Opinion Roundup: Judicial primaries back on, Trump's being 'presidential,' focus on school budget challenges and more

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis: Judicial primary are back on, a new presidential tone from the president, confronting education budget challenges, utility rate increases and more.

TRAVIS FAIN: Judge reinstates judicial primaries for NC Supreme Court, Court of Appeals (WRAL-TV analysis) -- A federal judge weighing the Republican legislative majority's decision to cancel this year's judicial primaries ordered them reinstated Wednesday for statewide Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races.

GARY ROBERTSON: Judge restores partisan primaries for appellate court races (AP news analysis) -- A federal judge decided Wednesday that partisan primaries must go ahead for North Carolina appellate court races in 2018, partially halting a state law that had canceled them this year.

RICK HASEN: Court issues preliminary injunction barring NC Legislature’s elimination of partisan primaries state appeals and supreme court judges (Election Law Blog column) -- In light of the state apparently offering no reason at all for why it made this change as to appellate judges, the federal court’s decision makes a lot of sense. It might be a very different case if the state came forward with important reasons for the change.

THOMAS MILLS: Fixing gerrymandering won’t save the Democrats (PoliticsNC column) -- Progressives who see fixing gerrymandering as a panacea to their political ills will find themselves deeply disappointed. Harry Enten of FiveThirtyEight laid out the problem with blaming gerrymandering for political polarization and concentration of power.

Three NC officials moved from jobs after fatal prison attacks and scathing federal report (Charlotte Observer analysis) -- Three North Carolina officials have been moved from their jobs following the fatal attacks on four employees at an eastern North Carolina prison.

JEFF HAMPTON: Kitty Hawk resident, ACLU sues N.C. representative over release of records (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot analysis) -- A Kitty Hawk resident has joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit against state Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Dare, over her refusal to release what could be public records. Retired Naval officer Craig Merrill made 16 attempts over nine months for records of her correspondence with constituents and businesses within her district including Dare, Beaufort, Hyde and Washington counties.

NATALIE MATTHEWS: Bathroom break leads to $2M Powerball prize for Lumberton man (WRAL-TV analysis) -- A Lumberton man who won a $2 million Powerball prize says he plans to use the money to repair the damage Hurricane Matthew did to his home.

JEFF TIBERII: State Leaders Navigate The Politics Of The Opioid Crisis (WUNC-FM analysis) -- It’s a cold January morning in High Point as Governor Roy Cooper climbs into a white SUV. Guilford County EMS worker Chris Wilson drives through the city’s south side. On one side of the road there are two dingy motels. On the other a large cross and the message “God is love” on the ground.

Tread lightly with changes to ferry service (Wilmington Star-News) -- River crossing is a small but important part of local transportation network

Trump proposals could win support (Greensboro News & Record) -- President Donald Trump may have surprised many Americans with a low-key delivery of his first State of the Union speech Tuesday night. He didn’t cast insults at political opponents, castigate “fake news,” launch “Deep State” conspiracy theories,

This was the right presidential tone (Fayetteville Observer) -- President Donald Trump looked out over a sharply divided Congress Tuesday evening — and a deeply divided nation — and said some important things. He used the word “together” often. We hope he continues down that path. “All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family,” he said. “We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag. Together, we are rediscovering the American way.” That’s an optimistic and inclusive outlook for a man who is, by nature, combative. But we’ll take it.

NC school leaders ask for budget flexibility as lawmakers examine school fundingKELLY HINCHCLIFFE: NC school leaders ask for budget flexibility as lawmakers examine school funding (WRAL-TV analysis) -- North Carolina public school leaders urged lawmakers to give them more flexibility in managing their budgets, more funding for students with disabilities and less responsibility of distributing money to local charter schools.

KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: $1M audit of state education agency begins next week, NC superintendent says (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Auditors from Ernst & Young will be at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction next week to begin an in-depth review of the agency's operations, the state superintendent announced Wednesday. The findings are due by April 1.

ALEX GRANADOS: Local, state education leaders make the case for more flexibility (EdNC analysis) -- Local and state education leaders lobbied Wednesday the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform for more flexibility on how they use state funds.

ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS: Republicans Tack a Conservative Campus Wish List to a Major Education Bill (New York Times analysis) -- Religious colleges would be able to bar openly same-sex relationships without fear of repercussions. Religious student groups could block people who do not share their faith from becoming members. Controversial speakers would have more leverage when they want to appear at colleges. A 590-page higher-education bill working its way through a House Committee headed by N.C. Rep. Virginia Foxx is a wish list for a wide range of people, groups and colleges claiming that their First Amendment rights — freedom of speech, religion or assembly — are being trampled. Many of them are religious, right-leaning or both, and the Republicans behind the bill have eagerly taken up the cause, correcting what they see as antipathy toward conservative beliefs on American campuses.

N.C. shortchanges students who are poor, black and gifted (Durham Herald-Sun analysis) -- Potential Einsteins may get lost in NC schools if they’re black or Hispanic, especially in high poverty schools, a new Fordham Institute study says.

ALEX GRANADOS: Superintendent sends message to teachers, seeks input on post-secondary options (EdNC analysis) -- Superintendent Mark Johnson sent out a new video message to state teachers this week. In it, he identifies his goals for 2018, including increasing teacher pay, expanding personalized learning, and expanding early childhood education. In the video, Johnson also said that he is working on a fix to the K-3 class size mandate handed down by the General Assembly and slated to go into full effect next year.

BOB HARDNER & QUE TUCKER: Help Wanted: NC has shortage of high school officials (WRAL-TV analysis) -- They don't make the headlines, their names are not in the box scores and they don't make the all-star teams, but perhaps the most important individuals in high school sports are the contest officials.

ALEX GRANADOS: NC Policy Watch holds crucial conversations – ‘Public schools in crisis’ (EdNC analysis) -- NC Policy Watch brought together Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, and Kris Nordstrom, education policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center’s Education & Law Project, to talk about the state of education in North Carolina during an event entitled, “Crucial Conversation: Public Schools in Crisis.”

ROSE HOBAN: Advocates Look to Pick up the PACE of Seniors Using Comprehensive Program )N.C. Health News analysis) -- Despite success at helping seniors age at home while keeping costs lower, North Carolina lawmakers have kept PACE programs from expanding.

FRANK TAYLOR: Following the adult care home money in N.C. (Carolina Public Press) -- Despite concerns about adult care homes ipeople have raised in recent years, the way the state regulates these facilities hasn’t seen any dramatic changes. Some advocates say that’s because the adult care home industry, which is the state’s de facto “solution” for housing mentally ill adults, enjoys out-sized political influence, thanks to years of effective lobbying and generous campaign contributions.

Cooper Seeks Hearings on Drilling Plan (Coastal Review analysis) -- Gov. Roy Cooper wrote Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, calling for a 60-day extension for public comments and more meetings on offshore drilling and seismic testing off of North Carolina’s coast.

STEPHANIE CARSON: Fortune 500 Companies Want to Wind Up Energy Grid for Wind (Public News Service) -- North Carolina has more wind off its shores than any other state on the Atlantic coast. But beyond the hurdle of harnessing the potential from wind farms, there's the issue of transmitting the power they generate.

Duke wants to raise residential power bills 17 percent. Here’s how much it should get (Charlotte Observer) -- Duke Energy has proposed a large rate hike, in large part to pay for its coal ash cleanup. The NC Utilities Commission should do some different math.

BRYAN MIMS: 'Helpless' Sanford community upset by DOT highway expansion project that will disturb dozens of graves (WRAL-TV analysis) -- The North Carolina Department of Transportation's project to expand Highway 40 in Sanford will disturb dozens of graves in the Shallow Well United Church of Christ cemetery that date back to 1881.

LIZ BIRO: Oysters Rockerfeller Has Carolina Cousins (Coastal Review column) -- Oysters Rockefeller is a New Orleans dish dating back to the late 1890s, but myriad variations of Antoine’s chef Jules Alciatore’s masterpiece on the half shell are served in eastern North Carolina restaurants.