Opinion Roundup: ABC commissioner resigns, Robeson County votes to stop school paddling, tackling high school football safety and more

Friday, Aug. 17, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: The 2020 race for NC governor just got kick-started, ABC commissioner resigns after state audit, Robeson County school board votes to stop spanking, US judge keeps alive Duke Energy water pollution lawsuit, questions prevail after EPA GenX Meeting, opioid-related deaths in NC surpass trend projections and more.

FERREL GUILLORY: Weight of history bears down on amendments (EdNC column) -- The struggle over executive and legislative powers dates to the founding of the nation. N.C. has had a long historical tilt in favor of a strong legislative branch. Indeed, a well-functioning democracy needs an accessible and knowledgeable assembly of freely elected representatives of the people. But no less an authority on checks-and-balances in American government than James Madison, writing in the 1788 Federalist Papers No. 47, cited N.C. for going too far at its outset in giving the legislative branch power to appoint the governor, as well as executive office-holders and judges. It was not until the 1835 state Constitution that North Carolina voters got the right to elect their governors.

Critics find fodder in NC candidate’s sermons on women. He calls it a distraction. (Charlotte Observer reports) -- Former Baptist pastor Mark Harris, a candidate in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, has come under fire for earlier sermons that urged women to “submit.” How will his views affect his policies?

TAYLOR BATTEN: The 2020 race for NC governor just got kick-started (Charlotte Observer reports) — A big piece of North Carolina’s 2020 race for governor fell into place Thursday when Dan Forest gave his clearest signal yet that he’s running. This raises a number of questions, including: Who is Dan Forest? What has he accomplished that makes him qualified to serve as governor?

TIM BUCKLAND: Sunday voting is coming, but is it all just politics? (Wilmington Star News reports) — Republicans and other critics noted that Democrats held majorities on local boards of elections for much of the last two decades and rarely -- or never -- offered voting on Sunday when they had the chance.

DEREK LACEY: State-mandated Sunday voting for county raises tempers (Hendersonville Times-News) -- The state mandated the county operate under the minority early voting plan proposal, which includes the one Sunday of voting. That decision was met locally and across the state by several objections — that it would cost taxpayer money, burden election workers and negatively impact those who want to attend religious services. Speaking during public comment, resident Jane Bilello said the move was imposed by the “nameless, faceless, unelected, elitist, rude, condescending North Carolina Board of Electors” in the face of many opposing public comments. She called it “underhanded” and “outrageous,” describing it as a “highly-organized, dishonest scheme by the Democratic Party to disrupt early voting plans in 100 counties.”

Omarosa releases tape of Wilmington native Lara Trump offering her $15K-a-month campaign job (NBC News reports) -- Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who became a top White House aide to President Donald Trump, released exclusively to MSNBC a secret tape of campaign official Lara Trump – Wilmington native and daughter-in-law of the president – offering her a $15,000-a-month job after she was fired from the administration.

TRAVIS FAIN: ABC Commissioner resigns, blasts state audit (WRAL-TV reports) — Michael Herring, who had been with the agency since 1981, said State Auditor Beth Wood's audit missed the mark, and he complained that Gov. Roy Cooper's administration hung him and others who have worked for the ABC Commission in recent years out to dry by not fighting her "fictitious findings."

GARY ROBERTSON: On the way out, ABC commissioner criticizes Gov. Cooper (AP reports) — A commissioner on the panel regulating North Carolina's alcohol sales has resigned following a state audit that decided it had done a poor job controlling costs by a vendor that manages liquor warehouse space

DAVID GLOSSER: Stephen Miller Is an Immigration Hypocrite. I Know Because I’m His Uncle. (Politico column) -- If my nephew’s (a Duke University graduate) ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.

MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM: For News Media, a Day of Solidarity in a Summer of Unease (New York Times reports) -- Job losses, insults from Mr. Trump and threats have made this a difficult time for many journalists. On Thursday, more than 300 publications responded by reaffirming what they do and why it’s important.

DREW BROOKS: VA Secretary Robert Wilkie coming to Fayetteville (Fayetteville Observer reports) — Among all the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers in North Carolina and Virginia, the Fayetteville VA has the largest and fastest-growing female veteran population.

FRAN DANIEL: Forsyth commissioners OK program to reduce jail population and deal with inmates' opioid, heroin and alcohol addictions (Winston-Salem Journal reports) — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners gave the go-ahead Thursday for a pilot program to reduce the county jail population by helping inmates with addictions to opioids, heroin and alcohol.

RICHARD STRADLING: University scrambles to find housing after insurance commissioner says dorms unsafe (Charlotte Observer reports) — UNC-Asheville must scramble to find places for hundreds of incoming students to live, after the state insurance commissioner determined that five new residence halls are a safety hazard and prohibited the university from using them.

KELLY HINCHCLIFFE: Racist threats, Nazi graffiti, Trump feuds: Records reveal racial tension in Orange County schools (WRAL-TV reports) -- Orange County Schools recorded 70 racial and election-related incidents at their middle and high schools during the 2016-17 school year. The school system was tracking the incidents and requested the records.

