Opinion Roundup: Sanders stumps in N.C.; endorsements for Bloomberg; unwinding 'Silent Sam' debacle; 2nd child dies from flu; and more.

Friday, Feb. 14, 2020 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Bloomberg running as he's the 'un-Trump; Sanders in N.C.; 'Silent Sam' case far from over; another child dies from flu; enrollment up at community colleges; and more.

Sanders comes to NC riding high, but what would his nomination mean for other Democrats? (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Will a Sanders’ nomination expand electorate or hurt down ballot Democrats in N.C.?

Bernie Sanders visits Durham ahead of early voting (WRAL-TV reports) -- Bernie Sanders is visiting Durham as part of his campaign stops ahead of early voting in North Carolina on March 3. He is the second candidate to arrive this week, and a third plans to visit later this month.

Sanders returns to N.C. for campaign rallies (AP News reports) -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is returning to N.C. to build support in a Super Tuesday state.

MATTHEW BURNS: Bloomberg: 'I am the un-Trump' (WRAL-TV reports) -- Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg declared war on President Donald Trump calling him a "schoolyard bully" who needs to be removed from the White House for the good of the nation. Bloomberg swung through N..C. making stops in Greensboro and Winston-Salem as early voting for the state's March 3 primaries opened.

Michael Bloomberg, Bev Perdue speak in downtown Raleigh (AP reports) -- N.C.'s primary elections are heating up with presidential candidates and their surrogates visiting as early in-person voting begins.

JIM MORRILL & DAN KANE: Calling himself the ‘UnTrump,’ Bloomberg returned to N.C, with new endorsements (McClatchy DC reports) -- Calling himself the “unTrump,” Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg returned to N.C. with rising poll numbers and a new endorsement from a former governor.

PAUL GARBER & WFDD: Bloomberg Makes Pitch To NC Voters (WUNC-FM & WFDD-FM report) -- Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg made appearances across N.C. to mark the start of early voting for the Super Tuesday primary. At a stop at a downtown Winston-Salem coffeehouse, Bloomberg said he wanted quality education for everyone, leadership in the global fight against climate change, protection of a woman’s right to choose, and 'to beat Donald Trump.'.

TIM FUNK: Will black voters get behind a new candidate to take on Trump as Biden struggles? (McClatchy DC reports) -- Democrats in two of the country’s whitest states have spoken. Now begins the battle for black voters, with the Carolinas on the front lines.

GABRIEL RUBIN: Republicans Try to Shape Democratic Races in Their Favor (Wall Street Journal reports) -- GOP dark money aims to push Senate candidate to the left, causing an uproar in N.C.

Ethics complaints filed against NC schools chief for mass text to parents and teachers (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The complaints say the mass text was meant to promote Mark Johnson’s campaign for lieutenant governor.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles endorses in presidential race (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has become the latest urban leader to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. Lyles’ endorsement comes as Bloomberg barnstorms the state with visits to Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh. Lyles helped introduce Bloomberg when he opened his Charlotte headquarters in December.

Cherie Berry’s legacy looms large in race to replace her. So does the elevator photo (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- For the first time in more than two decades, Cherie Berry’s name won’t be on the ballot for labor commissioner. But the state’s “elevator queen” still looms over the race as candidates debate her business-oriented approach to regulating the workplace — and her decision to put her photo in every elevator in the state. Three Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination in the March primary: State Rep. Josh Dobson, R-McDowell; former legislator and current UNC Board of Governors member Pearl Burris Floyd; and Chuck Stanley, a Columbus County construction company manager. The winner of the primary will face Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes, who’s unopposed in the Democratic primary.

TAFT WIREBACK: Greensboro's Kathy Manning campaigning on friendlier turf for second congressional run (Greensboro News & Record) -- Second-time congressional candidate Kathy Manning feels very comfortable campaigning in a district quite different from the one where she made her political debut two years ago. Though well funded and articulate, the Greensboro civic leader and former immigration lawyer lost her 2018 Democratic challenge in the sprawling 13th District to the Republican incumbent from Advance, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd. But this is 2020 and she's running in a newly compact 6th District on terrain that leans Democrat. It tilts that way so much that she or whoever wins her party's March 3 primary will face no Republican incumbent in the ensuing general election in November.

