Opinion Roundup: Human trafficking, prison reform, gun violence, closing the education gap and more

Friday, March 23, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Efforts to combat human trafficking, new prison reform advisory board meets, faster internet needed to speed up economic growth in rural areas, D.C. preps for gun violence protests, alternative energy and more.

DOUG BOCK CLARK: Why is China treating N.C. like the developing world? (Rolling Stone Magazine analysis) -- How lax regulation made it cheaper for China to outsource pork production – and all of its environmental and human costs – to the U.S.

New elections board is coming -- and it's leaving out the second biggest group of voters (Charlotte Observer) -- With a new state elections board in place, Mecklenburg County will get a new board, and it won't have unaffiliated voters.

FRANK TAYLOR: State to post signs in effort to combat human-trafficking crimes (Carolina Public Press) -- Enter a rest area, welcome center, job center, ABC store or emergency room across North Carolina in the near future and you will be likely to see new signs that are going up to educate the public about human trafficking. N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein unveiled the design of the signs in conjunction with North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission Chair Libby Magee Coles. “

First prison fix is more guards (Fayetteville Observer) -- The state’s new Prison Reform Advisory Board held its first meeting this week to review conditions in the state’s prisons that led to the deaths of five prison employees last year. One corrections officer was beaten to death last April at the Bertie Correctional Institution and four workers died during an escape attempt at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution in October.

TYLER DUKES: How you can help track political ads on Facebook (WRAL-TV analysis) -- We've teamed up with ProPublica to promote its Facebook Political Ad Collector, a free browser plugin that enables users to automatically send political ads on their Facebook pages to a database.

Slow internet service stalls rural economic growth (Fayetteville Observer) -- The N.C. League of Municipalities just told us something we already know. Maybe this time more people will listen. The league, which represents the state’s cities and towns, released a report Wednesday that says more than 600,000 rural North Carolinians lack broadband-speed internet access in their communities. Actually, the number may be much greater.

The wrong target (Greensboro News & Record) -- The idea that the city should cancel a gun show at the Greensboro Coliseum is emotional but also misguided.

Durham City Council wants to overturn N.C. ban on collective bargaining (Durham Herald-Sun) -- Durham City Council will pass a resolution supporting public employees unions and collective bargaining, but state law prevents it.

JON HARDISTER: Raise the age to help teens get past mistakes (Greensboro News & Record column) -- The Raise the Age law is designed because the juvenile justice system is better able to provide developmentally appropriate treatment for teens.

LAURA LESLIE: Dare lawmaker called out on credentials, Facebook post (WRAL-TV reports) -- Freshman lawmaker Beverly Boswell was asked by the N.C. Board of Nursing to remove online claims that she is a registered nurse. That's after she called student protestors "Tide Pod eaters" in a prior Facebook post.

HANNAH WEBSTER: D.C., to Warren County, Thousands in NC prepare for Saturday's March for Our Lives (WRAL-TV reports) -- On Saturday, thousands are expected to take over the streets of Washington, D.C, demanding an end to gun violence and mass school shootings. Many North Carolina students and adults will be traveling north to the protest, which will start on Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd St. and 12th St. NW at 12 p.m.

KAY MCSPADDEN: Don't be surprised by the Florida students. I see the same every day (Charlotte Observer column) -- Those of us who work daily with teenagers also know that kids need time to be kids, and asking them to use their voices as advocates of school safety and reasonable gun reform is unfair. They should be getting on with the business of spring break and prom and studying for final exams. They should be finding their way back to a sense of normalcy. But the students say they will never feel normal again. Instead of slowing down and losing their focus, they are fired up. Instead of tiring of pushing against entrenched political inertia, they are fueled with the rage and fury of people who watched their friends and teachers die.

MARGRET SPELLINGS: Closing the education gap (Wilmington Star-News column) -- Today’s jobs increasingly require more than high school; it’s a critical need we must address. Among business leaders, researchers and policy leaders, the consensus is clear. The jobs that once supported a family and required just a high school diploma are being replaced by ones that demand some form of education beyond high school. In fact, the latest estimates show that in just two years, upwards of 65 percent of all jobs will require a degree or credential beyond high school.

