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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 27
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
Inside MLB All-Stars game starters revealed Sports
MADELINE GRAY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
An American flag and the North Carolina state flag wave in the breeze outside of the General Assembly building on June 30, following the final day of the long session.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
House cracks down on illegal immigrants with bills supported by Trump Washington, D.C. Bills backed by President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigrants passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week and now face Senate scrutiny. The House voted 228-195 to pass the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” to withhold some federal grants to so-called “sanctuary city” jurisdictions that do not comply with certain federal immigration laws. By a vote of 257-167, the chamber passed “Kate’s Law” to increase penalties for illegal immigrants who return to the U.S.
U.S. soy acres hit record high; wheat plantings lowest ever Washington, D.C. Farmers in N.C. have 81 percent of their soybean crop planted, up from the five-year average of 73 percent. The increase in N.C. comes as the USDA reports that farmers seeded a record amount of soybeans across the country this spring. All-wheat plantings fell to a record low of 45.657 million acres, with ample global stocks and weak export prospects pushing U.S. farmers away from that crop.
Hardin, 86, dies after battle with ALS Chapel Hill Chancellor Emeritus Paul Hardin III, 86, who led UNC Chapel Hill from 1988-1995, died after a battle with ALS. Hardin is survived by his wife of 63 years, three children, nine grandchildren and one greatgrandchild. The university will ring the South Building bell seven times at the service, to honor him as the seventh chancellor.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
House committee votes to investigate NC Secretary of State By Jeff Moore North State Journal RALEIGH — The N.C. House Rules Committee voted along party lines last week to form a Select Committee of 15 House members for the purposes of investigating N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall for possible impeachable offenses related to the commissioning of illegal aliens as notaries. Rep. Chris Millis (R-Pender) presented the resolution to the committee after months of gathering and presenting evidence that Marshall’s commissioning policies were in conflict with state and federal law. “There is clear and convincing evidence of this wrongful action by the secretary,” said Millis Wednesday. “The evidence shows that Secretary Marshall has ignored the rule of law, usurped legislative authority, and engaged in conduct that can only undermine the public trust in government and cast doubt on the fraud deterrent role of the ministerial office of a notary public.” “It is also clear that the actions of the secretary have been completely masked from the public view,” Millis continued. “State law, the notary act, and the secretary’s own application to become a notary public, outline the correct process for noncitizens who have permanent status to rightfully become a notary by presenting the proper documentation of a green card (Form I-551, a Permanent Resident Card). But what has for years, been hidden from the public the See MARSHALL, page A3
Business
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By Mollie Young North State Journal RALEIGH — After a flurry of activity that began with a veto override, lawmakers adjourned their regular legislative session a little after 2 a.m. on Friday morning just ahead of the Independence Day holiday and a looming court order on redistricting. While most of the legislation that moved quickly through committees and floor votes Wednes-
EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, right, listens during the Council of State’s first meeting with Gov. Roy Cooper at the helm, on Feb. 7.
day and Thursday was introduced and discussed over the course of the six-month session, major tweaks and compromises popped up in the final stretch. “Thanks to the hard work of the Republican-led General Assembly, North Carolina families can have confidence that they live in one of the best states to build a high quality of life — one with sound financial footing, low taxes and record savings that prepare us for emergencies,” said N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) in a press release sent on Friday afternoon. “I appreciate See ADJOURNMENT, page A3
MADELINE GRAY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Rodney Lucas, of Wake Forest, vacuums a hearing room at the General Assembly building on June 30. Lucas has worked at the General Assembly for 33 years.
WOTUS
EPA and Army Corps seek to rescind clean water rule By Donna King North State Journal
Gov. Roy Cooper signs “Brunch Bill” allowing Sunday morning alcohol
20177 52016
Lawmakers adjourn for the regular session at 2 a.m., plan to reconvene in August
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Chris Millis (R-Pender), would form a House Select Committee of 15 members to conduct an investigation on Marshall
INSIDE
5
Dust settles at West Jones Street, with scores of legislation sent to Cooper’s desk
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers released a proposal Tuesday to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule, the latest move by the Trump administration to unwind aggressive environmental regulations put in place under former President Barack Obama. The agencies are working to rescind the Waters of the United States rule and reinstate the language of the rule before it was changed in 2015 by the Obama administration.
The rule updated the federal Clean Water Act to define what waterways — including smaller streams, rivers and other bodies — can be regulated by the federal government, stirring anger by the agriculture and energy industries, which said it gave regulators too much authority. “We are taking significant action to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to our nation’s farmers and businesses,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said. In February, President Donald Trump said during the signing of See WOTUS, page A2
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
A2 WEDNESDAY
General Assembly names redistricting committee ahead of lower court order
Solar eclipse in western NC
07.05.17 #83
Swain Graham Cherokee Clay Macon Jackson
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Transylvania
By Mollie Young North State Journal
We stand corrected
Western NC is a prime spot as total solar eclipse sparks excitement
To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline.com with “Correction request” in the subject line.
With 200 million Americans within a day’s drive of the path, national parks and highways officials are bracing for a travel surge By Irene Klotz Reuters
North State Journal (USPS PP 166) (ISSN 2471-1365) Neal Robbins Publisher Donna King Managing Editor Drew Elliot Opinion Editor Will Brinson Sports Editor Published each Wednesday and Saturday by North State Media, LLC 819 W. Hargett Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27603 TO SUBSCRIBE: 866-458-7184 or online at nsjonline.com Annual Subscription Price: $100.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: North State Journal 819 W. Hargett Street Raleigh, N.C. 27603.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first total solar eclipse across the continental United States in a century is expected to spark watching parties and traffic jams as it darkens skies from Oregon to South Carolina, authorities said on Wednesday. Western N.C. is expected to draw huge crowds looking for prime viewing spots. During the Aug. 21 eclipse, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth, blocking the face of the sun and leaving only its outer atmosphere, or corona, visible in the sky. It is the first coast-to-coast total eclipse since 1918. Weather permitting, people can watch as the moon’s 70-mile wide shadow crosses through 14 states from 10:15 a.m. (pacific time) around Lincoln Beach, Ore., to 2:49 p.m. (eastern time) in McClellanville, S.C. With 200 million Americans within a day’s drive of the path, national parks and highways officials are bracing for a travel surge. “Be prepared,” Martin Knopp of the Federal Highway Administration said at a news conference, cautioning drivers against simply showing up. “It’s not the time to pull over
WOTUS from page A1 an executive order calling for a review of the rule that the act should apply only to navigable waters that affect interstate commerce. Some lawmakers and officials from states with large rural areas praised the move. “Out-of-state D.C. bureaucrats shouldn’t impose regulations that hurt Montana farmers, ranchers and landowners,” said the state’s Republican senator, Steve Daines. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) welcomed the change, saying the 2015 rule was flawed and “fraught” with procedural issues and violations of congressional intent. “State laws and programs partner with EPA, farmers and ranchers, and local en-
Rep. David Lewis, Sen. Ralph Hise will be head map creators; Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Darren Jackson will serve as vice chair
and be on the side of the road.” Travel groups and many scientists will be heading to Oregon’s northwest desert seeking favorable weather for viewing, according to the website eclipsophile.com. Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth every year or so, but most cast their shadow over oceans or remote land. The last total eclipse over part of the contiguous U.S. was in 1979. All of North America will experience a partial eclipse, though the difference between a full and partial eclipse is “literally the difference between night and day,” said astronomer Rick Fienberg of the American Astronomical Society. He noted that even a 99 percent eclipse will not reveal the sun’s corona. And during a total eclipse, the temperature drops and the horizon is ringed by the colors of sunset. “The sky gets deep twilight blue and bright stars and planets come out,” Fienberg said. “Animals and birds behave strangely, like it’s the end of the day.” NASA said it plans to fly high-altitude research balloons and airplanes for solar physics and other experiments. Nearly a dozen U.S. science satellites will observe the sun and Earth. The U.S. space agency will also broadcast the eclipse live from locations along the path. Experts caution that the only safe time to look at the sun without special eclipse glasses is during totality when the surface of the sun is completely blocked by the moon.
