Opinion

Opinion Roundup: Richard Burr's NRA ties, life after gerrymandering, active-shooter training and more

Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Richard Burr's NRA ties, Republicans largely keep GOP veterans in top committee spots, trawlers catching "unheard of" amounts of shrimp off Corolla, finding a resting spot for noisy Confederate monument, triangle EPA employees volunteer during shutdown, active-shooter training and more.

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U.S. Sen. Richard Burr
Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Richard Burr's NRA ties, Republicans largely keep GOP veterans in top committee spots, trawlers catching "unheard of" amounts of shrimp off Corolla, finding a resting spot for noisy Confederate monument, triangle EPA employees volunteer during shutdown, active-shooter training and more.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019
Republicans largely keep GOP veterans in top committee spots (AP reports) -- Republicans running the General Assembly for another two years largely have kept veteran GOP lawmakers in top committee spots.
EDDIE FITZGERALD: Sen. Pate considers his future, spokesman claims (Kinston Free Press reports) -- N.C. Sen. Louis Pate Jr., who represents Lenoir and Wayne counties, hasn’t been seen in public much recently and is currently considering his future as a legislator. Rumors are making the rounds in the state’s capital, but a spokesman at the General Assembly said that’s all they are: rumors. Pat Ryan, deputy chief of staff of communications for Sen. Phil Burger’s office, said it was unfortunate. One of the rumors Ryan said he heard was that the Lieutenant Governor’s office said Pate was unfit to serve. Ryan called the Lieutenant Governor’s office and was assured that was not true, he said. “I don’t know why they are saying those things,” Ryan said. “The only people who should be talking about Senator Pate’s future is Senator Pate and his family.” A few weeks before the election Pate, 80, was struggling with some health issues. Ryan did not elaborate. Pate was sworn in privately to the Senate Tuesday.
POLICY & POLITICS
Burr, NRA appear to be even tighter than we thought (Charlotte Observer) -- It is illegal for candidates’ campaigns and outside groups like the NRA to coordinate activity. But a new report from Mother Jones suggests that’s what happened in Richard Burr’s 2016 campaign against Deborah Ross.
TIM WHITE: Will we ever see life after gerrymandering? (Fayetteville Observer column) -- It’s 138 miles from Fayetteville to Charlotte, according to Google. A little less than that between Fayetteville and Concord. Those are the cities where our members of Congress make their homes (or we assume as much for the 9th Congressional District, once the voting irregularities get sorted out). Does it seem a little bizarre to you that those are the places where Fayetteville residents must turn to find their elected members of Congress?
MIKAYA THURMOND: Triangle EPA employees volunteer during shutdown (WRAL-TV reports) -- Sunday marked day 23 of the partial government shutdown, but a group of North Carolina federal workers are using their down time to help others.
Open restrooms, trash pickup happening at Outer Banks parks (AP reports) -- Some basic maintenance is returning to portions of national parks along North Carolina's Outer Banks, even as most services stay shuttered due to the continuing federal government shutdown.
JAY WESTCOTT: N.C. Libertarians clean up Guilford Courthouse National Military Park as shutdown continues (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Low temperatures, overcast skies and an incoming winter storm Saturday did not deter a dozen volunteers from the N.C. Libertarian Party from cleaning up the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, emptying trash cans that have been ignored amid the longest government shutdown in history.
WESLEY YOUNG & JOHN HINTON: Confederate statue opponents and supporters trade shouted insults and raised middle fingers (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- About 150 people gathered near the Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem on a cold Sunday to rally for the removal of the monument that some see as a symbol of white supremacy and racial hatred.
SCOTT SEXTON: Search for resting spot for noisy Confederate monument (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- The cold started to bite late Thursday afternoon as shadows cast by the old Forsyth County Courthouse began to lengthen. The winter sun created a visually pleasing halo effect around the generic rebel soldier mounted atop the Confederate monument. On the street below, pickup trucks filled parking spaces next to the new Hotel Indigo. Workers are installing sprinklers this week.
Peace at the monument (Winston-Salem Journal) -- Competing rallies are scheduled today at the site of the Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem — though the expected inclement weather could change that. They’re both touted as peaceful gatherings. Knowing our citizens, that’s how we expect them to be conducted: peacefully.
Lowe's wants documents in ex-executive's bias case sealed (AP reports) — Lowe's Cos. is seeking to keep secret some of its documents in a discrimination case filed by an African-American ex-executive who says the home improvement chain unfairly fired him. Michael Jones was chief custom officer until 2016 for the Mooresville, NC-based retailer. His federal lawsuit alleges he was unfairly pitted against a white executive in a succession plan to take over for Robert Niblock as CEO.
Costly constitutional lesson (Fayetteville Observer) — The Rowan County commissioners just learned it can be unpleasant and expensive to thumb your nose at the U.S. Constitution. The price tag for Rowan County was a robust $285,000 — and the bitter taste of paying it to a group the commissioners came to despise.
Bipartisans, unite and expand Medicaid (Fayetteville Observer) — There are plenty of places where a new spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation can pay dividends, beginning with better funding for our state’s public education systems on every level and backing away from the politicization of the UNC system before ideologues make a shambles of it. The state also needs to pay more heed to environmental protection and economic development in the many areas that still lag far behind the Triangle and Charlotte.
