North State Journal — Vol. 2., Issue 39

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 39

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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

inside Wake, Duke football look to stay unbeaten, Sports

EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Duke University Hospital anaesthesiologist Dr. Jeffrey Gadsden poses for a photograph in his office at the Durham hospital. Gadsden is on the forefront of pain management research as he looks into ways of cutting out opioids in operations as well as post surgical treatment with regional anaesthesia techniques.

the Wednesday

NEWS BRIEFING

Maria to skirt Outer Banks on Wednesday Raleigh Hurricane Maria, which pummeled Puerto Rico as a category 4 leaving 3.4 million people still without power, is expected to blow past N.C.’s Outer Banks on Wednesday before taking a sharp right and heading out to sea. The National Hurricane Center reported Maria as a Category 1 on Tuesday but expected it to degrade to a tropical storm

by Wednesday. Tropical storm warnings are active across the Outer Banks and 10,000 people have evacuated from Dare and Hyde counties in anticipation of high winds and flooding.

Weiner gets 21 months in prison for explicit messages to NC girl New York Former Congressman Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old N.C. girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was read by a U.S. District Judge in Manhattan. He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene messages to a minor, and agreed he would not appeal any sentence of 27 months or less. Weiner’s lawyers had asked that he be sentenced to probation rather than prison. The investigation into Weiner’s exchanges with a Gaston County high school student roiled the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in its final days, when authorities found emails containing classified information on Weiner’s laptop from his wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Hillary Clinton.

NORTH

STATE

JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

NC AG Stein recuses himself in redistricting challenges Stein announced he would hand oversight to NCDOJ attorneys so he can speak out publicly against Republican redistricting, a move legislative leaders and legal scholars described as choosing politics over professional duty

By Jeff Moore North State Journal RALEIGH — North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein recently announced he would recuse himself in any legal challenges to new legislative redistricting maps so he can continue to speak out publicly against partisan gerrymandering. The new maps were passed as a result of federal court orders that deemed maps drawn by Republicans in 2011 unconstitutional gerrymanders.

“In a democracy, voters should choose their elected representatives, not the other way around,” said Stein in a statement. “Partisan gerrymandering turns this fundamental principle upside down.

It rigs the system against the voters in favor of the politicians who draw their own districts. Partisan gerrymandering undermines democracy itself. It’s wrong and damaging, no matter which party

“The problem with any opioid, it is so hard to know what dose will affect you.”

— Dr. Jeffrey Gadsden, the director of the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE OF SEN. TILLIS

In a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Thom Tillis (R- N.C.) introduced legislation Monday that would create a merit-based system for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to earn legal status.

Tillis proposes SUCCEED Act as answer to illegal immigration debate

See REDISTRICTING, page A3

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DURHAM — As the opioid drug crisis escalates in North Carolina and state and national leaders across the nation scramble to combat the growing epidemic, anesthesiologists at Duke University and other leading health institutes are digging down to the root of the problem.

From 1999 to 2016 more than 12,000 North Carolinians have died from opioid-related overdoses, with the vast majority involving pain medications such as oxycodone or hydrocodone.

In 2015 alone, there were more than 1,110 opioid-related deaths in North Carolina — a 73 percent increase from 2005 according to the most recent data. Wake and Mecklenburg counties led death tolls, followed by Forsyth and then Guilford counties.

“The problem with any opioid, it is so hard to know what dose will affect you,” says Dr. Jeffrey Gadsden, the director of the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship and an associate professor at Duke University. “In a hospital, we are trained really well and we can control that dose of morphine, be able to predict what will be good for you but also manage the side effects — which the most dangerous

— Campbell University law professor Greg Wallace

New plan would require a clean criminal record and education, employment, or military service to stay in the U.S.

By Donna King North State Journal

Jones & Blount

$2.00

By Mollie Young North State Journal

“It’s hard to do a good job when your boss is out making public statements denouncing the very thing you’re defending.”

Pilot tests of a Granular Activated Carbon filter are underway in Wilmington for cleaning GenX out of the Cape Fear River.

20177 52016

How anaesthesiologists are localizing pain to avoid prescriptions

See DUKE DOCTOR, page A2

INSIDE

5

Surgery without opioids

PHOTO COURTESY OF CFPUA

RALEIGH — On Monday Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) filed legislation that would set up a new system of tougher work-study requirements and criminal record checks for DACA recipients to get or keep

legal status. The SUCCEED Act is a merit-based program for children of illegal immigrants. Co-sponsored

by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the bill would require applicants undergo a criminal background check and take one of three tracks to legal status: education, employment or military service. Tillis and Lankford emphasized that the proposal doesn’t allow them to “jump the line” to citizenship or give protection to their family members, often called “chain migration.”

“It’s setting a timeline out there See TILLIS, page A3

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A2 WEDNESDAY

09.27.17 #95

NC takes top honors for Hurricane Matthew rescues During Hurricane Matthew 30 teams rescued 2,336 people

By Donna King North State Journal

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DUKE DOCTOR from page A1 is respiratory depression. If your breathing rate goes to zero that is game over.”

Control over your breathing rate is one of the primary jobs of an anesthesiologist, the other major component is pain management.

And faced with a growing epidemic, Gadsden and his colleagues at Duke are pioneering methods to localize and control postoperative pain.

A peripheral nerve block pauses the pain during and up to days after a surgery.

“Your brain doesn’t understand that your arm is hurting, because it is just not getting that message,” said Gadsden sitting on the couch in his office on a sunny September day in Durham.

The block — sometimes more than one — is administered

RALEIGH — As the October 6 anniversary of Hurricane Matthew approaches, this week the state was recognized with an international outstanding achievement award for in Swift Water Rescue. The Higgins & Langley Award recognizes a high level of training and crisis coordination among rescuers and local, state and federal teams. N.C. received the honor for Matthew operations where more than 30 teams rescued 2,336 people.

The award was announced last week during the annual conference of the International Association of Water Rescue Professionals in South Bend, Indiana.

“This award recognizes great work done by our local, state and federal water rescue teams, both in the water and in the air, rescuing thousands of people from Hurricane Matthew’s floodwaters,” said state Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry.

“These teams train constantly and their capability and professionalism shines though in all their responses.”

North Carolina Emergency Management organizes the state’s search and rescue programs including swift water, wilderness, helicopter, and mountain teams positioned across the state. The Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Teams (NC HART) combine swift water rescue technicians with helicopters for rescues by air. They are often deployed anywhere in NC or across the country, including recent Harvey and Irma recovery efforts. NC HART combines aircraft and pilots from the NC State Highway Patrol or NC National Guard with swift water rescue technicians to rescue people trapped in trees, rooftops, or other precarious locations.

The program was launched after Hurricane Fran hit the state in 1996. The N.C. Emergency Management developed an inventory of available teams with basic rescue capabilities. The new system

through a syringe and a local anesthetic. Novocaine, preferred by dentists, was used in the beginning days of regional anesthesia, but physicians have graduated to better, long-acting drugs such as Ropivacaine, which can last up to 15 hours.

But for major surgeries such as a total knee replacement, pain often persists for days. With catheters and ultrasound guidance, Gadsden can continue to administer that local anesthetic directly to the targeted nerve.

“After that block wears off after four or five days, they are over the hump — the intensity of the pain stimulus has gone away and they can ease into a lesser pain prescription,” explained Gadsden.

Multimodal anesthesia is a prime choice for orthopedic surgeries, but Gadsden said Duke has recently begun using blocks and

EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL | FILE

Rescue crews stage on a street in Lumberton on Oct. 12, 2016. Historic flooding hit much of eastern North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew’s rain pummeled an already soggy state. Parts of Lumberton where hit so badly residents had to be rescued by helicopters while others said it is the worse they have seen in their lifetime.

was used extensively just three years later in Hurricane Floyd aftermath, when responders rescued hundreds of victims from flooded homes, cars, rooftops and trees.

Floyd’s rescue operations led to the development of specially trained teams for rescuing those trapped in floodwaters or swift water conditions. Today, swift water and NCHART teams have become some of the state’s most activated specialized emergency responders.

N.C. received the Higgins and Langley Award in 2005 also, after swift water rescue teams saved more than 1,110 people following Tropical Storms Frances and Ivan.

The Higgins & Langley Memorial Awards honor of Earl Higgins, a writer and filmmaker who lost his life in 1980 while rescuing a child who was swept down the flood-swollen Los Angeles River, and Jeffrey Langley, a Los Angeles County firefighter, paramedic, and swift water rescue pioneer, who lost his life in a helicopter incident in 1993.

“I think this public health crisis is making people understand the need for alternative therapies.”

— Dr. Jeffrey Gadsden epidurals — often utilized for pain management during child birth — to numb the stomach during abdominal surgery.

Peripheral nerve blocks don’t work for all cases — you break your arm but don’t need surgery; you are in a car crash with multiple injuries spread across your body — but reducing the number of opioids prescribed after common surgeries is a game-changer in the opioid epidemic, especially for those sus-

The following teams were recognized in the award: Apex Fire Department Brunswick County Emergency Services Buncombe County Emergency Services Burke County EMS Cary Fire Department Chapel Hill Fire Department Charlotte Fire Department Cumberland County EMS Davie County Rescue Squad Durham Fire Department East Lincoln Fire Department Fayetteville Fire and Police Departments FEMA Task Forces from Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Incident Support Team Gaston County EMS Greensboro Fire Department Greenville Fire Department

Henderson County Rescue Squad King Fire Department Lewisville Fire Department Lumberton Rescue Squad Mooresville Fire Department North Carolina Emergency Management North Carolina National Guard North Carolina State Highway Patrol North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Onslow Rescue Squad Raleigh Fire Department Rockingham Rescue Squad Rocky Mount Fire Department South Orange Rescue Squad Transylvania County EMS United States Coast Guard Aviation and Punt Team Vance County Rescue Squad Winston-Salem Fire Department

ceptible to chronic pain.

“What we’ve found is that if your central nervous system keeps getting the messages from the nerves coming out to say ‘it’s hurting, it’s hurting’ — even for just a few weeks after you broke it — you have a significant chance of your brain rewiring itself and begin to spontaneously generate those signals,” Gadsden explain. “So even after your arm heals and there is no more cause for pain, you could have chronic pain.”

Gadsden also says that patient expectations and education is a crucial part of the process. Waking up after the use of a peripheral nerve block means you won’t feel that part of your body, but it also doesn’t mean that you will be at a zero on the pain scale.

“You don’t want your patient to be in pain,” said Gadsden, “but flipping that chart around, and

getting other doctors to understand ‘You don’t need to send your patient home with 90 pills after their finger surgery’ is important.”

And with the rise of patient satisfaction scores in a postObamacare health care industry, the key to that is also patient empowerment.

“I think this public health crisis is making people understand the need for alternative therapies,” Gadsden continued. “We’re beginning to see patients coming through saying ‘I’m well-read; I want you to minimize by exposure to opioids.’ We are really on the leading edge of that level of patient education.”

With doctors like Gadsden and institutions like Duke University leading the charge, the limitations on opioid prescriptions could change the epidemic more than any public policy.

Want to learn more about North Carolina Agriculture?

The First Furrow www.FirstFurrow.com

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A3 Come say hi!

RSVP for a Duke Lemur Center tour by visiting lemur. duke.edu or calling 919-401-7240.

General tours $8-12.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DUKE LEMUR CENTER

Duke Lemur Center announces aye-aye birth After the loss of four lemurs last year, the center welcomes baby Agatha

By Liz Moomey North State Journal DURHAM — Last October, the Duke Lemur Center experienced a huge loss when four aye-ayes died from a toxin. The center has a glimmer of hope now with the announcement of an aye-aye birth.

Agatha, named after mystery writer Agatha Christie, was born June 7 weighing two-thirds of the typical birth weigh for aye-ayes.

The center decided to make the news public Sept. 21, since Agatha is thriving now, according to Sara Clark, the center’s communications director.

“It was really really hard last October,” Clark said. “The pain is still there, but there’s a sense of larger purpose and mission in our commitment to the aye-aye’s survival as a species, and Agatha symbolizes that mission, and that hope moving forward. They all have their distinctive personalities and aye-ayes are so smart.

For the most part, they’re a gentle, wonderful species of lemur. Everyone was just reeling. That’s why Agatha was so amazing. She represents so much.”

The Duke Lemur Center is excited to have a new addition.

“I haven’t been this happy about the birth of a baby primate since my son was born,” Duke Lemur Center director Anne Yoder said.

The center worked around the clock to bring up Agatha’s weight

REDISTRICTING from pageA1 tivated stunt to derail North Carolina’s voter ID law.” Moore and Berger contended the move does it.”

Stein will instead hand over- by Stein and Cooper was “not sight of his office’s defense of only illegal, it also raises serious state redistricting maps to two questions about whether they’ve career attorneys within the allowed their own personal and North Carolina Department of political prejudices and conflicts of interest to cloud their Justice.

In response to Stein’s deci- professional judgment.”

Did the previous experience sion, legislative leaders Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and with the voter ID court case Senate president pro tempore inform Stein’s decision to rePhil Berger (R-Rockingham) cuse himself in legal challengaccused Stein himself of playing es to newly drawn redistricting partisan politics and, consider- maps as matter of prudence in ing such, suggested his recusal avoiding conflict of interest? may be in the best interest of Greg Wallace, law professor at Campbell University’s Norman the State.

“The maps passed by the Adrian Wiggins School of Law, General Assembly are not ger- doesn’t think so.

In an interview with North rymanders,” said Moore and State Journal Wallace pointed Berger in a joint statement.

“If Josh Stein’s partisan polit- out that “Stein’s recusal is not ical bias has blinded him to the because of a genuine conflict of fact that our maps abide by the interest, but because he wants strictest anti-gerrymandering to speak out publicly against standards in the entire country, partisan gerrymandering.”

Wallace said that while then perhaps it’s best that he is personally recusing himself. He Stein’s recusal may not violate should have done the same with professional rules, as alleged by his clear conflict of interest in legislative leaders in the case of the Voter ID case. We still ex- voter ID, it is “highly unusual” pect him to fulfill his oath of for him to prefer advancing his office and number one respon- own political views over fulfillsibility to voters by designating ing the duties of his office.

“Stein also has put the career the full staff and resources necessary to vigorously defend the lawyers in a difficult position,” Wallace said. “It’s hard to do a laws of this state.”

In early 2017, newly elected good job when your boss is out Democrat Stein filed a motion making public statements deasking for dismissal of the ap- nouncing the very thing you’re peal of a ruling by the Fourth defending.”

However, Stein’s refusal to Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down the state’s voter ID defend challenges to state law law. Stein did so without noti- is not without precedent. His fying the General Assembly or predecessor and now governor, the counsel representing the Roy Cooper, made a habit of withdrawing N.C. Department General Assembly in the case.

Further, during the trial por- of Justice defense from laws he tion of the voter ID case, Stein disagreed with politically.

As attorney general, Cooper served as what is called a ‘fact witness’, meaning he gave testi- also refused to defend the State mony to the court in opposition in suits filed against Amendof the law. Such involvement in ment One, a successful referenthe case, legislative leaders ar- dum defining marriage as begued at the time, created a sig- tween a man and a woman. Just nificant conflict of interest that last year, then-attorney general should have led to his recusing Cooper decided not to defend himself and separating entirely the State against legal challenges to the notorious House Bill from the case going forward.

As a result, ethics complaints 2. Both instances led to private were filed against Stein for what attorneys being hired to defend legislative leaders described as, the laws at further expense to “desperate and politically-mo- taxpayers.

when she was born.

“Agatha was a unique case,” Cathy Williams, veterinarian at the Duke Lemur Center, said.

“She required intervention by the veterinary staff to provide supplemental warmth and formula until she gained enough strength that she could return to her mom full time.”

Since aye-ayes are rare, there are few studies about care for underweight or sick lemurs. Clark credits the veterinary staff for their experience to care for Agatha.

