Opinion Roundup: Sports betting, Mecklenburg sheriff's bumpy patrol ride, UNC diversity debate and more

Saturday, March 23, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: State picks elections board members in Bladen after 9th District scandal, High Point graduate finds key role in Nevada politics, $10M Lumbee Tribe housing project may break ground this year, law enforcement’s role in immigration equation, NC teachers look to continue flexing muscle for funding and more.

LAURA LESLIE: ‘Bracket bill' would make sports betting pools legal in NC (WRAL-TV reports) -- N.C. outlawed gambling back in 1891. Over time, exceptions have been carved into the law for casinos on Indian reservations and for the state lottery, but otherwise, it's still illegal. However, in the case of amateur sports pools, the ban isn't enforced in any meaningful way. Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, says it's time to make them legal. Gunn is sponsoring Senate Bill 261, which would make betting pools legal as long as either all of the proceeds go back to the players or the pool is run by a charity as a fundraiser.

Few schools paddle anymore; let’s make it official (Wilmington Star-News reports) -- Corporal punishment teaches that wrong lesson: that hitting people is the way to solve problems.

DESIREE MILLER: More Democratic shenanigans in the 9th (Charlotte Observer column) -- The Democratic Party is at it again with sneaky and dirty tactics trying to affect the outcome of an election. In the 2018 NC Supreme Court race, one of their donkeys entered the race and dressed in elephant clothing to split the Republican vote and ensure a social justice warrior a seat on the court.

JEFF HAMPTON: Possibly largest field of candidates in NC history vies to replace Walter Jones (Virginian Pilot reports) -- Twenty-six candidates filed to run in the special election April 30, including three physicians, three members of the state general assembly, some former Marines, sailors and soldiers, the former president of the Civitas Institute, a pastor and a country music singer who had a hit in 1994.

State picks elections board members in Bladen after 9th District scandal (AP reports) -- Bladen County at the heart of a ballot-collection scandal that forced a new congressional election is getting a clean slate of elections overseers. The State Board of Elections picked three new members to Bladen County's elections board. They opted against picking a fourth member because the Democrats and Republicans refused to nominate additional candidates untouched by last year's election turmoil. The governor appoints the chair of the five-member board.

Protest, residency challenge in sheriff's race to be heard (AP reports) -- An election protest in a still-unresolved Columbus County sheriff's race will be heard after all.

ELIZABETH FRIEND: NC Firefighters Tackle High Cancer Rates Through Prevention And Politics (WUNC-FM reports) -- In North Carolina, firefighters are taking steps to address high cancer rates among their ranks. Firefighters are more likely to be diagnosed with and die of cancer than the general public, according to a 2015 study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

CELIA RIVENBARK: I’m going to need another cup of coffee ... and maybe some bourbon (Wilmington Star-News column) -- Back in the day, a “troll” was a mythical wild-haired creature who lived beneath bridges and spent his days scaring kids and taunting the likes of Three Billy Goats Gruff. Today’s trolls have moved into mom’s basement where they spend the day cloaked in darkness, banging Cheeto-dusted fingers on sticky keyboards not because of any deeply held political convictions but because it beats real work.

PAUL JOHNSON: High Point graduate finds key role in Nevada politics (High Point Enterprise via AP reports) -- Michelle White's journey in politics to become the new chief of staff for the governor of Nevada started in a set of classrooms in High Point. White, a Democratic Party political organizer and campaign strategist, was named the top staff member for new Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak at the first of this year. This past fall, Sisolak won the race for Nevada's top political post and became the state's first Democratic governor in 20 years. White headed up the governor's transition team before being named chief of staff.

$10M Lumbee Tribe housing project may break ground this year (AP reports) -- A $10 million low-income housing project planned for the lands of the Lumbee Tribe in NC may break ground this year. Tribal Housing Director Bradley Locklear says the project will create 50 affordable homes that will measure about 1,200-square-feet each.

JANE WESTER: There could be nearly 200 more cops on the street, but officers keep leaving CMPD (Charlotte Observer reports) -- After months of negotiation, the Charlotte City Council agreed to give Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney nearly $6 million for new officers in summer 2016. With that money, he could hire 125 more officers over the next two years. It was the first staffing increase for CMPD in nearly a decade. But none of those new jobs have been filled, because the department is struggling to replace its retiring and resigning officers. 

We’re in for a bumpy ride with this Mecklenburg sheriff’s ego (Charlotte Observer) -- In case you haven’t noticed, Mecklenburg County: There’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s brought his ego with him. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but this much is certain: It’s going to be a bumpy patrol ride.

