Opinion Roundup: Gov. Cooper calls for special session, lack of drinkable water after Florence, teachers at center of state elections and more

Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: N.C.’s rural towns fight for attention, Gov. Cooper calls for special session on hurricane recovery, floodwaters inundate lake at power plant, lack of drinkable water continues to threaten Florence victims, inside an emergency medical hurricane shelter, teachers at the center of state elections and more. 

TRAVIS FAIN: Cooper calls for special session on hurricane recovery (WRAL-TV reports) — Gov. Cooper called Thursday for an October special session to approve initial funding needs for the Hurricane Florence recovery. Legislative leaders have said for more than a week that they were preparing to come into session if needed and that they stand ready to approve funding and other necessary recovery measures.

JACK HEALY: Submerged by Florence, N.C.’s Rural Towns Fight for Attention (New York Times reports) — As the rivers trapped them inside their blacked-out town, the dwindling families of Ivanhoe collected rain to drink in plastic pitchers and flushed the toilets with buckets of rust-colored hurricane floodwater. … N.C. is freckled with Ivanhoes, little rural towns that have long struggled to hold on to families and chart their economic future far from the state’s banking and tech hubs, or even from reliable cellphone service. Many lost businesses and residents after being pummeled by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and were limping along before Florence. Now, with the country’s urgent attention slipping away, people in places like Ivanhoe worry about being washed away unnoticed.

MICHAEL BIESECKER and ALAN SUDERMAN: Floodwaters inundate lake at NC power plant, raising alarm (AP reports) -- Duke Energy activated a high-level emergency alert at a retired coal-fired power plant as floodwaters from the nearby Cape Fear River overtopped an earthen dike there and inundated a large lake, raising concerns of a potential breach. The dam containing Sutton Lake appeared stable and Duke officials were monitoring it with helicopters and drones, Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said Thursday, calling it "an evolving situation." Company employees notified state regulators overnight that the 1,100-acre (445-hectare) lake at the L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington was at the highest alert level under its emergency action plan.

JASON SAMENOW: A land transformed by water: N.C., before and after Hurricane Florence (Washington Post reports) — The incredible volume of rain that fell over NC from Hurricane Florence, nearly 9 trillion gallons, has utterly changed the landscape, especially in the southeast part of the state, where up to 36 inches of rain fell.

KARRIGAN MONK: Lack of drinkable water continues to threaten Florence victims (Carolina Public Press reports) — According to Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson Maggie Sauerhage, NC has reported 21 community water systems operating with restrictions and 16 have completely shut down in addition to several publicly owned treatments plants that are nonoperational.

CANDACE SWEAT: Florence's flooding causes caskets to surface at Goldsboro cemetery (WRAL reports) — Goldsboro on Thursday was feeling the impact of Hurricane Florence with bumper to bumper traffic on N.C. Highway 117 and a cemetery that was completely underwater. Elmwood Cemetery is position in such a way that heavy rain can easily cause flooding. “But when we get a hurricane type rainfall, we actually have caskets that become disinterred down here,” said Rick Fletcher with the City of Goldsboro.

ANNA PAPERNY: Hurricane raises questions about rebuilding along North Carolina's coast (Reuters reports) — Scientists have warned rebuilding efforts are futile as sea levels rise and storms chew away the coast line but protests from developers and the tourism industry have led North Carolina to pass laws that disregard the predictions.

BRIAN SHRADER: Frying Pan Tower owner sees shredded flag as metaphor (WRAL reports) — For decades, Frying Pan Tower was a Coast Guard Light Tower, 30 miles off of Cape Fear, alerting ships to treacherous shoals. Now, it's a vacation destination.

ROSE HOBAN: Inside an Emergency Medical Hurricane Shelter (N.C. Health News reports) -- Medical shelters have been caring for some of North Carolina's most vulnerable victims from Hurricane Florence. Now they're starting to go home, but for many of them, there’s no place to go home to.

JOHN DOWNEY: Solar farms slowly return to service as Duke Energy repairs grid issues after Florence (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- About 1,000 megawatts worth of Carolinas solar projects, out of roughly 3,000 megawatts on Duke Energy's grid, were down at the peak of the problem, largely because the grid itself was down.

Hurricane Florence: Is it too soon for Gov. Roy Cooper to be patting his own back? (Charlotte Observer) – Gov. Roy Cooper is doing a fine job leading his state in the aftermath of Florence. He should save the self-congratulatory video clips for when he’s running for re-election. Or at least wait until Florence’s floodwaters recede.

RICK SMITH: NC warning: Be wary of malicious emails, scams in wake of hurricane (WRAL TechWire reports) — NC is warning citizens that threats to mislead and defraud via email are surging in the wake of Hurricane Florence. “Criminals posing as volunteers or disaster relief agencies will try to cheat you during a disaster, and especially during relief efforts,” State Chief Risk Officer Maria Thompson said Thursday. “Make sure you are donating to legitimate agencies if you choose to help. Don’t let your guard down.”

FERREL GUILLORY: After the storm, teachers at center of state elections (EdNC column) -- Hurricane Florence has inflicted severe trauma on N.C. that puts its government and politics to the test. It’s sobering and heart-breaking to ponder the human hardship as well as the disruption to the economy and to education. Still, even as recovery efforts proceed, a crucial, competitive mid-term election lies just ahead. When citizens’ attention turns to voting, as it should, a central issue ought to regain its prominence: teachers.

Baffling charge should prompt Greensboro to do a full review of how it hires (Greensboro News & Record) — We were baffled this week when the ACLU charged the city of Greensboro with discriminating by gender in its hiring practices for police officers. The news emerged in a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that said the city — and nine other employers — placed ads on Facebook that violate federal and state laws.

EDUCATION

ANN DOSS HELMS: ‘Lead is no joke’ – activists plan to press CMS on contaminated school water (Charlotte Observer reports) — Making references to water contamination in Flint, Mich., activists denounced Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for withholding information about lead in school water and mold in classrooms.

Two Silent Sam protesters resolve assault charges stemming from UNC rally (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Two of the 26 protesters charged in connection with recent Silent Sam anti-racist protests on the UNC campus had their charges dismissed or deferred in an Orange County court.

RICK SMITH: In cleaning up Dallas Mavericks, Cynthia Marshall sets example of equality for all businesses (WRAL-TV/TechWire column) -- People who know Cynthia Marshall, a former head of AT&T operations in North Carolina, are smiling as they watch her clean up the cesspool of sexual bias that could have cost tech billionaire Mark Cuban his NBA Dallas Mavericks franchise.