Opinion Roundup: Redistricting reform, Medicaid expansion, school construction plans and more

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Senate school construction plan clears first hurdle, redistricting reformers hopeful about legislation this year, FEMA Chief Brock Long resigns, rolling back protections against payday lenders, teacher shortage plagues schools and more.

LAURA LESLIE: Effort to take politics out of drawing voting maps should gain traction this year (WRAL-TV reports) -- Bills to end gerrymandering in North Carolina have been filed just about every session for decades but have rarely even gotten a hearing. This year, backers say, things could be different.

GARY ROBERTSON: Redistricting reformers hopeful about legislation this year (AP reports) -- Lawmakers who want to reform the redistricting process in North Carolina say uncertainty over pending map litigation and the shaky balance of power at the legislature make them more optimistic their ideas will be voted on this year.

TAFT WIREBACK: Hardister leads movement to end gerrymandering (Greensboro News & Record reports) – Republican state Rep. Jon Hardister is part of a bipartisan plan to make redistricting less political. This marks the fourth consecutive session in which he has introduced a major proposal to remove the General Assembly from direct, hands-on control over the process of carving out voting districts.

WILL DORAN: This session might be the best chance in the next decade to end gerrymandering (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Now might be the best chance to end gerrymandering in NC, at least for another decade, a bipartisan group of legislators said Wednesday when they introduced a bill to do just that.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Rural Broadband (The Insider reports) -- As a new broadband infrastructure fund prepares to award its first grants, the N.C. League of Municipalities is making a renewed push for legislation that would allow local governments to build broadband infrastructure and lease it to private service provider.

Folwell’s hospital cost cuts could go too deep (Charlotte Observer) — NC Treasurer Dale Folwell is a certified public accountant, a careful calculator of numbers. But he’s also a bit of a daredevil who still races motorcycles at age 60.

BILL MCCARTHY: Would Medicaid expansion bring 40,000 jobs to NC, as NC Democrat says? (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Democrats in NC’s General Assembly filed bills to expand Medicaid last month, and now the party’s leaders are taking their case to the public. One big selling point: jobs.

RICHARD CRAVER: Marijuana possession bill reintroduced in state Senate (Winston-Salem Journal reports) — A Forsyth County legislator reintroduced Wednesday a Senate bill that would make it legal to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana for personal use. However, Senate Bill 58 would allow individuals to be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor if they exceed 3 ounces of marijuana.

ALEX GRANADOS: Senate school construction plan clears first hurdle (EdNC reports) — A Senate plan to fund school construction and repair cleared the chamber’s appropriations committee meeting today, but only after some Democratic lawmakers questioned whether the proposal is really better than a House plan to put a school construction bond bill on the ballot.

MICHAEL TACKETT: Brock Long, FEMA Administrator, Resigns After Two Turbulent Years (New York Times reports) -- Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who was praised for his agency’s response to Hurricane Harvey but sharply criticized for its handling of Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico, announced that he would resign. Mr. Long’s tenure was also punctuated by a controversy that had nothing to do with storms. The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security found in September that he had improperly used government vehicles to travel between work and his home in North Carolina, where his wife and two sons live.

MICHAEL BENDER: FEMA Chief Brock Long Resigns (Wall Street Journal reports) -- President Trump’s top disaster relief official had come under fire for his unauthorized use of government vehicles, including traveling to his North Carolina home. Brock Long said he planned to step down in two weeks.

Beasley a good choice for chief justice (Fayetteville Observer) — We’ll ignore the political wailing and whining for a moment and cut to the bottom line: Gov. Roy Cooper made a good call in naming Justice Cheri Beasley to chief justice of the state Supreme Court. We say that because we’ve had a front row seat here in Fayetteville, watching Beasley as she advanced in our legal system from public defender to respected District Court judge. She served with distinction, compiling a record that portrays a judge who puts constitution and law above politics.

