Opinion
Opinion Roundup: Early voting changes, Florence damage estimates, lowering Medicare prices and more
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Early voting changes hit rural voters hardest, N.C. Democrats raise $14M, insurance commissioner turns campaign donation over to feds, Florence damage estimate nearing $17B, alternative magazine ends publication, Wilmington sets rainfall record and more.
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Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Early voting changes hit rural voters hardest, N.C. Democrats raise $14M, insurance commissioner turns campaign donation over to feds, Florence damage estimate nearing $17B, alternative magazine ends publication, Wilmington sets rainfall record and more.
CAMPAIGN 2018
LAURA LESLIE: NC senator invested in far-right platform Gab (WRAL-TV reports) -- Sen. Dan Bishop, R-Mecklenburg, was an early investor in the far-right social media platform Gab, which was used by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter.
GARY ROBERTSON: N.C. Democrats raise $14M, referendum groups over $17M (AP reports) – N.C. Democrats and allied groups kept raising massive amounts of cash in the fall campaign's final weeks toward goals of ending Republican dominance of the legislature, defeating constitutional referendums and expanding control of the state Supreme Court.
TYLER DUKES: Early voting changes hit NC rural voters hardest, analysis shows. But will it matter in 2018? (WRAL reports) — When a last-minute measure to standardize the hours for early voting wound its way through the legislature during the final days of session earlier this year, opponents worried aloud that the move would be a heavier burden for cash-strapped counties. They were right, according to a detailed analysis of early voting locations conducted by WRAL News.
LAURA LESLIE: Harris, McCready battle for 'competitive' US House district (WRAL-TV reports) -- NC's 9th Congressional District seat has been occupied by Republicans since the 1960s. This year, Democrats are hoping a so-called "blue wave" - aided by a redrawn district map - will push the seat into their ranks in the U.S. House.
TRAVIS FAIN: Insurance commissioner turns campaign donation over to feds (WRAL-TV reports) -- Insurance commissioner says his campaign sent a $240,000 check to the U.S. Marshals Service as part of the Greg Lindberg investigation.
N.C. GOP, Causey, big donor subjects of complaint (AP reports) -- A former county Democratic Party official alleges a large donation from the NC Republican Party to state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey's campaign broke laws so a big donor could bypass individual giving limits.
MYRON PITTS: People like John Lewis paid a heavy cost for voting rights (Fayetteville Observer column) -- I don’t care who you vote for or what party. But don’t tell me you don’t have time to do it.
TRAVIS FAIN: Former Gov. Hunt gives big to party, party gives big to his daughter (WRAL-TV reports) -- Former Gov. Jim Hunt gave almost as much money to the N.C. Democratic Party this year as he's put into state political campaigns over the last 20 years combined.
Endorsement: N.C. Senate (Greensboro News & Record) — The race in N.C. Senate District 27 may seem like a rerun from 2016. Democrat Michael Garrett is challenging veteran Republican incumbent Trudy Wade in what would appear the classic battle of a principled newcomer against a valued insider.
NAOMI PRIOLEAU: NC's 13th Congressional District Expected To Be A Tight Race (WUNC reports) — The 13th District covers two-thirds of Guilford County and goes west across several rural Republican leaning counties including all or parts of Davidson, Davie, Iredell and Rowan counties. Democrats think winning the seat could help them retake the House.
1 good plan for 4-year terms, 1 not so good (Fayetteville Observer reports) — Voters in Fayetteville and Hope Mills have an extra item on their ballots this year, giving them the opportunity to decide on a fundamental change in the way their chief governing board is elected. One of the proposals has been thoroughly aired and carefully thought out. The other hasn’t and needs more work
POLICY & POLITICS
Prayers offered in wake of Pittsburgh slayings (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Students, faculty and staff at East Carolina University gathered at the cupola on the main campus mall to pray for lives lost Saturday in the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa. The vigil was coordinated by ECU Hillel.
MATTHEW BURNS: Florence damage estimate in NC nearing $17B (WRAL-TV reports) -- Hurricane Florence caused an estimated $16.7 billion in damage in N.C., up from initial estimates of $13 billion, state officials said.
EDUCATION
CULLEN BROWDER: Sources say UNC Health CEO Roper likely to be interim UNC system president (WRAL-TV reports) -- Dr. William Roper, chief executive of UNC Health Care, is expected to be named interim president of the University of NC system.
Spellings exit doesn’t bode well for UNC (Fayetteville Observer) - -It’s dismaying to see the sudden and startling resignation of Margaret Spellings as president of the UNC System. She is the second system president to depart within four years and her exit is a signal that turmoil within the UNC Board of Governors is intensifying. Spellings replaced Democratic appointee Tom Ross at the UNC helm in 2015.
DAVID HENDRICKSON: 2018 SAT scores are out, but less than half of students participated (WRAL-TV reports) -- The 2018 SAT scores are out for NC, but less than half of the state's high school students took the test.
MIKAYA THURMOND: NC State professor apologizes after suggesting students block FOX News on parents' TV (WRAL-TV reports) -- A NC State University professor has apologized after distributing a document to students that advocated that they block FOX News from the televisions of their parents.
T. KEUNG HUI: NC says $688 million needed for schools to get enough nurses, counselors and cops (Charlotte Observer reports) — Staff at the state Department of Public Instruction said Wednesday that it would require around $688 million more in state funding to hire enough additional nurses, social workers, counselors, psychologists and school resource officers to reach nationally recommended ratios for NC’s public schools.
HEALTH
MARK TOSCZAK: No More Negotiations: State Health Plan Wants Clearer Process, Lower Prices (NC Health News reports) — State Treasurer Dale Folwell is proposing an idea that would make NC the second in the nation to peg prices to Medicare. But he needs to get past hospitals and doctors first.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
TIM BUCKLAND: Wilmington sets rainfall record (Wilmington Star-News reports) — Thanks to Hurricane Florence and the wettest summer in history, Wilmington’s record rainfall -- set a dozen years after the end of the Civil War -- has been shattered.
AND MORE…
Alternative magazine ends publication, lays off staff (AP reports) -- An alternative weekly magazine has announced it is ending publication in Charlotte after 31 years, converting to a digital only product and laying off its staff.
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