Opinion Roundup: Silent Sam standoff, voter ID bills, regulating the vape industry and more

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: An open letter to parents of UNC students, latest plan to overhaul elections board heads to Gov. Cooper, lawmakers move ahead with pipeline investigation, Mark Meadows out of running for White House chief of staff, regulating the billion dollar vape industry and more.

Quotation of the Day: Fraud Suspected in Loss of Democrat May Have Cost a Republican, Too (New York Times reports) -- “I’m old fashioned, but anytime somebody may have broken the law, it’s appropriate for the state to look into it.” -- CARTER WRENN, a prominent Republican strategist in North Carolina, on whether state officials should examine a primary race for signs of election fraud given that the winner’s showing in the general election has been called into question.

MILES PARKS: As fraud probe centers on N.C.'s 9th District, cynical cloud settles in (NPR reports) -- Inside his barber shop in Bladenboro, N.C., Rodney Baxley is giving Bobby Simmons a haircut. The two men are talking about what everyone in this part of the state has been talking about for the better part of the past month: McCrae Dowless, and the operation he was running to get out the vote for Republican Mark Harris in the congressional race in North Carolina's 9th District. "I don't think [Dowless] cares about who wins, as long as he gets paid," Baxley says, as he trims just above Simmons' right ear.

MARA SUTTMANN-LEA: Don’t be shocked by fraud allegations. Absentee ballots are much less secure than polling places. (Washington Post column) -- To be sure, the North Carolina allegations are unusually serious. But my research shows that campaigns and party organizations have been manipulating what’s called “no-excuse” absentee voting — sometimes legally, sometimes illegally — for almost as long as the law has been around.

ANN MCADAMS: Concerning number of absentee ballots not returned in Columbus Co. (WCET-TV reports) -- As evidence mounts of potential election fraud in Bladen County, this may not be an isolated problem. Things in Columbus County may be even worse. About a third of the absentee ballots that were requested in Columbus County during the 2018 general election never got returned to the Board of Elections. That's an even higher percentage of missing ballots than the unreturned ballot numbers that raised the red flags in Bladen County.

GARY ROBERTSON: Amid fraud probe, an election redo might require new primary (AP reports) -- With ballot fraud allegations hanging over a disputed U.S. House race, state lawmakers have agreed to change the way such "do-over" congressional elections are handled.

TIM FUNK: From politics to the pulpit and back again: Mark Harris’ rise on the religious right (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Who is Mark Harris? The former pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, Harris’ rise paralleled the fusion of the religious right and the Republican Party. He won the 9th District congressional seat over Democrat Dan McCready, but that’s in jeopardy.

SARAH MCNAMARA & JESSICA WILKERSON: Why UNC’s attempt to restore a Confederate statue could delay final grades (Washington Post reports) -- The University of North Carolina has been in upheaval since the administration announced plans to return to campus a Confederate monument known as “Silent Sam,” torn down by activists in August. Graduate student teaching assistants have taken the boldest steps against Silent Sam’s return, opposing the proposal to build a $5.3 million history center to house the statue, as well as a mobile police force to guard it.

Silent Sam: Open letter to parents of UNC students (Fayetteville Observer) — We are the professors, instructors of record, graduate students and staff members at the University of NC at Chapel Hill who teach, supervise or work alongside your daughters, sons, granddaughters, grandsons and loved ones. We are reaching out to you at the close of an extraordinarily challenging fall 2018 semester. On the eve of the first day of classes, our students led a protest that ended with the toppling of Silent Sam, the 105-year-old statue of a soldier who fought for the Confederacy.

UNC athletes sign on to letter opposed to return of Silent Sam (WRAL reports) — Current and former student-athletes from the University of NC at Chapel Hill were adding their names to an open letter to university leaders opposing a plan to build a $5.3 million "center for history and education" to house the controversial Silent Same statue on campus.

TAMMY GRUBB: UNC faculty members, in letter to parents, support Silent Sam strike and withholding grades (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — More than 200 UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members have signed an open letter to students’ parents and guardians, asking them to support striking graduate student instructors and the permanent removal of the Silent Sam Confederate statue from campus.

AL-TONY GILMORE & WALTER FARRELL JR: Symbol of Old South a stain on university’s legacy (Durham-Herald Sun) — When Frank Porter Graham became president of the University of NC at Chapel Hill in 1932, segregation, discrimination, and racism were as common in the South as statues commemorating those who bore arms for the Confederacy. Nineteen years earlier, a Confederate memorial conceived by the Daughters of the Confederacy — later known as “Silent Sam” — was unveiled at the “front door” of the campus.

Pay it again, Sam (Greensboro News & Record) — It’s painfully clear that slavery and the Civil War have cost the United States dearly — in terms of lives lost, justice denied, violence, racial tensions and seemingly intractable, deep divisions in our society. It’s also becoming painfully clear that keeping the legacy of the Confederacy alive is expensive in literal dollars and cents.

