Opinion

Opinion Roundup: VP Pence pushes GOP & Tillis on N.C. visit, Cooper pushes parental leave, new leader for UNC-TV

Thursday, May 23, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Vice President Mike Pence's N.C. visit, Gov. Roy Cooper's plans to expand parental leave, African-American migration to N.C. and the South and a new leader for UNC-TV.

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Thursday, May 23, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Vice President Mike Pence's N.C. visit, Gov. Roy Cooper's plans to expand parental leave, African-American migration to N.C. and the South, UNC Board of Governors vs. Vidant and a new leader for UNC-TV.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019
LAURA LESLIE: Fantasy sports betting bill clears first House hurdle (WRAL-TV reports) -- House lawmakers are once again debating whether to make fantasy sports betting legal in North Carolina, and the odds may be better for supporters this time around.
GARY ROBERTSON: Fantasy sports regulation advances in NC House (AP reports) -- A repeat effort to regulate popular fantasy sports games in NC advanced through a House panel on Wednesday, two years after a similar effort was derailed.
RUSTY JACOBS: Undocumented Immigrant Students In NC Could Pay In-State Tuition Under Democratic Bills (WUNC-FM reports) -- Twenty-one states extend in-state tuition to either undocumented immigrants or beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Legislation proposed by state Democrats would make N.C. the 22nd state to offer that tuition rate, but Republican support is an unlikely prospect.
THOMAS GOLDSMITH: Bill to focus on caregiving for NC’s older adults struggles for life (N.C. Health News reports) -- Rep. Donna White, drawing on her own years of looking after her aging mother, says she won’t give up on her bill to form a panel to examine caregiving issues.
TRAVIS FAIN: Bill would drop N.C.'s TV, computer ban at landfills (WRAL-TV reports) -- Annual regulatory reform bill also sweetens state contribution to Charlotte Motor Speedway cleanup.
TRAVIS FAIN: Proposed monthly fee dropping out of water-and-sewer-fix bill (WRAL-TV reports) -- Bill calls for $2 a month from water and sewer customers across the state, but that's going to change as legislature contemplates billions in needs.
HOLLY KAYS: N.C. Senate opposes Catawba casino (Smoky Mountain News reports) -- A bipartisan majority of senators in the N.C. General Assembly have signed a letter opposing a Congressional bill that would pave the way for a new casino to be built in Cleveland County. "It's pretty exciting to see the support from the state," said Cherokee Principal Chief Richard Sneed.
DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN: Immigrant students graduating from NC high schools want in-state college tuition (Charlotte Observer reports) -- There are thousands of N.C. students who were brought to the U.S. as children through illegal immigration. When they graduate from high school, those hoping to attend college aren’t eligible for in-state tuition, as students in 20 other states are.
BRIE HANDGRAAF: Leaders discuss needs in rural communities (Wilson Times reports) -- Government employees and leaders of community improvement associations from throughout the region gathered Wednesday to hear about legislative efforts to improve broadband, health care and small business resources in rural communities.
Coddling charter schools (Greensboro News & Record) -- Remember when the state started its charter school experiment in the late 1990s? It sounded like a promising concept. Unfortunately, the state Senate seems bent on ruining what’s left of that good idea.
POLICY & POLITICS
Gov. Cooper issuing paid parental leave order (AP reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper is using the power of his pen again to promote policies his administration considers supportive of women in the workplace and family-friendly.
JIM MORRILL & KRISTI STURGILL: Pence comes to NC for a curtain-raiser to the re-election campaign (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Vice President Mike Pence visited N.C. to tout an administration trade policy and offer a curtain-raiser for the 2020 presidential campaign. Pence's visit underscored the importance of a swing state that President Donald Trump won by less than 4 points in 2016 and which will host the convention expected to renominate him. Pence came to Charlotte for what was billed as a "kickoff" event for the 2020 GOP convention. Though it was closed to the media, Pence later said the event reflected the convention's "strong civic support." The event coincided with the announcement that Louis DeJoy of Greensboro, husband of former N.C. DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos, will be national finance chairman for Charlotte's host committee.
KENWYN CARANNA: Pence visits Greensboro for Tillis fundraiser (Greensboro News & Record reports) -- Carlos Hernandez brought his 12-year-old grandson, Riley, to see Vice President Mike Pence during a brief meet-and-greet at Piedmont Triad International Airport. “He was really nice, but it was really fast,” Riley said about meeting Pence. “He was there and then he was gone.”
EMERY DALESIO: NC judge dismisses libel case against Project Veritas (AP reports) U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger dismissed a lawsuit by an Asheville woman assaulted outside a 2016 Donald Trump campaign rally who claimed she was then libeled by a conservative group that produces "sting" videos intended to embarrass liberal organizations.