tities to protect clean water every day,” said NASDA President Michael G. Strain on Tuesday. “We look forward to working cooperatively with the EPA in developing — and eventually implementing — a new rule.” Several states have a lawsuit pending over the aggressive Obama-era regulations, with N.C. joining the suit under former Gov. Pat McCrory. N.C. farmers, developers and their advocates said the rule goes too far in expanding federal authority over small streams and wetlands. However, in April the Cooper administration retreated from the litigation. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a petition on behalf of N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Secretary Michael Regan to withdraw North Carolina from the multistate lawsuit. “It is an overreach of federal authority on private property,” said Larry Wooten,
president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau after Cooper’s withdrawal. “It gives the federal government control of farm land in North Carolina. We all support clean water, but this is more than about clean water — it’s about control of the land.” Pruitt agrees and submitted the proposal to rescind the rule. Environmental activists said the rollback will lead to pollution. “Revoking the clean water rule will open the door to the pollution and bulldozing of some of America’s most important wetlands,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity The rule had been placed on hold in 2015 by a federal court appeals court. Reuters News Service contributed to this report.
DISCOVER
RALEIGH — Just before midnight Wednesday, leadership at the North Carolina General Assembly named the lawmakers who will be instrumental in redrafting legislative voting district lines previously thrown out by a federal court for what they deemed were racially gerrymandered maps. The appointments come just before a threejudge federal panel regains jurisdiction on the state’s redistricting case, following the recent rejection of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. While reaffirming the lower court’s ruling, the top U.S. court had asked the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider their call to urgently redraw the maps and hold a special election before November 2018. However, the final timeline will ultimately be up to the lower court — and could be ordered in the coming days. Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett) and Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) will co-chair the committee which will consist of the following legislators: House Vice Chairs: John Bell (R-Wayne), Sarah Stevens (R-Surry), Darren Jackson (D-Wake), John Szoka (R-Cumberland), John Torbett (R-Gaston). House Members: Bill Brawley (R-Mecklenburg), Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford), Justin Burr (R-Stanly), Ted Davis Jr. (R-New Hanover), Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin), Josh Dobson (R-McDowell), Nelson Dollar (R-Wake), Andy Dulin (R-Mecklenburg), Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D-Wilson), Elmer Floyd (D-Cumberland), Terry Garrison (D-Vance), Rosa Gill (D-Wake), Holly Grange (R-New Hanover), Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), Edward Hanes (D-Forsyth), Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Kelly Hastings (R-Gaston), Julia Howard (R-Davie), Howard Hunter (D-Hertford), Pat Hurley (R-Randolph), Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus), Bert Jones (R-Rockingham), Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe), Chris Malone (R-Wake), Mickey Michaux (D-Durham), Rodney Moore (D-Mecklenburg), Garland Pierce (D-Scotland), Robert Reives II (D-Lee), David Rogers (R-Rutherford), Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), Michael Speciale (R-Craven), Shelly Willingham (D-Edgecombe), Michael Wray (D-Northampton), Larry Yarborough (R-Granville). Senate Members: Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg), Dan Blue (D-Wake), Harry Brown (R-Onlsow), Ben Clark (D-Hoke), Warren Daniel (R-Burke), Kathy Harrington (R-Gaston), Brent Jackson (R-Sampson), Michael Lee (R-New Hanover), Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth), Paul Newton (R-Cabarrus), Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick), Erica Smith-Ingram (D-Northampton), Terry Van Duyn (D-Buncombe) and Trudy Wade (R-Guilford). “I appreciate these members’ willingness to serve and their commitment to undertaking a fair and thorough redistricting process with ample notice and opportunities for public input once we receive instruction from the courts,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and Speaker Tim Moore (D-Cleveland) in nearly identical press releases sent just two minutes before midnight on Thursday. In the adjournment resolution, lawmakers committed to conduct a redistricting session no later than Nov. 15 to “provide an orderly and fair process to ensure adequate representation for North Carolina voters.” The General Assembly officially gaveled out for the 2017 regular long session in the twilight hours of Friday morning and are scheduled to reconvene on Aug. 3. They could, potentially, address redistricting at that time, while likely overriding any vetoes from Gov. Roy Cooper of end-of-session legislation.
SUMMER
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North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017 ADJOURNMENT from page A1
CHRISTINE T. NGUYEN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Smoke rises in the impact area during a live fire training exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on Sept. 28.
NC bases allocated $357M in Senate defense authorization bill By Donna King North State Journal WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest $700 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act, just unveiled by the U.S. Senate, has a chunk of money for N.C. military bases in it. According to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), just over $357 million is in the bill for repairs and improvements to bases across the state, including Cherry Point Marine Corps base, Fort Bragg, Seymour Johnson and Camp Lejeune. “The NDAA reaffirms our nation’s commitment to supporting the brave men and women in uniform and re-establishes America’s commitment to a strong national defense and protecting its interest abroad,” said Tillis. Tillis is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee which put a 2.1 percent pay raise for all service members in the NDAA. The bill received unanimous support from the Senate Armed Services Committee and will now face the full Senate. The House has their own version of the bill and once a compromise bill
MARSHALL from page A1 press, and the legislature is the secretary’s clandestine and improper acceptance of other forms of documentation — documents that do not indicate a person who resides legally in the United States. In fact, the employment authorization documents accepted, clearly indicate people who do not meet the federal standards for receiving any grant from the state of North Carolina.” Millis first began exploring the issue and initiated a legislative request for documents from Marshall’s office after reading a North State Journal article that investigated the policy practice, based upon information from a concerned citizen, and raised questions regarding the legality of such policies. His requests yielded evidence that hundreds of commissioned notaries had questionable legal statuses, as well as “one noncitizen that the federal government had
is passed, it will go on to the White House for a signature. The funding comes at a time that veterans’ health care is under additional scrutiny. Among the points in the bill is funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to adopt the same electronic health record (EHR) system as the Department of Defense for veterans’ medical records. It also expands eligibility for TRICARE, service members’ health care benefits, to some Guardsmen and reservists. In the bill, Tillis’ provisions land Camp Lejeune about $258 million to improve living quarters, a new water treatment plant and other improvements. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point gets more than $15 million for a vertical lift fan test facility, securing the future home of F-35B Joint Strike Fighters in N.C. Seymour Johnson gets more than $26 million to prepare for a squadron of KC-46 Air Force tankers. Fort Bragg gets more than $57 million for improvements and additional training facilities for the nation’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
already slated for final deportation and who was under supervision by Homeland Security” before being commissioned as a notary by Marshall’s office. Representatives of Marshall spoke at the hearing suggesting the attempt was a politically motivated attack and the practice of conferring state certifications to residents with no legal residency status was on sound legal footing. “My office has never commissioned a notary public on the basis of a DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] card,” said Marshall in a statement. “Every single noncitizen we have commissioned as a notary public has presented appropriate federally issued work authorization documentation to qualify as a notary,” Marshall said. “I can only conclude that this is a political attack and nothing else.” Democrats on the House Rules Committee also labeled the move a political attack and raised alarm