“Fortunately, one of our vets has been here for 21 years and the other has been here for 11 years and the lemur center is a pioneering place that has raised and cared for ayeayes,” Clark said. “It was a result of that hands-on experience that we

TILLIS from page A1 that is 15 years at the earliest to pursue naturalization,” said Tillis.

“We think hundreds of thousands, maybe more than a million could be eligible for this program, but we also have to set a high bar and send a clear message that people wanting to come to this country should consider doing it legally,” he added.

According to the bill sponsors, the SUCCEED Act is a compassionate and fair plan designed to address the key sticking points of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a system set up in 2012 by executive order under former President Barack Obama.

DACA, also called “The Dream Act,” protected nearly 800,000 people brought into the U.S. illegally as children. The measure led to an influx of illegal immigration in 2012 as people brought their kids into the country. President Donald Trump set a sunset on DACA earlier this month, giving Congress six months to come up with an answer.

Under the proposal, undocumented children who arrived before age 16 and before June 2012, when DACA was enacted, can apply for Conditional Permanent Residence (CPR). When they turn 18 and have earned a high school diploma or equivalent, they can apply for a five-year renewal.

After five years, they must commit to either maintaining employment for 48 out of 60 months, earning a post-secondary or vocational degree, or serving honorable in the military for three years. When one of the three tracks is complete, they can reapply for conditional status.

If the participant has maintained their CPR status for 10 years, they can apply for a green card, or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status. After five years with a green card, they can apply to be a naturalized citizen.

“During that 15-year timeframe they have access to work, access to school, access to travel, so they have those basic freedoms in place, that individuals on DACA do not have right now,” Lankford added. “We want to create some sort of permeance but put them in the line so they can go through the process.”

were able to get Agatha what she needed. She’s thriving now.”

Clark explained they are keeping a close eye on Agatha, but this is common for all the lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center.

“We do monitor all our animals very, very closely, so the technicians will certainly be aware of Agatha’s past history,” Clark said.

“She doesn’t have any residual effects from being born underweight.

“She’s great now. That is why we waited three months to announce her birth. We just now released the birth because we wanted to make sure everything was fine.”

Agatha will continue to stay with her mom for the next two to three years to gain survival skills.

Her future beyond that is unknown. She may be sent to anoth-

er lemur center for mating or stay with her mom at the DLC if they cohabitate well. She will not be released in the wild.

“She will stay living in human care. Aye-ayes in Madagascar are endangered and part of that is habitat loss, and another part is that some people in Madagascar see them as an evil element and kill aye-ayes,” Clark said. “We have a genetic safety so that if the ayeaye goes extinct in Madagascar it won’t go extinct everywhere.”

Clark explained lemurs are an important component of Madagascar’s ecosystem, helping with pollination. Lemurs are also an ancient primate and that can help researchers better understand human health, especially in terms of color vision and dementia.

Visitors won’t be able to see Agatha, since the aye-ayes on display are carefully selected. Two ayeayes, Endora and Ozma, can be seen on a scheduled tour.

The SUCCEED Act Costs Bill sponsors say the costs of the SUCCEED Act are primarily increased administrative work, collecting biometrics, and increased screening for criminal history or gang affiliation.

Benefits Niskanen Center analysis estimates that the SUCCEED Act would create 117,000 jobs, increase GDP by $81 billion and net federal revenue by $22 billion over ten years.

“Overall, our findings suggest that 1.8 million immigrants would be immediately eligible to apply for legal status under the SUCCEED Act, if it were passed.

— Karl Smith and Jeremy Nuefeld, policy analysts at The Niskanen Center SUCCEED stands for Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers, Employment, Education and Defending our nation. In addition to requiring one of three merit-based tracks, it also requires that tax liabilities be paid off to get, and keep, legal status.

SUCCEED also tightening enforcement policy on visa overstays, the primary avenue for illegal immigration.

Bill sponsors say most DACA recipients should qualify if they have a clean criminal record. They cannot have been convicted of a felony or a “major misdemeanor” including domestic violence, sexual abuse, burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm, drug distribution or driving under the influence.

Tillis and Lankford are working with Senate leadership to determine the bill’s path through committee and say they have

Trump’s verbal approval on the basic concepts in the bill. According to those close to the process, they have been working on the proposal for months, soliciting buy-in from stakeholders on both sides of the aisle, immigration experts and DACA opponents and supporters.

They emphasized that it must be part of a larger policy package that includes border security to crackdown on human trafficking and drug running along the nation’s borders.

“We don’t believe the SUCCEED Act is a stand-alone bill,” said Lankford. “This is the moment to be able to resolve things like border security, E-Verify, how do we handle our visa program. … When we resolve this issue for DACA children, we should resolve the larger issues of immigration, too.”

Urging people to “check their biases at the door,” Tillis said that variations of The Dream Act, most recently introduced in July By Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have been tried many times and would not pass Congress.

“The reality is amnesty doesn’t work,” said Tillis. “It failed famously back in 1986. This is a path that admittedly allows someone to go through the naturalization process, but we think that it is a balanced resolution to a vexing problem that hasn’t been solved for 30 years. And we’ll have to take the hits. We’ll take the hits from the far left who are saying you’re not giving them citizenship soon enough, and you’ll take them from the far right who say you’ve given them an opportunity to pursue citizenship.”

A4

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Nation & WORLD

Authorities arrest person with guns near White House Washington, D.C. The U.S. Secret Service arrested a person with firearms near the White House on Sunday morning, the agency said in a statement on Monday.

Uniformed Secret Service officers were approached by the person at an intersection close to the White House, the statement said.

Prison riot in central California leaves one inmate dead, eight others wounded San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Prison guards fired rubber bullets and pepper spray to quell a riot on Sunday involving more than 160 inmates at a central California penitentiary in which one prisoner was stabbed to death and eight others wounded, state corrections officials said.

No staff members were injured in the disturbance, which erupted shortly before 11 a.m. at the California Men’s Colony near San Luis Obispo, and took less than 10 minutes to bring under control, said Lt. Monica Ayon, the prison spokeswoman.

Trump’s new travel ban could be harder to fight in court Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump’s announcement over the weekend restricting travelers from an expanded list of countries could stand a better chance of holding up in court, legal experts said. The new presidential proclamation, which Trump said is needed to screen out terrorist or public safety threats, indefinitely restricts travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea.

Certain government officials from Venezuela will also be barred.

U.S.-backed militias says Russian jets struck its fighters in east Syria Zakf, Syria U.S.-backed Syrian militias said Russian warplanes struck their positions in Deir al-Zor province on Monday, near a major natural gas field they seized from Islamic State in recent days. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the U.S.led coalition, said the attack killed one of its fighters and injured two others.

AARON P. BERNSTEIN | REUTERS

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC..), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), speaks with reporters following the party luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Politics bog down health care bill in Senate and FAA extension in House Federal Aviation Administration bill with hurricane tax relief fails in House

By Donna King North State Journal R ALEIGH/WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another Republican attempt to dismantle Obamacare collapsed in the Congress on Tuesday as the party was unable to win enough party support for the Graham/Cassidy bill to repeal the health care reform law. Several Republican senators said there will be no vote in the Senate after some lawmakers withheld support for the measure.

Republicans hold a slim 5248 majority in the Senate and three Republican senators, John McCain, Rand Paul, and Susan Collins rejected the bill. Republicans have tried for years to get rid of Obamacare but they were up against a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a bill with a simple majority, or face a much tougher path toward dismantling it.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) told reporters the party would target health care “in some form” later in the current legislative session.

While the nation watched the drama unfold in the Senate, the U.S. House was facing a partisan

White House calls North Korea claim of war declaration ‘absurd’ North Korea says U.S. has declared war and it could shoot down American bombers even if they aren’t in its air space

By Michelle Nichols and Christine Kim Reuters NEW YORK/SEOUL — North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said on Monday President Donald Trump’s Twitter message warning that if they acted on their threats of missile attack the minister and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “won’t be around much longer” amounted to a declaration of war.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Monday denied the U.S. had declared war, calling the suggestion “absurd.”

Speaking earlier in New York, where he had been attending the annual U.N. General Assembly, Ri

told reporters: “The whole world should clearly remember it was the U.S. who first declared war on our country.

“The question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then,” Ri added.

On Saturday, U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers escorted by fighters flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea in a show of force.

Their flight pattern was the farthest north of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea that any U.S. fighter jet or bomber has flown in the 21st century.

“That operation was conducted in international airspace, over international waters, so we have the right to fly, sail and operate where legally permissible around the globe,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning said on Monday.

North Korea, which has remained technically at war with the United States since the 195053 Korean War ended in a truce

battle of its own.

On Monday, lawmakers failed to approve a bill to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to continue to operate and also a package of tax relief bills to aid hurricane victims after ranking Democrats objected.

Authorization for the FAA is set to expire on Saturday. The bill would have extended the agency for another six months as Congress debates whether to privatize the country’s air traffic control system and considers new airline passenger protections. The bill, which was considered under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to support it, failed on a 245-to-171 margin.

House Democratic leaders on Monday had urged their colleagues to oppose the measure, citing Republicans’ decision to only extend some health care programs and refusing to allow them to add the DREAM Act as an amendment. The DREAM Act would allow recipients of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to remain in the country. Last month President Donald Trump ordered DACA to end in six months DACA is a program launched under executive order by former president Barack Obama that shielded 800,000 people from deportation who are in the country illegally because they were brought in as children. When Democrats

and not a peace treaty, has pursued its missile and nuclear programs in defiance of international sanctions. Trying to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, the nation conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test this month.

Pyongyang accuses the U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

The recent spike in rhetoric from both sides has fueled tensions and raised fears of miscalculation by one side or the other that could have massive repercussions. U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed that despite the war of words, the administration prefers a negotiated solution to the crisis.

Bruce Bennett, a defense expert at the Rand Corp think tank, said North Korea would have difficulties shooting down a U.S. bomber with missiles or fighter planes given its limited capabilities, and if it tried and failed, would appear weak.

“It is unlikely to take such a risk,” Bennett said. “So this sounds like another attempt by North Korea to ‘deter by bluster’ U.S. actions the regime does not like.”

Ri told the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday that targeting the U.S. mainland with its rockets was inevitable after “Mr. Evil

wanted to add the DREAM Act as an amendment on the FAA bill, House leadership refused, saying a DACA fix will be a separate piece of legislation.

“It is a sad day when House Democrats will — in the name of politics — vote against disaster relief and air traffic safety measures,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said in a statement. “It’s shameful that politics will trump meaningful relief for families suffering from these devastating hurricanes.”

Trump in March proposed handing over control of U.S. air traffic control to a privately operated board, but has faced resistance among Democrats and owners of private planes. Major U.S. carriers back the privatization proposal.

The bill would have also extended three health care programs, but would not extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is expected to run out of money in 2018, because leadership said addressing the program would have to be a part of the overall health care debate.

“Democrats support reauthorization of the FAA, which is long overdue as a result of Republicans’ failure to craft a bill that can obtain bipartisan majority support,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. “It is outrageous that the majority is hijacking the must-pass FAA bill as a vehicle

for its pet priorities.”

The bill also contains a provision that would make it easier for people with hurricane losses to write them off on their taxes, eliminating a requirement that personal losses must exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income to qualify for a deduction. Disaster-affected employers would also get a tax credit for 40 percent of wages, up to $6,000 per employee.

It would also give hurricane victims penalty-free access to retirement funds and temporarily suspends limitations on the deduction for charitable contributions to hurricane relief made before year-end.

Another provision of the bill would encourage the creation of private flood insurance markets to provide consumers with more coverage options. Democrats said it “does nothing to address stability of the [National Flood Insurance Program] either by increasing its borrowing authority, extending its reauthorization, or addressing affordability.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement after the vote the House will take up the issue again.

“It didn’t take long for Democrats to snap back into their partisan corner,” he said. “The American people can’t stand this nonsense.”

Reuters News Service contributed to this report.

EDUARDO MUNOZ | REUTERS

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York.

President” Trump called Kim a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.

On Twitter late Saturday, Trump replied: “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”

China, North Korea’s neighbor and main ally, which has nevertheless backed U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear pro-

gram, called for all sides to show restraint.

Ri warned on Friday that North Korea might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean, in what would be North Korea’s first atmospheric nuclear test. Experts said such a move, while perhaps not imminent, would be proof of North Korea’s ability to successfully deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile.

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A5

Masked gunman kills woman, wounds several others at Nashville church

By Jonathan Allen and Frank McGurty Reuters

BRIAN FLUHARTY | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) leads the field past the green flag to start the ISM Connect 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

No national anthem protests at NASCAR race Sunday The Sports Xchange

“I’m proud of the way we’ve represented ourselves, and I’m proud of this sport, too. I think this sport has a certain way they look at things.

I really appreciate that.”

— Joe Gibbs, current NASCAR team owner and former coach of Washington Redskins

ON A DAY when virtually every NFL game was marred by national anthem player protests in response to President Donald Trump’s remarks about his disdain for the practice, there were no protests at the ISM Connect 300 NASCAR race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., on Sunday.

It seems NASCAR owners and figureheads were responsible for that.

Team owner Richard Childress said Sunday when asked what he would do if one of his employees protested during the anthem, “Get you a ride on a Greyhound bus when the national anthem is over. I told them anyone who works for me should respect the country we live in. So many people gave their lives for it. This is America.”

Team owner Richard Petty reiterated Childress’s comments, saying, “Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period. If they don’t appreciate where they’re at ... what got them where they’re at? The

United States.”

Another team owner Joe Gibbs, a Pro Football Hall of Famer for his time as coach of the Washington Redskins, said, “So much has been sacrificed for our country and our flag. It’s a big deal for us to honor America.”

After Kyle Busch, a member of Gibbs’ team, won the Sunday race New Hampshire, Gibbs said, “I’m proud of the way we’ve represented ourselves, and I’m proud of this sport, too. I think this sport has a certain way they look at things. I really appreciate that.”

Andy Murstein, the majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, told ESPN Sunday that while he disagrees with the recent spate of athletes taking a knee, he wouldn’t fire them over it.

“I would sit down with them and say it’s the wrong thing to do that (take a knee), and many people, including myself, view it as an affront to our great country,” Murstein told ESPN. “If there is disenchantment toward the president or a few bad law enforcement officers, don’t have it cross over to all that is still good and

right about our country.

“They are all proud Americans who have lived through world wars and turbulent times. While I respect their thoughts — and personally I think it’s the wrong thing to kneel — I wouldn’t fire someone for expressing their feelings.”

On Monday morning, driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. used a John F. Kennedy quote in support for the protesters, tweeting “All Americans R granted rights 2 peaceful protests. Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable-JFK.” However, an official with Team Penske told USA Today that “it’s an issue we’ve never faced and don’t anticipate facing,” and his team had no specific policy on anthem protests.

Trump praised fans of NASCAR racing on Monday morning after Sunday’s protests on NFL football fields across the country.

Trump also urged NFL fans to consider boycotting games.

“Many people booed the players who kneeled yesterday (which was a small percentage of total).

These are fans who demand respect for our Flag!” Trump wrote, adding in a separate tweet, that he is “so proud” of NASCAR. “They won’t put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag — they said it loud and clear!”

NASHVILLE — Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25, has been charged with murder in Sunday’s attack on a Tennessee church. Samson is accused of shooting and killing churchgoer Melanie Smith, 39, in the parking lot of Nashville’s Burnette Chapel Church of Christ before going inside and wounding six worshipers. Officials say he then shot himself while in a scuffle with an usher who rushed to stop the attack.

The usher, 22-year-old Robert Engle, is being hailed a hero for stopping the attack despite being struck in the head with the gunman’s weapon. Engle retrieved a licensed gun from his vehicle and re-entered the sanctuary to hold the suspect at bay until police arrived.

“This is an exceptionally brave individual,” Nashville Police spokeman Don Aaron said of the usher during a briefing outside the church in Antioch, about 10 miles southeast of downtown Nashville.