DANIELLA CHESLOW: As Employment Rises, African American Transplants Ride Jobs Wave To The South (NPR reports) -- Brittany Smith grew up mostly in Detroit, earning a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan. But when she and her then-boyfriend, Sam, began their careers, they ran into roadblocks. It was 2013, and Detroit was still struggling from the effects of the Great Recession. Sam Smith couldn't find full-time work. His job as a college career counselor wrapped when the campus where he worked shut down. They began looking for an out. "We were looking at what cities are growing for young professionals, and Charlotte was always one of the top five," says Smith, now 32. So they picked up and moved to Charlotte, N.C., where the couple has done well.
PATRICK GREGORY: Kenneth Bell, the Lawyer Who Made Case for Clinton Indictment, Confirmed as Judge (Bloomberg News reports) -- A former prosecutor and law partner who made a case for indicting Hillary Clinton over her use of an unclassified email server while secretary of state was confirmed to the federal bench. The Senate voted 55 to 43 to approve Kenneth Bell, a partner at McGuireWoods, for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, which includes Charlotte.
Julian Castro to join McDonald's strikers in N.C. (AP reports) -- Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro plans to join McDonald's workers who are striking on the same day as the fast food giant's annual shareholder meeting in Dallas.
N.C. elections board deciding what to pay new director (AP reports) – N.C.'s elections board has money on its mind as it plans to hire a new executive to run operations.
Bogus hurricane damage claims net one guilty plea, another arrest (WRAL-TV reports) -- A Rocky Mount woman pleaded guilty to getting federal disaster assistance she wasn't entitled to, while a Goldsboro woman is charged with making up hurricane damage in order to bilk her insurance company, authorities said.
CASS HERRINGTON: Study: Asheville's Economic Health Depends on Immigration (WUNC reports) -- Last week, the Trump administration outlined a plan to overhaul the country’s immigration system to prioritize applicants with college degrees over those with familial ties. But business leaders in Asheville say they need workers at all skill levels, particularly given the county’s record low unemployment rate.
Shut down Wilmington’s public-housing killing fields (Wilmington Star-News) -- Chief Evangelous is right: We need a change of direction; it’s long past time to stop concentrating poverty, despair
Patrick Cannon deserves a second chance. Just not as Charlotte mayor (Charlotte Observer) – Patrick Cannon’s arrest was deeply embarrassing to Charlotte, and his public return would be the same. We’re a city with many fine people who can lead with integrity — including the mayor we have now. We hope Patrick Cannon earns and gets his second chance at a productive life, but not in the office that serves the public he betrayed.
MACK PAUL: Partisan gerrymandering is old, but that doesn’t make it right (Durham-Herald Sun column) -- Recent rulings in Michigan and Ohio add to “the growing chorus of federal courts” finding partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional. The Michigan panel noted that inaction “will only increase the citizenry’s growing disenchantment with, and disillusionment in, our democracy.” Anticipation mounts with the US Supreme Court expected to issue an opinion on maps from North Carolina and Maryland in June.
EDUCATION
UNC School of the Arts chancellor resigns to lead UNC-TV (AP reports) – Lindsay Bierman, chancellor of the UNC School of the Arts is resigning to become chief executive of UNC-TV Public Media.
JOHN HINTON: UNC School of the Arts chancellor resigns for top job at UNC-TV (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Chancellor Lindsay Bierman of the UNC School of the Arts announced Wednesday that he will resign his position, effective July 31, to become the chief executive of UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina on Aug. 12, the university said in a statement. The UNC system’s board of governors approved Bierman’s appointment to his new job at its meeting in Chapel Hill. Bill Roper, the UNC system’s interim president, nominated Bierman for the job. Roper is expected to name an interim chancellor for UNCSA before Bierman leaves the school.
GINGER LIVINGSTON: Court fight over Vidant board begins (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- A judge could rule today on a request to halt an effort to reorganize the governing board of Vidant Medical Center after hearing a request for a temporary restraining order in state superior court. Lawyers for Vidant and Pitt County argued against the request brought by the UNC System and East Carolina University in Orange County. If granted, the restraining order would be a first step in the UNC-ECU effort to reverse a new process for appointing members to the hospital’s board of trustees.
GINGER LIVINGSTON: Roper says ECU review will determine facts (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- An operational assessment to examine ECU’s finances and identify efficiencies will provide to all stakeholders a complete and accurate understanding of fiscal challenges faced by the university, the UNC System president said Wednesday.