TIMOTHY WILLIAMS & ALAN BLINDER: Legislature Calls for New Primary if New Election Is Held in Disputed District (New York Times reports) -- The legislature approved a bill requiring new primary elections if the state elections board calls for a second vote of a congressional election. The measure opens the door for Republicans to consider replacing Mark Harris, their candidate in the disputed race in the Ninth Congressional District.

LAURA LESLIE & MATTHEW BURNS: Latest plan to overhaul elections board heads to Cooper (WRAL reports) — makers quickly approved Wednesday a proposal to split the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement in two, returning to the set-up the state had two years ago. The legislation cleared the House 82-17 and the Senate 34-3 less than a day after Republican leaders rolled it out. Because of the way the proposal was structured, it required only one vote in each chamber, and no amendments were allowed.

LYNN BONNER: A new 9th District congressional election — if called — would be a full do-over (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — A proposal that would require another primary in the 9th Congressional District if suspected absentee ballot fraud results in a new election won legislative approval Wednesday. The requirement for a complete do-over in the 9th District is part of wide-ranging legislation that restructures the State Board of Elections and keeps information about campaign finance investigations secret.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Election Board (The Insider reports) -- Lawmakers quickly approved a proposal to split the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement in two, returning to the set-up the state had two years ago. The legislation cleared the House 82-17 and the Senate 34-3 less than a day after Republican leaders rolled it out.

KIRK ROSS: Elections, voter ID bills are on the NC governor’s desk (Carolina Public Press) -- Two key elections bills are awaiting action from the governor as the 2017-18 General Assembly winds up work in a postelection session colored by investigations and confrontation amid an atmosphere of wary compromise. Although political tensions remain high between Republican leaders in the General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the action this December has, for now at least, taken a decidedly different tack from two years ago, shortly after Cooper’s election.

JOHN MURAWSKI: Accusing GOP of ‘political showmanship,’ Cooper’s office seeks public records on pipeline probe (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Republican lawmakers hired a private investigative firm to investigate NC Gov. Roy Cooper’s ties to a $57.8 million fund created by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Cooper’s office seeks public records on the investigation.

LAURA LESLIE: Lawmakers move ahead with pipeline investigation (WRAL-TV reports) -- GOP leaders said they'll sign a contract with a private investigation firm to probe the Cooper administration's dealings on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, despite a letter from the administration promising records lawmakers requested by Dec. 20.

Legislative panel hiring firm to scrutinize pipeline deal (AP reports) -- A legislative committee plans to hire a firm of ex-federal agents to help get questions answered about a $58 million side agreement between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and utilities building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

RICK SMITH: Apple to build new campus in Texas, add employees at other sites (WRAL-TV/TechWire) -- Apple says it will build a new corporate campus in Austin, Texas, and add employees at “new sites” in several other cities. No mention was made of adding jobs in N.C.. The company had been considering Research Triangle Park for a new campus as well as an expansion of its current data center complex in western N.C.

MICHELLE YE HEE LEE: Senate votes to overturn Trump’s donor disclosure rule on ‘dark money’ groups (Washington Post reports) -- The Senate voted 50 to 49 to overturn a Trump administration policy that allows politically active nonprofits to withhold from the government the identities of their donors, underscoring a growing unease among Democrats over the influence of wealthy donors and foreign actors in U.S. elections. Sen. Thom Tillis didn’t vote – and that absence provided the margin of victory for the bill.

Burr, Tillis chose wrong on Thomas Farr (Winston-Salem Journal) -- Thomas A. Farr was a woefully bad choice to be a federal district judge in North Carolina.

ROBERT COSTA & JOSH DAWSEY: Trump turns down Meadows for White House chief of staff, removing leading contender (Washington Post reports) -- President Trump told Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) — one of his leading congressional allies and a contender for White House chief of staff — that he would like Meadows to remain on Capitol Hill, taking the conservative lawmaker out of contention for the top job in the West Wing. “Congressman Mark Meadows is a great friend to President Trump and is doing an incredible job in Congress,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “The president told him we need him in Congress, so he can continue the great work he is doing there.”

PETER MICHOLAS: Mark Meadows Out of Running for White House Chief of Staff (Wall Street Journal reports) -- President Trump has told Rep. Mark Meadows, considered one of the front-runners for the White House chief of staff job, that he wants him to remain in Congress, a White House official said.

ZACHERY EANES: Halifax County gets spurt of manufacturing jobs, after Cooper grants incentive money (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Three manufacturing companies will hire more than a 100 workers in Halifax County in eastern North Carolina, after Gov. Roy Cooper’s office awards hundreds of thousands in incentives.

NC gets $60 million for road, bridge improvement (AP reports) — NC is getting $60 million for road and bridge improvements thanks to a federal grant program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced the grants are made through Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD, Transportation Grants. The program is designed to support road, rail, transit and port infrastructure across the country.

