Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:
Sept. 24
The Charlotte Observer on requests from North Carolina’s judicial community for more resources:
For years, members of North Carolina’s judicial community have made a simple but profound plea: We need more money for more manpower. Without it, they’ve argued, justice is not merely delayed but impaired. Those protests have been largely ignored, however, and the consequences are being felt not only with strained N.C. courts and overworked prosecutors, but in dangerous outcomes for our cities and counties.
In Mecklenburg County, more than 20 homicide suspects since 2015 might have been incarcerated before their suspected murders had they been convicted of a previous gun crime, a Charlotte Observer investigation found. The investigation, published Tuesday, also found that Mecklenburg prosecutors dismiss almost 70 percent of weapons charges, a rate that’s higher than any urban N.C. county, and that Mecklenburg subsequently has more repeat gun suspects than any county in the state.
The reasons behind the alarming numbers vary. Prosecutors and lawmakers say North Carolina needs tougher gun laws and sentencing, the Observer reports, but prosecutors have underutilized a 2013 N.C. law that called for a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for some repeat gun offenders.
Mostly, however, the issue is money. North Carolina’s courts continue to be among the most underfunded in the country, a problem that is decades old but has gotten worse under Republicans in Raleigh. The state spends less per resident than any other state-funded system, and we are third to last in the number of judges per capita. Without Mecklenburg supplementing the courts here with millions of dollars - a luxury poorer N.C. counties don’t have - the crisis would be even more dire. “I think the crime is that the third co-equal branch of the government is funded with about 2.5 percent of the budget,” Senior Resident Superior Court Judge W. Robert Bell told the editorial board.
The result is a cascade of flawed justice. Gun suspects go free, committing more crimes and terrorizing communities until they are arrested again - further clogging the court infrastructure. Prosecutors are forced to set an artificially higher bar for pursuing gun convictions - otherwise, their schedules and the courts would be even more overwhelmed. Ultimately, our cities and our communities are less safe, as offenders are emboldened with the belief that the system will never catch up to them.
Certainly, there’s money out there for a fix. Just last month, N.C. Republicans crowed about a nearly $900 million budget surplus and attempted to pass a bill that would send it back to taypayers. But that money should be going where North Carolina needs it most - schools and roads and, especially, its courts. Without it, justice comes slowly - wasting money in incarceration costs - or not at all. “Basically, you are limited in the number of cases that can be processed by the resources that are assigned to do that,” Chief District Court Judge Regan A. Miller told the editorial board.
Some of the same N.C. Republicans haven’t hesitated to take political advantage of crime recently, pointing fingers at urban sheriffs who decline to hold possible criminals for federal immigration agents. Yet for years, judges and DAs ask for more resources that would keep repeat offenders off the streets of North Carolina. Their pleas are legitimate. The consequences are real.
Online: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/
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Sept. 23
The Winston-Salem Journal on a joint effort to preserve wildlife in North Carolina:
North Carolina is a state of natural and sometimes fragile beauty. People come from across the country and around the world to experience our mountains, our shoreline and other parts of the state for themselves. We’re grateful for the many concerted efforts put forward to preserve that beauty for residents, for tourists and for the future.
In a joint effort, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and Three Rivers Land Trust recently purchased 2,463 acres, including 45 miles of shoreline along the Yadkin and South Yadkin rivers in Davie, Davidson and Rowan counties, to preserve for future generations, the Journal’s Richard Craver reported Sunday. The two organizations paid $7.7 million to buy the land from Alcoa Power Generating Inc. under a 2007 relicensing settlement agreement.
“Many of the parcels have been open for hunting, fishing and wildlife-associated recreation as a part of our game lands program for more than 30 years,” Brian McRae, chief of the commission’s Land and Water Access division, said. “We are thrilled to permanently protect this land that provides high-quality wildlife habitat, public recreational opportunities and protects water quality in the Yadkin River basin.”
Another 2,420 acres, with 31 miles of frontage along the eastern shore of the Tuckertown Reservoir, is also available for preservation, if the commission and trust can raise $8.5 million by September 2021.
They deserve to succeed.
A more delicate preservation effort is occurring in the Southern Appalachians, where the pretty yellow flowers known as spreading avens are in decline and under threat of extinction, the Asheville Citizen-Times’ Karen Chavez reported recently.