TRUE: Have polls ever predicted a Democratic president? (PolitiFact/WRAL-TV reports) -- Former Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker said national polls have "never predicted who will be president from our party." PolitiFact looks at who led in the polls, who won the Democratic Party nomination and who went on to the White House.

MICHAEL LEVENSON: Toppled but Not Gone: U.N.C. Grapples Anew With the Fate of Silent Sam (New York Times reports) -- A judge this week scrapped a deal to give the Confederate statue, which was torn down by protesters in August 2018, to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Unraveling deal for 'Silent Sam' not that easy (WRAL-TV reports) -- Although a judge has voided a $2.5 million deal to give the controversial "Silent Sam" monument to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, returning everything to where it was before the deal was struck is complicated and still leaves the statue's future in limbo.

Judge put a halt to the Silent Sam fiasco. Here’s how to fix it for good. (Durham Herald-Sun editorial) -- Silent Sam is not going quietly. In fact, he’s coming back. That’s the result of a judge’s ruling that nullified an outrageous legal settlement regarding Silent Sam, the UNC-CH campus statue that honors UNC students who fought for the Confederacy. Under the settlement, the UNC Board of Governors agreed to give the statue to the Sons of the Confederacy along with $2.5 million to display it elsewhere.

MAEVE SHEEHEY: Unraveling the story behind the Silent Sam lawsuit (The Daily Tarheel reports) -- Protesters toppled Silent Sam before the first day of classes in August 2018, and since then UNC and UNC System leaders have tried to plan for its future. After a court decision this week, the monument's relocation is once again uncertain. Here's what happened over the course of the SCV lawsuit until the court dismissed it.

Gov. Cooper At Business Roundtable: State Needs To Build A Skilled Workforce (WFAE-FM reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper held a business roundtable at UNC Charlotte, listening to thoughts on the local business environment from companies that have relocated to Charlotte or expanded their presence in the area. Cooper heard from multiple business executives, representing companies like Honeywell, AvidXchange, Allstate, and Lending Tree at the event. Mayor Vi Lyles and UNC Chancellor Philip DuBois also attended.

NC to Overhaul Community Living Program for People with Disabilities (Public News Service reports) – N.C. isn't offering enough community-based supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

DMV Concerns (The insider reports) -- House Speaker Tim Moore wrote to Gov. Roy Cooper about what he said were possible changes in how the Division of Motor Vehicles shares information with the federal Department of Homeland Security. But a DMV spokesman and a Cooper spokesman say no policies have changed.

N.C. is home to most conservative U.S. House lawmaker, new rankings show (N.C. Policy Watch reports) – N.C. is home to the nation’s most conservative member of the U.S. House, according to a recent ranking of lawmakers’ 2019 legislative records. GOP Rep. Mark Meadows of the 11th district in the western tip of the state earned a perfect score on the conservative-to-liberal scale, which was compiled by GovTrack.us.

'I'm telling you the law': Questions about Franklin County clerk of court's actions (WRAL-TV reports) -- Body camera video from a Franklin County sheriff's deputy shows the county's elected clerk of court out of the courthouse and in the middle of a feud between neighbors.

McClatchy, owner of News & Observer, files bankruptcy to shed old costs, speed shift to digital (WRAL-TV reports) -- McClatchy Co., the organization behind Raleigh's own News & Observer, released a statement saying they filed for bankruptcy ending family control of America's second largest local news company.

KAYLA LASURE:: Regional office in Boone assists human trafficking victims (Watauga Democrat reports) -- When people hear the phrase “human trafficking” they may think of the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson, which depicts a father trying to find his daughter after she was kidnapped in a foreign country. While that type of situation does happen, the majority of human trafficking cases in N.C., said Chatty Majoni — the Spanish services coordinator at OASIS in Boone. According to Project FIGHT (Freeing Individuals Gripped by Human Trafficking), more than 4,000 cases of human trafficking have been reported in the Carolinas since 2007. An initiative of the Salvation Army in the Carolinas, PROJECT FIGHT has grown from operating out of one office in Raleigh in 2011, to regional locations in Charlotte, Jacksonville, Asheville, Greenville and now Boone — serving all 100 NC counties.

