Opinion Roundup: $800 million in Florence relief, Chapel Hill revolution, election simulations and more

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Lawmakers approve $400M in Florence spending, Koch-backed group comes out against a GOP-written constitutional amendment, US Cabinet secretaries visit Wilmington, ’Silent Sam' protester found guilty of defacing statue, reflections on the revolution in Chapel Hill and more.

TRAVIS FAIN: Legislature promises $800 million in Florence relief (WRAL-TV reports) -- The General Assembly promised nearly $800 million in Hurricane Florence recovery funding Monday night, focusing largely on needs legislative leaders deemed immediate in the wake of massive flooding in southeastern North Carolina.

EMERY DALESIO: Lawmakers approve $400M in Florence spending (AP reports) -- The sharp partisanship that's typified N.C.'s government was buried temporarily on Monday as legislators approved spending $400 million to quickly help people and communities reeling from flooding left by Hurricane Florence and setting aside another $450 million for upcoming needs.

CAMPAIGN 2018

LAURA LESLIE: Three on ballot for NC Supreme Court seat (WRAL-TV reports) —The top statewide race in the November election is for the NC Supreme Court, where three's a crowd for a Republican justice trying to hold on to her seat.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Facebook trouble (The Insider reports) -- A Haywood County elections board member recently claimed in a Facebook post that Democrats plan to legalize pedophilia, and the words could cause her to be removed from office on Wednesday. The removal of Republican Cornelia Cree from the county Board of Elections is on the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement's agenda for Wednesday after she made the Facebook comment last month.

OLIVIA NEELEY: 6 former Dems ‘#WalkAway’ from party in protest (Wilson Times reports) -- Six Wilson County voters made a statement when they banded together to change their political party affiliation. The action was a part of a national campaign called #WalkAway where voters document why they are choosing to leave the Democratic Party. They including 88-year-old Joyce Wells.

NANCY ROSE: First Vote NC offers midterm election simulation and free curriculum (EdNC column) -- First Vote teaches high school students across N.C. the mechanics of voting by giving them the opportunity to participate in an online, simulated election, authentic down to the customized ballot based on the address of the student’s school and an “I VOTED” sticker. The First Vote NC voting simulation is 21st century experiential learning

TRAVIS FAIN: State GOP blasts 'thuggish behavior' after elections board chair asks for doctor's note for cancer patient (WRAL reports) — A state inquiry into a key state senator's campaign finances has turned into a partisan spat as the senator's mother, who was also once his campaign treasurer, seeks treatment for cancer.

Too busy to follow elections? You need to read this (Charlotte Observer) — Our efforts, we hope, are especially valuable in a year like this, when there are so many little-known offices and candidates on the ballot. Few people need a news outlet to help them decide whether they’ll vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. But district court judge? Their N.C. House district? Soil and water conservation district supervisor?

CRAIG JARVIS: A Koch-backed group comes out against a GOP-written constitutional amendment (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — The NC chapter of Americans for Prosperity — one of the most prominent political organizations in the country — is coming out against a Republican effort to limit governors’ power to appoint judges.

ADAM WAGNER: GenX, teacher pay central to NC House 20 race (Wilmington Star News reports) — In northern New Hanover County’s N.C. House District 20, incumbent Rep. Holly Grange is facing a challenge from Leslie Cohen, a local artist and small business owner. While the race involves many issues, perhaps the most prominent one is how the General Assembly has addressed GenX contamination. Grange has advocated for the General Assembly’s plan to have researchers at state universities monitor water and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) enforce laws, while Cohen is arguing for stricter anti-pollution laws.

RUSTY JACOBS: General Assembly Unanimously Approves Additional Hurricane Florence Relief (WUNC-FM reports) -- The General Assembly unanimously agreed Monday night to set aside another $800 million dollars for Hurricane Florence relief.

'Hurricane Nancy' did her job as Greensboro's mayor (Greensboro News & Record) -- Mayor Nancy Vaughan took to Twitter over the weekend to wonder out loud what many of us were thinking: Where in the world was Duke Energy?

ELIZABETH BAIER: 1 month, 2 hurricanes. life in a shelter is new norm for hundreds (WUNC-FM reports) -- Tammy Short, her husband, their two adult children, and five-year-old granddaughter found a temporary roof over their heads with the Red Cross, moving to three different shelters in the Wilmington area in the last month. They’re currently among the 55 residents living at the Red Cross shelter inside the Harbor United Methodist Church, about eight miles north of the camp group they had started to call home.

