Opinion Roundup: State fines Chemours $12 million, crippled seafood industry, helping domestic violence victims and more

Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Chemours to pay $12 million fine as part of GenX agreement, ex- Gov. McCrory claims many college students commit voter fraud, permit issue stops some work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline, electric scooter ordinances differ by city, controversy over teaching Thanksgiving to kids and more.

JANINE BOWEN: Consent order would make chemical plant reduce emissions (WRAL-TV reports) -- State environmental officials have obtained a consent order which calls on a N.C. chemical plant to reduce emissions of a compound and pay a $12 million civil penalty.

STEVE DEVANE: Agreement calls for Chemours to pay $13 million, provide drinking water (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- The state Department of Environmental Quality, Chemours, and Cape Fear River Watch have reached an agreement that requires the company to pay $13 million and provide drinking water to homes near its Bladen County plant that have elevated levels of GenX.

ADAM WAGNER: Chemours to pay $12 million fine as part of GenX agreement (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Proposed consent order requires Chemours to limit emissions at Fayetteville Works while also conducting studies

ABBIE BENNETT: State fines Chemours $13M, requires chemical company to provide drinking water (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- State environmental officials announced a plan to fine Chemours $13 million and require the chemical company to provide permanent drinking water after contaminants were found in local water supplies.

BENJAMIN C. WATERHOUSE: A love letter to an extinct creature: The liberal Republican (Washington Post book review) -- “The Improbable Wendell Willkie” offers a look at how American politics might have been.

LIZ SCHLEMMBER: Durham Mayor Confident In Light Rail Despite Hesitation From Duke University (WUNC-FM reports) -- Durham Mayor Steve Schewel says he's confident the Durham-Orange light rail project will move forward. That comes despite hesitation from Duke University President Vincent Price to commit land needed for the project. Price has voiced concerns this week about the potential impact the rail line’s construction could have on Duke’s campus. Durham city and county officials met with Price Tuesday to discuss his concerns about plans for the light rail.

JASON DEBRUYN: How A Rural NC County Worked To Help Domestic Violence Victims (WUNC-FM reports) -- On average, there's a domestic violence crisis call once every four minutes in N.C. That means a new call before the average person finishes reading this story. In Franklin County, there would be some good to come from the 2015 murder. Williams found Monica McInnis, who had recently been named the executive director for Safe Space, a local nonprofit focused on ending domestic violence and sexual assault. Hearing Williams' story gave McInnis pause. She did some research.

WILL DORAN: FALSE! Ex- Gov. McCrory says many college students commit voter fraud (PolitiFact) -- While recounts were happening in Florida for the governor’s office and a seat in the U.S. Senate, former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who lost his own seat amid a recount offered some advice to Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott. McCrory said Scott should watch the vote tallies coming in from areas with large college student populations. “In my particular election we had a lot of college students, who were out-of-state college students, vote,” McCrory said.

ELY PORTILLO: Outgoing Republican after Democrats sweep county: ‘You now are completely in charge’ (Charlotte Observer reports) — For the first time since 1964, one party will control all the seats on the board, after Democrats dislodged Republicans from their traditional strongholds in north and south Charlotte.

JIM MORRILL: Back to the future? Mecklenburg County planning to go to paper ballots by 2020 (Charlotte Observer reports) — Next year Mecklenburg County will join governments throughout the country in going back to the future — by trading electronic voting machines for paper ballots.

VIRGINIA BRIDGES: Why Durham County will pay this anti-white-supremacist protester $3,000 (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Durham County has agreed to pay anti-white-supremacy activist Dwayne Dixon $3,000 to settle claims that Sheriff Mike Andrews violated his constitutional rights of free expression, free association and the bearing of arms.

RICHARD BARRON: Greensboro City Council brings scooters back with new ordinance (Greensboro News & Record) — A day after Winston-Salem officials banned electric scooters from city streets, the Greensboro City Council Tuesday voted to allow the electric scooters to return to Greensboro but only on streets where the speed limit is no more than 35 mph.

17 sentenced in Texas drug ring, ties to NC (AP reports) — Prosecutors say 17 people have been sentenced for their convictions in a Central Texas cocaine and methamphetamine ring with ties to NC.

ANN DOSS HELMS: 11 of 176 CMS schools have done active shooter training. Officials say that will grow (Charlotte Observer reports) — Barely two weeks after a gunman mowed down students and faculty in Parkland, Fla., Hough High School in Cornelius had created a video showing students strategies to survive such an attack.

VALERIE STRAUSS: Controversy over teaching Thanksgiving to kids - 2018 edition (Washington Post reports) -- A N.C. school district official calls for culturally appropriate Thanksgiving lessons. Some like it. Some don't.

NC State is closing its Chinese-backed Confucius Institute. Is politics behind decision? (Charlotte Observer reports) -- N.C. State University will shut down its Confucius Institute, a Chinese language and culture center that has been funded by the Chinese government for 12 years.

THEODORE DECKER: Hurricanes deliver devastating blows to NC communities hollowed out by disasters (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Floodplain communities battered most recently by Hurricane Florence’s epic flooding -- but dating back to Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and others in between, including Hurricane Matthew two years ago -- are asking themselves just how many more storms they can survive

LEE FRANCIS: Virginia lawmakers must act on coal ash (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot column) – Like many Virginians, I watched the shifting path of Hurricane Florence with alternating horror and relief. Ultimately, we were spared the worst of this storm’s wrath; our neighbors to the south weren’t as lucky.

MARK PRICE: 100 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway are shut down. When will it reopen? Nobody knows (Charlotte Observer reports) — The Blue Ridge Parkway has 100 miles of gaps in it just in time for the holiday weekend, including large sections near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. National Park Service officials posted a video late Tuesday showing travelers “a sample” of the downed trees and debris that continue to litter the roadway after an ice storm that hit the scenic highway last week.

CRAIG JARVIS: River-crossing permit is now the latest hurdle to Atlantic Coast Pipeline (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Clearing the way for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in NC has been temporarily halted until another legal knot is untied.The Army Corps of Engineers ordered the stay on Tuesday at the request of Dominion Energy, which has been building the 600-mile natural gas pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia.

STEVE DEVANE: Permit issue stops some work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- Some work on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been suspended amid questions about a national permit. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline company requested a voluntary suspension of the coverage under a Army Corps of Engineers permit.

DREW JACKSON: Hurricane Florence crippled the seafood industry. Farmers must decide whether to rebuild (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — After Hurricane Florence, bags of dead oysters hung in the trees near Jimmy Morris’ oyster farm and hatchery. Pummeling winds, historic flooding and power outages killed a year’s worth of shellfish seed, the early stage for 10 million oysters and 5 million clams, plus the better part of 1,000 cages of market oysters.

JONATHAN YARDLEY: A spectacular Harvard-Yale football game that lifted spirits in the tragic year of 1968 (Washington Post book review) -- George Howe Colt recounts remarkable performances in the game’s final seconds.