Opinion Roundup: Gov. Cooper vetos ballot language bills, solar energy rebates already out of money, internal strife at UNC and more

Saturday, July 28, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Federal housing leader Mel Watt under investigation for sexual harassment claim, Gov. Cooper vetoes both bills lawmakers passed in special session, board chairman urges support for UNC system president, addressing the delay in Hurricane Matthew relief, Duke solar rebates already out of money and more.

GARY ROBERTSON: Cooper vetoes ballot language bills OK'd in special session (AP reports) — Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday vetoed legislation approved by Republicans during this week's special session that alters North Carolina ballot language for constitutional referenda and a state Supreme Court race this fall.

MATTHEW BURNS: Cooper quickly vetoes both bills lawmakers passed in special session (WRAL-TV reports) — Accusing lawmakers of "shamelessly attempting to mislead voters," Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the two elections-related bills the legislature passed in a one-day special session this week.

BRAD JOHNSON: Elections officials, public preview new voting machines (WRAL-TV reports) — Voting could take on a different look in North Carolina in the coming years. On Friday in downtown Raleigh, the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement hosted a four-hour public demonstration of all voting equipment under consideration for future use. The public can comment through Aug. 10 about what they like and dislike about each of the technologies.

NC Senate candidate to fill seat in another district (AP reports) — A North Carolina Senate candidate this fall will serve in the General Assembly at least through the end of the year after local Republican activists picked her to fill a vacancy. Republicans from Iredell, Lincoln and Gaston counties met in Statesville this week and chose Vickie Sawyer of Mooresville to complete the two-year term of former Sen. David Curtis, who resigned last month.

TOM ROSS: Without the Supreme Court's deferral, the time for redistricting reform has arrived (Greensboro News & Record column) — There is one clear path for reform before the 2020 redistricting cycle. The General Assembly of North Carolina could act. For this to happen, North Carolinians must demand a new process that is fair to voters of both parties and those who are not affiliated with either party. And it will require a bipartisan effort.

VICTORIA GUIDA, KATY O’DONNELL & LORRAINE WOELLERT: 'If I kissed that one, would it lead to more?' Federal housing chief investigated for sexual harassment (Politico reports) -- Mel Watt, a former North Carolina congressman and the powerful regulator of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment of an employee. A Federal Housing Finance Agency staffer accused the FHFA director of repeatedly making inappropriate sexual advances when she tried to discuss career and salary concerns.

Federal housing leader Mel Watt under investigation for sexual harassment claim (McClatchy News/Charlotte Observer reports) -- Mel Watt, a former Democratic congressman from Charlotte who now heads a federal housing agency, is under investigation for harassment of a female employee.

MARCY GORDON: Overseer of Fannie, Freddie in probe for alleged harassment (AP reports) – Former N.C. congressman Mel Watt, the federal regulator whose agency oversees mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is being investigated for alleged sexual harassment of an employee.

Housing Finance Director, Mel Watt, Investigated for Sexual Harassment (New York Times reports) -- Melvin L. Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is under investigation for allegedly sexually harassing a female employee, the agency said. Mr. Watt is nearing the end of his five-year term running the agency, which oversees the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Looking to 2020, Cooper, Forest keep to campaign fundraising (AP reports) — Gov. Roy Cooper and a potential 2020 challenger keep vacuuming up campaign money. Cooper's committee reports raising $865,000 and having $1.6 million in cash on June 30. He's raised $2.3 million since early 2017. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is expected to run for governor. His committee raised $404,000 in the first six months of 2018 and had $519,000 in campaign coffers.

CHRISTY KUESEL: U.S. Rep. Price visits immigration centers, calls Trump administration ‘heartless’ (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — When U.S. Rep. David Price visited Laredo, Texas, last weekend, he met a 36-year-old man who had fled gang violence in El Salvador. The man had traveled nearly 1,500 miles to join his sister in the United States — risking his and his parents’ lives — and was in an immigration center.

It feels like we’ve been railroaded by Vertex (Wilmington Star News) — With much fanfare, Vertex Railcar Corporation promised 1,300 jobs. Where are they?

CULLEN BROWDER: Cutting nicotine in cigarettes pits smokers' lives against tobacco farmers' livelihoods (WRAL reports) — In addition to the tariffs and ongoing international trade war, North Carolina tobacco farmers face a new hurdle to selling their crop: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pushing to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels to help curb smoking.

SAM FUNCHESS: Greensboro, we have a problem (Greensboro News & Record Column) — Admitting we have a problem is the first step to finding a solution. Our city is lagging behind others in the state in three key areas: a shrinking workforce, declining wages and, most importantly, job creation.