BEN COLEY: County jail’s problems not new, will take millions to solve (Lexington Dispatch reports) -- On Feb. 28, the Department of Health and Human Services sent a warning to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. The letter described conditions at the Davidson County Detention Center as reaching levels that “jeopardize the health, safety and welfare of inmates and staff.” The consequences of not reducing the population in an adequate amount of time would be grave — corrective action, more specifically, shutting down the old portion of the jail built in the 1950s. However, a state official said that no jail has been shut down in recent memory.

Steve Woodsmall announces bid for Rep. Mark Meadows’ seat (Hendersonville Times-News reports) -- Democrat Steve Woodsmall announced Friday that he’s taking another shot at the U.S. House of Representatives. Woodsmall said a need for honest representation and reasonable solutions in Washington propelled him to announce his candidacy for the 2020 election for the state’s 11th Congressional District.

JOE PEARLMAN: Law enforcement’s role in immigration equation (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- There has been much gnashing of teeth by journalists and immigration activists about agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants in North Carolina. If ICE agents were detaining foreign nationals whose only “crime” is being in the U.S. without the requisite documentation, that would indeed be problematic. ICE is primarily looking for those undocumented immigrants who have violated our criminal (as opposed to immigration) laws, but admits that those who have not committed crimes after crossing the U.S. border may be subject to “collateral” arrest or detention.

WESLEY YOUNG: United Daughters of Confederacy: Put Confederate statue back, take city attorney out of lawsuit (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Winston-Salem would have to return a Confederate statue to its former spot at the corner of Liberty and Fourth streets if the court grants a motion filed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy this week in the a lawsuit against the city.

EDUCATION

ADAM OWENS: NC teachers look to continue flexing muscle for funding (WRAL-TV reports) -- Ten months after thousands of teachers flooded downtown Raleigh to urge state lawmakers to provide more support for public education, hundreds of teachers were back downtown to plot their next moves. More than 500 people were attending the N.C. Association of Educators' annual convention, and many said their needs haven't changed from last year. "Many of our folks are feeling the General Assembly is not doing enough to address the needs of our students," NCAE President Mark Jewell said.

LISA PHILIPS: A Look At The Not-So-New UNC Board of Governors (WUNC-FM reports) -- UNC Board of Governors member Steve Long apologized for comments he made earlier this week disparaging the leadership of his chairman, Harry Smith. At a full meeting of the board at Appalachian State University in Boone, Long said he should have come directly to Smith with his concerns. Long, a Raleigh attorney, said Smith was to blame for the departures of ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton and former UNC System President Margaret Spellings. He said Smith would continue to damage the university system as long as he remained chairman. According to NC Policy Watch and the John Locke Foundation’s Carolina Journal, there was a movement amongst other members of the board to censure Long for his comments.

BOBBY BURNS & GINGER LIVINGSTON: Diversity debate nudges UNC board (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- Members of UNC Board of Governors announced on Friday they had increased the number of women appointed to the governing boards of the state’s universities by a small margin, but said more needs to be done to make trustee boards reflect their student populations.

JEFF HAMPTON: ECSU teams with Ohio institution to expand drone training, innovation (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports) -- ECSU plans to offer a four-year degree in unmanned aircraft systems beginning this fall.

SARAH KRUEGER: In the wake of college admissions scandal, Duke reviews its past decisions (WRAL-TV reports) -- The college admission scandal reaches coast to coast - from the University of Southern California to Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, and has resulted in 50 parents being charged in a scandal the FBI calls "Operation Varsity Blues."

NC school system launches gun awareness campaign (AP reports) -- NC's second largest school system is launching a social media campaign to bring awareness to the danger of guns and their impact on students. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools says the campaign is meant to increase participation in and awareness of the increased effort to keep schools safe.

Suspicious fire at Cape Hatteras National Seashore on Outer Banks under investigation (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- Cape Hatteras National Seashore says a fire Friday burned an acre of land in the national park and an investigation has been launched. Multiple fire departments helped put out the fire near Frisco.

Tides rose and beaches flooded as Outer Banks endured combined equinox and supermoon (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The spring equinox and a supermoon combined Wednesday and Thursday to play havoc with Outer Banks islands, causing higher than normal tides and overwash on beaches, says National Park Service.

D.G. MARTIN: Real N.C. barbecue joints becoming an endangered species (Wilmington Star-News column) -- Too many of NC’s small towns are struggling, ‘littered with empty manufacturing plants, corporate farms, empty main streets and deserted houses.’ Is it just one more small-town business that has closed its doors? Or is there more to it?