Samson was armed with two pistols and had another handgun and a rifle in his sport utility vehicle, according to a police statement. Police have not determined the motive behind the shooting, but the spokesman said evidence was found that might establish why the man opened fire.

All but one of the six people wounded by gunfire were 60 or older and were taken to nearby hospitals, said Nashville Fire Department spokesman Joseph Pleasant. The church’s pastor, Joey Spann, was shot in the chest and was being treated at a hospital. Spann’s wife also was injured.

METRO NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT VIA REUTERS

The scene where people were injured when gunfire erupted at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, in Nashville, Tenn.

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WEST Judge dismisses restraining order against Shelby doctor Cleveland County Dr. Steven Brockman has reopened Pain Care of Cleveland County after a judge dissolved a restraining order from his employer. Earlier this month, administrators filed a restraining order against Brockman and his wife claiming that the property manager refused to take a late rent payment within the grace period and accused Brockman of breaking a noncompete clause. Court documents revealed that the business stopped paying rent and Brockman, which forced him to cut ties and open his own practice Sept. 5.

Duke Energy plans N.C.’s largest battery storage projects part of western modernization plan Buncombe & Madison Counties Duke Energy announced plans to install North Carolina’s two largest battery energy storage systems — a $30 million investment as part of the company’s Western Carolina Modernization Plan. A 9-megawatt lithium-ion battery system will be placed at a Duke Energy substation in Rock Hill and the town of Hot Springs will receive a 4-megawatt lithiumion battery system. Both projects are expected to be online in 2019.

PIEDMONT

Samaritan’s Purse sends more supplies to the Caribbean

Passenger numbers increasing at PTI Guilford County According to Piedmont Triad International Airport’s August statistics, more passengers are boarding flights for business and pleasure. In August, 76,652 passengers boarded flights from PTI — up 7.5 percent from August 2016. American and Delta airlines are responding by adding extra flights to PTI. Passenger traffic has not recovered to prerecession levels yet, but the overall total for 2017 has increased 3.13 percent from last year.

CITIZEN TIMES NEWS & RECORD

SHELBY STAR

Mountain maternity wards closing across western N.C.

Leadership Asheville announces 36th class Buncombe County Leadership Asheville, a program of UNC Asheville, announced the 49 participants in the 36th class of the program. Participants are from the private and public sectors to learn leadership skills through experiential exercises, site visits, discussions with community leaders and completing team projects in partnership with community service organizations.

MOUNTAIN XPRESS

Mitchell County The Spruce Pine labor-and-delivery unit will close Sept. 30, the latest in a string of maternity ward closures that leave expectant mothers in western N.C. without access to maternal care within what they say is a reasonable distances of their homes. In 2015, Mission Health began to close labor-and-delivery centers in rural, low population areas, blaming low demand and financial losses at these locations. Aside from the inconvenience of significant travel to medical providers, these closures have rural residents concerned that they’ll be put in dangerous situations.

Triad and northwest N.C. to receive $9.3 million for clean water projects The governor’s office reported a total of $9.29 million has been provided to 15 projects in the 14-county region from the state Management Trust fund grants. In the last 20 years, the fund has conserved more than 500,000 acres of land, protected more than 2,500 miles of streambank and preserved 12 historic sites. The largest grant in the region was $2.64 million to Piedmont Land Conservancy in Rockingham County.

Guilford County Disaster relief from North Carolina is on the way to the Caribbean.

Samaritan’s Purse sent their 10th flight to the islands out of PTI Airport in Greensboro Sunday morning with hygiene kits and emergency shelter supplies for 6,000 families. About 15 people are traveling to support other teams already on the ground.

SPECTRUM NEWS

Consolidation of BH Media Group newspaper printing begins at Winston-Salem Journal plant Forsyth County The consolidation of newspaper printing by BH Media Group’s North Carolina affiliates has begun a $10 million expansion of the WinstonSalem Journal’s production plant.

The consolidation involves the News & Record of Greensboro, as well as newspapers in Morganton, Marion, Hickory, Statesville and Mooresville printed at the Hickory Daily Record.

The plant eventually will take over printing for newspapers in Concord and Rockingham County.

WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL

WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL

EAST Two possible naval mines wash up on Currituck County beach Currituck County What could be World War II naval mines washed up on the Outer Banks Monday. Currituck County Emergency Management say the first was found on Whale Head Beach. The second washed up four hours later, 75 miles down the beach in Avon, near access ramp 34 on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The devices are about four feet in diameter. Cherry Point’s Ordinance Unit was called in to investigate The National Park Service said that unexploded ordinances had already washed up twice this year in the area.

Pitt County Pitt County has been designated an NC Works Certified Work Ready Community by demonstrating a commitment to workforce excellence, improved high school graduation rates, achieved the target number of National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRC) and gained assurance from employers that they will utilize NCRC assessments in their employment practices. 51 out of 100 N.C. counties are participating in the Work Ready program and 31 of them have earned certification.

REFLECTOR

WITN-TV

Program educates parents on dangers of drugs for adolescents New Hanover County Class was in session Saturday at UNCW as parents learned how they can help their kids stay away from drugs as a part of Drugs Uncovered, an interactive program put on by the Tri-County Community Collaborative. It introduced adults to current trends in alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, as well as health risks for adolescents and more.

Studies have shown that drug abuse is a real problem in the Port City, so the hope is that educating parents and adults can have a positive impact on the youth.

WILMINGTON STAR NEWS

CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS

Choose your Trinity!

Contact the Trinity near you or call 1-800-HELPING.

LSCarolinas.net The Trinity communities are affiliates of Lutheran Services Carolinas, a health and human service organization serving senior adults in North Carolina since 1960. In addition to serving seniors, LSC also works to improve the lives of those facing extraordinary challenges through services such as foster care, adoption, disaster relief and more. Visit the LSC website at LSCarolinas.net or call 1-800-HELPING. “Empowered by Christ, we walk together with all we serve.”

Pitt County meets NC Works Certified Community criteria

Greenville men use hurricane aid as cover for fake checks Beaufort County Investigators have charged two Greenville men, James Franklin James, 80, and Edward Lee Byrd Jr, 37, with five counts each of obtaining property by false pretense. The two men are alleged to have used fake checks to buy high-end lawn equipment they said was for hurricane victims in Florida but pawned several pieces of the same equipment instead over the past several months. Both were arrested by the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.

WWAY-TV

RALEIGH — On Thursday, officials from the Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority will speak to the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality about the GenX issue. The per-fluorinated compound was found in the Cape Fear, which is a drinking water source for Wilmington and surrounding towns. Residents are concerned for their safety as the full health impact of GenX is still being studied. The Chemours Fayetteville Works plant has been releasing GenX into the Cape Fear for more than three decades as a byproduct of producing nonstick coatings.

Mike Brown, CFPUA’s chairman of the board, and Frank Styers, its chief operations officer, are slated to talk to lawmakers about the utility’s pilot tests to rid the Cape Fear of GenX and their collaboration with the University of North Carolina Wilmington on water quality there.

However, the meeting comes amid some funding uncertainty for the utility after Cov. Roy Cooper last week vetoed a bill that would have provided $200,000 to CFPUA and $250,000 to UNCW for the projects.

Lawmakers called H.B. 56 a critical first step toward funding the cleanup, monitoring and study of GenX pollution, while longterm effects and responsibility were being hashed out.

“I am troubled that the governor would place politics ahead of public safety and prioritize bureaucracy over results,” said Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) “He is now on record for rejecting the only proposal that will actually help clean our drinking water in the lower Cape Fear region.”

In an open letter, Cooper called the funding measure “cynical,” saying he opposed it because it sent the money directly to the CFPUA and UNCW researchers, rather than to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Environmental Quality. He

said it wasn’t enough for a statewide, longterm solution and opposed other add-ons, including a repeal of the plastic bag ban on the Outer Banks.

“The legislation passed by the General Assembly, House Bill 56, provides no resources to the state agencies charged with protecting drinking water and preventing illegal chemicals from being discharged into our rivers,” Cooper said. “It gives the impression of action while allowing the longterm problem to fester. And it unnecessarily rolls back other environmental protections for landfills, river basins and our beaches.”

Legislators say that if the governor wants to dedicate more money in the meantime he should tap his available emergency fund, intended for such events.

“Right now the governor has sitting in what’s called the [Contingency and Emergency Fund] $1.8 million that he can use right now for any of these programs,” Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said at a press conference last week. “It doesn’t need to be transferred there, it’s literally just sitting there.”

The legislature is scheduled to reconvene Oct. 4, and Republican leadership says they plan to override the veto.

“Shame on Gov. Cooper for vetoing a local solution, developed by this region’s local representatives, to immediately improve water quality for their constituents, neighbors and own families — simply because it did not achieve his preferred objective of growing a bureaucracy that has thus far failed to resolve this crisis,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham).

The House Select Committee on N.C. River Quality is hoping to get some answers before the full legislature returns to Raleigh. The legislature established the committee earlier in the month to dig into the GenX issue. It’s chaired by Rep. Ted Davis, a Republican from Wilmington’s New Hanover County, and membership includes representatives from other coastal districts and the Environmental Review Commission.

State Treasurer keeps Blue Cross Blue Shield as administrator of State Health Plan

By Jeff Moore North State Journal RALEIGH — At a press conference last week, State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced that the State Health Plan Board of Trustees has again awarded the Third Party Administrator (TPA) medical claims contract to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC).

The TPA contract provides the State Health Plan with a provider network, health care claims processing and related services.

The current TPA contract, also with BCBSNC, expires Dec. 31, 2018. BCBSNC is also able to provide Population Health Management services which has been previously provided under a separate contract by another vendor. The plan currently spends $3.2 billion a year for member health care according to the N.C. Treasurer’s Office.

“As we move toward implementation, we will reset our relationship not just renew our vows,” said Folwell, a Republican. “As the largest direct purchaser of health care in North Carolina, we will work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and medical providers to reduce complexity and improve Plan affordability as well as increase access for our members and taxpayers.”

The plan is self-funded and provides health care coverage for more than 700,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, current and former lawmakers, state university and community college personnel, and their dependents. The TPA negotiates contracts with health care providers as well as processes claims that are then paid using taxpayer funds.

The BCBSNC proposal kept the potential administrative costs essentially flat.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

BUSINESS Raleigh kicks off 2017 bluegrass festival Bluegrass band Flatt Lonesome, seen here at the 2016 IBMA World of Bluegrass Festival in Raleigh, will perform this year at the festival’s Red Hat Amphitheater main event stage on Friday, Sept. 29.

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau expects the event to exceed last year’s total of nearly 220,000 visitors and $12 million spent.

EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL | FILE

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This week, NSJ highlights the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

The North Carolina Chamber is the state’s largest, broad-based business advocacy organization with 35,000 members that employ 1.26 million workers in North Carolina. Their mission is to be a nonpartisan business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory and political arenas to proactively drive positive change to ensure that North Carolina is a leading place in the world to do business.

At the core of the North Carolina Chamber’s advocacy mission is job creation.

Strengthening the state’s ability to attract, keep and grow jobs is the Chamber’s highest priority.

Through an engaged business community, the North Carolina Chamber has established a three-tiered strategy to drive North Carolina’s Jobs Agenda.

The North Carolina Chamber Foundation envisions a long-term strategy for economic prosperity, the North Carolina Chamber advocates for the policies that move the state forward and the North Carolina Chamber Political Program analyzes and shapes the political landscape to make change possible.

New contract law adds predictability and clarity to business litigation Senate Bill 621, signed into law this summer, could provide an advantage to North Carolina businesses when contracting with outof-state parties.

STATEWIDE SPOTLIGHT Sponsored by

Help for Weathering Hurricane Season

By Michael J. Parrish For the North State Journal NORTH CAROLINA businesses commonly enter into contracts to buy or sell goods and services west of Murphy, north of Mount Airy, south of Charlotte, and even east of Ocracoke. When contracts such as these extend beyond state lines, businesses should intentionally assess and negotiate terms commonly called “choice of law” and “choice of forum” (or “forum selection”) provisions. These terms are up-front agreements to determine which state’s laws will govern any potential dispute relating to the contract, and in which state any potential lawsuit will be filed.

When potential disputes turn into actual litigation, choice of law and choice of forum provisions can be critical. For example, one state’s law may be more favorable to one of the parties, one of the parties could gain an advantage by litigating on its “home turf,” or one of the parties could save travel and business interruption cost by having the lawsuit filed nearby, rather than out of state. It isn’t uncommon for North Carolina businesses doing business with an entity from another state to see the advantage of applying North Carolina law and requiring litigation to occur in North Carolina.

On July 18, 2017, Gov. Cooper signed into law Senate Bill 621 after it unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate. This new law strengthens North Carolina choice of law and choice of forum provisions in business contracts, and along with other efforts, adds greater certainty that North Carolina businesses can litigate in their home state.

n.c.

COURTESY PHOTO

Michael J. Parrish of Ward and Smith, P.A., New Bern

Business contracts before July 18, 2017

existing

There are two preliminary points about the scope of Senate Bill 621: • The law applies only to “business contracts”—contracts entered into “primarily for business or commercial purposes.” Contracts entered into by an individual “primarily for the individual’s personal, family, or household purposes” are not subject to the law, nor are contracts “between an individual and another party to provide labor or personal services,” whether as an employee or independent contractor. Note, though, that a “business contracts” is not limited to one entered into among corporate entities.

A contract between an individual and a business, or between two individuals, could be a “business contract” if it was primarily for a business purposes, and not an employment contract.

• The law is applicable to all business contracts which currently exist, not just those which are entered into after the date Senate Bill 621 became law.

The impact on North Carolina “Choice of Law” provisions Prior to the passage of Senate

Bill 621, litigants who believed that another state’s law would be more beneficial to their position could challenge a North Carolina choice of law provision on the grounds that the dispute bore no substantial relationship to North Carolina (in other words, if there was not a sufficient reason to apply North Carolina law); or if application of North Carolina law would violate a fundamental public policy of the state whose law would otherwise apply (for example, some states allow parties to waive the right to a jury trial, while other states find such a waiver to violate public police).

This posturing resulted in additional expense, delay, and uncertainty—precisely the outcome that the parties seemingly sought to avoid by including the North Carolina choice of law provision in their contract.

Senate Bill 621 seeks to eliminate this issue. It permits North Carolina choice of law provisions in business contracts, even if another state has a more substantial relationship to the dispute, or if a provision of the contract is contrary to a fundamental policy of the other state. This provides greater certainty that North See LITIGATION, page A9

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So far this hurricane season, North Carolina has been spared the devastation that our neighboring states have endured.

But that hasn’t stopped North Carolina public power utility workers from putting in long hours and hard work to restore power to hurricane-damaged communities. In fact, this past weekend, the last of 236 people from 18 North Carolina municipalities returned home after 10 grueling days assisting with Hurricane Irma restoration in Georgia and Florida.

Providing aid to our neighbors in need is one of the greatest values of public power. We salute all the utility workers and their families who selflessly answered the call in the wake of Hurricane Irma. See a recap of social media coverage of their activities at: http://bit.ly/NCPP-Irma.

As we enter the final two months of the Atlantic hurricane season, check out the NC Public Power channel on YouTube and follow @ElectriCitiesNC on Twitter and @ElectriCities on Facebook for tips to help you stay prepared and safe.

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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THE BRIEF Cree names new CEO; taps former Glaxo chief as board chair

LUCAS JACKSON | REUTERS

Microsoft pushes “mixed reality” features with Windows 10 update

By Eric Auchard and Douglas Busvine Reuters BERLIN - Microsoft is to update its flagship operating system next month so that the latest generation of Windows 10 hardware devices and software can tap into augmented and virtual reality technologies, executives said on Friday.

The software upgrade, its fourth update, will be offered from Oct. 17 to existing customers of Windows 10 running on more than 500 million devices, the company said.

