Opinion roundup: Tangled fates of UNC Chancellor and 'Silent Sam,' legal battles over UNC admissions, election investigations, Trump's invited to N.C., movies and more

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: The tangled fates of UNC Chancellor Folt and 'Silent Sam,' legal battles over 'discrimination in UNC admissions, election investigations, Trump's invited to N.C., tragic fate for horses in Wake County and more.

SARAH KRUEGER: N.C. university leaders depart amid culture war (WRAL-TV reports) -- When Carol Folt gave her first big speech as head of North Carolina's flagship public university, she praised lawyer Julius Chambers, who battled segregationists in court, and she lauded legendary basketball coach Dean Smith's civil rights advocacy. The Tar Heel titans "worked across differences for the common good," she said in 2013.

JANE STANCILL: In the end, Silent Sam’s fate and Carol Folt’s future were intertwined (Durham Herald-Sun reports) -- The Silent Sam Confederate statue issue at UNC-Chapel Hill proved to be an obstacle that would be linked to Carol Folt’s performance as chancellor. She announced her resignation this week.

N.C. elections official says Congress can see evidence (AP reports) – N.C.'s elections director says evidence collected in an investigation into possible fraud in the nation's last undecided congressional race is secure and ready if Congress needs to take a look.

TRAVIS FAIN: NC House Speaker invites Trump to give State of the Union in Raleigh (WRAL-TV reports) -- "The President of the United States is always welcome in the Old North State," Republican NC House Speaker Tim Moore writes.

ROB SCHOFIELD: The legislature’s latest assaults on transparency (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- If there’s a single most maddening and telling hallmark of the hard-right leadership that’s dominated the N.C. legislature over the past eight years, it has to be its failure to live up to its members’ past promises to champion open and transparent government.

TRAVIS FAIN: FBI agents contacted two lawmakers regarding House speaker (WRAL-TV reports) -- An anonymous letter sparked inquiries into House Speaker Tim Moore's activities.

DREW WILSON: Farmers could receive hurricane relief checks this month (Wilson Times reports) -- A leading agriculture advocate in the North Carolina Senate told farmers and their families that farmers can expect to see checks from the Hurricane Florence Agricultural Disaster Program of 2018 before month’s end. Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, told about 150 farmers attending the Farmers Appreciation Dinner at the Wilson Agricultural Center that he’d met with N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on Tuesday to work on direct disaster payments.

TRAVIS FAIN: Did we just see the first ad of the 2020 election season? (WRAL-TV reports) -- A Democratic group is up on local airways with a 30-second ad targeting U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis over the ongoing partial federal shutdown.

RICHARD CRAVER: State jobless rate ends 2018 at 18-year low of 3.6 percent (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- The N.C. unemployment rate remained at an 18-year low of 3.6 percent for a third consecutive month during December. The rate was down from 4.5 percent a year ago.

Even jurors can’t silence courthouse critics (Wilson Times) -- North Carolina’s highest court will soon decide whether defendants who believe they were wrongfully convicted have the right to complain to the jurors who sat in judgment. A three-judge N.C. Court of Appeals panel upheld the state’s problematically vague juror harassment law in a 2-1 ruling last month, finding that shielding jurors from uncomfortable conversations outweighs the First Amendment’s free speech protections. Since the appellate opinion was not unanimous, the N.C. Supreme Court is obligated to review the case.

ADAM OWENS: DOT hopes technology can turn wrong-way drivers around on NC highways (WRAL-TV reports) -- Crashes involving vehicles going the wrong way on North Carolina highways killed 164 people between 2000 and 2017, according to the state Department of Transportation, where engineers are testing technology that they hope will turn those statistics around.

ICE’s reckless Charlotte arrests (Charlotte Observer) -- ICE arrests Wednesday at the Mecklenburg Courthouse are part of a policy that offers little gain in fighting illegal immigration, but hurts all immigrants and law enforcement.

TAYLOR BUCK: Roper announces UNC System transition team after assuming position (Daily Tar Heel reports) -- Interim UNC-system President Bill Roper has announced his eight-person transition team three days after taking the reins. Three members of Roper's team will "serve in an executive capacity on loan from their respective agencies," including Carol Lewis, the executive director of the UNC Center for Health Innovation, Andy Willis, the chief of staff of UNC Health Care and Dan Gerlach, the executive director of the Golden LEAF Foundation.

ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS: UNC Admissions Lawsuit Brings Another Attack on Affirmative Action (New York Times reports) – UNC-Chapel Hill weighs race so heavily in its admissions process that it is the predominant factor in determining whether many black and Hispanic students get in, according to court papers filed by an anti-affirmative action group that is also suing Harvard. The group, Students for Fair Admissions, says the university is excluding white and Asian applicants in favor of less qualified black and Hispanic students. The plaintiffs accuse U.N.C., a public flagship university, of using race “at every stage” of the admissions process, in violation of the law, “even when the application gives no indication that race affected the student’s life in any way.”

NICK ANDERSON: UNC defends race-conscious admissions in federal lawsuit (Washington Post reports) – UNC-Chapel Hill urged a federal judge to reject allegations of illegal racial bias in the public university’s admissions process and rule in its favor without allowing the lawsuit to go to trial. At the same time, the plaintiff in the case — a group opposed to affirmative action called Students for Fair Admissions — also asked the judge to bypass a trial. The group said evidence showed that UNC gives too much weight to race and ethnicity in its admission process and has not given adequate consideration to race-blind strategies for enrolling a diverse class.

MELISSA KORN & NICOLE HONG: UNC Defends Admissions Policies in Suit Alleging Unfair Racial Preferences (Wall Street Journal reports) – UNC-Chapel Hill defended itself against allegations its undergraduate admissions process violates Supreme Court precedents by giving too much weight to applicants’ race.

MICHAEL BRAGG: Report shows racial disparities in punishment in schools across N.C. (Winston-Salem Journal reports) -- Black students in North Carolina and Forsyth County schools are disproportionately punished compared with their white peers, according to reports published by the Youth Justice Project. The annual Racial Equity Report Cards from the Youth Justice Project, run by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, highlight data from recent school years for all public school systems in the state, as well as a statewide report card.

LAURA LESLIE: Bad math? Software error tweaks grades in NC schools (WRAL-TV reports) -- A software error caused public school students around North Carolina to receive incorrect end-of-term grades this school year, state education officials said.

LIZ SCHLEMMER: Pendulum Could Swing Again For Standardized Tests in NC Schools (WUNC-FM reports) -- State Superintendent Mark Johnson and the Department of Public Instruction are taking steps to reduce the amount of time North Carolina students spend taking standardized tests. Johnson says the moves are meant to help relieve stress on students.

GINGER LIVINGSTON: Despite enrollment drop, ECU chancellor sees 'no limits' in future (Greenville Daily Reflector reports) -- A year after welcoming its third-largest class of freshmen, East Carolina University saw its enrollment drop by 413 students this fall, a decrease that cost the school $5 million in state funding.

FSU students create ‘Hate in the United States’ website (Fayetteville Observer reports) -- A group of criminal justice majors at Fayetteville State University who learned about hate last semester shared their knowledge with the world. The students were in Emily Lenning’s Criminal Justice course, “Hate in the United States.” Their project for the semester was to create a website to call attention to the issue.

21 horses found dead on Wake County property (WRAL-TV reports) -- Authorities are investigating after at least 20 horses were found dead on a Wake County property.

JODI GLUSCO: 'Green Book' movie's Bobby Rydell hails from New Bern (WRAL-TV reports) -- 'Green Book' is getting lots of critical acclaim, and one of the stars of the hit movie is a North Carolina native. Von Lewis plays Bobby Rydell.

SARAH LINDENFELD HALL: 'Overwhelmed and thrilled:' Harris Teeter working to ensure everybody gets NCSU’s Howling Cow ice cream fix (WRAL-TV reports) -- Howling Cow ice cream lovers are apparently flocking to local Harris Teeters to get their fix. News that 16 Harris Teeters are now selling N.C. State Univeresity's very popular Howling Cow ice cream seems to have sent people straight to the store to grab a pint - or more. Soon after the ice cream went on sale late last week, customers were reporting empty freezer shelves.