MATTHEW MEYER: Women of construction education (EdNC column) – The construction industry has acknowledged it has a public perception problem, and in N.C., the Carolinas Association of General Contractors is working with the community college system to rebrand construction and contractor careers, with a focus on female and minority populations. One unanticipated and surprising result of this partnership is learning about women construction faculty at the state’s community colleges. Dr. Lisa Chapman, Chief Academic Officer with the Community College System, is encouraged that more women are becoming involved in traditionally male-dominated trades programs.

Duke will leave Robert E. Lee statue site empty for good (AP reports) — Duke University is making permanent its earlier decision to leave vacant the space where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue formerly stood. The private university in Durham, North Carolina, plans to install a plaque explaining the empty spot outside the door to its Gothic-style campus chapel.

MAGGIE BROWN: Robeson County school board votes to stop spanking (WRAL & AP news reports) — Breaking a tie vote, the chairman of the Robeson County school board on Tuesday night cast the deciding ballot that ends the district’s practice that permitted spanking and paddling students for bad behavior.

Robeson drops school paddling (Fayetteville Observer) — It was a close vote, but the result was right: Robeson County’s school board will come into the 21st century and abandon the corporal punishment of its students in the public school system.

JARED WEBER: UNC-Chapel Hill Researchers Aim to Revolutionize Ebola Care in West Africa (NC Health News reports) — When hot spots of Ebola virus pop up occasionally in Africa, researchers from Nc are making their way there to help out, and find ways to prevent further disease.

JESSIE POUNDS: Southeast Guilford Middle parents voice concerns to school leaders about water safety (Greensboro News & Record reports) — About 30 parents, students and staff gathered for a meeting with school leaders Thursday night to discuss the safety of water from taps at school buildings in response to tests this winter that showed high levels of lead in water at three schools, including Southeast Guilford Middle.

High school football safety must be tackled head-on (Greensboro News & Record) — On freshly sodded and newly painted acres of emerald grass tonight, teen-aged boys will line up across from each other and knock heads in the first high school football games of the season.Driven by excitement, desire and adrenalin, they will launch their bodies at one another in a constant confrontation of strength, speed and instinct that sometimes will end in stunning, dead-stop collisions.

TAYLOR KNOPF: Opioid-related Deaths in NC Surpass Trend Projections (NC Health News reports) — Drug overdose deaths continue to rise and surpass the projected death toll in North Carolina. Much of the increase is due to fentanyl.

US judge keeps alive Duke Energy water pollution lawsuit (AP reports) — federal judge is keeping alive a lawsuit accusing the country's second-largest electricity company of violating water pollution laws by allowing potentially toxic coal ash sludge into neighboring waterways.

JAMES MORRISON: Cheap Solar Panels, Batteries Help Ocracoke Keep The Lights On (WUNC-FM reports) -- A year after a construction crew accidentally cut power to the Outer Banks, Ocracoke is taking advantage of cheaper solar panels and batteries to make its own energy right on the tiny island. Thousands of people had to evacuate the areas south of the Bonner Bridge at the height of tourist season last summer because of the power outage.

BRAD RICH: Native Returns to Revive Down East Industry (Coastal Review reports) -- Susan Fulcher Hill, a native of Williston with biology and food science degrees, and her husband, Robert, have launched an oyster hatchery in the former Willis Brothers Seafood building.

TRISTA TALTON: A Look Back: Holden Beach’s (Un)Done Deal (Coastal Review reports) — Holden Beach is the only NC beach town to formally revoke its permit application to construct a terminal groin since the ban on the structures was repealed.

DENISE LAVOIE: Environmental groups ask court to review pipeline approval (AP reports) — The Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates petitioned the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of 13 conservation and environmental groups to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

ADAM WAGNER: Is GenX in the water? NC research project aims to find out (Wilmington Star News reports) — Researchers are optimistic about a state-funded project that will soon let utilities across the state know if chemicals like GenX and C8 can be found in their drinking water.

ROSE HOBAN: Questions Prevail After EPA GenX Meeting (NC Health News reports) — After more than nine hours, EPA officials, including long-time agency toxicologist Peter Grevatt, expressed their appreciation and thanks for the many people who came out and the dozens who spoke. But the meeting left many in attendance with as many questions as before.

Two former NC priests named in Pennsylvania clergy sex abuse report (WRAL reports) — Two priests who once worked in North Carolina were among the hundreds named in a scathing grand jury investigation into the molestation of children in six Pennsylvania dioceses and subsequent cover-up over several decades.

ABBIE BENNETT: Hammerhead shark nearly as long as a car took 3 hours and 6 NC fishermen to reel in (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- It took six North Carolina fishermen three hours to land a shark nearly as long as a Volkswagen Beetle. The hammerhead shark was close to 13 feet long and was caught on Aug. 15 just south of Avon on Hatteras Island, said Outer Banks photographer Jason Cole.

RENEE CHOU: Weeks after his accident, Jeff Hogan returns to the WRAL anchor desk (WRAL reports) — When Renee Chou visited her co-anchor Jeff Hogan, who was badly injured in a surfing accident on July 28, she was relieved. Jeff will need surgery and is still recovering, but his spirits are high. Renee visited Jeff during a physical therapy session to talk about how his recovery is going and how this experience has changed him.