Opinion Roundup: Internment camps in China supplying N.C., bipartisan elections bill calls for District 9 redo, technology in classrooms and more

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Trapped minorities in China make clothes for N.C. supplier, UNC graduate students and professors who had threatened a strike release grades, bipartisan elections bill calls for District 9 redo, why Duke wants more time to remove coal ash from Sutton basins, technology’s role in the classroom and more.

REAL ELECTION FRAUD?

Neither party seems to want what’s right in the 9th District (Charlotte Observer) -- The state Board of Elections needs more time to get to the bottom of possible election fraud in the 9th Congressional District. Republicans want to cut the probe short and certify Mark Harris as the winner immediately.

Chili's responds to being name-checked during Twitter feud over N.C. House race (Fox News reports) -- Chili’s has entered the political landscape with one of its latest tweets. The casual-dining restaurant chain has responded to being name-checked by Andrew Bates, the communications director for the Democratic super PAC American Bridge, after he asked Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the North Carolina GOP, to stop “repeating calls for rewarding election fraud” in exchange for a Chili’s gift card.

Hearing rules set (N.C. Board of Elections) – The order establishing the rules for the hearing on potential election Fraud in the 9th District congressional race

TRAVIS FAIN: GOP to NC elections board: Show evidence of fraud or certify 9th District election (WRAL-TV reports) — Republican leadership in NC's 9th Congressional District called Monday on the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to certify results in the race despite an ongoing investigation of election irregularities.

EMERY DALESIO: NC GOP wants candidate in Congress despite probe (AP reports) — NC Republicans said Monday that they want their candidate in a still-undecided U.S. House race marred by ballot fraud allegations to take his seat in Congress despite acknowledging a replacement election may be required.

JIM MORRILL: NC GOP slams state elections board: ‘The people of the 9th are tired of waiting’ (Charlotte Observer reports) — The state board of elections Monday issued guidelines for the Jan. 11 hearing that will feature witnesses and cross-examinations by attorneys. The hearing will take place in the courtroom of the NC State Bar in Raleigh.

Bipartisan elections bill rightly calls for District 9 redo (Fayetteville Observer) — The apparent fraud committed in the District 9 race for the U.S. House of Representatives has led to a serious, bipartisan bill in the NC legislature that tackles that race and other election issues. It is one of the few good things stemming from this lingering midterm mess.

MICHAEL LI: With N.C. Supreme Court Now Holding Democratic Majority, Republicans in Legislature Seek to Move Partisan Gerrymandering Case to Federal Court (Twitter feed comment) -- North Carolina Republicans have removed the state-court partisan gerrymandering case challenging the state's legislative maps to federal court. 

Text of Notice of Removal (Federal Court filing) – Defendants Representative David R. Lewis, Senator Ralph E. Hise, Jr., Speaker Timothy K. Moore, President Pro Tempore Philip E. Berger, and the State of North Carolina in accordance with the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1441,1443(2), and 1446, hereby give notice and remove to this court the civil action bearing the Case No.: 18-CVS-14001, which is now pending in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, North Carolina.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Veto sessions (The Insider reports) - -The state’s Republican legislators, who called themselves into special sessions are now trying to blame Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for that fact – and that they may have to be in Raleigh to do their jobs. The GOP is seeking to portray Cooper as a "grinch" by waiting to veto legislation that could force lawmakers to return to Raleigh during Christmas week to try to override his rejections.

T. KEUNG HUI: GOP wants Cooper to decide on bills this week — so folks don’t have to work next week (Charlotte Observer reports) — Senate Republicans are asking Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to not be a “grinch” by waiting to veto legislation that could force lawmakers to return to Raleigh during Christmas week to try to override his rejections.

Veto, override, court: Voter ID’s predictable path (Fayetteville Observer) — Yes, the veto was certainly a sign of the governor’s deep conviction that it’s unnecessary to have voters show identification at polling places. The governor is right, but he’s also now shoveling sand against a rising tide: More than 55 percent of this state’s voters approved the constitutional amendment requiring ID. He’s also correct when he says that, “the real election problem is votes harvested illegally through absentee ballots, which this proposal fails to fix.”

DAKE KANG, MARTHA MENDOZA & YANAN WANG: In locked compound, minorities in China make clothes for N.C. supplier (AP reports) -- A growing number of internment camps in China house as many as 1 million Muslims who are detained, forced to give up their language and their religion and subject to political indoctrination. Now, the Chinese government is also forcing some detainees to work in manufacturing and food industries. Some of them are within the internment camps; others are privately owned, state-subsidized factories where detainees are sent once they are released. The Associated Press has tracked recent, ongoing shipments from one such factory inside an internment camp to Badger Sportswear, a leading supplier in Statesville, N.C.. The shipments show how difficult it is to stop products made with forced labor from getting into the global supply chain, even though such imports are illegal in the U.S. Badger CEO John Anton said Sunday that the company would source sportswear elsewhere while it investigates.

