Opinion Roundup: Fourth of July naturalization ceremony, billboards target Silent Sam, developing wind energy and more

Thursday, July 5, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Immigrants become the country's newest citizens on July 4th naturalization ceremony, billboards target Silent Sam statue at UNC-Chapel Hill, Raleigh employment attorney says calls up 500 percent since start of #MeToo, ending moratorium on wind energy development and more.

ADAM OWENS: 25 take oath, become US citizens in ceremony at State Capitol (WRAL-TV reports) -- Twenty five people took an oath in downtown Raleigh to become naturalized citizens of the United States. At the North Carolina State Capitol and surrounded by in red, white and blue, the 25 people from 17 different countries took part in the ceremony.

LYNN BONNER: These immigrants became the country's newest citizens on July 4th (Durham-Herald Sun reports)— After 18 years in the country, Freile became a U.S. citizen at a naturalization service that was part of an Independence Day celebration outside the State Capitol. In all, 27 people from 17 countries became citizens in the Raleigh ceremony.

EDDIE FITZGERALD: America’s birthday starts with 28 new citizens (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- After a pledge to uphold the Constitution behind Harmony Hall 28 people from 14 countries became U.S. citizens. Chief U.S. District Judge James Dever III, who administered the oath of citizenship, said it was different than most oaths taken in other countries, like England, where people take a pledge to the Monarch; France, where citizens take a pledge to support the people; and in certain places in China where people take a pledge to support a certain political party. “But here we don’t take a pledge to a person,” Dever said. “We actually take a pledge to support and defend the Constitution.”

SARAH NEWELL: Fourth of July naturalization ceremony at Old Salem results in 49 new 'proud and excited' U.S. citizens (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- In 2017, Nancy James became a U.S. citizen. This year, on July 4, her older sister, Rosalem Williams, followed in her footsteps and became an American as well.

JIM MORRILL & ANNE BLYTHE: Why one NC GOP official calls Republican Supreme Court candidate 'the enemy’ (Charlotte Observer reports) — N.C. Republicans are crying foul over a candidate who could change the balance of the state Supreme Court. And that candidate is a Republican. Raleigh attorney Chris Anglin filed at the last minute last week. He joined incumbent Justice Barbara Jackson, a Republican, and Democrat Anita Earls in the race. But until June 7, Anglin was a registered Democrat. Republicans worry that by siphoning votes from Jackson, he could open the door for Democrat Earls.

KEN STERN: “Trump Has Kept His End of the Bargain”: The Dark Truth About Evangelicals’ Dance with the Devil (Vanity Fair analysis) --- Some 40 years after the founding of the Moral Majority, many evangelicals are finding that the old adage “politics makes strange bedfellows” can have distressing consequences.

SARAH KRUEGER: Billboards in Raleigh target Silent Sam statue at UNC-Chapel Hill (WRAL-TV reports) -- A national group is behind the placement of two giant billboards looming over Raleigh that are taking aim at the controversial Silent Sam statue at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Restaurant employee calls 911 on African-American family (AP reports) -- A Georgia restaurant owner says he is investigating after an employee called 911 on an African-American family from North Carolina who had stopped for dinner during a vacation. WSB-TV reports that Felicia and Othniel Dobson had stopped for dinner at a Subway in Newnan with their four children, ages 8 to 19, when a restaurant employee called police. In the 911 call, the employee said there are "eight people in a van" who were going back forth to the bathroom and possibly putting soda in water cups. The couple said the responding police officer and store owner apologized. Felicia Dobson said the family did nothing wrong and "can't change our skin color."

LAURA LESLIE: Raleigh employment attorney says calls up 500 percent since start of #MeToo (WRAL-TV reports) -- Since the #MeToo movement took off in October, it seems not a week has gone by that another celebrity is facing accusations of sexual misconduct. Victims of sexual harassment in North Carolina have very few options in the courts, but a local attorney is hoping that will change.

JAY GREEN: Cree Girds for LED Tariffs It Says Will Sting (Wall Street Journal reports) -- Cree, N.C.-based maker of lighting products, tried to convince the Trump administration that paying tariffs on its goods coming out of China would threaten its spending on research and jobs in the U.S. It didn’t work.

DENISE LAVOIE: Drivers challenge license suspensions for unpaid court debt (AP reports) More than 40 states allow the suspension of driver's licenses for people with unpaid criminal or traffic court debt. But now, advocates across the country are pushing to change that, arguing that such laws are unconstitutional because they unfairly punish poor people and violate due process by not giving drivers notice or an opportunity to show they cannot afford to pay the fees. In a study released in September, the justice center estimated that 4.2 million people then had suspended or revoked licenses for unpaid court debt in five states alone: Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas.

Words, not bullets, needed to curb Greensboro's violence (Greensboro News & Record) -- Cowering and hand-wringing anguish. Frustration and taunting. Finger-pointing and shrugging. Tears and fears. Anger and depression. Problems and solutions.

HARRY L. WILLIAMS: It's Time to Talk Sustainability (Inside Higher Ed column) -- It's better for historically black colleges and universities to consider merging than to close in disgrace. … If we are to develop constructive solutions to the problem, we should consider, for example, the University System of Georgia’s principles of consolidation, which were developed to help evaluate ways to mitigate the expense of operating dozens of public campuses while addressing key areas of need in some of the state’s most vulnerable regions. Those principles led the system to consolidate Albany State University, an HBCU, with predominantly white Darton State College in 2016 to improve operational efficiency and to respond to dwindling industries and population losses in Southwest Georgia.

NATASHA LAMB: Time to end moratorium on wind energy development in NC (Durham-Herald Sun column) — While solar has thrived in North Carolina, however, wind energy remains largely untapped. The unfortunate 18-month moratorium on new wind energy projects further cripples the industry’s potential. North Carolina needs transparency and consistency for all infrastructure projects, including wind.

Hog waste problem needs better answers (Fayetteville Observer) — Farmer Tom Butler is using hog waste to produce natural gas that runs a power plant. Butler’s operation is turning into a mini-grid that powers an entire neighborhood. That’s the kind thinking our legislative leaders need to embrace. It’s safe to predict that the new farm-protection law will end up in court, where it will likely be tossed out as an unconstitutional restriction on property rights.

India Mackinson & Catherine Clabby: GenX – An Interactive Timeline (NC Health News reports) —Over the past year, the story of GenX contamination in the Cape Fear has taken almost as many twists and turns at the river itself.

New federal plan could mean the end of red wolves in NC (WRAL-TV reports) -- Some N.C. landowners are applauding a proposal to shrink the protective habitat for red wolves, which would allow them to be shot if they wander onto private property.

MARK PRICE: Teen who fell 150 feet at NC's Rainbow Falls is latest in series of waterfall deaths (Charlotte Observer reports) — A 16-year-old girl who fell July 4th from the top of Rainbow Falls in Transylvania County has become the latest is a series of waterfall tragedies in the region over the past six weeks. The waterfall is 150 feet high and sits on National Forestry Service land, adjacent to Gorges State Park, according to Katie Hall with North Carolina State Parks.

DAVID CECELSKI: Pitch Pines and Tar Burners: A 1792 Account (Coastal Review column) – A N.C. historian shares an historical account of what he thinks might be the best description of tar making in the state he has ever read, written by an English merchant from a 1792 visit to coastal North Carolina.