Opinion Roundup: Mistrust; new districts move; new maps-same problems; sheriff ordered murder? and more

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: mistrust; new district maps move; new maps-same old problems; did a sheriff ordered murder? sailing and the environment; growing college debt; school cheerleaders and Trump; N.C.'s plant whisperer and more.

MILES PARKS: Surprise Vote, Thrown Phone And Partisan 'Mistrust' Roil N.C. As Maps Are Redrawn (NPR reports) -- Lawmakers in Raleigh, one of the most polarized state capitals, are tasked with redrawing legislative districts, without basing those lines on whom voters are likely to support. With a Wednesday deadline, it will have massive implications statewide and nationally. In N.C. elections are often decided by razor-thin margins. A special election for the state's 9th Congressional District was decided by fewer than 5,000 votes. "Closely divided states are where partisans can gain the most by committing a gerrymander," wrote Sam Wang, leader of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, in his analysis of the new House map that N.C. looks likely to approve. Nationally, the process could offer a preview of the next round of redistricting across the country after the 2020 elections and census.

SAM WANG: N.C.’s new House plan still has at least half the partisan skew of the gerrymandered map (Princeton Gerrymandering Project reports) -- We find that the map still contains between one-half and two-thirds of the partisan advantage that was present in the illegal gerrymander.

SAM WANG: The N.C. Senate remedial map shows reduced bias but is weak for minority representation (Princeton Gerrymandering Project reports) -- The Senate remedial map, as passed by the entire chamber (“Consensus v3”), is reminiscent of the House map in its character. It has less partisan skew – but some still remains.

SAM WANG: Suggestions for a fair redistricting process [contains no partisan data] (Princeton Gerrymandering Project reports) -- North Carolina legislators have an unusual task: they are instructed by the Superior Court to undo a partisan gerrymander, but they are not allowed to use partisan voting data. Here are some suggestions for carrying out this task successfully.

Despite critiques, NC legislature on pace to remap on time (AP reports) -- Facing a deadline this week, the legislature stayed on track to enact replacement districts for dozens of its seats on time, even as citizens critiqued the maps in a public meeting.

TRAVIS FAIN: Senate passes map, NC's court-ordered redraw nears completion (WRAL-TV reports) -- Another round of votes on these maps, then it will be up to the judges.

WILL DORAN: NC Senate passes new political maps. Democrats are divided in their support (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- N.C.’s new political maps took a key step forward  when the Senate approved its maps, following the House vote Friday.

Legislators finalize more 'mini-budget' bills (AP reports) -- A North Carolina budget veto has slowed state government for months, so lawmakers have sent Gov. Roy Cooper more stand-alone legislation containing popular provisions from that spending plan.

The NC House overrode Gov. Cooper’s veto. Now what will happen in the Senate? (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- N.C.’s budget won’t go into effect unless the Senate overrides it, too.

PAUL SPECHT: 55 seconds to act: Did Democrats respond correctly to the Republican veto override? (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- There's a viral video of a North Carolina Democrat in the state legislature shouting on the N.C. House floor in hopes of stopping a controversial budget vote. Afterward, with video of Butler's speech drawing attention online, there were suggestions that Democrats could have prevented the defeat if they had only left the floor, leaving the House without a quorum. Could Democrats have walked out and prevented an override?

MODEST SURPLUS: September N.C. revenue forecast (General Assembly memo) -- The legislature's chief economist is forecasting modest budget surpluses over the current two-year fiscal period, while cautioning that "there are still signs of economic weakening." Barry Boardman's latest consensus revenue forecast memo, released Friday, notes that the $896.6 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30 is unlikely to occur again this year.

NANCY MCLAUGHLIN: Even the newest voting machines are vulnerable to reprogramming, cyber experts warn at Greensboro meeting called by the NAACP (Greensboro News & Record reports) — A hacker hired to find flaws in voting machines around the world and a computer code writer appointed by a judge to take a forensics look at a controversial election told an emergency meeting of the NAACP that even the newest era voting machines are vulnerable to reprogramming.

MEGAN FLYNN: Sheriff helped plot his own deputy’s killing over ‘racially offensive’ tape, prosecutors say (Washington Post reports) -- Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins learned one of his deputies had a tape of him making “racially offensive” comments, prosecutors say. So the North Carolina lawman encouraged another man to kill the officer, according to a felony indictment revealed.

Granville County sheriff indicted on two counts of felony obstruction of justice (WRAL-TV reports) -- A grand jury has returned indictments against Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins for two counts of felony obstruction of justice, according to District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.

Judge refuses to toss charge over threat to Muslim candidate (AP reports) -- A federal judge refused to throw out a case in which a N.C. a man is charged with anonymously threatening to lynch a Muslim-American man campaigning for a state Senate seat in Virginia.

Digital Mortgage Company Says It's Bringing 1,000 Jobs To Charlotte (WFAE-FM reports) -- A digital mortgage-lending company says it's bringing 1,000 jobs to Charlotte over the next five years.

Execs 'can't afford to wait' on NCDOT budget crisis (Triangle Business Journal reports) -- NC Chamber's CEO says action is needed to deal with the situation.

CEOs, far-flung billionaires among big donors in Bishop-McCready race (Triangle Business Journal reports) -- How did ties to Metallica, Apple, NASCAR race teams and the New York Giants factor into the Ninth Congressional District election.

