Opinion Roundup: Town-run charter schools, rising child abuse rates, sports gambling in N.C. and more

Monday, May 28, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Town-run charter schools could shake up N.C. education, evangelicals fight for California, the NFL’s new anthem policy, sports gambling for N.C. and more.

ELIZABETH DIAS: Led by Franklin Graham, evangelicals fight for California (New York Times reports) -- As the primary approaches, Mr. Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham, is preaching faith-based politics across California, a battleground state with a vast pool of evangelical Christian voters.

GARY ROBERTSON: Town-run charter schools could shake up N.C. education (AP reports) -- A tug-of-war between North Carolina's second-largest school system and small towns interested in operating their own charter schools could create a model for critics of other urban districts to decentralize public education without the trouble of breaking districts up.

TODD FRANKEL: One roadblock to arming teachers: Insurance companies (Washington Post reports) -- As proposals to arm teachers sweep across the nation, insurance companies are being forced to weigh the risks of these controversial plans. Some insurers are balking. Some are agreeing to provide policies but lamenting the lack of evidence about whether it makes schools safer — or increases the chances of people getting shot. Others are raising rates.

ALAN BROWN: Of schoolteachers and thugs (Greensboro News & Record column) -- When I first began my teaching career, one question I never imagined myself asking was “Are public schoolteachers thugs?” Rep. Mark Brody, a Union County Republican in the N.C. House, seems to think so.

RICHARD CRAVER: Bill aims to boost employment opportunities for N.C. individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Three years ago, the Republican-led N.C. General Assembly approved legislation offering individuals with disabilities a chance to lead more financially independent lives. This time around, a group of legislators wants to help those individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities get and keep a job by hiring a state health director and staff members who are focused solely on those goals.

CELIA RIVENBARK: Demands of the office (the oval one) (Wilmington Star-News column) -- There was something about President Trump’s goofy “I hereby demand…” tweet last week that reminded me of Michael Scott, the famously dunderheaded boss in “The Office,” but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But then I had my first gin and tonic of the summer (yeah, I know, but this is the South) and, as the Botanist found its way down my grateful gullet, the sun broke through the clouds and I realized what it was.

KELSEY STIGLITZ: Officials say child abuse increase potentially due to societal… (Jacksonville Daily News reports) -- Addiction and increased population may be part of the reason child abuse is increasing.

ALLEN JOHNSON: The NFL’s new anthem policy is knee-deep in hypocrisy (Greensboro News & Record column) -- When I was a Junior ROTC cadet at Dudley High School, I was received my first lessons in flag etiquette: How to salute it. How to fold it. How to hold it steady while marching in a color guard. How to raise it properly on the flagpole facing Lincoln Street. Or so I thought.

Trump’s ‘spy’ claims are sinking (Winton-Salem Journal) -- Legislators in Washington received classified briefings about the origins of the FBI investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

RICHARD BARRON: Sports gambling for N.C. not a sure thing just yet, local lawmakers say (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- First down and goal to go. The Carolina Panthers are trying to score a touchdown. Think they’ll make it? Your phone buzzes and an alert asks if you’d like to bet on the outcome before the snap. That’s right, bet. Here in N.C. Thanks to a recent landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s now possible to bet on sports outside of Las Vegas. That is, provided the state where you reside wants to allow betting. For now, North Carolina isn’t eager to take the risk. But there’s talk of that changing.

BOB ORR: Maybe if McCrory had touted this accomplishment, he'd be governor today (Charlotte Observer column) -- Pat McCrory was the main driver of the $2 billion Connect NC bond campaign. He failed to use that to his political advantage, but the bonds are making a difference across the state now.

HELENE COOPER: Trump is planning a military parade; Fort Bragg knows how to put on a show of force (New York Times reports) -- If President Donald Trump really wanted to do a proper military parade showcasing the might, speed and derring-do of America's finest, the Sicily Drop Zone on Fort Bragg would have been a good place to begin.

EMERY DALESIO: Cases against pork giant continue after big penalty slashed (AP reports) — Lawyers for the world's largest pork producer say jurors shouldn't hear about the finances of a company that allegedly ignored complaints for years when they're presented again with claims that industrial-scale hog operations harm rural neighbors.

TIM WHITE: Look at the whole river, not just one part (Fayetteville Observer column) -- Detlef Knappe had some pointed advice for his fellow scientists — and really, everyone in the auditorium: “Publishing scientific papers is not sufficient to effect change.” And researchers, he said, “shouldn’t just live in the ivory tower.” Once you have the information, said the NC State researcher whose team discovered high concentrations of GenX in the Cape Fear Fiver, you’ve got to do something with it. “When the public and public officials pull on the same string, things can change.” That was a common theme in the big room at the UNC-Wilmington Center for Marine Science on Wednesday, as the Cape Fear River Assembly held its annual meeting — a revival, really, for an organization that had been too much in the shadows for the past few years.

Climate change is deepening threat to N.C.'s Outer Banks (Greensboro News & Record) -- As summer vacation season gears up, it’s a great opportunity to enjoy North Carolina’s Outer Banks. But we should not take these natural treasures for granted. Nor should we deny the truth about what is putting them in jeopardy.

DEREK LACEY: Local rivers, streams are healthier, report finds (Hendersonville Times-News reports) -- Before jumping in the water, the first question people ask French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson is, “Is it clean?” Last week the riverkeeper released a report that answers that question not just for popular tubing destinations like the French Broad, but also for more than 60 other streams in the French Broad River Watershed. It’s the first comprehensive report of its kind for the watershed. “What this data shows is that we’ve come a long way,” Carson said. But there’s “still a long way to go.”

JAMES BARRON: A Revealing Statue of Washington Arrives, but Not Its Champion (New York Times reports) -- A 200-year-old statue of George Washington in the buff arrived for an exhibition at the Frick Collection. The president of the museum in Italy that own that statue and others now at the Frick did not. Museum president Franca Coin remained in Italy, missing the opening of the exhibition, which brought the four models and a larger plaster version to the United States for the first time, even though the commission that put Canova to work came from North Carolina in 1816