Microsoft also announced plans by computer and virtual-reality headset makers to introduce new hardware for businesses, consumers and video gamers to take advantage of so-called “mixed reality” features in the October software release.

“We’re enabling you to immerse yourself in a new reality - mixed reality,” Terry Myerson,

LITIGATION from page A8 Carolina choice of law provisions will be upheld.

The impact on North Carolina forum selection provisions Prior to the passage of Senate Bill 621, litigants could attack a contract provision requiring that suit be filed in North Carolina by arguing that the provision was the result of extremely unequal bargaining power or that it would work a substantial injustice to require the party or essential witnesses to appear in North Carolina.

Senate Bill 621 aims to eliminate this issue as well. The new law

Microsoft’s executive vice president in charge of Windows, said in a speech at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin.

Mixed reality is the term Microsoft uses to describe software that covers both augmented and virtual reality.

Augmented reality overlays text, sounds, graphics and video on real-world images that users actually see in front of them, while virtual reality creates entirely computer-generated worlds.

The multimedia content can be viewed on computers, TV displays, smartphones, tablets or, in the case of virtual reality, on dedicated goggles. Microsoft plans to target these features first at advanced video game players using VR headsets, with business applications to follow, officials said.

Microsoft’s push comes as the U.S. tech giants - Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook , along with China’s Baidu - increasingly battle to make augmented reality, together with

validates North Carolina forum selection provisions in business contracts so long as the parties have also contractually agreed that North Carolina law should apply. It also directs North Carolina courts to disregard issues of substantial hardship to the opposing party or to witnesses in deciding whether to transfer the lawsuit out of North Carolina.

A new choice of counties The new law also gives parties to business contracts additional choice by allowing them to select a specific North Carolina county as the place where any lawsuit relating to the contract must be filed.

Before the passage of Senate Bill 621, North Carolina law designat-

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“We’re enabling you to immerse yourself in a new reality - mixed reality.”

— Terry Myerson, Microsoft Windows executive vice president artificial intelligence and cloudbased services, into the next computer platform.

Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter said in a research note this week that, unlike virtual reality which requires special goggles to view, augmented reality works on smartphones and other existing devices, making it vastly more accessible. He predicted far-reaching impacts in gaming and entertainment, as well as communications, manufacturing, fitness, health and retail.

ed only certain counties as “proper” for the filing of a lawsuit, which typically would include where one of the parties had its registered office or maintained a place of business, or, if an individual, where he or she lived.

Now, Senate Bill 621 permits parties to designate any county as the location where a lawsuit relating to a business contract must be filed, so long as those parties have also agreed that North Carolina law will govern. The parties’ choice of county will only be overturned if a judge determines that the convenience to witnesses or the “ends of justice” require a transfer, or that a party could not have a fair trial in the selected county. In that event, the case would be transferred

Taj Reid, Senior Designer at Microsoft wears a HoloLens VR headset at Microsoft’s Windows 10 “Creators Update” live event in New York City.

Microsoft, which has largely remade itself into a supplier of cloud services delivered via the internet, has moved to a roughly six-month release cycle for feature updates of Windows from its three-year release cycle for diskbased versions of its operating system software.

The company also announced a range of devices from key hardware partners ready to take advantage of mixed reality features in the Windows 10 update available in mid-October from vendors including Lenovo, HP Inc, Dell , Acer, Asus and Fujitsu.

Microsoft’s new software release shrinks the laborious setup of VR headsets for users to around 10 minutes, down from two to three hours now and helps cut the costs of headsets, in a step towards making such technology more mainstream, they said.

Other new Windows 10 features include a refreshed Photos app and the capacity to save files up to the cloud using Microsoft’s OneDrive service, without consuming local storage space. Win10 will also offer “Game Mode,” which allows video gamers to devote the full processing power of their computers to what they are playing, as if it was an Xbox game console, the company said.

within North Carolina, still giving effect to the North Carolina forum selection provision.

Senate Bill 621 was designed to, and should, create more certainty as to the enforceability of North Carolina choice of law and choice for forum provisions in business contracts. The law should help businesses eliminate the cost and delay often associated with an opposing party’s attempt to avoid its agreement to be subject to North Carolina law or to litigate in North Carolina.

Michael J. Parrish is a civil litigator with Ward and Smith, P.A. He focuses on cases involving commercial and business disputes in both State and Federal Courts.

Durham North Carolina LED tech innovator Cree announced on Monday that former Freescale Semiconductor CEO Gregg Lowe will take the helm as the company’s new CEO. Lowe said via LinkedIn that he was "very excited and honored to be joining the team at Cree."

The company also announced that Bob Ingram, former chair of RTP pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, has been named chairman of the board. Ingram and Lowe will be stepping into these leadership roles as longtime Cree board chair and CEO Chuck Swoboda retires at the end of October. Lowe spent 28 years with Texas Instruments, and then led Freescale, a $5 billion company with 17,000 employees, from 20122015. Lowe said in a statement, “Cree’s innovation engine is unmatched in the industry. I am honored to be a part of this team and look forward to working with the employees and the board to establish and execute a clear vision for the company moving forward.”

Deloitte hacked, says 'very few' clients affected London Global accounting firm Deloitte said on Monday it was the victim of a cyber attack that affected the data of a small number of clients, providing few details on the breach.

Deloitte said in a statement that attackers accessed data from the company's email platform, confirming some details in a report by the Guardian newspaper, which broke news of the hack on Monday. The attack appeared to target the firm's U.S. operations, was discovered in March and could have begun as early as October 2016, according to the Guardian. Deloitte's statement did not confirm those details. The breach at Deloitte, which says its customers include 80 percent of the Fortune 500, is the latest in a series of breaches involving organizations that handle sensitive financial data that have rattled lawmakers, regulators and consumers. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street's top regulator, and Equifax Inc, one of the largest credit-monitoring bureaus, this month reported that confidential filings and sensitive personal data were compromised by hackers.

Lululemon is leaning toward men to bolster growth Vancouver Lululemon Athletica Inc is forging ahead with expansion plans that include a focus on menswear, a move that could breathe life into an ailing athleisure market. In targeting men, the company has jumped into an arena dominated by the likes of Nike Inc and Under Armour Inc , and expects a billion dollar business for that division by 2020.

Helping farmers grow with technology www.vantagesouthatlantic.com

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Ray Nothstine, opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

LETTERS

EDITORIAL | RAY NOTHSTINE

Why Trump is smart to take on the NFL Trump knew the players and many team front offices would overreact to his remarks and blow the controversy up into a national spectacle.

SURE, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP makes a lot of political mistakes, but getting into a joust with the NFL will not be one of them. Trump coyly has set himself up for a win-win political scenario without having to expend much effort. The kerfuffle over kneeling or sitting for the national anthem began last year with the protest by former Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” said Kaepernick.

Despite some legitimate concerns in America about injustices imposed by a minority of law enforcement, polling suggests almost two-thirds of Americans have little sympathy for protests by sports figures during the anthem. Once the anthem protest movement spread to other teams and franchises, a large segment of the fan base began to feel alienated and many reevaluated their support for a sport that has effectively replaced baseball as America’s pastime. Despite mammoth popularity and a broad national reach, problems with the NFL have been surfacing for over a decade. Negative publicity from concussions and off the field criminal issues, like domestic violence, have already stymied the league’s reputation and popularity. The rise of soccer moms and the suburbia soccer craze is in part due to safety issues over football.

“NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN,” President Trump tweeted Sunday morning. “Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.” Trump is only using the controversy and national division to strengthen his political base and capitalizing on impeccable timing to call out the nation’s wealthiest sports league in the world. The Politifact website boasted that Trump is mostly false in declaring that ratings are “way down,” but a nine percent decline since last year is significant even for the NFL goliath.

At a political rally in Alabama Friday, Trump let loose with the comment that trapped many players into their no win response; which is their desperate

Long past time for tax reform

need to respond to Trump by essentially doing the opposite of what he said. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

Trump declared. The crowd ate it up, erupting with cheers. “What’s hurting the game…is when people like yourselves turn on television, and you see those people taking the knee, when they’re playing our great national anthem,” he added. Trump knew the players and many team front offices would overreact to his remarks and blow the controversy up into a national spectacle.

There is no doubt that Trump’s comments only fuels the political and cultural divide within the country. But from a purely political perspective, his instincts are on this issue are correct. Additionally, Trump excels at inverting the leftist bullying tactics so prevalent in the cultural wars by throwing it back in their face. Yes, it’s unpresidential and often laced with sophomoric statements but by standing up to the sports and entertainment elite, as National Review Editor Rich Lowry noted, “this kind of thing is why he is president” today.

Trump knows people are tired of being lectured at by mass entertainment culture and corporate leaders. As a businessman and entertainment mogul himself, Trump too knows that the NFL has the most to lose by responding to him with incessant protests and outrage.

One can certainly argue about whether protesting the anthem is a legitimate or a disrespectful way to raise attention for movements like Black Lives Matter or police injustice in America. Ultimately, the decision is up to the NFL players, and more specifically, the owners and advertisers. At the end of the day though, this is a political issue that will continue to showcase Trump’s popular appeal and strength with large segments of America.

IT ASTONISHES ME that the last time our elected officials passed comprehensive tax reform was in 1986. Thirty-one years ago.

No wonder our economic growth annually hovers around 2.1 percent.

Businesses are not investing in American jobs or American cities because it is simply too expensive. The corporate tax rate here is 30 percent.

That means for every $100 made, businesses must pay $30 to the federal government. This does not encourage growth or productivity. Instead, it encourages companies to offshore jobs overseas and relocate manufacturing to countries that have low taxes.

We must incentivize businesses to stay and invest in America. That’s why I support President Trump’s tax plan. U.S. companies have more than $2.5 trillion invested overseas.

Imagine what that money would do if it was invested back at home.

If Congress wants to promote the American economy and support American workers, they must lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent — as the President is demanding. It’s time for them to do their jobs.

Stephen M. Woodward Pinehurst

BE IN TOUCH Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline. com or 819 W. Hargett St. Raleigh, N.C. 27603. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

How to make Mexico “pay for the wall” Foreign aid used to go solely to devastated nations who needed it.

MR. PRESIDENT: If this is already your plan, congratulations.

When Donald Trump, the candidate, kept saying: “BUH-Leeve me! Mexico will pay for the wall,” the media and Democrats scoffed and said there was no way to get Mexico to pay for border wall.

What could President Trump possibly have had in mind?

We could suspend all military and foreign aid to Mexico totaling over $320 million per year to pay for the wall. Losing $320 million a year in foreign and military assistance from America would amount to a .03 percent reduction in total national spending in Mexico.

That is not a killer in overall economic terms for Mexico. Their GDP is $1.046 trillion in US dollars, two-thirds the size of Canada’s GDP. Mexico is the 13th largest economy in the world today. Foreign aid used to go solely to devastated nations who needed it.

It would take 62.5 years, however, to pay for the border wall by diverting appropriations from Congress this way.

What if President Trump had in mind a much higher rate of interdiction of laundered “dirty” drug money that freely flows from purchases made in the U.S. back to sources in Mexico?

Call it “Reverse Money Laundering”: intercept “clean” drug money on its way back to Mexico

and convert it into American general revenue to build the wall. It would be like creating a special tax on U.S. drug users and Mexican drug lords to pay for border security.

What could be better than that?

DEA officially collected $138 million in seized money in 2009. However, estimates of laundered money from illegal drug trade between the US and Mexico ranged as high as $38 billion or 275 times the amount of officially seized money.

We are leaving $37.8 billion in ill-gotten profits on the table that could be used to pay for the wall or repave a few highways if we could get our hands on it.

Mexico could pay for its own wall to keep their citizens in Mexico if they wanted. Roughly 10 percent of their population has been exported to America over the past 25 years. But they won’t.

Why? One reason why the Mexican government doesn’t want an effective impermeable wall might be they know how important $38 billion in cash is to the Mexican economy and banking system. Cutting off that flow of cash could sink hundreds of small Mexican banks and cause a real dent in their annual GDP. Money laundering is a huge network of small businesses in the southwest. Local authorities

have little interest in enforcing federal statutes, and the FBI doesn’t have the resources to sift through millions of local bank transactions from mostly cash businesses such as convenience stores, restaurants, funeral homes, lawn services, and car retailers.

It’s a real war out there as well with lots of bloodshed and violence in support of drug trafficking. We have to treat it as war to defeat it.

A tidal wave of dirty money spread over a large landscape is barely noticeable. The point of vulnerability is when dirty money re-enters the banking system so drug lords can buy mansions, yachts, luxury cars, and more weapons with it.

By building a 21st century “virtual wall” with every conceivable technological instrument that can be used to detect cash flows at the border, intelligence gathering with a banking firewall can be used to significantly ratchet up the capture of significant percentage amounts of this laundered money.

That is how Mexico can be made to pay for the wall. Mexican drug lords losing billions in dirty profits from American drug users. The Mexican economy and banking system losing access to billions in laundered money every year.

Mexican interests will have then officially “paid for the wall.”

And if this isn’t your plan, Mr. President, well, then “you’re welcome!”

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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GUEST OPINION | GARLAND TUCKER

Adam Smith, R.I.P. Sadly, there appeared to be no modern defenders of Smith’s free market policies in the UK today.

IN PREPARATION for a recent holiday in Scotland, I re-read some Scottish history. The father of modern economics, Adam Smith, looms large in any study of Scottish thought, and it was not long before I found myself standing admiringly at the foot of Smith’s statue in Old Town, Edinburgh.

Smith’s writing has lost none of its timeliness.

His stern warnings against the mercantilist policies of his day can appropriately be applied to the 21st century. Smith believed the free market far more capable of achieving a beneficial, rational allocation of resources than any scheme put together by politicians or bureaucrats. He understood the belief in free markets as not so much an intellectual philosophy as rather a discovery of natural law and the revelation of history. Indeed, history is rife with examples of the gross misallocation of resources resulting from misguided (often well intended) government policies. Smith’s free market prescription was simple: “Every man, as long as he does not violate the law of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.”

Having become re-acquainted with the wisdom of Smith’s writings, what a disappointment to see that 21st century Scotland seems largely to have rejected the teachings of her famous son. On my arrival in Scotland, I was greeted by newspaper accounts of the unveiling of a grand government scheme “to attack the housing shortage with a radical solution…” The government has declared a severe housing shortage and plans to build over 25,000 new houses per year. Even more disheartening was the rationale: “Market failure is depriving thousands of young people of the opportunity to own a house….” Imagine Smith’s reaction to a modern Tory government somehow blaming the free market for a lack of housing and proposing such massive intervention in the market.

Similar indications of anti-free market thinking appeared daily during my visit. Finally, on the last day, there was a lengthy op-ed piece from one of Prime Minister Theresa May’s advisors. He solemnly warned May’s conservative government of impending doom unless it heeded

the voters’ message from the recent election. He noted the surge in young voters who turned out for the Labour Party and its socialist agenda. His solution: the Tories must radically intervene in the market and reallocate more resources toward the younger population.

Sadly, there appeared to be no modern defenders of Smith’s free market policies in the UK today. Gone is the vigorous free market advocacy of Margaret Thatcher. Instead of trying to out-promise the Labour Party in order to attract young voters, Thatcher advocated “first win the debate, then you’ll win the election.” The economic facts and the weight of history are on the side of free markets, but you would never know it from today’s UK politicians.

Perhaps the most memorable example of government interference was anecdotal. Our tour group was visiting a large sheep farming operation in the highlands and was being entertained by a demonstration of sheep herding dogs. The head shepherd, a veteran of 30+ years, put on a truly amazing show with his border collies and was fielding questions from our group, when suddenly he veered off into political incorrectness. He recounted the endless regulations imposed by “twenty year old bureaucrats who have never worked on a sheep farm.” His favorite example was the government’s threat to shut down his uncle’s operation because of claims that his uncle, who has been raising sheep for over 60 years, did not know how to hold a sheep properly! Though meant for good, these regulations are strangling this industry’s ability to operate, escalating its costs, and distorting the market.

