Opinion Roundup: New maps off to court; session done, work isn't; Fetzer follies; and more

Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: new maps, same gerrymandering; session done, job not finished; Fetzer follies; and more.

MICHAEL WINES: Republicans Redrew a Gerrymandered Map. Try Again, Say Democrats (New York Times reports) -- N.C. Republicans introduced a new congressional map giving Democrats more potential clout. It’s still not enough, Democrats say, vowing to go back to court.

PAUL KANE: Courts force N.C. Republicans to map out a new political future (Washington Post analysis) -- Just two years ago, .C. Republicans were riding high in the U.S. Capitol. Holding 10 of the state’s 13 seats in the House, their ranks included the chairmen of the two most powerful conservative caucuses in Congress, a rising star in GOP leadership and the chair of the committee overseeing labor laws. Then the 2018 midterm elections swept Democrats into power and the state’s GOP representatives hunkered down for life in the minority. They were at least reassured in their numbers: Republicans still hold 10 of the state’s 13 congressional seats, despite a brutal election year that saw states like Virginia break sharply toward Democrats. Now, however, the Tar Heel State’s GOP is facing a reckoning that will leave it with barely any clout.

Lawmakers redraw state’s congressional map (AP reports) -- A replacement map for N.C.’s congressional districts was finalized, with its lines redrawn to address extreme partisan bias and endangering reelection prospects for two Republicans next year while protecting other GOP incumbents elsewhere in the state.

General Assembly OKs new congressional district map (WRAL-TV reports) -- The House and the Senate voted along party lines this week to approve a new map for N.C.'s 13 U.S. House districts.

NC Supreme Court says no to legislative map review; lawmakers enact new Congressional map (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- The state Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal of several districts in a state legislative map that was redrawn after a court found it had been initially gerrymandered for partisan gain. The plaintiffs in Common Cause v. Lewis asked the state’s high court to review their appeal ahead of the Court of Appeals in an effort to expedite matters ahead of the Dec. 2 candidate filing deadline. They objected specifically to five county groupings in the House map after the lower court approved it. The order from the Supreme Court did not explain why the justices declined to take up the appeal, and it denied another motion from the legislative defendants to recuse Justice Anita Earls as moot. The plaintiffs can still appeal the maps to the state Court of Appeals.

Legislative districts set for 2020 as appeal ends (AP reports) -- N.C.'s legislative districts are set for the 2020 elections after the state Supreme Court refused to fast-track a redistricting appeal. That decision led the plaintiffs who successfully sued based on partisan bias claims to end their legal challenges.

General Assembly maps set; NC Supreme Court won't take up gerrymandering case (WRAL-TV reports) -- State high court's decision, and Common Cause's announcement that it won't appeal, leaves new N.C. House and Senate maps in place.

GINGER LIVINGSTON: New maps expand 1st Congressional District's footprint in Pitt County (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Newly approved congressional maps have shifted portions of Pitt County from the 3rd Congressional District to the 1st District.

No teacher raises expected until at least January as lawmakers call it quits for 2019 (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- “The parties aren’t even talking at this point” after a pair of failed compromise offers.

Trump intervenes in military justice cases, grants pardons (AP reports) -- President Donald Trump has pardoned a former U.S. Army commando set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two, the White House announced.

CELIA RIVENBARK: The righteous shall inherit ... Trump (Wilmington Star-News column) -- The president puts Pastor Paula White in the, well, White House.

AMELIA HARPER: GOP Lieutenant governor candidates to debate at NCC (Rocky Mount Telegram reports) -- Nash County will have the opportunity of hosting one of the first major political debates of the 2020 election. The Nash County GOP and WHIG-TV will be sponsoring a Republican Lieutenant Governor’s Debate at 7 p.m. Monday in the Brown Auditorium at Nash Community College.

Public vote on Civil War center should not be ruled out (Fayetteville Observer) -- Nero B. Coleman was the 44th speaker at Thursday’s forum on the N.C. Civil War & Reconstruction History Center. The forum was a chance for the Fayetteville City Council to hear from residents about the proposed center, a state project that would be built in Fayetteville and also seeks $15 million in local investment.

REGGIE PONDER: UNC board takes no action over Gerlach concerns (Elizabeth City Daily Advance reports) — Officials with the UNC Board of Governors would not answer questions Friday about criticism against a board member for conducting an unofficial, independent investigation of the former interim chancellor of ECU.

SARAH DRY: When the U.S. Tried to Control Hurricanes (Wall Street Journal column) -- From the 1940s to the 1970s, Project Stormfury and other government efforts tested the limits of the power of science.