SOUGATA MUKHERJEE: N.C.'s pension fund grew in 2019 — but far less than the S&P, Dow (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- N.C.'s pension fund grew in 2019 — but at a much slower rate than the S&P, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq indices.

ALEX GRANADOS: How can NC recruit and retain effective teachers? (EdNC reports) -- The Belk Foundation brought together educators, policymakers, and experts to discuss best practices and how N.C. can get and keep effective teachers in its classrooms. It started with an understanding that teachers are the single biggest indicator of student success.

Enrollment Rises At NC Community Colleges (WFDD-FM reports) -- Enrollment at North Carolina's community colleges has risen for the first time in nearly a decade. Forsyth Tech was the only regional college to see a decline. Enrollment was up almost 4.5 percent across the state's community colleges in the fall of 2019, according to a release from the N.C. Community College System.

Flu claims life of second N.C. child (WRAL-TV reports) -- Nine more people died of the flu in N.C. last week, including the youngest victim so far this season. A child under age 5 was among those who died last week. The only other pediatric patient to die of the flu since last fall was between the ages of 5 and 17.​​​​​​​

ANNE BLYTHE: Coronavirus risk remains low in NC, but health officials plan for it just in case (N.C. Health News reports) -- State epidemiologist Zack Moore outlines the state’s coronavirus planning as illness spreads in China.

Virus impact in China could affect state's furniture firms (AP reports) -- The coronavirus's impact in China could be felt by furniture companies in N.C.. The Hickory Daily Record reports that the respiratory virus has temporarily closed mills in China that provide supplies to furniture makers.

Blue Cross gives ECSU $250K for student retention (The Daily Advance reports) -- N.C.’s largest health insurance provider has awarded Elizabeth City State University a $250,000 grant to use lowering the number of students who drop out or temporarily leave school for financial hardship reasons.

Some McDougald Terrace residents not sure if they'll return to their homes (WRAL-TV reports) -- Residents of McDougald Terrace are set to go home after more than a month in hotels Carbon monoxide concerns forced them out of their apartments. However, some families are finding out their homes are not ready, and they don't feel safe yet, either.

AI in the ICU could be early warning system at WakeMed​​​​​​​ (WRAL-TV reports) -- WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh is one only two hospitals in the country testing a new technology which could help predict patient crises in the intensive care unit.

Duke Energy Profits Up; Atlantic Coast Pipeline Costs Rise, Too (WFAE-FM reports) -- Duke Energy turned a profit of $660 million for the last three months of 2019, up 42% from a year ago. Duke attributed the growth in part to new investments in electric and gas plants and new renewable energy projects that came online. Duke CEO Lynn Good told analysts the company expects profits to keep growing at 4 to 6% a year through at least 2024.

New wood pellet plant proposed for Lumberton, area already home to multiple pollution sources (N.C. Policy Watch reports) -- Active Energy Group, a publicly traded British company, has applied to the state Division of Air Quality to build and operate a wood pellet plant in Lumberton, raising environmental justice issues for the largely Native American community. If approved, the facility would annually produce 39,420 oven-dried tons of wood pellets, sourced from forests in N.C. and the Southeast, at a plant located at 1885 Almac Road. From there, the pellets would be shipped to the United Kingdom and Europe, where they would be burned instead of coal. Even though wood pellets generate large amounts of carbon dioxide when burned, Europe and the UK are using them ostensibly to help attain their renewable energy goals.

OLIVIA ROJAS: Meet the UNC student who's pushing the state government for action on climate change (The Daily Tarheel reports) -- Arya Pontula, a UNC sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering and biostatistics, has taken her environmental concerns to the state government. ​Pontula and her friends, Emily Liu and Hallie Turner, filed a petition this week, asking the N.C. Environmental Management Commission — a government-appointed committee responsible for adopting rules to protect and preserve the state's air and water — to start budgeting carbon dioxide emissions in the state.

KAREN CHAVEZ: 5 things to know about draft plan for the future of Pisgah and Nantahala national forests (Asheville Citizen-Times reports) -- The U.S. Forest Service has released its long-awaited drafts of the Nantahala and Pisgah forest plan and environmental impact statement. The documents total about 2,500 pages. A 90-day period of public comment begins Feb. 14. Here are some key things to know to help you navigate the draft plan.