the hard work of every House member this session, all the legislative staff and each citizen of North Carolina who we are so proud to serve statewide.” Lawmakers plan to reconvene for a special session on Aug. 3, likely to address any vetoes by Gov. Roy Cooper and to handle the redrawing of legislative voting districts. Among the avalanche of legislation that passed or failed this week: Solar vs. Wind: House Bill 589, a whale of a bill more than a year in the making, bounced between drastically different versions in an effort to pass a comprehensive renewable energy package. The original bill, led by Rep. John Szoka (R-Cumberland), hoped to make solar energy more obtainable by creating a program that would allow households and businesses to lease, rather than buy, expensive solar panels for their roofs, while opening up a competitive bidding process for renewable energies that could translate to lower costs for ratepayers. When the bill hit the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Brown (R-Onslow) added an amendment that would restrict wind energy farms in military fly zones — an effort first introduced in 2016 and unpopular with some key House members who felt the map went to far. A compromise was reached around 1 a.m. on Friday morning that would see the wind moratorium reduced from Brown’s original bid for four years, down to 18 months. Cooper was supportive of the original House bill, but it is unclear his position on the latenight changes. Brunch Bill: Senate Bill 155, nicknamed the “Brunch Bill,” is an omnibus ABC bill that loosens restrictions on alcohol sales and consumption.The bipartisan bill, championed by Sen. Rick Gunn (R-Alamance) allows restaurants to serve alcohol before noon on Sundays, and distilleries to sell up to five bottles of their product to customers that come to their taprooms for tastings and tours. The legislation passed the Senate in early June, but was
“In March, I detailed my initial findings in a public letter to Secretary Marshall and requested her resignation. Since the secretary has chosen not to take the route of resignation, in the face of overwhelming facts, it is the responsibility of this legislative body, per Article IV of the state constitution, to initiate the process of impeachment.” — Rep. Chris Millis (R-Pender) about initiating an investigation with such serious implications
completed — with some amendments — in the House on Tuesday. Cooper signed the bill into law Friday, meaning Sunday morning mimosas were served over the weekend. Sunday Hunting: In the final hours of session, lawmakers rushed to pass House Bill 559 — a pro-sportsman bill that expands Sunday hunting laws to allow firearm hunting in the morning which is currently banned before 12:30 p.m. The “Outdoor Heritage Enhanced” law would open hunting beginning at 9:30 a.m., so long as hunters are more than 500 yards away from a place of worship, and permits the hunting of migratory birds such as ducks on the Sabbath day for Christians. Casino nights: House Bill 511, headed to the governor’s desk, would allow nonprofits and businesses to serve alcohol at future charity game nights — such as bingo and casino nights. An organization would be restricted to hosting no more than two events a month, with cash or cash-value prizes. Investigation into Sec. Elaine Marshall: House Resolution 925 would establish a joint legislative select committee to investigate allegations that N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall violated state and federal law when she commissioned illegal aliens as notary publics; and therefore, should be impeached from her elected office. The resolution was introduced by Rep. Chris Millis (R-Onslow), who called for Marshall to resign after reports surfaced in September. The bill cleared the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, but was never placed on the floor calendar. It is possible lawmakers will revisit the issue in August. Campus free speech: Senate Bill 527 instructs the UNC system to implement a curriculum in freshman orientation that teaches students the value of free speech and political tolerance. The bill also enforces disciplinary actions on protesters who “substantially disrupt” free speech on campus. The bill passed both chambers on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, and sent to the governor. Appointments: House Bill 256 saw lawmakers tap one of
during the closing days of the 2017 legislative session. “Rep. Millis has accused Secretary Marshall of state and federal crimes,” said Rep. Darren Jackson (D-Wake). “This is about a lot more than the Secretary of State’s Office. This is about the integrity of the House. This is about if we’re really going to sink to this kind of level of partisan politics.” Millis pushed back against accusations of partisan motivation, saying, “This is not a matter of politics. It is not. It is a matter of law and transparency and public trust.” As debate in the committee turned to the legality of the policies in question, Millis repeatedly clarified that the present resolution was merely to initiate an investigation to determine if any malfeasance actually occurred. “This is the first step in the process of impeachment, as developed in coordination with our nonpartisan central legislative staff,” ex-
A3 their own, Sen. Andrew Brock (R-Davie), to the State Board of Review after Cooper missed a May 1 deadline to fill the paid position that oversees appeal cases for unemployment benefits. As with many other boards and commissions, if the governor fails to nominate an individual, the duty falls on the General Assembly. Just last year, then-Gov. Pat McCrory nominated his legislative liaison, Fred Steen, to a post on the same board. The broader bill also included the nomination of several other current and former legislators to various paid and unpaid slots, including Moore’s senior environmental and energy adviser, former McDowell County Rep. Mitch Gillespie, to the Environmental Management Commission. After the bill cleared both chambers, Brock resigned Friday. Gillespie is expected to remain in his role as a House adviser. Convention of States: Senate Resolution 36 would have signed North Carolina on for a convention of states, under Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution, but failed in a narrow vote in the House of 53-59 on Thursday afternoon. Currently, 12 other states have called for a convention of states, an initiative supported by some conservative groups as a way to address congressional term limits, the national debt and federal overreach. On Tuesday former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) was in Raleigh, accompanied by a patriotic, bow tie-wearing llama, to lobby members to pass the measure. In April, the Senate initiated the process in a successful bid, but the House version — championed by Reps. Bert Jones (R-Rockingham) and Dennis Riddell (R-Alamance) — fell short when more than a dozen conservative members voted red. Workers’ Compensation: House Bill 26 undos implications of a recent court case, Wilkes v. City of Greenville, that shifts the burden of proof in workers’ compensation cases on to the employer and off the injured. The bipartisan legislation, supported broadly by the business community, passed both chambers unanimously and is headed to the governor.
plained Millis. “Instead of simply putting a resolution for impeachment including charges, before the body, I believe it is most proper, prudent and fair to establish a House Select Committee to investigate and upon the conclusion of their investigation to move articles of impeachment. Today, please note that you all are simply establishing a committee to investigate.” The most recent executive impeachment in North Carolina was not actually that recent at all, occurring in 1870. Marshall is one of the longest-serving elected officials in the state, having held the Secretary of State position for 20 years since being elected to the statewide office in 1996. The General Assembly adjourned in the wee hours of Friday morning with it noted in the adjournment resolution that any bills regarding impeachment could be considered when they next convene on Aug. 3.
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North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Nation & WORLD
German lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in landmark vote
Civilians flee as Iraqi forces attack last ISIS redoubt in Mosul
China outraged by $1.42 billion planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
Berlin Germany’s parliament backed the legalization of same-sex marriage on Friday in an historic vote hailed by gay activists and leftist parties but criticized by some in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling conservative bloc and by the Catholic Church. The move brings Germany into line with many other European nations including France, Britain and Spain. Merkel, daughter of a Protestant pastor, voted against the bill.
Mosul Iraqi government forces attacked ISIS remaining stronghold in Mosul’s Old City on Friday, a day after formally declaring the end of the insurgents’ self-declared caliphate and the capture of the historic mosque which symbolized their power. Dozens of civilians fled in the direction of the Iraqi forces, mostly women and children, some wounded by insurgents and fire.
Beijing China urged the United States to revoke immediately its “wrong decision” to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion worth of arms, saying it contradicted a “consensus” President Xi Jinping reached with his counterpart, Donald Trump, in talks in April in Florida. The sales would send a very wrong message to “Taiwan independence” forces, China’s embassy in Washington said in a statement. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday the administration had told Congress of seven proposed sales to Taiwan, the first under the Trump administration.
