Opinion Roundup: 9th District dispute, real-time TV fact checks, census question and more

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Judge weighs GOP victory claim in disputed race, Columbus County residents divided over sheriff's race, technology near for real-time TV political fact checks, the truth about teaching science in rural NC, celebrating charter schools and more.

REAL ELECTION FRAUD?

LAURA LESLIE: GOP, Democrats make closing arguments before 9th District dispute heads to court (WRAL-TV reports) -- Republican and Democratic officials held dueling news conferences in Raleigh regarding the disputed 9th Congressional District election, one day before a court hearing that could decide the winner in the race.

EMERY DALESIO: Judge weighs GOP victory claim in disputed race (AP reports) -- A state judge was scheduled to hear arguments into declaring the Republican in the country's last undecided congressional race the winner despite an investigation into whether his lead was boosted by illegal vote-collection tactics.

NC09 hearing set; Mark Harris will not attend (Charlotte Fox 46 reports) -- A hearing on whether or not the results of the District 9 election will be certified could come down from a statejudge, FOX 46 learned that Republican Mark Harris, who filed the initial petition to get the votes certified, will not be in attendance. Harris announced that he will not attend the hearing due to an illness. Campaign officials say Harris has been dealing with complications stemming from an infection.

CARLI BROSSEAU: Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing on election fraud, NC political parties cast competing views (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The day before attorneys battle in open court over whether Mark Harris should be officially named the winner of the race for N.C.’s 9th Congressional District, the state’s major political parties competed to set the public narrative.

RUSTY JACOBS: Columbus County Residents Divided Over Sheriff's Race (WUNC reports) — NC's 9th congressional district is not the only scene of a disputed election in the state. A trial is scheduled for next month to determine if Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene has violated state law by taking office.

SARAH KRUEGER: Weather Service employees forecast difficult times ahead if government shutdown doesn't end (WRAL-TV reports) -- At the National Weather Service office in Raleigh, meteorologists are watching more than approaching weather systems these days.

DREW JACKSON: These NC restaurants are providing free food, free beer to furloughed federal workers (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Restaurants in Raleigh and Durham are offering free meals and free beer to federal workers who aren’t getting paid during the government shutdown.

RACHEL RILEY: Fort Bragg’s congressman opposes military dollars for border wall (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- With the federal government entering day 31 of the partial shutdown, questions loom about whether funding for military projects, such as Fort Bragg construction, could be used to fund a wall at the southern border.

DAVID BUDER: Technology near for real-time TV political fact checks (AP reports) -- A Duke University team expects to have a product available for election year that will allow television networks to offer real-time fact checks onscreen when a politician makes a questionable claim during a speech or debate. The mystery is whether any network will choose to use it.

ERIK SPANBERG: Building bridges? Why Charlotte's relationship with NC legislators may be improved this year (Charlotte Business Journal reports) -- The General Assembly starts its long session on Jan. 30 facing the ongoing debate of rural versus urban investment. Here's a look at how Charlotte might be impacted.

STEVE HERRING: Republican leaders to meet on Jan. 28 to fill vacant Senate seat (Goldsboro News-Argus) -- The Republican Party Executive Committee for the 7th state Senate District will meet Monday, Jan. 28, to fill the seat left vacant by the retirement of Sen. Louis Pate, R-Wayne. The meeting is open to the public, but only committee members get to vote. Pate retired Jan. 14, citing a health issue less than a week after being sworn in for his fifth term in the state Senate and receiving an excused absence during the opening session of the legislature.

Cumberland County leads state in human trafficking arrests (AP reports) — State court figures shows that Cumberland County leads the state in arrests for human trafficking, a figure that the district attorney attributes to a task force focusing on the issue. The numbers from the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts show Wake County ranked second with 33 charges against 15 people.

AMANDA LAMB: State investigating Raleigh service dog supplier after dozens of families complain of untrained animals (WRAL-TV reports) -- More than 40 families have filed complaints with the state Attorney General's Office against a Raleigh company that trained service dogs and recently closed its doors.

WESLEY YOUNG: Confederate statue protests could be back before Winston-Salem city council (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- City Hall might once more fill with people there to express their views on a Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem. The city council meets at today and statue opponents are saying on Facebook that they plan to protest the presence of the statue during the public-comment period of the meeting. Some supporters of the statue said earlier this month that they also wanted to speak at the next meeting of the council.

JEFF HAMPTON: Bonner Bridge replacement that links the Outer Banks expected to open in March (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports) -- The $250 million, 2.8-mile-long span over the Oregon Inlet is built to last a century and replaces the old Bonner Bridge.