A final word of warning to Scotland delivered 125 years ago from another famous son, Andrew Carnegie: “The great error in your country (Scotland) is that things are just upside down. You look to your officials to govern you instead of you governing them.” Amen.

Garland S. Tucker III is chairman of Triangle Capital Corporation in Raleigh and author of Conservative Heroes: Fourteen Leaders Who Shaped America, from Jefferson to Reagan.

MICHAEL BARONE

Tension between president and Congress is politics as usual or the first time in nearly 20 years, the president seems out of alignment, on policy and political F goals, with his party in Congress. This strikes many

as an anomalous, even alarming, situation. But if you look back at history, it's more like the norm — even if Donald Trump isn't.

The current presidential/congressional alignment began in January 1998, when the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke into the news. For several years before that, President Bill Clinton had engaged in what was called triangulation, positioning himself on issues between his party's liberal congressional leaders and the conservatism of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

His collaborations with Gingrich resulted in serious bipartisan legislation — welfare reform, a children's health care package, balanced federal budgets. In the process, Clinton pointedly ignored House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. That ended when Clinton needed solid Democratic support during the impeachment process against him for his lying under oath about his affair with Lewinsky.

George W. Bush was generally in sync with congressional Republicans, and when he lost some of their votes — on education and Medicare prescription drugs — he was able to attract enough Democrats to compensate. Barack Obama worked in tandem with Democratic congressional supermajorities in 2009-10, and they supported his "pen and phone" governing process afterward.

Donald Trump's bombastic anti-Washington rhetoric on the campaign trail, including stabs at Republican Party leaders, meant that the two decades of presidential-congressional alignment was most likely over. His cordial meeting with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, whether or not it results in immigration enforcement compromise legislation, indicates it is.

Trump did give vague verbal support to House Speaker Paul Ryan's and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's proposals for tax cuts and repealing and replacing Obamacare. But he reportedly, and plausibly, was miffed when they didn't result in bills he could sign.

George H.W. Bush lost half his congressional party when he broke his read-my-lips-no-new-taxes vow in 1990.

STEPHEN LAM | REUTERS

Ben Bergquam of Fresno holds a sign as he is being surrounded by protestors before an appearance by conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California in Berkeley, on Sept. 24.

COLUMN | WALTER WILLIAMS

Not a Day Care Many colleges have become hotbeds of what might be labeled as enlightened racism.

OUR COLLEGE-AGE POPULATION consists mostly of 18- to 30-year-olds, and likewise our armed forces. I wonder whether they shared common responses to the 2016 presidential election.

Many college administrators provided students with therapy dogs, play dough, coloring books, bubbles, videos of frolicking kittens and puppies, and soft music. They even canceled classes and postponed exams so that their 18- to 30-year-old snowflakes could better cope with the election results. There are numerous internet photos and videos of these youngsters screaming and in outright grief and panic. Here's my question: Were our military leaders as accommodating as college administrators?

Did commanding officers of our aircraft carriers provide their young people with therapy dogs, play dough, crayons and coloring books, and soft music?

Were sea training exercises canceled? Were similar accommodations ordered by commanders of our special forces, such as the Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Delta Force?

I'm guessing and hoping that our military leaders, unlike many college administrators, have not lost their minds. That brings me to this column's title: "Not a Day Care." That's the title of a new book written by Dr. Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Piper reminds us that today's law students are tomorrow's lawyers and judges.

Based on what they are taught, there's no mystery why lawyers and judges seek to legislate from the bench. Students who want to rid college curricula of dead old white men such as Plato, Aristotle, Voltaire and Kant will be on tomorrow's school boards or be professors. This doesn't bode well for our nation's future.

Many colleges have become hotbeds of what might be labeled as enlightened racism. Students at the University of California, Berkeley created "safe spaces" for people of color. Resident advisers at Scripps College posted two signs to educate students about "emotional labor," one aimed at white students and one for "people of color and marginalized backgrounds." University of Michigan students demanded a "designated space on central campus for

Black students and students of color to organize and do social justice work." That was after the university caved to student demands and spent $10 million to build a multicultural center.

In Chapter 6, Piper discusses an attack by a Muslim Somali student at Ohio State University.

Fortunately, he was shot dead by police officers before he could add to his toll of 11 injured students.

The Islamic State group praised him and called him one of its soldiers. The administration responded to the incident by inviting Nathan Lean, author of "The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims," to lecture about Islamophobia. A few days after the attack, protesters gathered on campus to read the names of people of color killed by police in the previous two months.

The Muslim Somali student made the list, going from a terrorist to a victim virtually overnight. Piper asks whether it is possible to imagine President Franklin D. Roosevelt taking to the radio waves after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to announce a forum on diversity and prejudice.

Among the many other ugly things going on at our universities is the withering attack on free speech. Diversity is the highest goal of students and professors who openly detest those with whom they disagree. The content of a man's character is no longer as important as the color of his skin or his sex or his political loyalties. This intolerance has won such respectability that even politicians have little shame expressing it. In 2014, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo basically told people who disagreed with him to leave the state. He said people who defend traditional marriage, are pro-life and are anti-gun control "have no place in the state of New York."

That's progressive ideological fascism that ought to be put down by freedom-loving Americans.

Dr. Everett Piper's "Not a Day Care" is a short but powerful book by a university president who is not afraid to maintain civility and common sense, traits all too rare among today's university administrators.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

Not my fault, he apparently thought. But of course, it was — partly. Bush and Obama had serious policy shops that worked closely with their parties' leaders on both process and policy. Trump doesn't. Bush and Obama and their policy shops were knowledgeable about the contents of major proposals and bills. Trump isn't.

That gives him plenty of room to maneuver. And it undercuts and perhaps completely eliminates the leverage of the members of the House Freedom Caucus whose hostility to Ryan prevented him from getting a 218-vote House majority out of his 241-member caucus.

Now Trump and Pelosi have such leverage, as it's clear that withholding Freedom Caucus votes can mean policy victories for the left. Caucus head Mark Meadows inferentially acknowledged as much when he promised that his group would support the Graham-Cassidy health care bill if it were to pass the Senate.

Lack of alignment between a president and his congressional party may be unfamiliar, but it's certainly not new. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal measures passed in crisis years when his party had big majorities, but later he was repeatedly frustrated by isolationist Western and conservative Southern Democrats.

Harry Truman, after his surprise 1948 victory, wasn't able to get his liberal policies through a Democratic Congress. Dwight Eisenhower, at loggerheads with conservative Republicans, was not displeased when they lost their thin majorities in 1954.

By 1963, political scientist and FDR biographer James MacGregor Burns was writing "The Deadlock of Democracy: Four-Party Politics in America." Like many such works, it accurately described the recent past, but it did not foresee how Lyndon Johnson would push his Great Society through a Democratic Congress in 1965.

Over the next 30 years, presidents and their congressional parties wandered into and out of alignment with each other. Many of Richard Nixon's toughest Watergate critics were Republicans. Gerald Ford's old congressional colleagues sustained his vetoes, but not by much. House Speaker Tip O'Neill was openly contemptuous of Jimmy Carter's closest aides.

Ronald Reagan got a bipartisan majority for his tax cuts in 1981, but Bob Dole pushed back with smaller tax increases in 1982. George H.W. Bush lost half his congressional party when he broke his read-my-lips-no-new-taxes vow in 1990. Bill Clinton worked with Democratic majorities in 1993, but they couldn't pass Hillarycare in 1994.

In that perspective, the recent two decades of close presidential/congressional alignment looks more like the exception than the rule. The Framers purposefully established something less like an efficient government and more like an arena of conflict. Presidents and members of Congress are elected at different intervals by different constituencies.

The dealignment of Trump and congressional Republicans may be unnerving, but it's not abnormal.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics.

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A12 NEWS IN IMAGES

TOBY MELVILLE | REUTERS

HANNAH MCKAY | REUTERS

KHALIL ASHAWI | REUTERS

Main, two stag deer are seen through the mist at dawn during the annual rutting season in Richmond Park in London.

Middle left, a fighter from Free Syrian Army (Al-Hamza Brigade) is seen looking out in Hazwan town in Aleppo, Syria.

Middle right, a man vapes outside Southwark Crown Court in London.

Bottom left, A girl in a communion dress walks past a demolition machine tearing down a house damaged by an earthquake, in Tecomatlan, Mexico.

EDGARD GARRIDO | REUTERS

NOT ALL VODKA IS MADE FROM POTATOES SWEET POTATOES ARE VEGETABLES VEGETABLES ARE GOOD FOR YOU

— YOU’RE WELCOME Covington vodka is available in 750 mL and 1.75 L. covingtonvodka.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Pepp in his step Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers (90) celebrates a sack with defensive end Mario Addison (97) during Carolina’s Sept.

17 win over the Buffalo Bills at Bank of America Stadium.

the Wednesday SIDELINE REPORT

SPORTS

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Coaches, others hit with federal corruption charges

UNCC football shuffles staff after 0-4 start Charlotte 49ers coach Brad Lambert announced changes to his coaching staff Monday, two days after his team was shut out 28-0 at home against Georgia State. Offensive line coach Greg Adkins was named offensive coordinator, replacing Jeff Mullen. Mullen will serve as qaurterbacks coach. The 49ers are 0-4 for the first time in the program’s five-year history. Lambert is 6-22 in his two-plus years at Charlotte.

NBA

Source: Former NC State coach Gottfried will be Mavericks scout Mark Gottfried, who was fired as NC State’s men’s basketball coach last season, will be a scout this year for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported on Twitter.

Gottfried was an assistant coach for the Mavericks’ summer league team in Orlando during the offseason, but did not coach former Wolfpack guard Dennis Smith Jr., Dallas’ first-round pick who instead played in the Las Vegas summer league. The Mavericks’ team in Orlando went 5-0 and won its first summer league title there, aided by point guard — and another former NC State player — Cat Barber.

Julius Peppers returns to Panthers in a new role Veteran defensive end, back with the team that drafted him second overall in 2002, now one of the league’s elder statesmen

U.S. authorities on Tuesday unveiled fraud charges against 10 people, including four coaches and an Adidas executive, associated with some of the country’s premier college basketball programs following a multiyear corruption probe. Prosecutors said they uncovered many instances in which apparel executives, financial advisers and others bribed assistant college coaches to steer elite players to them, with some money going to athletes’ families. Bribes also went to star high school players to win their commitments to play for particular schools, prosecutors said. The four coaches facing charges are: Chuck Person (Auburn), Lamont Evans (Oklahoma State), Emanuel Richardson (Arizona) and Tony Bland (Southern California). Person, nicknamed “The Rifleman” during his playing days because of his 3-point shooting, played 13 NBA seasons, including the 1998‑99 season with the Charlotte Hornets.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

JEREMY BREVARD | USA TODAY SPORTS

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

JEREMY BREVARD | USA TODAY SPORTS

Wake Forest freshman wide receiver Greg Dortch has scored in each of the Demon Deacons’ four games this season, totaling five touchdown receptions.

Tables turned as unbeaten Wake hosts winless FSU Demon Deacons striving to contend in ACC’s Atlantic

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal THESE ARE strange times in which we live.

And no, we’re not talking about presidential Tweets, national anthem debates or any of the other political footballs being thrown around the nation these days.

The most outward sign of a world turned upside down, at least in the context of actual football, can be summed up in one simple sentence.

Undefeated Wake Forest will take on a Florida State team still looking for its first win of the season Saturday at BB&T Stadium.

It’s a reality the oddsmakers in Las Vegas still don’t quite believe, having established the Seminoles as a double-digit favorite.

That’s understandable considering that FSU’s two losses are to national championship favorite Alabama and NC State in a game that followed a two-week weather-related layoff while the Deacons’ best win came on the road against

lightly regarded Boston College.

Schedules notwithstanding, coach Dave Clawson’s improving team has made significant strides as it looks to build off last year’s modest success. But for Wake to be taken seriously in the tough Atlantic Division, it will first have to prove its worthy against one of the ACC’s traditional heavyweights — especially after barely surviving against Appalachian State last Saturday.

“The tough game against App definitely gave us a mental check,” said wide receiver Scotty Washington, whose blocked field goal on the final play of the game saved the Deacons from a potential heartbreaking loss to an in-state rival.

“Going into Florida State we’ve got to believe we can win. In the past, sometimes we question if we can win, if we can really beat this team. This year we feel as if we can.”

Wake (4-0, 1-0 ACC) has played the Seminoles tough in the past. A year ago in Tallahassee, it made FSU sweat before finally dropping a 17-6 decision.

This year’s Deacons have reaSee WAKE, page B3

THIS SUNDAY, the Carolina Panthers face the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVIII. Of the 22 players who started that game for the Panthers in February 2004, 21 have been retired for a combined 181 years. Ten of them have been retired for at least a decade.

Then there’s Julius Peppers.

Peppers was one of eight Super Bowl Panthers still active when he left the team as a free agent in 2009. Now, the 37-yearold defensive end has returned to Carolina as a veteran leader on the defense.

“Veteran?” he said with a laugh. “I was a veteran then.”

Peppers, a former football and basketball star at the University of North Carolina, was in his second year in the NFL when the Panthers made their first Super Bowl trip. He wouldn’t make the first of his nine Pro Bowl trips until the following season.

“I’m a little bit older now,” Peppers admitted. “This is a different role, different responsibility. It’s a role I’m comfortable with. I was in it at Green Bay — kind of the elder statesman of the defense. It’s a good role.”

Currently fifth on the NFL’s all-time sacks list, Peppers’ role doesn’t include starting for the Panthers, after making 120 starts in 122 games in his first

stint with the team. Still, the old man has plenty left, racking up 2.5 sacks for the team in the first three games of the season.

“Awesome,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said of Peppers. “I think he’s kind of found a niche here with us, the way we rotate our guys to try and keep them as fresh as we can.”

After playing five seasons in Chicago and three in Green Bay, coming back to the warm South has also helped keep Peppers fresh.

“The weather is nice out here,” he said. “It’s a little warm, so the muscles get loose a little better.”

The reborn Peppers has taken his place in the defensive end rotation, along with veteran, Charles Johnson, and role players Mario Addison and Wes Horton.

“I don’t think the guys up front get enough credit,” linebacker Luke Kuechly said. “We’ve got a million guys up front who play hard, play fast, get after the quarterback and stuff the run game. They make it so much easier for me and everyone on the back end.”

Peppers is just as impressed with the people behind him.

“This is the best defense I’ve ever played on,” he said.

In the home opener against the Bills, his first home game in Bank of America Stadium in 3,179 days, Peppers received a little special attention during pregame introductions. Kuechly gave up his usual spot as the final defensive player out of the tunnel, allowing Peppers to get introduced last.

See PEPPERS, page B4

INSIDE

PERRY NELSON | USA TODAY SPORTS

The Carolina Hurricanes are nearing the end of training camp and coach Bill Peters & Co. hope this is the year the team snaps its eight-season playoff drought. New goalie Scott Darling, pictured, saw his first action of the preseason Tuesday, a 6-2 Carolina win at Edmonton, and his success — along with increased scoring — could be a cure to what has ailed the Hurricanes for much of the past decade. B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

B2 WEDNESDAY

09.27.17

TRENDING

Carmelo Anthony: The Oklahoma City Thunder made another move to fill the void left when Kevin Durant bolted for Golden State last summer, trading for the Knicks forward. The new-look Thunder — who also added Paul George this offseason to help franchise cornerstone Russell Westbrook — hope the addition of Anthony is enough to challenge the Warriors for Western Conference supremacy in 2017-18.

Bradley Chubb: The NC State senior defensive end had a big game in the Wolfpack’s 27-21 upset of the No. 12 Seminoles, but it was his postgame actions that took center stage when he spit on the Florida State logo at midfield.