Firefighters gain ground on fierce Arizona wildfire Prescott, Ariz. Officials hope to reopen a portion of a major roadway and allow more residents to head home on Friday in central Arizona where firefighters have gained significant ground against a fierce, six-day-old wildfire that forced thousands to evacuate. The blaze, dubbed the Goodwin Fire, has charred nearly 25,000 acres and destroyed an unknown number of homes after erupting on Saturday in the Prescott National Forest, 70 miles north of Phoenix.
Trump says he is sending federal help to fight Chicago crime Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was sending federal help to fight crime in Chicago that has reached “epidemic” proportions. The president, who in January decried the high crime rate in the Midwestern city as “carnage,” did not specify what type of help he planned to send.
Facebook to keep wraps on political ads data despite researchers’ demands By David Ingram Reuters
SUE-LIN WONG | REUTERS
A woman stands in front of a police cordon near a protest of parents demanding their children’s admission to a primary school of their choice, outside the Beijing government offices on June 30.
Beijing parents protest at being denied primary school choice By Sue-Lin Wong Reuters BEIJING — About 100 parents rallied outside the Beijing government offices on Friday after their children were denied admission to their primary school of choice, the second such protest in the Chinese capital this month. At least 30 police, many with video cameras, filmed the parents as they chanted slogans about allowing their children to go to their local school. A parent who became the ad hoc leader of the gathering was briefly detained by police, said more than 10 parents who saw him being dragged away. The man was released after the parents agreed to disperse. Earlier this month, about 100 protesters clashed with police after authorities reassigned their
children to a school in a rough neighborhood. The protests come at a time when educational resources in Beijing have become increasingly stretched while home prices have soared. “If they had given us prior notice, we would have had time to find another school, but now all registration is closed,” said a parent who gave her last name as Yu. “We don’t have any other options but to do as the government says.” The Beijing municipal government has yet to respond to a faxed request for comment. The primary school that their children were supposed to attend is in Huilongguan in Changping district, a densely populated part of northern Beijing. The local education board said it wanted the incoming first graders to attend a nearby middle school
instead. People from all over China have moved to Beijing for better job opportunities, schooling and health care, but the city’s infrastructure has not been able to keep up with demand. Some schools in better districts have vacancies, as properties in those areas are too expensive for young parents, while schools in places like Huilongguan are at overcapacity. “The girls have to line up to use the toilets because there are too many children and not enough toilets, so they try not to drink water during the day,” said a parent who gave her last name as Wang. “The local government only cares about building apartments and shopping malls because that way they can raise revenue. They haven’t built nearly enough schools for all the residents in the area.”
Trump tells Senate Republicans to kill Obamacare now, replace later By Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell Reuters WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump urged Republican senators on Friday to repeal Obamacare immediately if they cannot agree on a new health care plan to replace it, as congressional leaders struggle for a consensus on health care legislation. Senate Republican leaders had set Friday as the target for rewriting legislation that would repeal extensive parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the law dubbed Obamacare that expanded health insurance coverage to 20 million people. But that deadline seemed unlikely given that by Friday most senators had already left town ahead of next week’s recess without an agreement on a clear direction for the health care bill. “If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at
a later date!” Trump wrote in a Twitter post. The current legislation would repeal major elements of Obamacare, shrink the Medicaid government health care program for the poor, eliminate most of Obamacare’s taxes, and set up a system of government tax credits to help individuals buy private health insurance. Conservative and moderate Republicans have spent the past few days pushing and pulling the bill in opposite directions as Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought common ground. Moderates want more equity for low-income Americans, while conservatives are fighting to loosen insurance regulations. Republican efforts were also complicated on Thursday by a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that said the existing Senate proposal would cut spending on government Medicaid by 35 percent by 2036. Shortly before his January inauguration, Trump urged lawmakers
to repeal and replace Obamacare at the same time. Some senators welcomed his involvement. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who had written Trump suggesting he urge Congress to first repeal Obamacare, then replace it, tweeted, “Glad you agree, Mr. Pres.” McConnell spokesman David Popp said Republicans will continue health care discussions through the recess that lasts until July 10. He did not comment on Trump’s call for a full repeal of Obamacare. Overturning Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic legislation, has been a goal of Republicans since the law’s passage in 2010, and has been a priority since Jan. 20, when the party assumed control of the White House as well as Congress. Trump campaigned on overturning a law that many Republicans view as a costly government intrusion. The House of Representatives passed an Obamacare replacement in May.
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that the social media network had 2 billion monthly users. The announcement comes as Facebook takes a increasingly important role in politics and researchers look to it as a source of vital information in the study of political campaigns. However, the tech company also said this week that it would not disclose information about political campaign advertising or related data such as how many users click on ads and if advertising messages are consistent across demographics, despite arguments from political scientists who want the data for research. Details such as the frequency of ads, how much money was spent on them, where they were seen, what the messages were and how many people were reached would remain confidential under the company’s corporate policy, which is the same for political advertising as for commercial customers. “Advertisers consider their ad creatives and their ad targeting strategy to be competitively sensitive and confidential,” Rob Sherman, Facebook’s deputy chief privacy officer, said in an interview on Wednesday, when asked about political ads. “In many cases, they’ll ask us, as a condition of running ads on Facebook, not to disclose those details about how they’re running campaigns on our service,” he said. “From our perspective, it’s confidential information of these advertisers.” Sherman said it would not make an exception for political advertising. “We try to have consistent policies across the board, so that we’re imposing similar requirements on everybody.” Academics who study political campaigns worldwide said this kind of information fosters accountability by analyzing how candidates compete for votes and whether election systems live up to expectations of fairness. Transparency can also deter fraudulent ads, they said. “We don’t have the capacity right now to track it, and nobody does, as far as we can tell,” said Bowdoin College professor Michael Franz, a co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which catalogs political ads on traditional television but has no means of doing so on Facebook. Television has been the backbone of political advertising for decades, and local U.S. broadcasters are required to disclose a wealth of details about the cost and schedules of ads. The ads can be seen by anyone with a television provided they are aired in their markets. Online advertising, though, often targets narrow, more carefully constructed audiences, so for example an ad could be directed only to Democrats under 25 years of age.
The company had 1.94 billion people using its service monthly as of March 31, an increase of 17 percent from a year earlier. Thousands of variations of online ads can be directed at select groups and the targeting can be extreme. Academics argue this is where the process can become very opaque. “Candidates can speak out of both sides of their mouths,” said Daniel Kreiss, a communications professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Having some kind of digital repository of ads that are purchased during a particular cycle and linked to a particular source is a good, democratic thing for the public.” No such repository exists, and the quandary for researchers is expected to worsen as more politicians use digital advertising because of its relatively low cost and opportunities for target marketing. According to President Donald Trump’s campaign, $70 million was spent for its ads on Facebook, more than on any other digital platform including Google, and Trump has credited Facebook with helping him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton last November. Advertising on Facebook also figured prominently in recent elections in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, researchers said. Britain is investigating how candidates use data to target voters. Facebook ads generally disappear with the scroll of a thumb on a smartphone, and they have no permanent links. Advocates for transparency call them “dark ads.” Facebook calls them “unpublished posts.” Researchers said that disclosure reports from the U.S. Federal Election Commission are unhelpful because they show what campaigns pay to intermediaries, not to internet platforms. The role of advertising online is as important to study as the effect of so-called “fake news,” which has received more attention than ads, scholars said. “The holy grail, I think, of political analysis for the 2016 election is to figure out which communications from which entities had an effect on which jurisdictions in the United States,” said Nathan Persily, a Stanford University professor who writes about elections. Facebook has such information and should make it available for study, Persily said. Facebook’s Sherman said the company was open to hearing research proposals, but he doubted much could be achieved. “Even if we were able to be more transparent in this area, it would only be a very small piece of an overall story,” he said.