How will GOP Convention play out in Charlotte? (Greenville Daily Reflector) — Why did no one want this convention? The issue here is not the dollars but the sense that Donald Trump's polarizing approach to politics and society will draw not only his grass-roots supporters, the people who show up at his rallies, but also those who love to protest against him during this time of heightened incivility. Does any city want to prepare for such a potential eruption?

TROY WILLIAMS: Civil War center can be a tool for healing (Fayetteville Observer column) — Why now? That’s been the question asked by some members of our community regarding the new North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center. Any doubts I may have had were erased when Dr. James Anderson, FSU chancellor, told us that Fayetteville State would ensure that the story would be told from the viewpoint of all races and walks of life.

JANE STANCILL: Internal bickering, Silent Sam protesters mark new UNC board leader’s first month (Charlotte Observer reports) — Harry Smith, the new leader of the UNC Board of Governors, tried Friday to turn the page from politics to policy for a governing panel that has been known for internal discord and controversy. He urged the board to come together and unite behind UNC President Margaret Spellings, who he called “a phenomenal” leader. “

ALEX DEROSIER: Board chairman urges support for UNC system president (WRAL reports) —Chairman Harry Smith of the University of North Carolina System's Board of Governors urged members Friday to set aside political differences and support President Margaret Spellings amid ongoing disagreements among system leadership. Spellings is less than halfway through her five-year contract as university system president. The former education secretary for President George W. Bush took over as head of the 17-campus system in March 2016.

SARAH KRUEGER: Chairman: UNC board to 'have conversation' on removing 'Silent Sam' (WRAL reports) — The University of North Carolina's Board of Governors will discuss the idea of removing a controversial Confederate monument from the system's flagship Chapel Hill campus, the new board chairman said Friday. The "Silent Sam" statue has been the site of protests for the past year, with students, faculty and alumni calling it a racist image and begging for officials to remove it.

TOM CAMPBELL: Three words you seldom hear from politicians (Greenville Daily Reflector column) — It is time our politicians practiced saying those three little words — not “I love you,” but rather “I was wrong.” Then they should get about the business of expanding Medicaid in North Carolina.

DAVID BORAKS: Duke Solar Rebates Have Already Run Out For The Year (WUNC reports) — Just two weeks after Duke Energy began taking applications for new solar energy rebates, the program has run out of money for homeowners and businesses for this year. More than 1,500 customers applied for rebates after an online application became available July 9. Duke accepted about $9 million worth of projects from homeowners and businesses — all the money it set aside for 2018, said spokesman Randy Wheeless.

RUSTY JACOBS: NC Emergency Management Director Addresses Delay In Hurricane Matthew Relief (WUNC reports) — North Carolina's director of emergency management said the pace of distributing federal relief funds to Hurricane Matthew victims will pick up soon. Mike Sprayberry has had to respond to criticism from elected officials, including House Speaker Tim Moore. Sprayberry said part of the problem is that his division has never dealt with these HUD grants before. Until 2016, the state Department of Commerce administered these HUD block grant relief funds.

BILL WALSH: Pender commissioners move to support hog industry (Wilmington Star News reports) — On Monday, the Pender County Commissioners passed a resolution in support of the Farm Act and as a statement to buttress local farming. The Farm Act restricts future legal action, but does not stop cases currently filed -- of which there are at least two Pender County-based lawsuits in federal court in Raleigh that are active and “four or five more” in the pipeline. These suits are coming on the heels of a federal court decision in April that awarded more than $50 million in damages to neighbors of a 15,000-head swine operation in Bladen County that jurors found responsible for smells, noise and other disturbances that are ruining rural living for those near the farm.

DREW BROOKS: Pope airman is first to receive Medal of Honor since Vietnam (Fayetteville Observer reports) — Tech. Sgt. John Chapman, who was killed in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002, during a heroic rescue effort, will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday. The airman will be the first member of the Air Force to be recognized with the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military decoration for valor — since the Vietnam War.

BRYN STOLE: The Decline of the Civil War Re-enactor (New York Times reports) -- The 155th anniversary Gettysburg re-enactment was a snapshot of a hobby with dwindling ranks.

John Kenneth Lee is a man of incredible accomplishment (Greensboro News & Record) — Kenneth Lee, whose mission in life was to eliminate “colored” signs, hung this one in his office, liberated from the Guilford County Courthouse. You should share this story with your children. It may sound too good to be true. But every word of it is fact. And more people should know it.