CELIA RIVENBARK: Something about Trump doesn’t add up (Wilmington Star-News column) — I thought I was bad at math but President Trump is even worse. How else can you explain his pronouncement that “4,000 known or suspected terrorists had been stopped at the southern border last year” when, oopsie, we now know the number was…6. I mean, maybe he carried the 1?
EDUCATION
VALERIE BAUERLEIN & ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES: Active-Shooter Training in 2019: When ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ Isn’t Enough (Wall Street Journal reports) -- CARRBORO, N.C.; In the ballroom of a Hampton Inn one recent morning, 30 regional hotel managers practiced grabbing a gun out of a shooter’s hands and barricading a door. A trainer with Lockdown International, Johnathan Frisk, chided participants. Their first instinct was to hide under a table when a mock shooter entered the room. “Hiding alone will get you killed,” he said. “It’s just that simple.” With mass shootings continuing to rise and becoming more deadly, some school systems, concert venues and private companies are increasingly using a more hands-on approach.
GINGER LIVINGSTON: At retreat, ECU trustees seek clarity on goals (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- East Carolina University’s Board of Trustees gathered 155 miles away from Greenville on Sunday for a meeting designed to strengthen ties and secure clarity and agreement on its goals in the coming year, its chairman said. Keiran Shanahan spoke briefly after the first session of the two-day meeting in North Carolina’s golf capital. The operational retreat at the Carolina Inn in Pinehurst comes less than a week after ECU Trustee Mark Copeland issued a statement that information crucial to the board’s decision-making is being withheld from some of its members.
ANDREW KREIGBAUM: No Penalty for Western Governors U. (Inside Higher Ed reports) -- The U.S. Department of Education released a long-awaited response to an inspector general audit, which found that one the country’s largest online universities had run afoul of federal standards. The department’s Office of Inspector General found in 2017 that Western Governors University, which enrolls more than 83,000 students and has significant legislatively-mandated taxpayer supported operations in N.C., failed to meet federal requirements for the interaction between faculty members and students. The audit said WGU should pay back $713 million in federal student aid. The Trump administration wasn’t expected to carry out the IG’s recommendations.
JENNIVER ATKINS BROWN: No longer part of Rockingham County Schools, how's Moss Street Partnership School doing? So far, so good. (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Formerly Moss Street Elementary, the school is a collaboration between UNCG, Rockingham County Schools and the Moss Street community. UNCG is one of nine campuses selected by the state to improve learning in low-performing schools as part of the UNC Lab School Initiative. The school draws on resources from the UNCG campus, staff and student teachers.
HEALTH
Take the flu seriously (Winston-Salem Journal) — The total of flu-related deaths in NC for the 2018-19 season reached 16 last week, the Journal’s Richard Craver reported. And it’s not over yet. Three of those deaths occurred last week before the weather turned, and three others during the week that ended Dec. 29.
SUDHIN THANAWALA: Judge blocks Trump birth control coverage rules in 13 states (AP reports) -- A U.S. judge in California blocked Trump administration rules, which would allow more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control, from taking effect in 13 states including North Carolina and Washington, D.C.
THOMAS GOLDSMITH: Many uses exist for money intended to aid NC nursing home residents, advocates say (NC Health News reports) — Projects that could benefit nursing home residents are plentiful as NC looks for potential applicants for $28.9 million in a fund that sits mostly unused.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
APRIL SIMPSON: State Laws Slow Down High-Speed Internet for Rural America (Stateline reports) -- Electric cooperatives want to help bridge the digital divide between rural and urban America as more federal funding becomes available for rural broadband. But state laws may prevent some of the nation’s poorest states from fully tapping into millions of new federal dollars to expand high-speed internet service to needy rural communities. In North Carolina, a state law prohibits electric cooperatives from using USDA funds to provide telecommunications services. Nelle Hotchkiss, chief operating officer of N.C.’s Electric Cooperatives, said “with the additional dollars and focus U.S. Congress is putting on USDA for deployment dollars … we’re talking to legislative leaders about relief.”
JEFF HAMPTON: Trawlers catching "unheard of" amounts of shrimp off Corolla (Virginian-Pilot reports) — South of the Virginia border, the shores off Corolla have become an Outer Banks hot spot to catch winter shrimp. Trawlers have clustered there within 3 miles of shore in recent weeks, each bringing in as much as 20,000 pounds of the delicacy per trip.
ANTIONETTE KERR: NC Group Promotes Diversity Among Nature Lovers (Public News Service reports) — Western NC's rich public lands are open to all, and a new group has decided to go the extra mile to encourage more people of color to enjoy them. Elsea Brown, director of Blue Ridge Forever campaign, says the Pathways to Parks group, based in Asheville, was formed with a focus on inclusion.
TRISTA TALTON: Sand Mine Rezoning OK’d, SUP Vote Delayed (Coastal Review repots) -- After hearing from worried residents, the New Hanover County Planning Board voted Thursday to rezone 63 acres for a proposed sand mine, but a special use permit decision was put off until March.
… AND MORE
JEFF HAMPTON: This NC ferry dates to the 1800s. And there are few things like it (Virginian-Pilot reports) — About 13 miles from Windsor, a ferry trip across the Cashie River is an exercise in patience. If the water's too high or there's lightning, don't expect a ride. It takes about four minutes to cross the length of a football field, and even then, only two cars can squeeze aboard.

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