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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NEWS IN IMAGES
ILYA NAYMUSHIN | REUTERS
Women swim in the Yenisei River on a hot summer day, with the air temperature at about 89 degrees Fahrenheit, outside Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, on June 28.
MATEJ LESKOVSEK | REUTERS
ABHISHEK CHINNAPPA | REUTERS
Festival goers dance at the silent disco stage during Open’er music Festival in Gdynia, Poland, on June 28.
A child of a construction worker sleeps in a hammock outside a construction site in Bengaluru, India, on June 29.
Justice department revises policy on extended family as travel ban takes effect By Donna King North State Journal WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Justice department released its new policy clarifying “extended family” in the travel ban that took effect last week. Previously, the State Department guidance defined a close familial relationship as being a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, including step-siblings and other step-family relations. Grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancés, “and any other ‘extended’ family members” were not considered close family. Hawaii’s Attorney General Doug Chin asked U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu, who blocked Trump’s travel ban in March, to issue an order clarifying how the Supreme Court’s ruling should be interpreted, saying the administration was defining “close family” too narrowly. Watson ordered the Justice Department to respond to Hawaii’s request by Monday.
The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a victory last week re-instituting the 90-day ban on people from the six countries identified by the state department as “countries of concern” in protecting national security, along with a 120-day ban on all refugees. The decision narrows the scope of lower court rulings that had blocked parts of a March 6 executive order and allows his temporary ban to go into effect for people with no strong ties to the United States. The Supreme Court exempted from the ban travelers and refugees with a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the United States. As an example, the court said those with a “close familial relationship” with someone in the United States would be covered. In interpreting that U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration had previously determined that grandparents, grandchildren and fiancés traveling from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would be barred from obtaining visas while the ban was in place.
The U.S. State Department concluded “upon further review, fiancés would now be included as close family members,” said a State Department official who requested anonymity. “We expect business as usual at the ports of entry,” one official told reporters on a conference call. A second official that a “formal assurance” from a U.S. resettlement agency to a refugee would not in and of itself be enough to exempt a refugee from a 120-day ban on entry also imposed by Trump’s travel ban executive order. Airports and customs officials say that its also been smooth because they were more prepared this time to implement the entry policy. There was less outcry when the Supreme Court reinstituted the ban from those who said Trump overstepped his authority because the U.S. Supreme Court said in its decision that the president’s temporary ban was in the interest of national security. They will review its lawfulness in October during the next session. In the meantime, the administration said refugees who have agreements with resettlement
BRIAN SNYDER | REUTERS
An Iceland Air flight crew arrives on the day that President Donald Trump’s limited travel ban, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, goes into effect, at Logan Airport in Boston on June 29.
agencies but not close family in the United States would not be exempted from the ban, likely sharply limiting the number of refugees allowed entry in coming months. “We’re going to keep fighting this ban, even if it applies very narrowly,” said Sirine Shebaya, a senior staff attorney at Muslim Advocates. “It’s still a Muslim ban, and its still trying to send a message to a whole community that they’re not welcome here.” The administration’s decision likely means that few refugees beyond a 50,000-cap set by Trump would be allowed into the country this year. A U.S. official said that,
as of Wednesday evening, 49,009 refugees had been allowed into the country this fiscal year. The State Department said refugees scheduled to arrive through July 6 could still enter. The guidelines also said workers with offers of employment from a company in the United States or a lecturer addressing U.S. audiences would be exempt from the ban, but that arrangements such as a hotel reservation would not be considered bona fide relationships. Reuters News Service contributed to this report.
UWHARRIE PLAYERS PRESENT
Performances at the Stanly County Agri – Civic Center Albemarle, North Carolina July 28 and 29 @ 7:30 PM July 30@ 3:00PM and August 4 and 5 @ 7:30PM August 6 @3:00 PM
Tickets may be purchased prior to the show at: UWharrie Players.org Starnes Jewelers B & D Bookstore Or at the Box Office
Kids 12 and under, come dressed as your favorite Mary Poppins character. Prizes will be awarded for winners. This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
o Manteo Murphy t Summer’s bounty
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Jones & Blount jonesandblount.com @JonesandBlount
Summer time is a great time to enjoy fresh, wholesome vegetables from your local store, farmers market, roadside stand or CSA. From June to August many of your favorites are available: squash, zucchini, onions, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, collards and more. Salads are only the beginning. N.C. vegetables taste great in lots of dishes, casseroles, stews, smoothies, and on the grill. Your imagination is the only limit to creating great dishes. They are not just side dishes — they can become the main attraction at any formal event or social gathering. To learn more about enjoying North Carolina vegetables visit us at www.ncvga.com.
Additional $100M for Hurricane Matthew recovery in state budget By Mollie Young North State Journal RALEIGH — Lawmakers unanimously passed legislation on Wednesday to direct the $100 million of disaster recovery funds that were allocated in the state budget, which was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper only to be quickly overridden by the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 338 will send aid to Hurricane Matthew, tropical storm and wildfire recovery efforts spanning from housing, infrastructure, agriculture and education in communities hit the hardest. It also provides $22 million to the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund to balance the state match for federal disaster assistance programs. “Protecting the victims of natural disasters
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is a core responsibility of the North Carolina General Assembly,” said Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) in a statement soon after the entire House voted for the bill during a Wednesday evening session, “and we’re well prepared to provide emergency relief thanks to responsible spending and record savings that ensure our state is in sound financial shape to serve citizens in times of crisis.” The bill marks the state’s second phase of Hurricane Matthew recover funding. In December, lawmakers approved the Disaster Recovery Act of 2016, which transferred $100 million from the state’s Savings Reserve Account into the General Fund to assist with the natural disasters that ravaged the state in the fall. Moore pointed to the now $1.8 billion that the state has in savings as a safety net for future natural disasters.
• Vegetables are an integral
part of the diet. • They contain nutrients, vitamins and minerals essential to healthy living. • Who is lucky enough to live in a state that grows a variety of vegetables? (Hint: you are the lucky one!)
west ‘American Idol’ tryouts coming to Asheville Buncombe County “American Idol,” the hit reality show that ran on Fox from 2002 until 2016, is returning to TV on ABC, and Asheville is one of 19 cities that will host auditions. The show’s audition bus tour will come through Western N.C. on Aug. 27. North Carolina natives have faired well on the singing show. With three winners — High Point’s Fantasia Barrino (Season 3), Garner’s Scotty McCreery (Season 10) and Asheville’s Caleb Johnson (Season 13) — N.C. has produced more “Idol” champs than any other state.
State says to avoid algal blooms in two lakes Haywood and Swain counties The North Carolina Division of Water Resources warned the public that algal blooms in Waterville Lake in Haywood County and Fontana Lake in Swain County could pose a health risk. State specialists said the algae in both lakes were low risk and that there were no reports of adverse health effects in people from the two lakes, but the department would continue to monitor them. The lakes are still safe to boat or fish in, but children and pets should avoid swimming in the water.
NC DMVA publishes resource guide to assist veteran, active military By Cory Lavalette North State Journal
PIEDMONT
Charlotte teacher arrested
Missing Raleigh woman found alive in Virginia Beach Raleigh Allison Cope, 24, has been found alive in Virginia Beach after being reported missing last week when she left her job at Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s Starbucks on Monday during a work break and did not return. Officials announced on Sunday that the woman was located late Saturday.
Charlotte A Charlotte middle school teacher has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a student during tutoring sessions. Charles Ray Naas, 26, will appear before a judge on Wednesday after his arrest on Saturday. Naas is a seventh grade math teacher at Alexander Graham Middle School. Principal Robert Folk said in a letter that the incident did not happen on campus.
