Opinion Roundup: Questionable timing; no hacking here; slow growth; new decade; and more

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Meadows' retirement timing; political power shifts south; no hacking here; tradition ends with new decade; and more

Mark Meadows accused of timing retirement to help elect wife’s friend (Politico reports) -- Rep. Mark Meadows' shock retirement — revealed just 30 hours before the filing deadline — has roiled some Republicans in N.C. who suspect he timed his announcement to benefit a friend of his wife. Later the day of Meadow's announcement came a campaign launch by Lynda Bennett, a local GOP activist and real estate agent who is friendly with Debbie Meadows, the congressman's wife, according to sources who know both women. Wary Republicans in the state quickly speculated that she had advance notice of Meadows' retirement. Online records revealed her campaign website domain had been registered on Oct. 28 by a Scott Meadows, who appears to be the brother of the congressman. The campaign's Facebook page was created on Dec. 18, a day before the retirement.

JANET ADAM & PAUL OVERBERG: Political Power Set to Continue Shift to Southern States, Data Show (Wall Street Journal reports) -- New state census totals show population continuing to shift from the North and Midwest to the South and Southwest in ways that could help states that have voted Republican in recent years.

BRIAN GORDON: Do local governments need political parties? These former Republicans say no. (Asheville Citizen-Times reports) -- No one reason drove three Transylvania County commissioners from the Republican Party. Mike Hawkins, Page Lemel and David Guice considered several factors before they jointly announced, in an early December statement, their decision to disassociate with the GOP and become politically unaffiliated.

DAVID DALEY: The decade Republicans hijacked our democracy, via the gerrymander (Salon Magazine reports) -- White men make up a smaller slice of the American electorate with each election. Yet they maintain outsized power in Congress and state legislatures. A new decade dawns with a crisis of representation that threatens the integrity of representative democracy itself. We’re in this mess, in many ways, because of gerrymandering. This was the decade that the gerrymander — perhaps the oldest political trick in the book — pushed American politics into a dangerous state of anti-majoritarianism, grounded in racial fear and identity politics, that may take at least another decade to overcome, assuming we ever do so. It’s worth remembering how we got here. After all, the decade began with the likelihood that changing American demographics might push the nation in a very different direction.

Gerrymandering is alive and well. The coming battle will be bigger than ever (NBC News reports) -- The gerrymandering wars are heading South. A number of Southern states, including North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Georgia, are prime targets for partisan gerrymandering as the congressional redistricting process gets underway after next year's statehouse elections, experts said.

TRAVIS FAIN: Federal review finds no evidence hacking caused 2016 Durham election problems (@NCCapitol/WRAL-TV reports) -- Department of Homeland Security reviewed multiple computers, USB drives, found "no artifacts suggesting malware." The review found no evidence hacking caused the 2016 election problems that forced Durham County to shut down electronic poll books on election day, the State Board of Elections said Monday.

Feds: No evidence hackers disrupted North Carolina voting (AP reports) - A federal investigation didn’t turn up any evidence that cyber attacks were responsible for computer errors that disrupted voting in a North Carolina county in 2016. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s report said it didn’t identify any malware or remote access to the Durham County Board of Elections systems that it analyzed.

No evidence of cyber attack in Durham’s 2016 election, feds say (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Russian election hacking in Durham? No proof, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

How Cutting Food Stamps Can Add Costs Elsewhere (New York Times reports) -- The Department of Agriculture recently finished work on a new rule that may take food stamps away from nearly 700,000 Americans by tightening work requirements. Several times in the past year, the government has proposed cutting food stamp eligibility. The new rule is intended to save almost $8 billion over five years. It’s not clear how much money would actually be saved, research suggests, given the costs that might come from a decline in the health and well-being of many of the country’s 14.3 million “food-insecure” households. “SNAP recipients often work, but their employment can be unsteady,” said Dr. Seth A. Berkowitz of the UNC School of Medicine. Seasonal variation in some labor markets — like agriculture or even retail consumer jobs when sales may spike around the winter holidays — can put people temporarily out of work, making it hard for them to keep food on the table. “The way these work requirements are imposed could pull support out from under people even when they are working.” One study that Dr. Berkowitz led found that receiving SNAP benefits was associated with a reduction in annual health care spending of about $1,400 per person among low-income adults. Another study found that each additional $10 of monthly SNAP benefits was linked with a lower risk of hospitalization for Maryland residents enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid.