Cooper, Congress members attending Rep. Jones funeral (AP reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper and members of Congress are gathering in Greenville to remember the late U.S. Rep. Walter Jones Jr.

KATHARINE SEELYE: Walter B. Jones, 76, Dies; Republican Turned Against Iraq War (New York Times reports) -- Walter B. Jones Jr., a Republican congressman from North Carolina whose district included Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, was a staunch supporter of the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He had even helped rebrand french fries as “freedom fries,” as a slap at France for opposing the war. But he had an epiphany one day at a memorial ceremony at Camp Lejeune for Marine Sgt. Michael Bitz, 31, who had been killed in Iraq shortly after the invasion while trying to evacuate his wounded comrades.

BRIAN MURPHY: ‘Courageous and kind’: US House colleagues pay tribute to Walter Jones (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Hailed as courageous and kind, longtime U.S. Rep. Walter Jones was honored by his former colleagues Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House, one day before his funeral in Greenville.

After multiple roadblocks, NC DPI worker fights for handicapped parking space (WRAL reports) — She lost part of her leg to save her life, but now a NC state employee is fighting the battle for a parking space that will make it easier for her to get to and from work.

Rolling back protections against payday lenders (Greensboro News & Record) — Turning its name into a cruel joke, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning to pull back important regulations on lenders who prey on people who struggle to make it from one paycheck to the next.

Advisory council gives Wilsonians a say in state law (Wilson Times) -- Politicians hoard power for themselves and guard it jealously, while genuine leaders empower the people they represent. State Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield is showing Wilson County she belongs in the latter camp. The ninth-term legislator will discuss state public policy with constituents on Saturday, and she’ll also invite them to join the Wilson County Citizens Legislative Advisory Council, a group of residents who will serve as a sounding board for Farmer-Butterfield on key issues affecting our communities. “Let’s make each other accountable for what’s happening in our district,” Farmer-Butterfield said.

TRAVIS FAIN: Cooper: $15 an hour 'an admirable goal' (WRAL-TV reports) -- Gov. Roy Cooper hopes Republicans will deal on minimum wage increase, sweeter unemployment insurance benefits.

Gov. Cooper honors black musicians, artists (AP reports) -- A musician who's received a genius grant, North Carolina's poet laureate and the founders of National Black Theatre Festival are among those being honored by the governor and first lady as part of Black History Month.

BILLY BALL: ICE is building its own wall (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- Surely, it would be folly to suggest that ICE’s hardened reputation as a home-wrecker was earned by the Trump administration alone.

AMELIA HARPER: Teacher shortage plagues schools (Rocky Mount Telegram reports) -- As some parents in the Nash-Rocky Mount school district struggle to understand why their students are being taught by a string of substitutes in some classrooms rather than by permanent teachers, district leaders led a discussion about the difficulty of obtaining teachers during a recent Parent Advisory Committee meeting in Nashville.

SARAH KRUEGER: UNC activists create memorials to recognize suffering of black people on campus (WRAL reports) — UNC student activists are making their mark on campus with handmade memorials they say are designed to recognize the suffering of black people at the University.

ANN DOSS HELMS: Superintendent calls on CMS to rally for students ‘traumatized’ by recent ICE raids (Charlotte Observer reports) — Students are “stressed, anguished and sleep-deprived” by a recent wave of raids targeting undocumented immigrants in Charlotte, Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said in an emotional four-minute speech Tuesday night.

STEVE DEVANE: Cumberland Board of Education wants to start school year earlier (Fayetteville Observer reports) — The Cumberland County Board of Education will ask state lawmakers to let the school system start the school year earlier to make it easier for high school students to finish the fall semester and take exams before the Christmas holiday.

ANALISA SORRELLS: Hunt Institute and Data Quality Campaign shed light on student growth complexities (EdNC reports) — In the realm of assessing student performance, two main education data measures are often discussed: student growth and student achievement. Measures of student growth use an individual student’s test score data at multiple points over time to evaluate an aspect of that student’s performance. Unlike student achievement, which reflects performance on a single test at a single point in time, student growth metrics allow for a richer picture of student performance.