WRAL
WSOC Charlotte
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality
WLOS-TV
EAST 20 facing drug charges after eastern NC sweep Lenoir County Twenty people are facing drug charges after being taken into custody as part of “Operation Summer Takeoff.” The Kinston Police Department, Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals, and N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Public Safety organized the campaign. It began Thursday with a raid of a house in Kinston where police said they found two stolen handguns, 16 grams of heroin, 1.4 pounds of marijuana, and 4 ounces crack cocaine, according to authorities.
Greenville economic development group gets $100k grant Pitt County NCEast Alliance will receive a $100,000 grant from the state to help develop eastern N.C.’s growing pharmaceutical and life science sector. The grant was part of the $23 billion budget passed in June by the N.C. General Assembly, vetoed by Gov. Cooper, and then overridden by the legislature. The grant will help NCEA coordinate the needs and growth of the region’s biopharma manufacturers, which employ 8,000 people there. NCEast Alliance
Kinston Free Press
Popular waterfall to reopen after fires
Milk spill threatens trout population
Transylvania County Whitewater Falls, a popular destination in Nantahala National Forest in Sapphire, N.C., reopened Friday, nearly seven months after a wildfire damaged stairs to the landmark’s observation deck. Whitewater Falls is one of the highest falls in the eastern U.S. at 400 feet, and a representative with the U.S. Forest Service said up to 100,000 people visit each year. The repairs cost $85,000.
Polk County Thousands of gallons of milk spilled into Cove Creek near Saluda, N.C., after a tanker overturned early Saturday on Interstate Highway 26. The N.C. Division of Water Resources said more than 6,000 gallons poured onto the road and into the creek, which flows into the Green River. While there’s no risk to the public, fish and other aquatic life can be endangered due to oxygen depravation in the water due to the spill. A game warden said dead trout were found floating downstream.
Winston-Salem Journal
Hospital group pays $6.5 million to settle suit
New roads around Triad airport open
Charlotte A Charlotte hospital system will settle a lawsuit for $6.5 million over improper billing for urine tests. U.S. Attorney Jill Rose says Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte will settle the lawsuit brought by former lab director Mark McGuire. McGuire accused the hospital of improperly coding tests between 2011 and 2015, labeling them as “high complexity” rather than “moderate complexity,” and collecting about $80 per test more than it should have.
Greensboro State transportation officials opened the new roads around Piedmont Triad International Airport aver the weekend. The N.C. Department of Transportation completed work associated with the Interstate 73 connector, which changes the way vehicles enter and exit the airport from the west, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority said in a statement.
News Herald
North Carolina Sportman
Winston Salem Journal
Plastic bag ban remains in effect on Outer Banks Dare County An eight-year-old ban on plastic bags on the Outer Banks will stay in effect until at least August after N.C. House Bill 56 did not make it out of conference committee at the end of the legislative session. The bill also makes changes to the makeup of the Marine Fisheries Commission. Outer Banks Sentinel
Rocky Mount area has state’s highest unemployment rate Edgecombe County Recent local unemployment figures from the N.C. Department of Commerce in May showed Edgecombe County’s 7.8 percent unemployment rate, the state’s highest, was a tad lower than the 7.9 percent in April and May 2016. Nash County’s 6.2 percent unemployment rate remained the same in April and in May 2016, while Rocky Mount’s metropolitan statistical area’s 6.8 percent unemployment rate was the same in April and 0.1 percent higher than the 6.7 percent in May of last year. The state’s average unemployment rate of 4.5 percent is down from more than 11 percent in 2010. Rocky Mount Telegram
The Best of Summer
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Military & Veterans Affairs unveiled its DMVA Resource Guide to the media Thursday, days before 100,000 copies of the book will start being distributed to veterans, active military and their families across the state. N.C. DMVA Secretary Larry Hall, himself a veteran who served 16 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, said the guide provides essential information to give veterans and their families the benefits they’ve earned. “We want to encourage everyone in the communities to utilize this resource,” Hall said outside the DMVA office in downtown Raleigh. “It’s important to remember we have over 800,000 veterans in North Carolina. And of those 800,000 veterans, they all have some right to have benefits and to use them to strengthen our state and our communities. “So with that many veterans, with the value they provide to North Carolina, it’s important that we ensure these resource guides get distributed,” Hall added. The guide highlights nine categories of resources available to active and past military: employment, entrepreneurship, health care, VA benefits, housing assistance, personal services,
education, women’s services and active military. The guide is particularly useful to the aging veteran population, Hall said. “Over 400,000 of our veterans are 60 years or older, so these guides can be available for their families, their caregivers, their relatives and other folks in the community, again to ensure we take care of our veterans,” he said. The 100,000 copies will be distributed at events and veterans services offices across North Carolina, and all the information is also available online at NC4Vets.com, including a complete digital download of the print guide. “Every day Secretary Hall and I, along with our dedicated staff, our working to ensure that veterans in our state are shown the same level of honor, dignity and integrity as they did while serving our country,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement relayed by Hall. Hall said the state, which he estimated is made up of 10 percent veterans owed those who honorably served with these benefits, and that those services would be impossible without the help of the groups and organizations that provide the assistance. “We don’t stand alone,” Hall said. “We work with those collaborative partners and try to maintain a guide and a resource and a referral point, as well as what we do within our building and within our organization.”
NC native Long to head FEMA By Cory Lavalette North State Journal RALEIGH — N.C. native Brock Long was confirmed this month as the new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The U.S. Senate voted 95-4 in favor of Long, who President Donald Trump nominated for the post in late April. Long graduated from Newton-Conover High School, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Appalachian State University, and lives in Hickory. He previously worked for FEMA from 2001 to 2006 as a hurricane program manager, and also has government
experience as an emergency official in both Alabama and Georgia, along with work in the private sector. Long will replace the acting administrator, Bob Fenton. “Brock brings both state and FEMA experience to the job,” former FEMA head Craig Fugate told Forbes when Long was nominated. “He knows the programs and challenges he faces. He is an emergency manager.” Long did not face the criticism heaped on several other Trump nominees, including from environmentalists who backed Long in part because he preached disaster preparedness during confirmation hearings.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
BUSINESS
PHOTOS BY EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
n.c. FAST FACTS Sponsored by
‘Brunch Bill’ signed into law Senate Bill 155, which loosens alcoholic beverage restrictions on restaurants and producers, was signed into law Friday
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Workforce and education advantages: • N.C. has the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast. • Elite universities power our workforce. North Carolina has 53 colleges and universities, among which are three Tier 1 research universities. • The North Carolina Community College System is widely regarded as offering some of the most comprehensive and advanced vocational and technical programs in the U.S., with 58 campuses across the state. • North Carolina has the fourthlargest active-duty military population with 78,000 expected to enter the workforce through 2018, offering high-demand occupational skills.