ANDREW MALCOLM: In this age of contention, even a simple census question prompts outrage (Durham-Herald Sun column) — Americans have no shortage of opportunities to display outrage these days, no matter what part of the political spectrum they inhabit. Justified or not, this flaming outrage reveals much about the country’s current state of mind, which is angry, in case you hadn’t noticed, and seemingly becoming angrier.

ISIS isn’t defeated, US still needed in Syria (Fayetteville Observer) — Donald Trump and Barack Obama are polar opposites in almost every conceivable way. Other than the fact that both have occupied the Oval Office and presided over the country’s executive branch, there’s little that they share. Except this: Both men have underestimated the Islamic State terrorist organization so dramatically that it’s hard to imagine what they were thinking.

EDUCATION

ROBERT CARRIER: The truth about teaching science in rural NC (EdNC column) — When I first started teaching as a high school science teacher at Warren New Tech High School with Teach for America in Warren County, it amazed me how small the school was. All 150 of our students fit into a single hallway, 10 classroom building with four additional classrooms found in a modular portable building only a short walk outside.

LIZ SCHLEMMER: What Happens When A Charter School Closes? (WUNC-FM reports) -- Eight year-old MacKenzie Whistler had a rough start to her Christmas break. She had just found out that she would not be returning to her new school, Global Achievers School in Rocky Mount, this January.

RHONDA DILLINGHAM: Celebrating charter schools in NC (EdNC column) —At a time when the news seems full of negative press coverage, many might long to hear some good news. Thankfully, when it comes to one of the most important topics around — giving our children a quality education — NC has an impressive, yet unheralded, story to tell.

WILL DUNHAM: A T. Rex and a Shark as Neighbors? Yes, Eons Ago in South Dakota (Reuters reports) -- Scientists conducting a recent painstaking examination of the two tons of rock left over after the fossilized bones of the celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue were extricated in the 1990s came across a surprise: shark teeth. The huge meat-eating dinosaur did not meet its demise in a shark attack in some sort of "Jaws" meets "Jurassic Park" monster mash. But, scientists said when the 40-1/2-foot-long (12.3-meter) Sue died some 67 million years ago, the beast fell into a South Dakota river teeming with sharks - albeit small ones - thriving in the freshwater environment. "It would not surprise me at all if a T. rex individual scared a little Galagadon as it lowered its head to drink," said N.C. State University paleontologist Terry "Bucky" Gates, lead author of the research published in the Journal of Paleontology.

YEN DUONG: Mental health parity isn’t panning out for some patients and parents (NC Health News reports) — A federal law is supposed to guarantee that mental health patients get treated the same as other patients, but that's not been the case for these three patients who tell their stories of struggling with insurance companies.

Cooperate on Medicaid expansion (Greenville Daily Reflector column) -- After North Carolina lawmakers were sworn in for a new two-year term Jan. 9, their leaders had some unusually conciliatory words to share with House and Senate members. Amazing the difference an election can make. Unfortunately, all the lawmakers went home after the speeches and won’t return until the end of this month ... We’ll have to wait until then to see if Berger and Moore were serious and if members of both parties will heed their advice. There are plenty of places where a new spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation can pay dividends.

CASEY WHITE: Cleveland County could see larger solar farms soon (The Shelby Star reports) -- Due to the availability of flat, open land and access to Duke Energy infrastructure, solar farms have proven successful in Cleveland County in recent years, according to Cleveland County Planning Director Chris Martin. Martin said the growing solar footprint in Cleveland County, both in the number of solar facilities and the size of them, has led county officials to hear an increase in comments from local residents about facilities being built near them.

NIELLE ALMRUD: N.C. should outlaw big cats as pets (Greensboro News & Record column) -- The Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, representing 17 professional sanctuaries that care for big cats and four partner organizations, applauds the News & Record for its editorial (Jan. 6) that states what should be the obvious: Lions and other exotic animals do not make good pets.

ANTIONETTE KERR: NC Moms Question EPA Nominee's Coal Ties (Public News reports) — Moms from NC are among those asking elected leaders to think hard about confirming Andrew Wheeler as the nation's top environmental steward.

STEVE DEVANE: State officials sending GenX surveys to residents around Chemours plant (Fayetteville Observer reports) — State health officials want to know what residents who live near the Chemours plant think about GenX and similar compounds. The state Department of Health and Human Services is sending surveys to more than 15,000 households within 10 miles of the facility. The surveys seek to find out what concerns the residents have about GenX and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to a statement released by the department.

DAVID CECELSKI: Songs on a Nags Head Porch (Coastal Review Online reports) — I recently visited with Gerret Warner and Mimi Gredy at a coffee shop in Durham. I had sought out the couple because I had learned that they were making a documentary film about two legendary collectors of American folk music who visited singers and musicians on the NC coast beginning in the 1930s: Gerret’s father and mother, Frank and Anne Warner.