TIM BUCKLAND: US Cabinet secretaries visit Wilmington (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Federal officials: North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Florence still a priority

Robeson schools to reopen more than a month after Florence (WRAL reports) — After being closed for more than a month because of damage from Hurricane Florence, Robeson County schools will reopen Tuesday. About 23,000 students in the county have been out of class for almost five weeks, and teachers spent Monday making final preparations for the restart to the school year.

Obituary: L. Gene Anderson, 80, who helped engineer the election of N.C.’s first Republican governor in the 20th century died Saturday in Wilmington after a brief illness. In 1967, the political trail led to N.C.  where Gene served as the first-ever executive director of the state Republican Party and as state campaign manager for the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign.  In 1972, he headed the successful gubernatorial campaign of Jim Holshouser, the first Republican to win the executive mansion in the twentieth century. Gene continued to work with Governor Holshouser as a top assistant for the next four years.

ROB CHRISTENSEN: Saying goodbye to three men who wrote NC’s political history (Durham Herald-Sun column) -- Three prominent North Carolinians have died: Republicans Gene Anderson and Richard Morgan, and historian H.G. Jones.

Welcome home, Pastor Brunson (Winston-Salem Journal) — There was a great celebration in Washington and throughout the country as Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from Black Mountain who had been jailed in Turkey, came home over the weekend.

Feds investigate after hackers attack water utility (AP reports) -- Federal and state officials are working with an Onslow County water utility after hackers attacked some of its computer systems.

BRYAN MIMS: Sears will close multiple NC stores after filing for bankruptcy (WRAL-TV reports) -- As the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Sears will be closing more than 142 stores across the country.

JEFF HAMPTON: Wright Brothers visitor center reopens after 2 years of renovations, exhibit upgrades (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports) -- After two years of being closed for renovations, the historic visitor center of the Wright Brothers National Memorial will reopen to the public Saturday. It will feature the return of the 1903 Wright flyer replica and new exhibits.

24 HOURS IN AMERICA: 9:52 a.m. Bladen County, N.C. (New York Times reports) -- When this project was being conceived, a storm named Florence did not exist. It had not formed far off in the Atlantic yet, and it had not swirled toward North Carolina, where it would unload more than 30 inches of rain and remind us again of a simple, elemental truth: The weather contains us, not the other way around.

EDUCATION

AMBER REVELS-STOCKS: Bail bonds bill decreases school funding (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Pitt County Schools could see a significant decrease in revenue thanks to a bill to make it easier for bail bonds agents to avoid paying forfeitures. Since the bill came into effect this month, PCS has already seen a loss of $52,000.

SARAH KRUEGER: ’Silent Sam' protester found guilty of defacing statue (WRAL reports) — The woman who tossed blood and paint on the "Silent Sam" Confederate monument on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in April was found guilty of defacing a public monument.

JONATHAN DREW: Judge declines to punish student who poured ink on statue (AP reports) -- A judge declined to punish a black University of North Carolina graduate student who admitted to pouring red ink and her own blood on a Confederate statue in a headline-grabbing protest that preceded the statue's toppling months later.

PETER COCLANIS: Reflections on the Revolution in Chapel Hill (Inside Higher Ed column) -- However powerful the cases for and against UNC's Silent Sam Confederate statue, there are other relevant parties to consider -- not only in the here and now -- and we neglect them at our peril. … All interested parties need to act constructively, responsibly and, difficult as it may be, empathetically right now. This is one decision we won’t want to walk back.

TAYLOR KNOPF: Uncontrolled Pain: The Other Side of the Opioid Crisis (NC Health News reports) — Pain patients say they can’t find doctors to treat their conditions. Many are distraught, some suicidal. Others are rallying together to make their voices heard.

DREW BROOKS: Fayetteville VA Medical Center chief to resign (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- The head of the Fayetteville VA Medical Center will resign later this year. James Laterza, an Army veteran who took charge of medical care for one of the nation’s fastest-growing veterans populations in April, told the Observer that he informed employees of his decision during a meeting.

When our river turns toxic, we need protection (Fayetteville Observer) — The extent of the river pollution raises serious public policy questions that need to be addressed. It is urgent and procrastination should be punishable by losses at the polls.

SAM BLAND: Interpreting Coastal Plants (Coastal Review column) -- A plant identification book, “Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas,” that was fundamental to our Sam Bland’s work as a park ranger on the coast in the 1970s has been updated and doesn’t disappoint.