RALEIGH — Restaurants across North Carolina are now on the cusp of serving mimosas, bloody marys, and other alcoholic drinks with your eggs and toast starting at 10 a.m. on Sundays. On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 155, nicknamed “the Brunch Bill,” into law. The broader ABC legislation allows establishments to offer alcoholic beverages before noon on Sundays, which until now has been the standard for nearly 25 years in non-dry counties in N.C. — the only exception being getting a beer after 11 a.m. for the Carolina Panther’s game at Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, thanks to a 2014 law. The legislation also loosens restrictions on in-state distilleries, who up until a couple of years ago could not sell their own product to customers in their taproom but rather only through a third-party distributor who places them in ABC stores for them. Effective immediately, liquor makers can now sell up to five bottles directly to customers. Sen. Rick Gunn (R-Alamance), who championed the legislation, said the motivation was the economic opportunity and message of support it sends to industries that could see big profits from the change. “This is a wonderful opportunity to show North Carolina is ready to offer our hospitality and tourism industry additional tools they need to grow,” said Gunn. But not everyone is convinced that relaxing substance sales is a
Bartender Kim Moore makes a mimosa at Tupelo Honey Cafe in Raleigh.
good thing. “We all know that alcohol causes far more problems than every other drug in our state or society combined, and yet we seem hell-bent on proliferating its availability and use just as much as we can,” Rep. Jeff Collins (R-Nash) said on the House floor during debate prior to the bill passage. “I would ask you to think seriously about what you’re doing for the future of our state here. Do we really want to be on the cutting edge of making alcohol available?” North Carolina is among the first in the country to pass a statewide law to allow drink sales before noon. New York passed a similar measure in 2016, and Alabama just joined the movement last month. While Gunn said he understands some of his colleagues’ hesitation, with cities and counties still the final factor the law simply moves big state government out of the way. “There is no secret that we’ve had these laws on our books for a long, long time,” said Gunn during the General Assembly’s late-night Thursday session. “I think it’s OK that people have certain convic-
tions — and I respect that — but more importantly I just need the majority of the citizens of the state of North Carolina to understand that as long as we give local choice with our counties and cities, then people still have the option to partake or not.” Sunday morning sales will only begin after the local city council or county commission approves the measure. In Asheville this past Sunday, restaurants were still required to turn down customers eager to get a mimosa — it is unclear when their city council will give establishments in the popular tourist destination the green light. Local governments that don’t agree with the law can opt out. As far as the Sunday morning when the mimosa will be available in Gunn’s hometown of Burlington, the state senator said he looks forward to a potential celebratory toast. “I attend church regularly, in fact my wife and I enjoy 8:30 service, and if somebody asks us to go out and enjoy a refreshment on Sunday morning at a restaurant I’m sure that we would be eager to enjoy that,” said Gunn, beaming with pride.
Staples in $6.9B sale to private equity firm Sycamore Deal signals possible uptick in leveraged buyouts for niche companies with strong delivery units By Lauren Hirsch Reuters FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Sycamore Partners has announced that it plans to acquire U.S. office supplies chain Staples Inc for $6.9 billion, a rare bet by a private equity firm this year in the U.S. retail sector, which has been roiled by the popularity of internet shopping. Buyout firms largely have refrained from attempting leveraged buyouts of U.S. retailers in the past two years, amid a wave of bankruptcies in the sector that have
included Sports Authority, Rue21, Gymboree and BCBG Max Azria. Sycamore’s deal for Staples, however, illustrates that some buyout firms are distinguishing between mall-based fashion retailers, which are vulnerable to changing consumer tastes, from retailers with a niche and rich cash flow, such as Staples. The acquisition also shows that Sycamore, whose buyout fund is dedicated to retail deals, is willing to take on the risk of falling store sales at Staples because of the potential it sees in Staples’ delivery unit, which supplies businesses directly. Sycamore said it would pay $10.25 per share in cash for Staples. The shares ended trading at $9.93 on Wednesday after Reuters reported the exact deal price. Staples
statewide spotlight Sponsored by
By Mollie Young North State Journal
According to financial analysts, the national business climate is primed for continued growth and sustained market gains. In the Southeast, North Carolina is outpacing other states in the region with a historically business-friendly tax environment and competitive incentives. According to the Economic Development Partnership of N.C., there has never been a better time to take steps to start or grow your business in our state because of our workforce development, infrastructure and quality of life.
n.c.
BRENDAN MCDERMID | REUTERS
A Staples office supply store is seen in New York City.
Sycamore said it would pay $10.25 per share in cash for Staples.
said the deal was expected to close by December. Shira Goodman will remain as Staples CEO. Sycamore will be organizing Staples along three lines: its stronger delivery business, its weaker retail business and its business in Canada, two sources familiar with
We’re a month into the Atlantic hurricane season. This year has the potential for above-normal activity, with two to four major hurricanes likely. Anyone who has lived even a short time in North Carolina knows that any storm can damage property and endanger lives, so let’s prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Here are some tips: Before storm • Review homeowner’s insurance. • Assemble emergency kit. During storm • Unplug electrical appliances and equipment. • Stay indoors in interior room, away from windows. After storm • Stay away from downed power lines. Consider them energized. • Check for electrical damage inside your home. If you find damage, call an electrician before you turn on your power. • Do not connect your generator directly to your home’s electrical system. For more tips, check out the NC Public Power channel on YouTube, and follow @ElectriCitiesNC on Twitter and @ElectriCities on Facebook.
the deal said. This structure will give Sycamore the option to shed Staples’ retail business in the future, one of the sources said. Framingham, Mass.-based Staples, which made its name selling paper, pens and other supplies, has 1,255 stores in the United States and 304 in Canada. It previously tried to merge with rival retailer Office Depot but the deal was thwarted by a federal judge on antitrust grounds last year. Staples has the largest share of office supply stores in the United States at 48 percent, according to Euromonitor, and generated $889 million of adjusted free cash flow in 2016. Sycamore has a reputation amongst private equity peers for taking bets on retail investments others might eschew. Its previous investments include North Carolina-based department store operator Belk, discount general merchandise retailer Dollar Express and mall and web-based specialty retailer Hot Topic.
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the BRIEF Tarboro attracts large-scale commercial cold storage facility
EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL | FILE
An outdoor view of 1 Bank of America Center, the Bank of America headquarters, in downtown Charlotte.
Buffett’s Berkshire on verge of becoming BofA’s top shareholder By Jonathan Stempel Reuters CHARLOTTE — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may be on the verge of becoming Bank of America’s largest shareholder, after the bank raised its dividend in the wake of a positive assessment of its ability to handle market stresses. Bank of America on Wednesday boosted its annual dividend 60 percent to 48 cents per share from 30 cents, beginning in the third quarter. Buffett has said a boost of that size would likely prompt him to swap Berkshire’s preferred shares in the second-largest bank into common shares now worth about $16.7 billion. Berkshire did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An exchange would made Berkshire the largest shareholder of both Bank of America and
Wells Fargo, the third-largest U.S. bank, and more than triple a $5 billion investment made fewer than six years ago. It would also signal Buffett’s confidence in Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s chief executive. Moynihan has worked to restore investors’ confidence in his Charlotte-based bank after it spent more than $70 billion since the global financial crisis to resolve legal and regulatory matters, largely from its purchases of Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch. “Buffett has said he is very happy with what Moynihan’s doing, and it’s easy work for him to get more dividends,” said Bill Smead, whose $1.16 billion Smead Value fund includes shares of both companies. “For Bank of America, it would mean a further endorsement by the most spectacular large-cap stock picker of all time.”