JIM MORRILL: Tillis’ campaign ad lets Trump make case for his re-election: ‘He’s been a warrior’ (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Republican Sen. Thom Tillis launched the first ad of his re-election campaign touting President Donald Trump’s endorsement as well as his support of Tillis’ bill to force sheriffs to work with federal immigration officials. Tillis’ campaign said it’s spending $2.2 million on the ad, which will run through the March 3 primary. That represents half of the $4.4 million that the campaign had on hand at the end of June. The ad takes aim at potential Democratic rivals but also appears designed to blunt criticism from within his own party.

ELIZABETH LELAND: They’re learning to sail — and protect the environment (EdNC column) -- For 10 weeks this summer, when a fleet of small boats sails off from Washington, N.C. into the Pamlico River, the intrepid young skippers will be on the lookout not only for the telltale signs of a wind shift but also for pieces of trash littering the waterway. At Little Washington Sailing School, students learn life lessons as they learn to sail.

DANA ERVIN; A college ranking NC doesn’t want (Durham Herald-Sun column) -- N.C. has some of the best colleges and universities in the country. Four schools rank among the top 100, according to a Wall Street Journal study of U.S. colleges. But N.C. also has some of the worst numbers on student debt. It shot up by 285% in the last decade, the second highest increase of any state. According to last month’s report by the Center for Responsible Lending, approximately 1.2 million North Carolinians now hold $44 billion of student debt, and more than one in six are “severely” delinquent on their loans.

W. Asheville religious school gets 3rd of Buncombe's voucher funds (Asheville Citizen-Times reports) -- NC's private school voucher program expands each year, letting parents use public money to send kids to private schools. Which schools draw most?

High school cheerleading squad on probation after Trump banner displayed (AP reports) -- A high school cheerleading squad in is on probation after some cheerleaders posed with a banner supporting President Donald Trump before a football game.

NC State to host a #SettheExpectation game to promote prevention of sexual assault, domestic violence (WRAL-TV reports) -- NC State announced it will become the first ACC school to host a #SetTheExpectation game when it hosts Ball State on Saturday night at 7. It's a campaign started by gang rape survivor Brenda Tracy to combat interpersonal and sexual violence.

REBECCA ANDREWS: School lunch debt can become a burdensome problem for NC districts and students (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Every student who walks through the lunch line in N.C. is provided with food, regardless of ability to pay, but school systems still keep track of what students owe over time. Depending on how districts handle this issue, this school lunch debt can become a burden. How the schools respond to that debt varies widely across the state. Sometimes outside donors step in to alleviate the problem, but at other times the debt falls on the school districts.

YEN DUONG: NC’s first recovery high school opens in Charlotte (N.C. Health News reports) -- Emerald School of Excellence, N.C.’s first school focused on helping teens with substance use disorders, opens its doors this school year.

Where there’s smoke, there are serious health concerns (Greensboro News & Record) -- Snuff them now. President Trump’s call for an end to flavored e-cigarettes, which particularly appeal to young people, couldn’t come at a better time.

ELIZABETH FRIEND: Environmental Advocates Push For Mandatory Testing For Lead In Water At NC Schools (WUNC-FM reports) -- Even low levels of lead can cause harm to children, but 22 states, including N.C., don’t require schools and day cares to test the levels of lead in children’s drinking water.

ADRIAN HIGGINS: This collector-grower built an Eden of rare plants. Now he tackles the challenge to preserve it (Washington Post reports) -- Tony Avent runs two enterprises out of what was once a hardscrabble tobacco farm 20 minutes south of Raleigh, N.C. The first, Plant Delights Nursery, will this year ship 120,000 novel and pricey ornamental plants to garden enthusiasts across the United States. The other endeavor is a botanical garden of Avent’s invention, filled with rare and unusual plants that the 62-year-old plantsman has collected on 80 expeditions in the States and 12 other countries. Supplementing those with plants from other collectors, he has amassed 26,000 species and varieties and has a collection greater than many public botanical gardens in the country.

State officials say many lessons learned after Hurricane Floyd (WRAL-TV reports) -- When Hurricane Floyd hit N.C. 20 years ago, the storm caused historic flooding in the eastern part of the state.

UNC Study: Storms with heavy rainfall are the new normal (WRAL-TV reports) -- A study out of UNC looks at weather data over the last 120 years to find six of the seven highest rainfall events have occurred in the last 20 years.

More than 400 Fort Bragg soldiers return after yearlong deployment (WRAL-TV reports) -- Cheers, hugs and handshakes filled the pack shed at Fort Bragg's Green Ramp on Sunday as more than 400 soldiers with the 18th Airborne Corps returned home from a year long deployment to areas of Iraq, Syria and Kuwait.

DENISE LAVOIE: Judge's stern barks at dogfighting defendants prompt appeals (AP reports) -- The judge didn't mince words when it came time to sentence five N.C. men in an illegal dogfighting operation that involved more than 150 pit bulls. "Either the dogs have to be eliminated from the world or the people who fight the dogs or both, but there needs to be an intervention by the law and it's going to start here," U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle said. The men are now using the judge's words to appeal their sentences, arguing that he should have taken himself off the case because of his "deep-seated antagonism" toward people who engage in dogfighting and the pit bull breed itself. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in the case Wednesday.