Opinon roundup: Court battles over elections, legislative powers, the life and times of Billy Graham and more

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: More election district challenges, legislative session challenges, school safety challenges, the life and times of Billy Graham and more.

TRAVIS FAIN: Injunction sought, could delay legislative primaries in Wake (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Yet another redistricting lawsuit filed, this one targeting four Wake County House districts.

Rebuffed elsewhere, advocacy groups sue to alter House lines (AP news analysis) -- Several election advocacy groups have sued to try again to block legislative districts in one North Carolina county from being used in this year's elections.

TAFT WIREBACK: Cost to redraw election districts? $124K (Greensboro News & Record analysis) -- The special master in North Carolina’s racial gerrymandering case has submitted a bill that totals $124,125 for his efforts to revamp the state’s controversial legislative districts. Stanford University law professor Nathaniel Persily said in a billing statement that he and an assistant worked a total of 321.5 hours on new maps that greatly revised state House and Senate districts in Guilford County and several other parts of the state.

LAURA LESLIE: Judges quiz attorneys on constitutional right to 'instruct legislators' (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Judges heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit seeking to overturn two 2016 laws on the grounds that the session in which they were introduced and passed was unconstitutional.

Special session arguments focus on notice, instruction (AP news analysis) -- Arguments over the legitimacy of a December 2016 special legislative session called by North Carolina Republicans centered Wednesday on what "adequate notice" and the constitutional right for state residents to "instruct" their legislators mean.

ADAM LIPTAK: Supreme Court Rules on Prisoners, Terrorism, and Whistle-Blowers (New York Times analysis) -- By a 6-to-3 vote, the court ruled that Rodney Class of North Carolina, who pleaded guilty to violating a federal law that bars firearms on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, may nonetheless challenge the constitutionality of the law on appeal.

JESS BRAVIN: Guilty Plea Doesn’t Prohibit Constitutional Challenge to Convictions, Supreme Court Rules (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- The Supreme Court held that a North Carolina defendant who pleaded guilty retains the right to challenge his conviction as unconstitutional, frustrating prosecutors who said the rule would inject uncertainty into a criminal justice system built on plea bargains.

ARRON BLAKE: Photo of Trump’s notes captures his empathy deficit better than anything (Washington Post column) -- Photographers captured Trump's notes from his gun-violence listening session. At No. 5: “I hear you."

Why an American Airlines Monopoly Works for Charlotte (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- In contrast to many cities luring low-cost competitors to their airports, Charlotte, N.C., has stuck with a dominant carrier, accepting high prices in exchange for plentiful flights.

'America's pastor,' renowned evangelist Billy Graham dies (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Evangelist Billy Graham, who spread the Christian gospel to millions of people worldwide and counseled U.S. presidents for decades, died at his home in the mountain town of Montreat. He was 99.

LAURIE GOODSTEIN: Billy Graham Dies; Media-Savvy Pastor Advised Presidents (New York Times) -- Mr. Graham spread the gospel around the world through a combination of religious conviction, commanding stage presence and shrewd use of advanced communication technologies. He was 99.

YONAT SHIMRON: Rev. Billy Graham has died at 99 (Durham Herald-Sun) -- Billy Graham, the nation’s most beloved preacher, a native Tar Heel who many considered the embodiment of Protestant Christianity, died. The 99-year-old Graham had been in failing health since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1992 and with hydrocephalus, a condition in which water collects on the brain, in 2000. His wife of 63 years, Ruth, died in June 2007. Graham’s sermons reached millions of people in more than 200 countries – whether in person or over the airwaves.

Rev. Billy Graham, known as 'America's Pastor,' dies at 99 (AP news analysis) -- The Rev. Billy Graham, the magnetic, movie-star-handsome preacher who became a singular force in postwar American religious life, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died Wednesday at 99.

Evangelist Billy Graham, Who Reached Millions, Dies At 99 (WUNC-FM) -- Evangelist Billy Graham, the North Carolina icon known as “America’s Pastor” who conducted more than 400 crusades and whose sermons were heard by an estimated two billion people, died Wednesday. He was 99.