They’ve been listed as an endangered species since 1990. As of 2013, there were 15 known populations, found only in seven western North Carolina counties and two in Tennessee.
The major reasons for the species’ decline are an increase in recreational use, such as hiking and rock climbing; development, including ski slopes and forest succession; or the influx of woody plants, according to botanist Rebekah Reid with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
And climate change plays a role, according to a 2015 study co-authored by Blue Ridge Parkway botanist Chris Ulrey. The study found that half of the habitats that support spreading avens will be lost by 2050.
“This is given the most conservative, smallest amount of change in any of the climate models,” Ulrey said. “It’s definitely a species that is at risk now and probably will be in the future as well.”
Spreading avens can withstand harsh snow and ice, but the changing climate has dried the air to the point that the flowers don’t receive enough moisture.
Some may think it needlessly nitpicky to concentrate on preserving one flower or animal species when there are so many. But they all fit closely together in a web of life, each depending on the other - with us depending on many of them. Upsetting the balance could be devastating for agriculture, nature and human health and life.
Following Friday’s well-attended climate protests and the United Nations’ climate summit on Monday, this may be a good time to think about the impact we have on our planet and our responsibility as its current stewards.
Climate change is an extremely important and consequential issue, but it’s not the only one that affects our environment. Fortunately, many conscientious individuals and dedicated groups are concentrating their efforts on preservation and balanced land usage. They need our support to keep working.
Online: https://www.journalnow.com/
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Sept. 21
StarNews of Wilmington on the presence of tornadoes around hurricanes:
Each hurricane has a unique calling card:
In 1996, Category 3 Fran caused major wind damage all the way to Greensboro. In 1999, Floyd’s torrential rains sparked unprecedented river flooding. Same with Matthew in 2016.
Last year, Florence not only produced major flooding, the slow-moving storm stayed over us so long that rain penetrated seemingly water-tight structures, with mold quickly becoming Public Enemy No. 1.
Just when hurricane-weary Tar Heels were certain they’d seen it all, Dorian sent a calling card in advance - 20 tornadoes.
We know hurricanes spark tornadoes. (“Spin begets spin,” as one weather expert observed.) But Dorian’s offshoots - at least some of them - were much stronger than what we’ve experienced in past storms.
In Brunswick County, a waterspout roared ashore and caused major damage in the small town of Carolina Shores. Farther up the coast, the twister that devastated an Emerald Isle RV park was reminiscent of the springtime tornadoes spawned by non-tropical storms. (Both were rated EF2 tornadoes - winds up to 135 mph, resulting in considerable damage).
Although weaker, 18 more tornadoes were confirmed Sept. 5, hitting in New Hanover, Columbus, Pender, Bladen, Wayne, Craven, Wilson, Johnston, Perquimans and Horry (S.C.) counties. At one point, local radio announcers could barely get a word in between tornado warning alerts.
We think of them as a giant, monolithic system, but hurricanes usually contain “individual supercells, rotating, well-organized thunderstorms,” according to Brian McNoldy, a tropical cyclone researcher at the University of Miami. They are similar to the storms that spawn monster tornadoes in the Great Plains, he said.
McNoldy noted that most hurricanes that make landfall create tornadoes. Both hurricanes and tropical storms “provide all the necessary ingredients to form tornadoes,” McNoldy said.
A weather forecaster’s nightmare, tornadoes are unpredictable, making them that much more dangerous. Remarkably, no lives were lost in the twisters at Carolina Shores and Emerald Isle.
Hurricanes - and even weaker tropical storms - can kill people and damage property in a variety of ways. Maybe that’s been the case all along and we’re just getting better at identifying what exactly happens when a storm hits. Coastal development, of course, means more people and structures are in harm’s way. Development also has disrupted and blocked natural pathways for rain and floodwaters.
Tropical cyclones strike with much more than wind. We should keep improving early warning systems, learn more about tornado safety, increase storm resiliency for structures at every opportunity, and find the political and financial will to do more to stay out of harm’s way.
We’ve been learning these lessons for years now, haven’t we? The big question is: will we act on them?
Online: https://www.starnewsonline.com/
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