Opinion Roundup: Russian Meddling, free speech, school safety, opioid fight and more

Saturday, March 10, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Russian meddling in NC elections, fake news, the trouble with police body cams, keeping schools safe, suing opioid manufacturers and more.

MATTHEW BURNS: NC congressional candidate alleges Russian meddling (WRAL-TV news report) -- Russians may be meddling in a North Carolina congressional election. Linda Coleman, a Democratic candidate for the 2nd District seat held by Republican Congressman George Holding, said Friday that a Russian citizen purchased the defunct website from her 2016 campaign for lieutenant governor and duplicated some images and text to make it look legitimate going forward and create confusion among voters. Coleman said she let the domain name LindaforNC.com lapse because she no longer needed it. She has created a LindaColemanforCongress.com site for her current campaign.

STEVE LOHR: Why we're easily seduced by false news (CBC Opinion/New York Times) -- What if the scourge of false news on the internet is not the result of Russian operatives or partisan zealots or computer-controlled bots? What if the main problem is us? People are the principal culprits, according to a new study examining the flow of stories on Twitter. And people prefer false news.

PETER PRENGAMAN, SARAH DiLORENZO & MITCH WEISS: Brazilian prosecutors sue to shut church over forced labor (AP news analysis) — Brazilian labor prosecutors have filed suit to shut down a church and school with ties to the U.S.-based Word of Faith Fellowship, saying the church and its leaders "reduced people to a condition analogous to slavery." Brazilian authorities opened multiple investigations after The Associated Press reported in July that leaders of Word of Faith Fellowship in rural Spindale, N.C., created a pipeline of young Brazilian congregants who told the AP they were brought to the U.S. and forced to work for little or no pay.

GILBERT BAEZ: Hoke sheriff says Asheville police confrontation easily avoidable (WRAL-TV news report) -- A confrontation last summer between an Asheville police officer and a suspected jaywalker that has created national headlines could have easily been avoided, according to Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin. Peterkin, who wrote the book "How To Stop For A Cop," cringed while watching body-camera footage of Johnnie Jermaine Rush's Aug. 25 arrest.

JONATHAN DREW: Police beating case shows body camera use shortcomings (AP news analysis) -- A white police officer shown on video beating a black pedestrian has been charged with felony assault in a North Carolina case that sparked outrage over use of excessive force. The case against former Asheville Police Officer Christopher Hickman stems from an August 2017 encounter but became public only last week after a leaked body camera video showed Hickman subduing and punching the pedestrian, who was accused of jaywalking. The violent encounter happened shortly after Asheville implemented rules against excessive force, demonstrating how even a well-meaning policy can be limited by the officers carrying it out. The delay in making the footage public also shows that body camera technology being adopted across the country can't always guarantee the level of transparency many have hoped for.

LYNN BONNER: How MLK got drawn into the Confederate monument debate in NC (Charlotte Observer news report) -- If the state moves Confederate statues to a Civil War battlefield, Martin Luther King statues should be removed too, some members of the public told the state committee considering the fate of the monuments. More than 3,700 people have submitted online comments to a group of NC Historical Commission members considering the request from Gov. Roy Cooper's administration to relocate three monuments from the Capitol grounds in Raleigh to Bentonville Battlefield in Johnston County. Most of the comments are from North Carolinians, but people from at least 24 other states, including Connecticut, California and Kansas have shared their views.

TAYLOR BATTEN: Free speech collides with patients’ rights at Charlotte abortion clinic (Charlotte Observer column) -- Protesters show up at A Preferred Women’s Health Center abortion clinic every day. Free speech rights must be balanced with patient and provider safety.

JASON DEBRUYN: NRA Grants Millions To Charities and Schools. An NC Charity Got The Most (WUNC-FM analysis) -- The National Rifle Association gave more grant funding to a Concord-based charity than any other school or charity in the nation – by a wide margin. Speedway Children's Charities received $425,000 from the NRA every year from 2010 through 2016.

A step toward safer schools (Hendersonville Times-News) -- U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows introduced two bills to improve school security. Meadows says he favors safeguards to prevent schools from becoming “soft targets,” but not gun control. Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature approved comprehensive gun and school safety legislation that includes raising the minimum age to 21 and a three-day waiting period to buy guns, and allocating $400 million for mental health services and school security. The bills Meadows introduced are a good start but will not be the final word in making schools safer. Friends and parents of students killed and wounded at Parkland and in other mass shootings will continue to demand action, including measures to keep military-style weapons out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

NC State receives subpoena request tied to federal hoops probe (WRAL-TV news report) -- North Carolina State received a grand jury subpoena in January to turn over records to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Fred Demarest, NC State's senior associate athletic director, said the subpoena is for records only and not a request to speak with anyone at NC State.

Winston-Salem against opioids (Winston-Salem Journal) -- Winston-Salem has joined the fight against opioid addiction and abuse. With a unanimous vote during its Monday meeting, the Winston-Salem City Council joined a lawsuit that several local governments — including Forsyth County — have filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

Keep the rules in place for coal ash (Greensboro News & Record) -- Have we learned nothing about the costs of carelessness? Now is no time to backtrack on EPA’s hard-won regulations.

ANNE MARIE CHAKER: The Hottest Social Scene in Town Isn’t the Singles’ Bar. It’s the Supermarket (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- Supermarkets are finding a new identity as a social hub in communities as traditional hangouts shrink. Parents bring their children to play, retirees gather for Bingo and cheese tastings, and singles pick up first dates along with their produce. … Lowes Foods, a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based supermarket chain, has recently redesigned its stores into an animated “village concept” of shops around the perimeter with giant birthday-candle lights, moving signs and employees who perform a chicken dance, says Heather George, senior vice president of brand strategy for the chain of 75 stores in the Carolinas. At the heart of each store is a large rectangular communal table that can seat 10 to 15 people. That table has provided a weekly home for the Catawba Crafters, which gathers every Friday morning at a Hickory, N.C., store.

EDDIE FITZGERALD: Wood Ducks team van becomes conspicuous getaway vehicle (Kinston Free Press news report) -- It wasn’t over-zealous fans taking a joy ride in the Down East Wood Ducks’ team van, but more like a criminal element without a clue. Three people broke into the Down East Wood Ducks general manager’s office at Grainger Stadium overnight Wednesday and then used the team van as a getaway

RICHARD BARRON: For employees, Our State will soon become 'our magazine' (Greensboro News & Record news report) -- The employees of Our State magazine will soon be able to call it "our magazine." Longtime owner Bernie Mann gathered the staff Friday afternoon and gave them the news — that he wants to sell the business, but not to just anybody. He wants to sell it to the people who have helped him over two decades build the publication into a powerhouse.