IAN LOVETT & STEPHEN MILLER: Evangelist Billy Graham Dies at Age 99 (Wall Street Journal) -- Billy Graham, counselor to presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, preached a simplified Protestant message about sin and redemption. He did so without rancor and, in later years, without much emphasis on the prospect of hellfire.

Billy Graham (Wall Street Journal) -- A North Carolina farm boy brought the Gospel to the world.

A steadfast voice for Christianity (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) – During a time when the shifting winds of morality reoriented the nation, the Rev. Billy Graham stood his ground.

A voice of God goes forever quiet (Greensboro News & Record) -- To generations he was a fiery and eloquent figure on your television set, speaking to tens of thousands in an arena or stadium in some far-flung outpost, inspiring awestruck attendees to journey down the aisles to the altar of redemption, salvation and love.

Billy Graham: A man who preached – and lived – a Christian life (Charlotte Observer) -- Billy Graham has died. The evangelist led millions to God not only with his words, but his example.

LAURA LESLIE: School district size study committee begins work (WRAL-TV analysis) -- A joint committee studying the best size for school districts took no action at its first meeting and House chairman Bill Brawley said he expects no action for some time to come.

LIZ BELL: Commission under way to study splitting up school districts (EdNC analysis) -- A study is underway on whether larger local school districts across the state should be divided into multiple districts. “There are debates in several counties on whether the school systems are too large and whether or not they should be broken up. Those debates tend to go primarily on the basis of opinion, not fact. The purpose of this committee is to study that issue and generate some facts to inform the debate,” said Rep. Bill Brawley, R-Mecklenburg, the chair of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Division of Local School Administrative Units.

LISA FRIEDMAN: Van der Vaart among New Candidates Emerging for Trump’s Top Environmental Adviser (New York Times analysis) -- The Trump administration is considering Donld van der Vaart, a North Carolina regulator who questions mainstream climate science, to be the next White House environmental adviser, just weeks after withdrawing a previous nominee who held similar views. Van der Vaart, the former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, said he had been in discussions with the White House for several positions in recent months, most recently to possibly lead the Council on Environmental Quality.

SAM WALKER: DEQ Chief Talks Battling Offshore Drilling (Coastal Review analysis) -- The state’s Secretary of Environmental Quality Michael Regan met with Dare and Currituck leaders Tuesday to discuss battling the Trump Administration’s efforts to engage in exploration for offshore oil and natural gas.

JEFF HAMPTON: Thousands of dead fish wash ashore along 2 miles of N.C. beach (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot analysis) -- Thousands of fish washed ashore Wednesday along an approximately two mile stretch of the four-wheel drive beach north of Corolla. Most of the dead fish are menhaden. In some places the fish are piled thick. State fisheries officers found no signs of marks or sores.

TRAVIS FAIN: GenX found in rain (WRAL-TV analysis) -- Tiny amounts of a chemical used to make Teflon was found in rain 70 miles from a Bladen County plant.

Chemours chemical penalties delayed to stick (AP news analysis) -- North Carolina environmental regulators are delaying penalties against a chemical company for discharging compounds with worrying but little-researched health effects until they're confident a case will stand up in court, a state official said

STEPHANIE CARSON: 'Gray Ghosts' Lurk in NC Forests (Public News Service analysis) -- The unseasonably warm weather has residents venturing out into the state's thousands of miles of hiking trails. In parts of the state, they're likely to notice grayed, tall relics of trees. They are hemlocks, and thousands of them have been killed by the woolly adelgid, a non-native species guilty of killing thousands of mature hemlock trees. Forestry experts are in a race against time to preserve the plant species.

MARK TOSCZAK: Health Care Providers Battling Cyber Attackers (N.C. Health News) -- These days providers both large and small have to be on guard against IT attacks, which can be costly in terms of time, money and inconvenience.