why agents chose to detain her.

Woman accused of making false claims for disaster relief (AP reports) -- A N.C. woman is accused by federal prosecutors of making fraudulent claims to secure disaster relief funds.

Greenville to test ‘ShotSpotter’ system (AP reports) – Greenville has scheduled a live-fire gunshot event to test a system which detects when a gun has been fired. The exercise is scheduled for Friday at 5:30 p.m. The controlled test will consist of gunshot sounds followed by validation of quality detection by ShotSpotter. The system isn't considered live or operational until the event is successfully completed.

Man accused of bribing ex-county officials reaches plea deal (AP reports) -- Joe Wiseman of Roswell, Georgia, will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. The charge has a maximum sentence of five years in prison. A judge is set to rule on whether to accept the deal. Prosecutors say Wiseman bribed ex-Buncombe County officials Wanda Greene, Mandy Stone and Jon Creighton for years with items including spa treatments and vacations in exchange for contracts worth millions of dollars.

Courts director to follow chief justice to Virginia school (AP reports) -- The state courts system director is following his boss -- outgoing Chief Justice Mark Martin -- to Regent University law school in Virginia Beach. Marion Warren, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, announced he'll become a senior associate dean at Regent Law. He's resigning Feb. 28 -- the same day Martin resigns to become the law school's dean.

Regionals SunTrust, BB&T to Form Sixth-Largest Bank (Wall Street Journal reports) -- SunTrust Banks and BB&T agreed to combine in a merger of equals valued at about $66 billion, in an all-stock deal that would create the sixth-largest U.S. bank in terms of assets and deposits. The companies said the combined company, which will operate under a new name—still to be determined—will be based in Charlotte, and maintain sizable operations in Winston-Salem.

DEON ROBERTS: BB&T, SunTrust announce merger as Charlotte gains another bank headquarters (Charlotte Observer reports) — BB&T and SunTrust Banks announced Thursday that they have agreed to merge, forming a new bank that will be headquartered in Charlotte. The combination of Winston-Salem-based BB&T and Atlanta’s SunTrust will form the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets and deposits, the companies said.

National infrastructure program? Yes, please (Fayetteville Observer) — During his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening, President Trump pushed to revive a spirit of cooperative government and bipartisanship. He mentioned specific projects that could indeed enjoy broad support among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. There should be little opposition to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the coming decade, or to making health care and medications affordable to all.

EDUCATION

MATTHEW BURNS: UNC-Chapel Hill dean named interim chancellor (WRAL-TV reports) -- Kevin Guskiewicz, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the UNC-Chapel Hill, was tapped Wednesday to be interim chancellor of the campus.

KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: Public schools 'having real trouble finding elementary teachers' (WRAL-TV reports) -- Public school teachers are not leaving their jobs in droves, but when they do leave, elementary schools are struggling the most to fill the empty teaching positions, according to a report shared with the State Board of Education on Wednesday.

NC State and UNC make more money from sports than ever, but coaching costs outpace gains (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- By the end of the most recent full fiscal year, last June, head coaches of 32 teams at UNC and NC State made more than $150,000 annually in full compensation. At UNC, coaching compensation, including those for assistant coaches, increased by 39.1 percent in the past five years. At NC State, it grew by 28 percent.

CAMMIE BELLAMY: New Hanover school board condemns email from fellow member (Wilmington Star-News report) -- Judy Justice called Republican colleagues ‘conniving’ and ‘deceptive’. The section of the New Hanover County school board meeting usually reserved for tying up loose ends became its most explosive moment, when the board’s Republican members criticized member Judy Justice for an inflammatory email. At the end of the meeting, Vice-chairman David Wortman referenced a Jan. 21 email in which Justice described her Republican colleagues as “conniving” and “deceptive.” Wortman called the comments “despicable,” and said Justice’s attitude was harmful to the board.

MAGAN GONZALES-SMITH: Durham can realize the promise of public education (Durham-Herald Sun column) — Recommitting to public education at the state level is essential. But this commitment must start at home — right here in Durham. When we come together, our community has the power to shape the vision for the public schools our students deserve, support our district in implementing that vision, and provide local investment that will make transformative change possible.

MOLLY OSBORNE: How Stanly Community College uses technology to give students real-life workforce training (EdNC reports) — If you’ve ever driven past an excavator digging a trench on the side of the street and thought ‘I bet I could operate that machine,’ think again. On a recent visit to Stanly Community College (SCC), we learned just how hard it is to operate heavy equipment like that — and just how important it is to have adequate training. Luckily, students in Stanly’s heavy equipment operations program can train on heavy equipment simulators before stepping into the actual machinery.

REBECCA ANDREWS: Computer issue affects school grading systems in every part of NC (Carolina Public Press reports) — Across the state, many school districts had to work quickly to correct errors in students’ grades for the most recent grading period. An issue with the PowerSchool’s PowerTeacher Pro digital application, which many teachers use to input their students’ grades, caused some grades to be miscalculated.

THOMAS GOLDSMITH: Mistreated adults need support from state, not just counties and feds, advocates say (NC Health News reports) — NC’s 100 counties pay more than four-fifths of the $26 million annual tab for helping neglected and abused adults in the state, and feds catch almost all the rest. Advocates say the state should spend more on adult protective services.

Mecklenburg among top focus locations in Trump HIV plan (EdNC reports) — The president’s plan to “eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States” will bring targeted help to the Queen City, which has the state’s highest rates of the disease.

JEFF HAMPTON: "Remote, heathen and barbarous lands": Outer Banks name has a storied history (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports) -- Since the 1970s, Dare County and others have marketed the Outer Banks as stretching from Ocracoke to Corolla. The southern barrier islands market different names.

Protect North Carolina's wild horses (Greensboro News & Record) -- Although they are a good 300 miles away, the wild horses on the Outer Banks, for many North Carolinians, are natural treasures that belong to us all. Unfortunately, these horses are facing severe threats from disease and encroaching development.