Chubb initially denied intentionally spitting on the logo, but later apologized. “My mindset going into the game was not, ‘When we win this game, I’m going to spit on the field,’” Chubb said. “I just got caught up in the moment, a bad decision.”

Darren Sproles: The 34-year-old Eagles running back is out indefinitely after he was hurt in Philadelphia’s 2724 win Sunday over the New York Giants. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Sproles tore his ACL and broke his arm on the same play and will require surgery for both injuries.

Vincent Lecavalier: The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they would retire their former captain’s No. 4 before a Feb. 10 game with the Los Angeles Kings. Lecavalier, the Lightning’s all-time leading scorer who played 14 of his 18 NHL seasons there, was the No. 1 overall pick in 1998, won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, and also played for the Flyers and Kings.

beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES

NFL

Scores of NFLers knelt during the national anthem this weekend in response to comments made by President Donald Trump. Three teams — the Steelers, Seahawks and Titans — opted to stay in the locker room for the anthem, while other teams stood with interlocked arms.

ADAM HAGY | USA TODAY SPORTS

“Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country.

Period.”

NASCAR legend and team owner Richard Petty, when asked what he thought of anthem protests in the NFL.

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NASCAR

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“We’re looking at everything. But it’s not like this has been happening every year.”

Tar Heels football coach Larry Fedora on the team’s overwhelming injury woes this season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

12 Receptions for NC State’s Jaylen Samuels in the Wolfpack’s 27-21 upset win at Florida State. It is the second time this season the senior has had double-digit catches in a game — he had a career-high 15 in a seasonopening loss to South Carolina. Samuels, who has 38 catches through four games, is on pace for more than 100 and could catch Jerricho Cotchery’s school record of 200 career receptions.

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The UNC men’s basketball team announced Saturday it would not visit the White House to celebrate its national championshop, citing an inability to find a date for the Tar Heels to come to D.C. that worked for both sides.

Kyle Busch clinched a spot in the second round of the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs with his win Sunday at New Hampshire. Four of 16 drivers will be eliminated from the postseason following this Sunday’s race at Dover.

MLB

Six weeks after a leg injury derailed his season, Nationals superstar outfielder Bryce Harper is close to returning to the Washington lineup.

Harper went on the disabled list Aug. 12, and the Nats have gone 26-16 without him and clinched the National League East for the second straight season. Despite missing 42 games, Harper was still in the top 40 in home runs and RBI in Major League Baseball heading in to Tuesday’s games.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

B3

Butch Davis, FIU host Charlotte Former UNC coach and his new team finally return home following hurricane

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal

BOB DONNAN | USA TODAY SPORTS

Duke linebacker Ben Humphreys (34) and safety Jeremy McDuffie (9) will try to help the Blue Devils further flex their muscles in the ACC.

Blue Devils aim to avoid another Miami miracle Duke looks to stay unbeaten, seek retribution on Hurricanes

By Shawn Krest North State Journal DURHAM — Duke offensive lineman Gabe Brandner recalls the last time Miami visited Duke.

“I remember it pretty vividly,” he said, after greeting the question with a heavy sigh. “Especially that two-minute drill, with Thomas Sirk scoring on the quarterback run.”

As Brandner, and likely no one else who saw the game, recalls, Duke got the ball at its 20 with 1:50 left, trailing 24-19. Sirk completed passes of 11, 13 and 15 yards to get the ball past midfield. After a pass interference penalty on the Hurricanes, Sirk threw to Terrence Alls for a nine-yard gain to the Miami 2-yard line.

With six seconds left on the clock, Sirk rushed the ball into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

All that was left was a kickoff and desperation play by Miami.

That’s where the rest of the world’s memory kicks in.

Duke’s Ross Martin kicked to the Miami 25. Eight laterals, a disputed near tackle that replays showed may have involved a game-ending knee on the turf and an official 177 yards of field position changing later, Miami scored a game-winning touchdown.

It was an unforgettable play, but the Duke players and coaches that remain from that Halloween day two years ago have set about doing exactly that — forgetting what happened and focusing on this year’s game.

“I remember that as a wild game,” said center Austin Davis. “It felt like a punch in the gut when you saw them running into that end zone and celebrating.

It was tough to see and tough to experience, but we put it to bed awhile ago. We put that to bed two years ago. That’s something we’re definitely not looking back at. You can’t look back at something that happened two years ago, because they’re a different Miami team.

We’re a different Duke team. It’s all about now.”

Despite that, some of the veteran players expect the play to be brought up by media and fans as Duke prepares for the Friday night contest.

“It probably will be,” Brandner said, “but I don’t see any application to this year’s team. Over half of these guys (on the 2017 team) weren’t here for it. Some of the older guys will bring it up, I’m sure.

I was on the bench when it happened, but that’s football for you.

I think we recovered and finished

the season with the Pinstripe Bowl victory. That was definitely a good positive.”

Cornerback Mark Gilbert is one of the Duke players who arrived after the infamous kick return, but he remembers it clearly, and he sounds less over the disappointment than the players who were in uniform that fateful day.

“I was a recruit that night,” he said. “I was in the stands watching it. I saw it. I know they missed the call and everything. I was in shock, myself, just like everybody in the stands on the Duke side.

You could see during the replay that the knee was down.

Gilbert enrolled early at Duke, that January, and the team was still upset about it, two months after the fact.

“They definitely talked about it.

We still do,” he said. “It’s probably one of the worst plays this program has ever seen. Probably one of the worst calls. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder.”

Two years hasn’t softened the blow.

“You could see in practice today that we’re playing with something to prove. I just feel like we owe them one. We want to beat them,” he said.

Coach David Cutcliffe has come to terms with the play.

“It’s obviously a memorable moment,” he said, “and an unpleasantly memorable moment if you were on the Duke side of it. I put it in a place where it doesn’t bother me. I don’t look at Miami, and that’s the first thing I think about.

I don’t look at football officials, and that’s the first thing I think about.

“I go back and think about my mom, and what she’d tell me,” Cutcliffe continued. “She wasn’t living, but she would’ve told me — she’d say, ‘You think you’re the only one that’s ever had an injustice?’

And I’d have shut up right then, because Mom was right. Come on.

You know? There are bigger injustices.”

While he’s accepted the disappointment personally, Cutcliffe has one remaining regret.

“The part I will always hate is for the players. When you walk into the locker room, you’re supposed to be able to provide an answer, and you can’t. I would’ve been silly to try to say — to explain it. To those players, I will always be a little apologetic. Outside of that, my mom was right. Don’t dwell on yourself and the injuries that are done to you.”

Duke vs. Miami when Friday, 7 p.m. where Wallace Wade Stadium watch ESPN

THE CHARLOTTE football team may be dealing with adversity, having gone through its first four games without a win and with an offense that’s been so bad, coach Brad Lambert has already made changes to the way his team calls its plays.

But those are just minor inconveniences compared to what this week’s opponent, Florida International has been through this season.

Beaten 61-17 by Central Florida in their opening game under new coach Butch Davis, the Panthers then had to deal with a hurricane that displaced them for a week, forced the rescheduling of a game and caused immeasurable anguish among the players, coaches and their families.

“Everyone in South Florida has faced enormous challenges with Hurricane Irma,” said Davis, whose team was evacuated to Birmingham, Ala., to escape the storm. “Being in Birmingham for eight days and wondering what kind of damage took place back home and how is my family, I think we did a remarkable job of being able to focus when we asked them to focus on football.

“When it was time to focus on family, we did everything we could to make sure they stayed in contact. They’ve handled it with a lot of maturity.”

If anyone is used to coaching his way around distractions it’s Davis, who led UNC to eight wins and a trip to the Music City Bowl in 2010 even as his program was under the cloud of an NCAA investigation that ultimately led to probation and his firing.

His current team has managed

JOHN GLASER | USA TODAY SPORTS

FIU coach Butch Davis was previously head coach at UNC.

Charlotte at FIU when Saturday, 7 p.m. where Riccardo Silva Stadium

to overcome its current upheaval by winning both its games since Irma’s landfall on the Florida mainland as a Category 3 hurricane on Sept. 10.

After beating Alcorn State 1710 in a game that was moved to Birmingham’s Legion Field, then knocking off Rice 13-7 on the road in Houston last week, Davis and his Panthers are looking forward to finally playing their home opener Saturday against the winless 49ers.

“Obviously you’d like to have an opportunity to play earlier, but the kids were remarkable going on the road three weeks in a row,’ Davis said. “It will be good to play in front of the fans, the student body and their families. I know they’re very excited about it.”

Charlotte (0-4) figures to be the perfect foil for a happy homecoming, having been outscored 142-45 this season and coming off the first shutout loss in the program’s fiveyear history — a 28-0 whitewash at the hands of Georgia State.

The 49ers rank 127th among the nation’s 129 FBS programs in scoring offense, but have actually held their own defensively. Despite their performance thus far, Davis is wary of the 49ers.

“They’ve got areas on that football team that are very good,” he said.

As bad as the 49ers have been offensively, to the point that earlier in the week Lambert replaced offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen with offensive line coach Greg Adkins, the Panthers haven’t been much better.

They are averaging only 15.7 points through their first three games.

One bright spot, however, has been the play of tight end Pharaoh McKever — a transfer from NC State who scored the game’s only touchdown in last week’s win at Rice.

“He’s the kind of tight end you love to have on your football team,” Davis said of the 6-foot-6, 248-pound graduate student from Tabor City. “He gives you somebody at the point of attack and on the edge who’s able to block and it was great to get him involved in the passing game, because he’s a big target.”

WAKE from page B1 son for optimism, thanks to an improved offense that still ranks among the ACC’s leaders at 37.8 points per game despite taking a step back in Boone last week.

They’ll also be facing an FSU team that has scored just 28 points combined in its two games and is still in the process of breaking in a true freshman quarterback.

James Blackman improved as the game went on in his first career start against the Wolfpack on Saturday. But as defensive end Duke Ejiofor noted, the youngster still has a lot to learn and is susceptible to rookie mistakes — especially when he’s put under duress.

“This is his second start and they’ve only played two games so far,” the redshirt senior said of Blackman. “He doesn’t have that much experience so we have to do a good job of getting after him and making him uncomfortable.”

Despite that confidence, Clawson knows his team won’t have it easy against a talented opponent made all the more dangerous by its first 0-2 start since 1989.

“To paraphrase Mark Twain, ‘reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated,’” Clawson said. “This is still one of the best teams and programs in the country.”

And the wounded Seminoles (0-2) are determined to prove it.

Emphatically, if possible.

“We’re trying to win,” offensive lineman Cole Minshew said

JEREMY BREVARD | USA TODAY SPORTS

Wake Forest defensive back Jessie Bates III, right, knocks a pass away from Appalachian State wide receiver Thomas Hennigan during the Deacons’ win last Saturday. Wake has outscored opponents 151-46 through four games this season.

Wake Forest vs.

Florida State when Saturday, 3:30 p.m. where BB&T Field watch ABC/ESPN2

Monday. “We’re trying to win by a lot if we can because we need to make that statement in order to show everyone we’re not just some scrub team.”

Saturday’s game in Winston-Salem will be the first in a difficult five-game stretch that will determine exactly how good the Deacons are this season. After playing Florida State, their schedule has them at defending

national champion Clemson, at Georgia Tech, home against Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson at Louisville, then at Notre Dame.

“We’re better, but if you’re going to play in the ACC Atlantic, those teams are ahead of us and to get where we want to get, you have to beat them. And we haven’t done it yet,” Clawson said of FSU, Clemson and Louisville. “Anytime we play these games, they’re great opportunities for us to truly show we’ve moved the program forward. But these are good teams. They’ve got good players, they’re well coached. These wins are never going to come easy. …

From here on out there’s no easy sledding.”

NC State vs. Syracuse

UNC at Georgia Tech

East Carolina vs. South Florida

Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday, 12:20 p.m. | ACC Network

Bobby Dodd Stadium Saturday, noon | ESPN2

Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday, noon | CBS SN

Preview: The Pack hopes to build off of a win at Florida State, while the Orange hopes to snap a three-game losing streak against NC State.

Players to watch: Syracuse linebacker Parris Bennett had 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, a safety, a pass breakup and a quarterback hit in last week’s 35-26 loss at LSU. Jakobi Meyers gives the Pack another receiving threat after a 112-yard day against the Seminoles that included a 71-yard touchdown catch.

Fast fact: This will be the first time NC State plays Syracuse while the Wolfpack is riding a winning streak since 1978. The Pack has lost the game before the matchup with the Orange the last six times. This is the fifth straight time Syracuse has lost the week before it faced State. The Orange last came into the game off a win in 1998.

What to expect: As nervous State fans know, this is exactly the type of game the Wolfpack lose, to an underdog opponent after a program-defining win. A win can help expel NC State Stuff for good.

Preview: The injury-riddled Tar Heels enter the game at 1-3 (0-1 ACC), but have won three straight against the Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-0).

Players to watch: Georgia Tech RB KirVonte Benson (196) and QB TaQuon Marshall (112) combined to rush for 308 yards and score four touchdowns in Tech’s win against Pitt last week. Marshall and Benson rank second and third in the ACC in rushing. UNC DB M.J. Stewart had a sack, three pass breakups and a quarterback hurry during last week’s loss to Duke.

Fast fact: The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents 135-132 this season and have more points than their opponents in each of the first three quarters, but have been outscored 54-20 during the final period of their four games.

What to expect: Despite recent success against Tech’s triple option attack, this is not a favorable matchup for UNC, which ranks 12th in the ACC in rushing defense. The Yellow Jackets average 393.7 yards per game on the ground.

Preview: The Pirates (1-3, 1-0 AAC) earned their first win of the season and first on the road under coach Scottie Montgomery on Sunday at UConn. No. 18 USF is off to a flying start for coach Charlie Strong at 4-0 (1‑0), including a 43-7 dismantling of Temple last week.

Players to watch: Duke transfer Thomas Sirk earned AAC Player of the Week honors after throwing for 426 yards and three touchdowns against UConn. USF QB Quinton Flowers, the reigning AAC Player of the Year, has thrown for eight touchdowns and run for four this season.

Fast fact: ECU and UConn both gained the same number of yards Sunday. The 596 yards were the fewest allowed by the Pirates this season, but they still rank last nationally in total defense at 624.8 yards per game.

What to expect: The Pirates will have their hands full against a USF team that ranks 13th nationally in total defense, 21st nationally in scoring offense and has already forced 14 turnovers.

— Shawn Krest

— Brett Friedlander

— Brett Friedlander

B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Hurricanes looking for more goals in 2017-18 Contributions from defense, more minutes for Skinner keys to increased output

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes have just two preseason games remaining, including an exhibition-closing home game Friday against the Capitals at PNC Arena, and there are still some ongoing roster battles.

Most notable is the third pairing slot alongside defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, where four left-handed blueliners (Haydn Fleury, Klas Dahlbeck, Trevor Carrick and Jake Chelios) are competing for two roster spots and a place in the starting lineup.

For the most part it’s clear who will make the team and where they fit in, so looking ahead to the Oct. 7 opener against the Wild in Raleigh it’s more about how they will perform once the 2017-18 campaign is underway.

Carolina thinks it solved its goaltending issues with the addition of Scott Darling. The other need was scoring more goals across the board. Here’s how they can get them.

Points from the back end Justin Faulk is going to put up his share of goals — he’s had 15, 16 and 17 goals the last three seasons — but will Carolina will get enough production out of the rest of its defense?

The Hurricanes’ best bet for improved production from the defense is probably a combination of Jaccob Slavin becoming a more reliable point producer and Noah Hanifin upping his contribution on the power play and even strength.

Slavin, the team’s No. 1 defenseman, came on the end of the season with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in the final 23 games.

That’s nearly a 50-point pace, which would certainly do the trick.

Slavin needs to show he’s closer to the player who had 13 points in 17 games in March than the one who has had more than five points in a month just twice in his two-year

JAMES GUILLORY | USA TODAY SPORTS

The Carolina Hurricanes need more points from the defense this year, including third-year pro Noah Hanifin.