Anti-Semitism has no place here (Greensboro News & Record/Winston-Salem Journal) -- As we wind up a tumultuous year, it’s disturbing to learn about yet another prominent violent attack on a group peacefully practicing its religion. It seems to signify the worst of what we experienced in 2019 and can only lead us to hope and pray that 2020 will be better.

BAILEY ALDRIDGE: Barack Obama includes North Carolina artists on his favorite music of 2019 list (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Five North Carolina artists made Barack Obama’s list of his favorite music of 2019. The former president tweeted the list of his favorite songs of the year which included music from a variety of genres and songs by two North Carolina rappers.

DEAN-PAUL STEPHENS: FEMA housing program deadline approaches (Carteret County News-Times reports) -- Federal Emergency Management Agency officials have given Carteret County residents until March to move out of federally provided lodging and find alternative accommodations. This is according to FEMA officials and the remaining residents of emergency lodging along Averys Way in Newport.

After brain surgery, Jimmy Carter returns to hometown church (AP reports) -- Former President Jimmy Carter made his first public appearance since undergoing brain surgery in November at the Georgia church where he worships. The nation's oldest-ever ex-president underwent surgery at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from a fall.

County looks to tackle worker shortage (Carteret County News-Times reports) -- With the national and state economy expected to hold strong in 2020, county economic development officials will focus on attracting new, full-time residents to Carteret County in the upcoming year. In fact, resident attraction is one of the County Economic Development Department’s top goals for the new year and beyond, according to Director Don Kirkman. He said growing the full-time population could provide a number of benefits, including addressing what he considers the county’s greatest present economic challenge: a lack of workers.

BRYAN MIMS: Employees accuse Lucama town commissioner of racial slurs, creating hostile work environment (WRAL-TV reports) -- Four town employees in Lucama have accused a town commissioner with using racial slurs and creating a hostile work environment.

North Carolina's longest serving female judge dies at 54 (AP reports) -- A North Carolina judge who was the state’s longest serving woman on the bench has died after a two-year cancer fight.

Brunswick County Judge Ola Lewis, 54, dies after cancer fight (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- At the time of her death, Lewis, who had been a judge in either district or superior court since 1993, was the longest-serving woman on the bench in N.C.

Hanesbrands says federal tax could drive us away (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- A Hanesbrands Inc. official has suggested that the corporation’s “ability to remain U.S.-headquartered” — and other companies’ abilities as well — may depend on getting clarity and potential relief from the U.S. Treasury on a federal corporate-tax program. The program primarily affects U.S. companies with significant international operations, particularly as the tax relates to intellectual property. The company has about 2,500 employees in Forsyth County, representing 31% of its 8,000 domestic workforce and 3.7% of its global workforce of 68,000.

New NC law means school workers must be trained to spot signs of sex trafficking (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- All state school districts have to select an employee training program on sex trafficking by Jan. 1.

CHERYL BURKE: ‘To me, they are all my kids’: After 39 years in county schools, Bottoms retires (Carteret County News-Times reports) -- As the year draws to a close, so does the 39-year education career of Superintendent Mat Bottoms. The man started teaching in the county as a band and music director. Most of his 61-year life has been focused on education, and it’s evident in the many lives he’s touched. A number of former students now teach in the school system, probably one of the highest compliments an educator can receive.

School bus joins funeral procession for long-serving driver (AP News reports) -- A funeral procession for a Tennessee man who drove a school bus for more than 57 years included the last bus he drove before retiring — Hawkins County Schools bus no. 89.