TYLER DUKES: In civil trial, jury finds Angier pastor did not kill son-in-law in self defense (WRAL-TV reports) — A Harnett County jury Wednesday found that an Angier pastor is responsible for the wrongful death of his son-in-law, who he shot and killed in 2013. The case was the subject of an investigative series published and aired by WRAL News in November.

EDUCATION

RUPEN FOFARIA: RDS: A legislative creation in search of consistency and efficiency (EdNC reports) — This is Part Three in a series examining the residency laws of NC, the new RDS system in place to process applications in compliance with the laws, and the experiences of community colleges who feel the RDS system has become a barrier to their students. In Part One of the series, we looked at residency laws and why residency matters. In Part Two, we chronicled the experiences of community colleges and its applicants. Now we take a deeper look at RDS, how it was built, and what it is intended to do.

MELANIE PRICE: Let’s get this party started! Ways to adopt and adapt (EdNC column) — et me say right out of the gate that I am from Tennessee and live just an hour from the state line in Robbinsville. For NC and Tennessee to be neighboring and southern, the cultural differences are enormous. So I decided immediately that I needed to compartmentalize by putting Tennessee in its box so I could open a new box of learning all-things NC.

Bennett College appeals loss of accreditation (AP reports) — After two years of probation, one of just two historically black private women's colleges in the country has lost its accreditation. But Bennett College President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins said Tuesday that the college has appealed the accrediting agency's decision.

UNC Wilmington sets records in 2018 with gift, enrollment (AP reports) — UNCW set all-time enrollment records with total enrollment surpassing 16,700 and a 16 percent increase in graduate student enrollment.

ANN DOSS HELMS: Cambridge in Charlotte: British education comes to the suburbs, and NC takes note (Charlotte Observer reports) — In 1864, the University of Cambridge began offering exams to students outside of Great Britain who hoped to attend the prestigious school. Today those exams — and the K-12 education program that Cambridge created to prepare students for success — are viewed in 160 countries as a ticket to a top-flight education.

YASMIN BENDAAS: Wrangling smoke: Regulating the billion dollar vape industry (EdNC reports) — On Oct. 15, 2018, NC Attorney General Josh Stein submitted a civil investigative demand to Juul Labs “for more information about Juul’s marketing practices, retailers, contact with resellers, efforts to verify age before purchase, and any youth education and awareness programs.” The investigation follows similar moves by other states, like Massachusetts, that are taking a deep look at how effective e-cigarette companies are at preventing their products from getting into the hands of minors.

Cancer kills firefighters. N.C. rarely says their deaths were in the line of duty (AP reports) — NC allows $100,000 in death benefits to police fighters, firefighters and rescue squad members who are judged to have died in the line of duty. But the state Industrial Commission, which decides those cases, has awarded benefits when firefighters died of cancer just twice.

CLAUDIA RUPCICH: Deadline to apply for Florence FEMA aid today (WRAL reports) — Thursday is the last day for NC home and business owners to register for federal help in fixing properties damaged this fall in Hurricane Florence. The deadline to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is midnight, Dec. 13.

GREG BARNES: Don’t sign Chemours consent order, residents tell DEQ (NC Health News reports) — “What else are they hiding from us?” residents want to know before the state enters an agreement with the company accused of contaminating the Cape Fear River and private wells with GenX and other chemicals.

TRAVIS FAIN: Another verdict against Smithfield Foods, but with low award (WRAL-TV reports) — — A NC jury delivered another verdict Wednesday for neighbors suing hog industry giant Smithfield Foods, but with much lower damages than in previous trials. The jury awarded $102,400, split between eight plaintiffs. The awards were broken down by how long plaintiffs lived near hog farms in their area, with the highest amounts, $75,000 and $25,000, going to people who were there before the farms.

Jury rules again Smithfield Foods hogs nuisance to neighbors (AP reports) -- A federal jury is again siding with neighbors who complained that a Smithfield Foods industrial-scale hog operation in North Carolina was such a nuisance it damaged how they lived their lives.

SETH GULLEDGE: Duke University acquires 10,000 acres for carbon farm in eastern NC (Triangle Business Journal reports) -- Duke University has partnered with an eastern North Carolina landowner to begin work in Hyde County on what could be the largest carbon farm in the country.

JOHN HENDERSON: Historic Haymont Grill building torn down (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- The historic Haymont Grill & Steakhouse building was demolished to the disappointment of long-time customers. The restaurant that opened in the mid-1940s has been a shell since an early-morning fire raced through it on April 9, 2016.

LIZ BIRO: Our Coast’s Food: Christmas Sausage Balls (Coastal Review Online reports) — When it comes to holiday nibbles in NC, nothing beats these mini-meatball morsels of pork and cheddar cheese. Experiencing a Christmas without sausage balls is like waking up to no presents under the tree.