NHL career.

Hanifin definitely has the most top-end offensive skill after Faulk, and he should benefit from moving into the top four to start the season. His 29 points last year are encouraging, but just 18 came at even strength and the other 11 aren’t nearly enough for a player who logged almost 165 minutes on the power play.

Jeff Skinner’s minutes It looks like newcomer Marcus Kruger will center the fourth line, but it will look more like a second third line than a traditional fourth.

Kruger played nearly 12 minutes at even strength for Chicago last season — that’s almost three minutes more than the man he replaced (Jay McClement, 9:05), and Kruger wasn’t brought to Carolina to play significantly less than he played on a Cup contender.

Those minutes have to come from somewhere. It won’t be from Jordan Staal, who should benefit most from Kruger’s arrival by drawing fewer defense-first assign-

37

Goals last season for Jeff Skinner ments and having more offensive zone draws.

Victor Rask will be paired with offensive wingers and be expected to produce points. Cutting his line’s minutes won’t lead to that.

That leaves the current Derek Ryan-led third line, with Skinner on the wing. Skinner ranked first on the Hurricanes in even-strength minutes last season (15:27) and totaled a career-high 1,401 minutes last year, leading to 37 goals.

If Skinner is going to match that output or reach 40 goals, he needs more minutes.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Toronto’s Auston Matthews each reached 40 goals last year while playing only 1,438 and 1,446 minutes, respectively. But the past

six seasons only one player has logged fewer minutes than Skinner last year and hit the 40-goal mark — Rick Nash’s 42 goals with the Rangers in 2014-15, done in 1,379 minutes.

Peters has every reason to keep Skinner on Ryan’s wing to start the season — the duo clicked last spring when Skinner was at his best — however Kruger’s addition could take away minutes from that third line.

In order for Skinner to have a shot at reaching 40 goals (or even match his 37 from 2016-17), he’ll either need to up his power play goals or play more minutes.

Skinner’s never been a prolific power play weapon (he had double digits just once, when he scored 11 in 2013-14), so the growth has to come at even strength. With Kruger earning key shutdown minutes, that’s not going to happen on the third line. Peters will need to revisit Skinner playing on Rask’s wing in order to get them both the minutes they need — and see No. 53 match last season’s output or break the 40-goal mark.

PEPPERS from page B1 “It's Julius Peppers, man,” said Kuechly, who was 12 years old when Peppers played in the Super Bowl. “I think it's great to have him back on our team. He deserves that with everything he's brought to this franchise.”

“It was cool — a nice reception,” Peppers said. “I thought the fans really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it.”

The following week, Peppers again made headlines during pregame. While the rest of the team stood, many linking arms during the national anthem, Peppers chose to remain in the locker room in solidarity with players around the league and against President Donald Trump’s call for owners to fire players who protest.

“I thought it was appropriate to stay in,” Peppers said. “I felt like he attacked my brothers in the league. I thought it was appropriate to stand up for them.”

Peppers joined his teammates after the anthem, in time for the start of the game.

“This wasn’t about disrespecting the military or dis- “This is a respecting the different flag, police or role, first responders.

It was different about me mak- responsiing a decision bility. It’s as a man on my two feet,” he a role I’m said. “I know comfortable a lot of peo- with.” ple might not understand or might be upset, — Julius and that’s fine. Peppers I’m not living my life trying to make everybody happy. There are only a few times in a man’s life where you have a chance to stand up for something you believe in and make a statement. Today, I thought that was that chance, and I took it.”

Elder statesman, role player, social conscience. It’s a new role for Julius Peppers his second time around, and at this rate, who knows how long it can last.

“The guy’s a beast, man,” said Captain Munnerlyn. “He’s an animal. He looks like he still can play another four or five years, easy.

I’ve got to find out his secret.”

Youth hunting day yields more than 6,000 deer N.C. youth day coincided with National Hunting and Fishing Day

By NSJ Staff

BRIAN FLUHARTY | USA TODAY SPORTS

Ryan Newman, who needs to climb over a couple drivers to avoid elimination from the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs, has three career wins at Dover.

Elimination looms for 4 drivers at Dover Monster Energy Cup Series visits Monster Mile for third race of playoffs and final stop in first postseason round

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal THE MONSTER Energy Cup Series heads to Dover this weekend for the final stop in the first threerace segment of the 10-week playoffs.

The first two races ended with unsurprising results: Martin Truex Jr., the series points leader at the end of the regular season schedule, won the opener at Chicagoland, while Kyle Busch took the checkered last weekend at New Hampshire.

Both Truex and the younger Busch earned passage to the next three-race segment courtesy their wins, but 14 other playoff drivers will need to perform this Sunday to avoid being among the four drivers eliminated. Here’s where each team stands going in to the Apache Warrior 400 (2 p.m., NBCSN) at Dover.

They’re in: Truex, Kyle Busch,

Kyle Larson As mentioned, Truex and Busch moved on thanks to their wins in the first two races. Larson, however, is already in on points thanks to his solid regular season and fifth and second in the first two races.

Larson’s 13 top-five finishes are tops in the series.

Rest easy: Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson Three of the four in this group are former champions, and Hamlin — still looking for his first title — is playoff-tested and has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three races at Dover. Johnson’s the favorite with 11 wins in 31 career races at Dover, while Kenseth has three career wins and 17 finishes in the top five in 37 trips to the Monster Mile.

Don’t wreck: Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray This quartet isn’t on the hot seat, but they’re close enough to the bubble that they could stumble right out of the playoffs with a bad finish.

Blaney and Elliott have each only raced three Monster Energy Cup races at Dover, but Chase has top fives in all his starts while Blaney

has just one top 10 and an average finish of 26th. McMurray hasn’t been great at Dover, but has only one career DNF. Harvick, barring disaster, should move on.

Danger zone: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman If the segment ended after New Hampshire, only Stenhouse would still be alive. Newman’s won three times in his career at Dover but has cracked the top 10 just once in the last five trips there, though it was a fourth-place finish this June. Stenhouse and Dillon — both with career-best eighths at Dover — could probably use a breakthrough performance at the Monster Mile to sneak into the second playoff segment.

Checkered or bust: Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne Both will likely need a win — or some severe misfortune for a bubble team — to advance. The two veterans each have seven career DNFs at Dover, the most among playoff participants, and will surely roll the dice Sunday to try to win and move on. Busch has one win at Dover (in 2011) while Kahne’s best career finish is fourth — one of three career top-fives.

RALEIGH —Saturday was Youth Deer Hunting Day in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper proclaimed the youth hunting day on Sept. 14, 2017, stating that "North Carolina's sportsmen and women were among the first conservationists to support the establishment of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission — to conserve fish, wildlife and their habitat — and to help fund healthy and sustainable natural resources through their license fees." Youth deer hunting day allows youths 17 and younger to use any legal weapon to hunt deer of either sex.

The state youth hunting day coincided with National Hunting and Fishing Day. On May 2, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation designating the fourth Saturday in September as National Hunting and Fishing Day. This year, N.C. native and racing legend Richard Childress is the honorary chairman of National Hunting and Fishing Day, joining two other Old North State sports legends — Arnold Palmer (1985) and Hertford native Jim “Cat-

fish” Hunter (1976) — who have served in the same capacity.

Childress — who joins a national fraternity of chairmen that also includes Bill Dance, Hank Williams Jr., Travis Tritt, Jeff Foxworthy, Terry Bradshaw and Tony Stewart — said of the national day, "This is a very important day to reflect and participate in activities that celebrate conservation efforts by sportsmen around the country."

Youth hunters along with archers and other hunters have already taken more than 6,300 deer across the North Carolina as of press time. Wake County leads the state with 106 antlered bucks and Stokes, Rockingham, Randolph, and Chatham counties all rank in the top five with more than 70 bucks taken. Chatham County leads the state with the most total deer taken at 193.

While deer hunting season moves into full swing, Childress, of Welcome, N.C., will likely be turning his focus to the NASCAR playoffs where his grandson Austin Dillon is still fighting to bring the famous No. 3 car back to the top of stockcar racing heap.

Deer season continues across the state for all hunters with the first gun season opening in eastern North Carolina on Oct. 14. The last day to hunt deer for this season is Jan. 1, 2018, for all regions.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY EUDY

Jakob Eudy, 14, following a successful hunt in Union County on Dec. 5, 2016.

WEDNESDAY

09.27.17

NORTH

STATE

Go active for Women’s Health and Fitness Day, Page 6

JOURNaL

the good life

play list

Sept. 29-30 Wide Open Bluegrass Raleigh This major downtown festival now includes five music stages in addition to the stellar, ticketed main stage at Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh. The N.C. Whole Hog Barbecue Series Sponsored by the North Carolina Pork Council is the culinary highlight of the event. Up to half of the net proceeds support the Bluegrass Trust Fund, a nonprofit organization helping bluegrass professionals in times of need.

IN A NORTH STATE OF MIND

taste | Biltmore wine

13th Annual North Carolina Muscadine Harvest Festival Kenansville This two-day event is filled with music, fun and, of course, great wines!

This year's entertainment features The Fantastic Shakers, The Entertainers, Nantucket, more than 250 wines, food, and arts and crafts. Celebrate the final weekend of N.C. Wine and Grape Month at Duplin County Events Center with an amateur wine making contest, cooking contest and more than 30 local wineries.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BILTMORE

Bilmore employees pour white wine.

A taste and toast of Biltmore Biltmore leads a thriving wine industry in the Old North State

By Mollie Young North State Journal ASHEVILLE — A visit to America’s premiere estate is certain to transport you back to a time of opulence and grandeur, but with careful efforts perfected over the last 128 years, it also showcases the best of North Carolina agriculture.

When George Vanderbilt began construction on his country home in Asheville in 1889, he had a vision not only to build the largest private residence in the United States but also to leave a lasting and sustainable legacy.

The construction of the main dairy house and village in 1900 secured the Biltmore Estate as thriving farmland, but it was Vanderbilt’s grandson, Wil- Vistors eat appetizers at Vanderbilt Wine Club Winemaker’s Dinner at The Inn on Biltmore Estate. liam Cecil, who would propel the estate into a future agriculture powerhouse. In 1971, Cecil of the state’s wineries. planted his first grape vines at ning vintages in a new and An estimated 1.9 million peoBiltmore that would later open unique way during North Caroli“I always like to remind ple visited North Carolina winera winery and a number of on- na Wine and Grape Month. ies last year alone.

Sitting inside the newly reno- people that we’re a site restaurants where the public And as the industry grows, so could experience Vanderbilt hos- vated Premiere Tasting Room in does the Biltmore. In April, the Antler Hill Village, winery man- grower in addition to a pitality first-hand. estate completed a three-month Today, as the leaves change on ager Sean Wilborn said there is producer — right here on renovation to their cellar and the rolling landscape, the estate no better time than the fall to the property.” tasting rooms, adding a premiis still tempting guest's appetites. experience the winery that he um wine bar where Vanderbilt’s Fresh harvest flavors from manages. old dairy barn once stood.

“The winery is a crucial part Sean Wilborn, Winery Manager Biltmore gardens fill the estate’s “I always like to remind people seven sit-down restaurants this of a visit to the estate; obviously that we’re a grower in addition to fall. Pre Fixe meals include pan- the house is No. 1, but the winseared North Carolina mountain ery gives guests a reason to keep cent more cases of wine, from a producer — right here on the trout at Cedric’s tavern, apple ci- coming back,” said Wilborn, an 569,000 nine-liter cases to property,” Wilborn said sitting at der glazed pork tenderloin at the Atlanta native who relocated to 1,115,000 cases. The state has the end of a refurbished wood taBistro, and a maple glazed carrot Asheville a year and a half ago, also seen increases of more than ble in the new tasting room.

Chardonnay is the estate’s pri“with wine and culinary we are 40 percent in wages paid to emcake at the Village Social.

Executive chef Mark DeMar- always trying to create new and ployees and taxes paid to federal, mary grape, offering a base for some of the winery’s premiere state and local governments. co says the Taste of Biltmore — different experiences.”

According to the N.C. Depart- sparkling wines and reserves.

With more than 50 bottles running from Sept. 1 through The Biltmore’s golden ReHalloween, is an opportunity for to choose from, Biltmore Estate ment of Agriculture, the majority collaboration and innovative din- Winery is just one piece of an of in-state wineries rely on sales serve Chardonnay, fermented evolving and expanding wine in- at their tasting rooms or direct in French and American oak ing. sales to restaurants and retail barrels and aged for six to eight And paired with estate wines, dustry in North Carolina.

Since 2013, North Carolina stores. As such, tourism is a sigthe Taste of Biltmore showcases some of Biltmore’s award-win- wineries have produced 96 per- nificant part of revenue for many See BILTMORE, page B6

Liberty Antiques Festival Liberty An annual event with more than 400 dealers and thousands of pieces of 18th-20th century items from furniture, glass, pottery, military, toys, dolls, jewelry and art.

Carolina Jubilee Harmony The Carolina Jubilee Festival is a two-day annual music event with the mission of providing support for the Farm-to-Table initiative with locally produced food and beverages. The event features local and national music acts, farm-to-table restaurants, food and beverage vendors, and 5K and 10K runs.

Harvest Days Halifax Festivalgoers will experience heritage farm equipment such as antique tractors, farm exhibits and demonstrations, along with music and entertainment throughout the day on the outdoor amphitheater. Walk through the early 1900s Farm House and visit the Agriculture Museum to view the cotton display, farm tools, equipment and pictures of honored military.

Sept. 30 Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival Charlotte A casual wine tasting event with hundreds of wines available for tasting from 20-plus wineries. You can enjoy great festival food, live music, arts, crafts and a kids’ area.

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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NeCessities! history marked Sept. 25, 1974 Greensboro-born doctor pioneers “Tommy John Surgery,” saves baseball careers Greensboro native Frank Jobe, an orthopedist for the Los Angeles Dodgers, replaced pitcher Tommy John’s torn medial collateral ligament in his pitching arm with a tendon from his wrist.

The injury had ended pitching careers since the beginning of baseball but, thanks to Jobe’s efforts, John resumed his career after a successful rehabilitation, playing for another 14 years and amassing 164 victories. The procedure, which has come to be known as “Tommy John Surgery,” has saved the careers of countless pitchers and position players in all levels of baseball ever since. Jobe, born in 1925, joined the Army at 18 and served as a supply sergeant in a medical unit with the 101st Airborne during World War II. He was inspired to become a surgeon after witnessing the bravery of Army doctors on the battlefield, later recalling, “These guys would be operating in tents with bullets and shrapnel flying around.

These guys became my real heroes.”

Jobe was honored for his pioneering contributions to baseball during the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame awards ceremony, seven months before his death. Dodgers president Stan Kasten remembered Jobe as a “medical giant and pioneer” who helped “athletes around the world.”

Sept. 28, 1938 From the Drifters to “Stand By Me,” Ben E. King

Sept. 30, 1970 Fairgrounds hosted last NASCAR race on dirt track

Soul and R&B singer Ben E. Nelson, better known as Ben E. King, was born in Henderson on this day in 1938. King left North Carolina with his family for Harlem in 1947, and started work in his father’s restaurants as a teenager. His remarkable ability to sing both bass and tenor made him appealing to choirs and led him to form a vocal group called the Four Bs with some friends.

George Treadwell recruited him in his early 20s to sing with the Drifters. While with the group, he recorded such hits as “There Goes My Baby” and “Save the Last Dance for Me.” However, he parted ways with Treadwell after disputes over salary and embarked on a solo career in 1961 with the song “Spanish Harlem.”

Later that year, he released “Stand

by Me,” the hit for which he is best known. King’s feelings for his soon-tobe-wife Betty inspired the words and his performance, creating a heartfelt classic that remains fresh to this day.

Broadcast Music dubbed it the fourth most-played song of the 20th century.

King joined the ranks of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, just one of the many accolades he received during his long career. He died in April 2015.