Support Group For Families Of Homicide Victims Closes (WUNC-FM reports) -- The Durham chapter of an organization geared towards helping families of homicide victims is closing, despite the city's rising rate of gun violence.

TECHWIRE: Duke University gets $130 million in funding to accelerate drug discovery (WRAL-TV reports) -- Duke University and Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment firm, have created a major translational research collaboration with $130 million in funding. By way of a newly launched company called Four Points Innovation, up to $130 million of initial funding will be made available by Deerfield to back the initiative for 10 years. Deerfield will provide development expertise in support of Duke’s innovative drug research across a span of high-need therapeutic areas, as well as those targeting patients who suffer from hard-to-treat and rare diseases.

Holly Springs boy gets chance to be Keep Pounding Kid in honor of mother who lost cancer battle (WBTV reports) -- 12-year-old Landen McHone, his father Charlie, and their extended family from Wilmington, N.C. traveled to BOA Stadium to watch the Carolina Panthers play against the New Orleans Saints in the final game of the regular season. In April, the family lost wife and mother, Shannon McHone, after a 9-year battle with brain cancer. Shannon McHone was a N.C. school teacher, a 2007 graduate of UNC-W, and an avid Panthers fan. Her family started the Flunk Cancer nonprofit which provides educational and financial support to teachers, their families and their classrooms. Landen and three of his family members had the opportunity to stand on the sidelines during the game, and Landen was featured as the Panthers’ Keep Pounding Kid at the game.

State Prioritizes Resiliency, Mitigation in 2019 (Coastal Review reports) -- This year saw another hurricane land a devastating blow to a coast still recovering from past storms, pushing state, local and federal officials to rethink their approach to hurricane preparation and recovery.

Youth voices from N.C.’s hurricanes – Part 1 (N.C. Health News reports) -- NC Health News worked with Wilmington-based Coastal Youth Media to hold a workshop this fall with a group of young people from southeastern counties. Journalists and community organizers worked with these high school students to help them write essays on how they and their families made it through 2018's Hurricane Florence. We present their stories.

Deadline is Jan. 1 to comment on new NC public game land (AP reports) -- The deadline to comment on how the North Carolina Wildlife Commission should manage more than 1,700 acres of new public game land is coming up this week. The commission has sought the public’s view of how to manage the 1,760-acre Dan River Game Land since September.

VALERIE BAUERLEIN: Brasstown Ends Traditional New Year’s Eve Possum Drop (Wall Street Journal reports) -- An Appalachian community has dropped its last live opossum on New Year’s Eve. Animal-rights groups and online petitioners won their yearslong battle against the possum drop.

WRAL First Night to usher in new decade with music, rides and iconic acorn OWRAL-TV reports) --Downtown Raleigh will be packed with ways to celebrate the new year before the acorn drops at midnight. More than 20 blocks will have art, music, comedy, theater and crafts for WRAL First Night.

JESSSICA PATRICK: Two historical markers missing in Greensboro (WRAL-TV reports) -- Two historical markers are missing in Greensboro, according to a post on the N.C. Highway Historical Markers Facebook page. The first represents UNC-G and stands along U.S. Highway 421 (West Market Street). The second represents the Confederate Cabinet, stands along South Elm Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

With births down, U.S. had slowest growth rate in a century (AP reports) -- The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. grew from 2018 to 2019 by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, with the population standing at 328 million this year, according to population estimates.

Durham County woman wins first $1 million prize in Big Money game (WRAL-TV reports) -- Margarita Mendez of Durham became the first person to find one of the top prizes of $1 million in the Big Money game. Mendez bought her lucky $10 ticket at Han-Dee Hugo’s on N.C. 55 West in Cary.

$1 million lottery ticket purchased at Food Lion in Mooresville (WRAL-TV reports) -- Someone bought a lottery ticket worth more than $1 million from a Food Lion on Mooresville, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.