CATHERINE CLABBY: A Call for Gun Violence Prevention (N.C. Health News analysis) -- If North Carolina can fight opioid overdoses, advocates ask, why not recognize and treat gun violence as a public health threat too?

STEPHANIE CARSON: "March For Our Lives" Teaches Hands-On Civics (Public News Service analysis) -- In an unprecedented demonstration of civic engagement, hundreds of thousands of young people and other activists will demonstrate Saturday in March For Our Lives events planned around the world. There will be 10 such events in North Carolina, including Asheville, where local students are organizing the march with assistance from the local chapter of Moms Demand Action.

FERREL GUILLORY: Big education issues flow out of data streams (EdNC column) -- Three streams of data, released from disparate sources in recent days, define prospects and challenges facing public education in North Carolina and the nation. Combined, the data reports prod North Carolina to step up its game in solidifying public will behind public education.

GILBERT BAEZ: Hoke sheriff wants to arm teachers with tech, not guns (WRAL-TV reports) -- To make local schools safer, Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin has a three-part plan built around technology, not guns.

Make safe schools a priority (Hendersonville Times-News) -- Henderson County leaders warn that measures to protect public schools from acts of wanton violence will come with a big price tag that may require a local property tax increase. So be it. This does not mean we should throw money at the problem. Rather, the public schools, Sheriff’s Office and county must work together to find the most effective and efficient ways to protect our children when they are at school.

ANDREW KREIGHBAUM: Trump Takes Another Swipe at Community Colleges (Inside Higher Ed analysis) -- President Trump loves vocational training. Community colleges? Not so much. In between talking up tax cuts and his administration's work rolling back federal regulations, the president weighed in on the value of vocational training. He appeared to dismiss community colleges. As they did after his earlier remarks on those institutions, community college leaders said they showed the president was misinformed. Trump repeated an anecdote he tells frequently about a former classmate who was "not going to be Einstein academically" but could fix an engine or a motor blindfolded. "But he’ll never be a student, nor did he want that kind of learning, that kind of whatever you want to call it," Trump said. "So we need vocational schools. Now, they call them, a lot of times, community colleges. I don’t think it’s an accurate definition." The comment echoed a statement from February in which he complained to Republican lawmakers that many people don't know what a community college "means or represents" and suggested that "vocational" is a preferable term.

EMERGY DALESIO: Duke Energy utility CEO got big boosts to severance, pay (AP reports) -- Duke Energy Corp.'s board showed last year it really wants to keep CEO Lynn Good on the job, boosting the severance package she could get if forced out the door and raising her reported compensation to $21.4 million, according to a company report.

TRAVIS FAIN: State to step up rainwater measurements on GenX (WRAL-TV reports) -- State researchers plan to install long-term rain catchers around the Chemours facility in Bladen County and in other far-flung locations around North Carolina in a stepped-up effort to isolate chemicals from the plant that are appearing in rain.New devices planned around Chemours facility, other parts of the state.

BETSY LILLIAN: Sunflower Solar Energy Center Comes Online In N.C. (Solar Industry Magazine) -- PSEG Solar Source, a subsidiary of PSEG Power, has announced that its PSEG Sunflower Solar Energy Center successfully began operations in December. Located about 90 miles northeast of Raleigh in Halifax, N.C., the facility has a 10-year power purchase agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Co. The 21 MW DC facility can power about 4,000 homes, according to PSEG Solar Source.

Home health care may no longer be government’s role (Wilson Times) -- It’s no longer economically sustainable for government employees to dispense medication, provide physical therapy and assist disabled and chronically ill patients in their homes.

North Carolina hospital misdiagnoses cancer cases (AP reports) -- A North Carolina hospital is under review after an investigation showed three patients received unnecessary cancer treatments and a fourth had a cancer diagnosis delayed.

PAT GRABER: Operation Drum Roll: Ocracoke During WWII (Coastal Review column) -- World War II battles off the N.C. coast were for years kept secret from most of the American public, but Ocracoke residents saw firsthand the horrors of and the U.S. response to the Germans’ deadly Operation Drum Roll.