The last NASCAR race on a dirt track was held in Raleigh at the State Fairgrounds in 1970. Richard Petty took away the day’s top prize in what was billed as the Home State 200.

Dirt track racing appeared in the South just prior to World War I. When the N.C. State Fair moved to its present site in 1928, the increasingly popular sport came with it. As a premier venue with access to fairgoers from across the state, the speedway boosted the racing phenomenon. The half-mile track has

only seen three NASCAR events in its history. The first was held in 1955, but was called due to rain while Junior Johnson was leading. The next one was 14 years later in 1969, which James Hylton won. The last was the 1970 event, though the grandstand remains and sections of the old track are used each October. Safety concerns were the main reason more modern, paved tracks replaced their dirt counterparts.

The remains of some of the old ones still dot the Carolinas, with saplings poking through the stands and undergrowth overtaking sites where stock car racing had its start.

MIKE DINOVO | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES

NASCAR Cup Series owner Richard Petty during practice for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

By NSJ Staff HIGH POINT — The Miss North Carolina USA 2018 and Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2018 pageants will be held on Sept. 29-30 at the High Point Theatre in downtown High Point. Winner of the pageants will compete in Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, respectively.

Preliminary competition will be held on Friday evening, followed by the finals on Saturday evening. The pageants feature contestants between the ages of 14-27, competing in interview, evening gown and swimsuit or activewear competitions. The contestants are vying for thou-

In 1922, Camp Bragg — the U.S. War Department’s World War I-era field artillery training facility near Fayetteville — was redesignated Fort Bragg and made a permanent Army post.

A 1918 commission led by Gen. William J. Snow chose the 251-squaremile site in southeastern North Carolina as a military training complex because of its varied terrain, adequate water supply, mild climate and available rail facilities. Named for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg and built by civilian laborers, the camp was initially intended to host six brigades of soldiers, though postwar demobilization and budget cuts pared it down to two brigades.

During World War II, both the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions moved to Fort Bragg, and thousands of artillerymen trained there, as did the 9th and 10th Infantry Divisions and the famed 2nd Armored Division. In 1952, Fort Bragg became headquarters for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Since 2000, the fort’s soldiers have participated in combat and humanitarian operations around the world. They continue to serve a vital role in the war on terror. Today, Fort Bragg supports 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members, making it one of the largest military complexes in the world.

SOURCE: NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Miss North Carolina USA will be crowned in High Point N.C. is home to two prior winners of Miss USA

Sept. 30, 1922 Home of the Airborne and Special Forces, Fort Bragg

sands of dollars in scholarships and prizes, as well as the ability to travel the state promoting the pageant and its charitable alliances.

The celebrity panel of judges will include Austen Kroll, star of Bravo TV’s “Southern Charm,” and Dr. Bill Dorfman, from ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.”

Miss North Carolina USA 2018 will represent the Old North State in the nationally televised production of the Miss USA Pageant, and Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2018 will represent the state in the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The state of North Carolina has seen two women win the title of Miss USA, once in 2005 when Chelsea Cooley of Charlotte took home the crown, and then again in 2009, by Wilmington native Kristen Dalton.

BILTMORE from page B5

National Women's Health and Fitness Day Nation’s largest annual health promotion event for women started in 2002

By Dana Reason North State Journal

PHOTO COURTESY OF MISS NORTH CAROLINA USA

Katie Coble will participate in the Miss North Carolina USA.

RALEIGH — More than 500 groups across the country will host events Wednesday at senior centers, parks, hospitals, health clubs and other various locations to focus attention on the importance of regular physical activity and health awareness for women as they celebrate National Women’s Health and Fitness Day. Started by the Health Information Resource Center in 2002, it is the nation’s largest annual health promotion event for women. The goal of this event is to encourage women to take control of their health by learning the facts they need to make smart health choices, and to make time for regular physical activity.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activities a week for women ages 18-64.

If you are just starting out, one simple activity you can add to your daily activities is a full body plank. By holding this position for

one minute a day you will help to strengthen your upper body, lower body and core muscles. As you get stronger, extend the hold times and focus on perfecting your form to make it more challenging.

Current workout trends include wearable technology like Apple Watch and fitness trackers like Fitbit, exercise apps for meal and program planning, and group training options such as SoulCycle, Pure Barre, Orangetheory and CrossFit. Foam roller sales have also increased as an aid for easing sore muscles after a workout. Juice and smoothie bars are opening up across the country as women see this as a quick and easy way to get more fruits and vegetables into their daily routines.

As more and more women take their workout wear from the gym or fitness studio to the office, athleisure has taken over as a major fashion trend. Brands like Lululemon, Alo, Fabletics and Athleta have created more fashionable, high-end apparel that resulted in an estimated $270 billion spent last year.

Whether you start with a new smart watch, a smoothie or a fashionable workout ensemble, Wednesday is the day for women to focus on their health and fitness.

months, is a sole product of the green-skinned grapes grown near the Inn — with notes of pear, caramel and a smooth vanilla finish.

In October the winery will release a rare edition sparkling Chateau Reserve Blanc de Blanc produced from a single 2015 North Carolina vintage.

“We’ve been without this wine for a while, and that’s a testament to its scarcity — only the best fruit goes into that wine, from estate and locally grown Chardonnay,” praised Wilborn.

And with cooler weather on the horizon the bold Cabernet Sauvignon — blended with 13 percent North Carolina grapes and boasting a balanced plum, black currant and rosemary aroma — matches well with roasted chicken and turkey offered across the estate.

Last Saturday, DeMarco partnered with Flat Rock Playhouse for a Shakespearian Feast in Cedric’s Garden, and on Oct. 6 food and wine marry in the Champagne Cellar for a Wine Dinner with Chef Noriko Oda. DeMarco reminisced about a roasted half hog served last week.

“We used an estate-raised Berkshire pig in a very simple presentation, letting the pork speak for itself,” recalled DeMarco, who has been with the estate for 13 years, “great flavor, roasted for 12 hours, fall off the bone … our agriculture team has just done wonders.”

“The Berkshire pig is the original breed from George Vanderbilt, that they worked down to decide this is the pig that we want to raise here on the estate,” Wilborn chimed in, “they’ve brought that back.”

“Right, that was one of the first Berkshires we’ve had in about 90 years,” said DeMarco.

As with so many things on the Biltmore Estate, the food and wine stay true to the origins of the Vanderbilt agriculture legacy — and the Taste of Biltmore is truly a toast to North Carolina’s finest offerings.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BILTMORE

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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ENTERTAINMENT BOX OFFICE

‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ unseats ‘It’ as ‘Lego Ninjago’ disappoints Sequel to comic-based action film headed toward $100 million opening

By Seth Kelley Variety

NATHAN CONGLETON | NBC

Megyn Kelly speaks on the Today Show on Sept. 25.

Megyn Kelly turns away from politics and toward morning TV in new launch NBC is packaging Kelly as part of its "Today" empire. She's coming on after colleagues Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie deliver most of the headlines — and a lot of lighter fare, as well. And she's on before Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford start sipping wine and delving into less serious topics.

As the rest of the "Today" anchors came on set to toast her, Kelly offered the assemblage mimosas, meant to represent a transition between the wake-you-up coffee served on the show's first two hours and the alcohol consumed in its last. But there was no talk of current events —no reference to the devastation in Puerto Rico, or the protests that took place over the weekend across the nation's various NFL games.

Kelly has long harbored ambitions of filling in the space in the TV news business once occupied by Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey. "Diane Sawyer left her anchor role. Oprah has moved to the OWN network and is doing a different thing now. So why not me?" she told Variety during an interview in 2015.

On Monday, she dove into the role, hosting a multisegment visit with the cast of "Will & Grace," the popular NBC sitcom that is getting a reboot this season. She bantered with the rest of the "Today" crew in a taped segment that had Kelly biking to work with Al Roker, and getting advice from Gifford ("Be authentic!") as she sat in the makeup chair.

The show ended with a long field piece that had Kelly journey to the Windy City to meet a 77-year-old Chicago nun who was working diligently to improve a tough neighborhood. Sister Donna Liette and some of her supporters also joined Kelly in the studio. The title of the

segment, "Settle For More," is borrowed from Kelly's recent memoir and looks as if it might be a regular feature on the show about people trying to improve their situation in life. "If you want change, you must seek it," Kelly told the crowd.

NBC managed to weave promotional support from advertisers into the opening program — much like Winfrey did over the years. And while there was no mass giveaway of new cars to the in-studio crowd, as Winfrey did in 2004 when she gave free Pontiacs to more than 250 audience members, Kelly was able to offer one man a free trip to California to see a "Will & Grace" taping, courtesy of United Airlines.

Coldwell Banker and Ace Hardware coughed up checks on stage to help Sister Liette continue her work. Unilever and General Mills were among the sponsors running multiple commercials during Kelly's debut.

Daytime TV is notoriously difficult, and reliable operatives including Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira have faced headwinds in their attempts to launch programs similar to Kelly's.

NBC is clearly hoping the force of her personality and an inspirational backstory lend the host an edge — not the polarizing kind — with a broader audience that it was reaching with the previous inhabitant of the 9 a.m. timeslot.

Will Kelly be able to maintain the lighter, inspirational tone of her debut in a swirling news cycle that seems utterly consumed with politics and cultural clashes? Will she want to bring her hard-news chops to bear now and again? The magic of a morning program is that it always has another broadcast waiting in the wings that might allow its host to try those ideas out.

Ferragamo strolls through Milan daisy garden under the stars

Social media star Kylie Jenner reported pregnant

Models for Italian luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo strolled through a garden of daisies in the heart of Milan on Saturday evening to wrap up the city’s fourth day of fashion week. Fulvio Rigoni, director for Ferragamo’s women’s ready to wear, showcased his spring summer 2018 collection on a lawn under the stars, set up for the occasion in front of Palazzo Mezzanotte, the stock exchange in Italy’s fashion capital.

Kylie Jenner, the youngest member of the celebrity Kardashian family, was reported on Friday to be pregnant.

Celebrity news website TMZ, People magazine and Buzzfeed all quoted sources as saying that Jenner, 20, the half-sister of Kim Kardashian, is expecting a baby with her boyfriend, the rapper Travis Scott.

British actor Colin Firth gets dual Italian citizenship after Brexit vote

NBC is packaging Kelly as part of its “Today” empire

By Brian Steinberg Variety LOS ANGELES — Megyn Kelly isn't playing politics anymore — at least not on camera.

The former Fox News anchor vowed to put aside the hard-edged interviewing style that made her famous and turned her energy Monday full-bore into the launch of a new morning program, in one of the bigger bets NBC has made on a single talent since, perhaps, it named an unknown Conan O'Brien in 1993 to succeed David Letterman at the helm of its wee-hours "Late Night" franchise.

Kelly told a live studio audience in the opening moments of her new "Megyn Kelly Today" that "I'm kind of done with politics for now," and said she hoped instead to help viewers "get yourself through the day, to have a laugh with us, a smile, sometimes a tear — and maybe a little hope to start your day. Some fun!

That's what we want to be doing."

The mission represents a marked change for the popular news host whose prosecutor-like style in Fox News Channel's primetime made her a star. Kelly has no experience hosting a morning program of this sort, and just months ago was anchoring a Sunday night newsmagazine program on NBC that at times proved polarizing.

But she put all of that in the rearview mirror Monday as she reintroduced herself to the audience, talking about her upstate New York roots and introducing her husband and mother to the in-studio crowd and the audience at home. It's a technique that was put to good use

by NBC colleague Jimmy Fallon in the opening moments of his run on the network's late-night franchise "The Tonight Show."

Missoni’s party collection celebrates designer’s 20th anniversary

ALESSANDRO GAROFALO | REUTERS

A model displays a creation at the Salvatore Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2018 show at the Milan Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Sept. 23.

Italian designer Angela Missoni celebrated 20 years at the creative helm of the familyowned knitwear brand with a party-inspired collection, declaring herself proud of having kept the brand relevant over the years. “I wanted to celebrate my twentieth anniversary given it’s a relevant moment for any designer,” Missoni told reporters at the end of the show.

British actor Colin Firth, who has often played the role of a quintessential Englishman in his many films, has become an Italian citizen, Italy’s Interior Ministry said. “The very famous actor, who won an Oscar for the film ‘The King’s Speech’, is married to a citizen from our country and has often declared his love for our land,” the ministry said in a statement.

LOS ANGELES — “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is the new ruler of the box office.

The sequel from Fox is expected to earn $39 million this weekend from 4,003 locations. That’s slightly below where tracking had pegged it (somewhere in the $40 millions), but above the original “Kingsman” movie, which earned $36.2 million when it opened in 2015.

“Kingsman” is also launching to about $61 million from 64 markets abroad, giving it a $100 million worldwide opening. The audience was male-dominated (58 percent) and 60 percent of viewers were between 18 and 34 years old. The sequel received mixed reviews (a 51 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes), and audiences earned it a B+ CinemaScore, which is the same as the original “Kingsman.” Imax screens accounted for $3.5 million of “Kingsman’s” domestic earnings and $9.2 million of its global grosses.

“I think it’s really a very strong opening. We’re right where we expected it to be,” said Chris Aronson, distribution chief at Fox. “Anytime you can open a sequel bigger than the first one you’re on to something.”

The film franchise is based on the “Kingsman” comic book series, and features a starry cast. Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Taron Egerton topline the action comedy and are joined by supporting characters played by Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges and, perhaps most notably, Elton John. The movie reunites the group of secret agents who use a tailor shop as a cover. This time around they travel to the United States where they team with their American counterpart (called Statesman) who pose as cowboy whiskey distillers.

Meanwhile, “The Lego Ninjago Movie” from Warner Bros. looks like a miss, as it’s tracking for $21.2 million from 4,047 “I think locations. Earlier projections it’s really a pegged the opening above $30 very strong million. And the Lego franchise is seeing diminishing returns. opening.

The original opened to $69.1 We’re right million in 2014. Then, “The Lego where we Batman Movie” opened earlier this year to $53 million. The latexpected it est movie is connecting with an to be.” especially young audience — 46 percent of viewers were under the age of 18. Unlike the first — Chris two, which both scored above Aronson, 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, distribution critics were more mixed, earning “Ninjago” a 53 percent. chief at Fox “I was hoping that it would have a more broad audience, and am still hopeful,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief at Warner Bros., who said “Ninjago” is “a more niche story” than the previous Lego movies. “They’re different stories with different potential,” he said.

Billed as an animated action comedy martial arts film, three directors are at the helm for “Ninjago” — Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan. The voice cast is comprised of Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Pena, Zach Woods and Jackie Chan.

There’s also Entertainment Studios’ horror entry “Friend Request,” which is barely registering. The film is tracking for a $2.4 million opening from 2,573 locations.

That leaves Warner Bros. and New Line’s “It” in second for the weekend ($30 million from 4,007 theaters). Earlier in the week, the blockbuster passed “The Exorcist” to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.

“To have a movie of this or any genre to drop 50 percent in its third week is exceptional,” Goldstein said. “It’s fun for us.”

CBS Films and Lionsgate’s “American Assassin” is tracking for the fourth spot this weekend with $6.2 million from 3,154 locations. And Open Road’s “Home Again,” starring Reese Witherspoon, should round out the top five with $3.3 million from 2,685 spots.

In limited release, “Stronger,” from Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate, is expected to make $1.75 million from 574 locations. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in the Boston marathon bombing movie directed by David Gordon Green. Critics praised the drama, earning it a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GILES KEYTE

North State Journal for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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North Carolina Arts, History & Nature

Fall in One Place Autumn is a perfect time to celebrate everything North Carolina has to offer, from the gorgeous weather to local foods to traditional music. From the annual tradition of the North Carolina State Fair to Wide Open Bluegrass to local county fairs and festivals, North Carolina has it all, all in one place.

Explore our complete list of Fall Festivals and Fairs across the state.

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NC DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

dncr.nc.gov/allinoneplace