NC congressman out for rest of term with illness (AP reports) — NC Rep. Walter Jones will miss the remainder of the current congressional term because of illness. Last Tuesday, he was granted a leave of absence for the rest of 2018. His office said Jones plans to return to Washington on Jan. 3, the first day of the new Congress, but offered no specifics on Jones' illness.

KATHERINE PERALTA: Charlotte still has to spend money to attract visitors turned off by HB2, records show (Charlotte Observer reports) — It’s been more than a year and a half since House Bill 2, a controversial LGBTQ law, was repealed and replaced with a compromise measure. But with Charlotte’s reputation damaged, the city is still paying several million dollars to market itself to visitors.

RICHARD ADKINS: New tax rules mean you may have to give more for it to matter (WRAL reports) — It's become a traditional December dance, donations come in to Cary's Dorcas thrift store and the organization then turns the donated items into cash to run their programs. The donor may walk away with a tax credit- it's been a win-win for years. But now, you may want to give your 2018 charitable giving just a bit more thought. New tax rules mean you may need to give a lot more in order for it to matter on your taxes.

EDUCATION

JANE STANCILL: UNC graduate students and professors who had threatened a strike release grades — for now (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — UNC graduate teaching assistants and faculty who had threatened a grade strike over Silent Sam said they have turned in undergraduate grades for the fall semester, but are prepared to strike in the spring if the Confederate monument is brought back to campus.

KRISTEN BLAIR: Amplifier or distractor: Technology’s role in the classroom (EdNC reports) — Media enthusiasts have a leg up at Davis Drive Middle School in Cary. A green screen studio in the school’s media center enables future filmmakers and weather-casters to sharpen and showcase skills. This year the green screen became a backdrop for student videos featuring science and social studies concepts.

CRAIG HORN: To implement personalized learning in NC, schools of education must prepare teachers for the digital education environment (EdNC column) — Today’s students are not just digital natives; they are digital omnivores. They gobble up everything around them, and they do it in a flash. In fact, it sometimes seems as though students know more about how to manage the digital environment than their teachers.

JUSTIN PARMENTER: NC’s teacher bonus scheme isn’t working (Charlotte Observer column) — After a very slight uptick the first year bonuses were paid out, third-grade reading proficiency dropped almost two full percentage points in 2017-18. Those results are consistent with research on the impact of financial incentives in education, which finds that not only do bonuses fail to increase student achievement, in some cases they even decrease it.

YEN DUONG: Lead-lined Room for Treatment of Rare Childhood Cancer Opens in Charlotte (NC Health News) — Levine Children’s Hospital unveiled a new lead-lined room for treating patients with neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer.

BRAD JOHANSEN: With help from Duke doctor, INVOcell brings new hope to those trying to conceive (WRAL reports) — For most, family is a top priority. But for 10 to 15 percent of couples in the United States, having children is not an option. Neeoo Chin, a reproductive endocrinologist at Duke University Hospital, has helped couples conceive with procedures like IVF. His new lab specialized in INVOcell, an FDA-approved procedure that may be more effective and cost effective.

FRANK TAYLOR: NC health officials not on track to comply with federal settlement (Carolina Public Press reports) — Time is winding down for NC health officials to make substantial improvements in services for adults with mental illness, required under a 2012 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

BRUCE HOLSTEN: Smarter Energy Investment Needed Now (Coastal Review Online column) — Having worked in the mining industry around the world, I know firsthand both the potential benefits and almost certain liabilities that mining activities can have on local and regional communities. The oil industry is no exception and is particularly known for making glowing promises of jobs and other economic development opportunities to local and regional civic leaders only to have these specious vows fail to materialize into any meaningful benefit.

ADAM WAGNER: Why Duke wants more time to remove coal ash from Sutton basins (Wilmington Star-News reports) — Citing unforeseen permit delays and historic hurricanes, Duke Energy is asking the state to give it six more months to close coal ash basins at Wilmington’s Sutton Plant.

WILL MICHAELS: Seismic Testing Approvals Reignite Debate About Offshore Drilling (WUNC-FM reports) -- The conversation about offshore drilling has intensified after the Trump Administration approved permits for seismic testing in the Atlantic. The seismic blasts would map the sea floor for potential oil and gas deposits, which is a key step toward drilling operations. Energy industry groups are praising the decision while environmental groups are suing to block it.

RICK ARMSTRONG & RENEE CHOU: Community-supported program helps NC fishermen post-Florence (WRAL-TV reports) -- The "Walking Fish Cooperative" connects coastal fishermen with local consumers, a program which is especially useful this year due to losses suffered after Hurricane Florence

MARK PRICE: 5-foot snake found chewed like corn on the cob in middle of NC swamp. What did that? (Charlotte Observer reports) — If there’s one thing creepier than walking up on a 5-foot snake in a swamp, it’s finding one eaten down to the spine -- like a piece of corn on the cob. That’s exactly what George Howard found Saturday at the The Swamp Park in eastern NC, raising the question: What does that to a snake?