RUPEN FOFARIA: Appreciation Week for the smiling faces that greet school children (EdNC reports) — While attending a bus driver appreciation event at Salem Elementary School yesterday, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Mark Johnson expressed his gratitude for bus drivers, adding that he rode a bus to school. “You know what, Mark,” veteran driver James Beckwith chimed in, “that wasn’t that long ago, either.”

ROSE HOBAN: Medicaid changes will become more visible to beneficiaries, providers (NC Health News reports) — Now that the providers for a privatized Medicaid managed care system have been chosen, HHS Sec. Mandy Cohen says beneficiaries will soon need to choose their providers.

Shutdown a possibility for Plymouth hospital (AP reports) -- An official at Plymouth hospital is concerned that the facility is about to close its doors for good. Washington County Hospital CEO Melanie Perry said that the facility's owner has plans to resolve several problems, including dwindling medical supplies and workers not getting paid for two weeks.

TRAVIS FAIN: Environmental groups push to break Duke Energy's monopoly (WRAL-TV reports) — A new coalition of environmental groups called for a sea change Wednesday in how NC does electricity: an end to Duke Energy's monopoly. The group delivered letters to Gov. Roy Cooper and General Assembly leadership that said "the interests of utility monopolies no longer coincide with those of the state's electric power customers."

CATHERINE KOZAK: Outer Banks Towns Dig For Flooding Fixes (Coastal Review reports) -- Outer Banks officials are tapping state grants, partnering on studies and taking other steps to address increasingly persistent flooding and faulty, inadequate drainage systems.

NATALIE MATTHEWS: Record-breaking wind gust recorded at Grandfather Mountain (WRAL-TV reports) -- Grandfather Mountain's weather recording station at the Mile High Swinging Bridge registered a record-breaking wind gust early Wednesday morning.

Anne Firor Scott, Groundbreaking Historian, Dead at 97 (New York Times obit) -- Anne Firor Scott, a prize-winning historian and esteemed professor who upended the male-dominated field of Southern scholarship by pioneering the study of Southern women, has died. She was 97. Her death was announced last week by Duke University, where she taught for three decades. Additional details about her death were not immediately available. Scott, who in 2013 received a National Humanities Medal, was a resident of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Edward F. Zigler, an Architect of Head Start, Dies at 88 (New York Times obit) -- Edward F. Zigler, a psychologist who in the mid-1960s helped design Head Start, the vanguard federal government program for preschool children, died on Feb. 7. He was 88. His son, Scott, said the cause was complications of coronary artery disease. He married Bernice Gorelick in 1955. She died in 2017. In addition to their son, Perrin Scott Zigler, dean of the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, he is survived by two granddaughters and a sister, Maurine Agron.

William Van Alstyne, 84, Dies; Often-Cited Constitutional Scholar (New York Times obit) -- William Van Alstyne, who taught for 39 years at Duke University School of Law, was an outspoken scholar whose interpretations of the Constitution were invoked by Supreme Court justices, civil libertarians and advocates for a diverse spectrum of causes, including gun ownership and abortion rights. He died on Jan. 29 at his home in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was 84. He was both an enrolled Republican and a national board member of the American Civil Liberties Union.

THEODEN JAMES: An Olympian ran a sub-4-minute mile with a dog he just met. Did they set a world record? (Charlotte Observer reports) — As a display of both human and canine athleticism, the video of Anthony Famiglietti of Mooresville hauling keister along the asphalt path tethered to Bailey is breathtaking.

JEFF HAMPTON: Hundreds brave OBX winds to walk, cycle new bridge of Oregon Inlet (Virginian-Pilot reports) — At least 2,000 people braved raw Outer Banks winds Saturday to trek across the new bridge over Oregon Inlet. The state opened the $252 million span of 2.8 miles to walkers and cyclists only as part of a ceremony marking its completion after three years of construction.