LAURA HOLSON: When the Names on Campus Buildings Evoke a Racist Past (New York Times reports) -- College campuses have long been centers of social foment and student activism. In the 1960s, they were magnets for protests over the Vietnam War, and more recently, the Black Lives Matter movement forced schools to confront issues of racial justice and inclusion. The debate continues at many universities over whether the names of prominent racists and others who espoused controversial theories should be allowed to remain on campus buildings and structures. In response, institutions have begun to set up task forces to examine their histories and set standards for the future. … Southern universities, by far, have the most complicated histories. In May 2015, the board of trustees of UNC-Chapel Hill voted to strip the name of William Saunders, a N.C. legislator and Confederate soldier, from a building and rename it Carolina Hall. Student protests against Mr. Saunders began as early as 2001, with activists highlighting the fact that Mr. Saunders, a U.N.C. alumnus, held a leadership role in the Ku Klux Klan.
KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: 3 schools in Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville named US Green Ribbon Schools (WRAL-TV reports) -- Three N.C. schools were named U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools on Wednesday for their "innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness and ensure effective sustainability education," according to the federal education agency.
Mother of slain college football player files lawsuit (AP reports) -- The mother of Winston-Salem State University football player who was shot and killed after attending a party is suing the school where the party took place, saying officials were negligent and had inadequate security.
THOMAS SHERRILL: ASU bans TKE fraternity through 2023 (The Watauga Democrat reports) -- A "longstanding pattern of troubling behavior" has led the Appalachian State University Office of Student Engagement and Leadership to remove university recognition of the Omicron-Alpha chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and effectively ban the organization until at least 2023.
STUART EGAN: Special children deserve to be included (Winston-Salem Journal column) - My younger child is what many may call “special” and “unique.” His cognitive and developmental delays will not allow him to be as academically proficient with his same-aged-peers. His speech is sometimes hard to understand, and he acts on impulse and immediate needs in a manner that others may find inconvenient.
ANALISA SORRELLS: Almost half of college students worry about running out of food (EdNC reports) -- Almost half of college students worry that they will run out of food before they get money to buy more. Nearly half of college students can’t afford to eat balanced meals. Almost 38% of college students cut the size of meals or skip meals because there’s not enough money for food. These data, found in the recently-released National #RealCollege Survey report, paint a stark picture of hunger among college students in the United States — a reality that Mariá Paz understands all too well. Paz, who spoke with me at last year’s Real College convening in Philadelphia, never thought she would visit a food pantry. She moved from Honduras to Virginia and enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College with a budget and a plan. But then, her mother fell ill, and Paz’s plan fell apart.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
JENNIFER ALLEN: First Responders Warn of Rip Current Risks (Coastal Review reports) -- There have been six drownings on the coast so far this year. Emerald Isle Police Chief Tony Reese said that this is the earliest they’ve seen any type of water rescues or drownings in the 20 years he’s been at the town. Usually, the water temperature this time of year is still in the 60s, and people typically don’t go into the ocean. But it’s not the cold putting lives in danger. It’s rip currents. If a visitor were to find themselves in a rip current, Atlantic Beach Fire Chief Mike Simpson said, “The best thing to do is remain calm and float. Panic and fatigue are the reason for most rip current drownings. Swimming parallel to the shore will eventually get you out of the rip current as most rip currents are only 10-20 feet wide. Signal for help, remain calm and try to float.”
Coastal Land Trust purchases 182 acres surrounded by forest (AP reports) -- The Coastal Land Trust has purchased 182 acres surrounded by the Croatan National Forest, marking the second time it's used settlement money to save N.C. land.
Politics, killings stifle wolf recovery amid hefty price tag (AP reports) -- Illegal killings and longstanding political resistance have undercut the return of two species of endangered wolves to the wild, frustrating government efforts that already cost more than $80 million but have failed to meet recovery targets.
… AND MORE
WILLIAM WEST: Autographed helmet to be auctioned (Rocky Mount Telegram reports) -- A Rocky Mount native has a football helmet with almost all of the autographs of the living Super Bowl-winning coaches — and the headgear includes the autograph of one since-deceased all-time great pro gridiron coach. The amassing of autographs has been a long-running project of sports writer Al Pearce, with the helmet set to be sold at the local Kiwanis Club's yearly charity auction late next week.
JOHN STATON: In ‘This Hurricane Blows,’ Celia Rivenbark looks to Florence for laughs (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Are we ready to laugh about Hurricane Florence yet? The destructive, marathon storm hit Southeastern NC more than eight months ago. And while it caused plenty of misery, no one who endured Florence’s worn-out welcome can deny, in retrospect, that she also spawned a few funny situations.

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