2017 legislative acts that could affect the bottom line From tax reforms to changes in workers’ compensation, the 2017 N.C. General Assembly passed much legislation that will impact the costs of doing business in the Old North State By Jeff Moore North State Journal RALEIGH — With the long legislative session officially adjourned, lawmakers departed Jones Street having passed a roughly $23 billion budget, overridden half a dozen gubernatorial vetoes, and passed laws that will affect businesses large and small. Tax cuts, regulatory reform, and economic development were among the dozens of legislative acts of 2017 that could translate to the bottom line. Contained within the larger biennial budget were tax cuts that will take effect in 2019. Obviously impacting net business profits will
be the reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent. However, since so many small-business owners actually file personal income taxes for their proceeds, the scheduled 2019 reduction in those rates will likely impact a much higher number of businesses across the Old North State. The personal income tax rate will drop from the current 5.499 percent to 5.25 percent. Further, the standard deduction for personal filings (married filing jointly) will increase $2,500 to $20,000. Also within the budget were the extension or creation of economic development incentive programs. The bill created the NC Ready Sites Fund, allocating $2 million to help local municipalities acquire and equip sites to attracted major employers. The Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program was extended two years to 2021. The JDIG program offers corporations locating in North Carolina specific employment-related tax
Buffett is worth $76.1 billion, Forbes magazine says. The dividend increase required approval by the Federal Reserve, which conducts annual “stress tests” of big banks’ ability to handle tough economic and market conditions. On Wednesday, the Fed approved capital plans for Bank of America, which also announced a $12 billion stock buyback plan, and 33 other large U.S. banks. Buffett had bought $5 billion of Bank of America preferred stock with a 6 percent dividend, or $300 million annually, in August 2011, when investors worried about the bank’s capital needs. The purchase included warrants to acquire 700 million common shares at $7.14 each, less than one-third last Wednesday’s closing price of $23.88. In his Feb. 25 letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett said
The scheduled 2019 reduction in those rates will likely impact a much higher number of businesses across North Carolina. rebates contingent upon the creation of jobs and the associated payroll taxes that come with them. Opening doors for coastal economies is the Marine Aquaculture Development Act, which establishes a program to lease publicly owned sea and sound bottom parcels for the purposes of farming fish and shellfish. Lawmakers hope the program will encourage increased seafood production and “longterm economic and employment” opportunities for those coastal communities that have historically thrived from leveraging the bounty of North Carolina’s coastal waters. Senate Bill 621 will give parties to business contracts choice of law and forum, in which the parties agree to adhere to North Carolina law and as such jurisdiction of contract disputes will be with North Carolina courts. The proposal, still awaiting the governor’s signature, will apply whether or not, “The
he “would anticipate” swapping the preferred stock into common stock if the annual dividend rose above 44 cents per share. If Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire made the swap now, it would have a $11.7 billion paper profit and begin collecting $336 million of annual dividends, on top of roughly $1.7 billion of dividends already paid. A swap would also let Berkshire enjoy gains if Bank of America’s stock price rose. In contrast, the value of the preferred shares will not change so long as Bank of America does not collapse. Berkshire’s warrants expire in September 2021. Buffett’s bet was among more than $25 billion of high-yielding investments he made from 2008 to 2011 in such companies as General Electric and Goldman Sachs. The investments shored up confidence in the companies and helped give Buffett a reputation as a lender of last resort when times were tough. Bank of America’s largest shareholder is Vanguard Group, whose 652.4 million shares give it a 6.6 percent stake, Reuters data show.
parties, the business contract, or the transaction that is the subject of the business contract bear a reasonable relation to this state,” or, “A provision of the business contract is contrary to the fundamental policy of the jurisdiction whose law would apply in the absence of the parties’ choice of North Carolina law.” Businesses’ workers’ compensation liabilities were also reformed with an amendment by Sen. Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg) to a related bill that is still awaiting the governor’s signature. The subsection of House Bill 26 will legislatively reverse the N.C. Supreme Court’s decision in the Wilkes vs. Greenville case that held an employer could be liable for compensation related to medical conditions or injuries incurred before employment, and merely exacerbated on the job. The updated language to the Workers’ Compensation Act will include the chance for employees to have a hearing to prove the “condition is causally related.” Energy reform legislation will also affect business across the state as House Bill 589 will implement new competitive bidding processes for utilities to satisfy renewable energy mandates. Those and other changes are likely to alleviate upward pressure on electricity rates for industrial, commercial, and residential customers.
Raleigh ElectriCities has announced that a $22.7 million commercial cold storage facility will be developed on one of its designated Smart Sites in Tarboro, N.C. The facility is expected to create more than 100 new jobs in the community and attract national and international customers needing large-scale cold storage capabilities for produce, meat and other goods. This is the first major economic development project to be located at one of ElectriCities’ designated Smart Sites. ElectriCities has worked with public power communities across the state to develop shovel-ready Smart Sites that are located within five miles of a major highway and already have access to municipal electric service, water and sewer within 500 feet. These sites must also undergo an extensive review process by site selection experts before earning the Smart Site designation. Construction on the 200,000-square foot cold storage facility in Tarboro will begin this summer and the facility is expected to open within 18 months. The facility will be located at the Tarboro Commerce Center, an industrial park that is currently home to a Japanese auto parts manufacturer.
Citigroup CEO Corbat plans to visit Russia this week Moscow Michael Corbat, chief executive officer of Citigroup, plans to visit Russia this week and meet with central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters last week. The source did not provide other details. A central bank spokeswoman declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing the governor’s private meetings. Citibank’s press office in Moscow declined to comment. Visits to Russia by chief executives of blue-chip U.S. companies have become less frequent since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region, and the Western sanctions which followed. Citibank is among Russia’s top-20 lenders by assets, according to Interfax data, and is present in the credit card business, consumer lending and investment banking, among other financial services.
Fed gives big U.S. banks a green light for buyback, dividend plans Washington, D.C./New York The Federal Reserve has approved plans from the 34 largest U.S. banks to use extra capital for stock buybacks, dividends and other purposes beyond being a cushion against catastrophe. Last week, the Fed said those lenders, including household names like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, had passed the second, tougher part of its annual stress test. The results showed that many have not only built up adequate capital buffers, but improved risk management procedures as well. One bank, Capital One Financial, must resubmit its scheme by year-end, though the Fed is still allowing it to go forward with its capital plan in the meantime. Fed Gov. Jerome Powell, who is acting as regulatory lead for the U.S. central bank, said the process “has motivated all of the largest banks to achieve healthy capital levels and most to substantially improve their capital planning processes.”
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north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Drew Elliot, opinion editor | Ray Nothstine, deputy opinion editor
Visual Voices
EDITORIAL | Drew Elliot
LETters
A forgotten rebellion To lead into the tale of the forgotten rebellion, first let me share the story of one of only two C grades I received in college. It was my second semester in Chapel Hill when I enrolled in the American Lit survey course, covering everything from preColumbian Indian literature to Tennessee Williams. The course was taught by a graduate student who, we quickly found out, had no background in North Carolina nor any desire to learn about the Old North State. Like a Pat Conroy novel, she thought she was there to bring civilization — and probably shoes and dentistry — to us backwater folk. Unlike a Pat Conroy novel, I don’t think she allowed herself to learn a thing from us in the process. Her arrogance and ignorance were annoying, and it also affected the quality of her teaching. She had no idea, for instance, why Langston Hughes wrote the line “Way Down South in Dixie” as a refrain in his poem “For a Dark Girl.” This led to a humorous — if uncomfortable — episode when she asked the class why Hughes repeated that line at the start of each stanza. The answer being so obvious, the class thought her question was rhetorical. It was not. When someone finally mentioned the allusion to “Dixie,” she was genuinely surprised by the connection. My tipping point came early in the semester, when we were shifting from Hawthorne and Paine to other authors after the birth of the Republic. “We’ve been focusing on Northern writers so far,” she told us, “since the Revolutionary War was fought in the North.” Oh, my. Oh, no.
It’s often said — by those who know their history a little better — that the Revolutionary War was started in the North and won in the South. There is much truth to that, owing mostly to the British Southern strategy, rather than to any regional differences in ability to vanquish the imperial troops of George III. But as we remember the birth of our nation this year, we shouldn’t forget the importance of the revolutionary fervor right here in North Carolina, and the failed rebellion that predated the successful one of 1776-1781. Two and one-half years before the Boston Tea Party, armed men of the backwoods of North Carolina were in open rebellion against the Crown for unfair taxation, corrupt royal officials, and other grievances. The 1764-1771 Regulator Movement, as it is known, is still taught to North Carolina schoolchildren, but is largely unknown outside the state. The Regulators are overshadowed for a few reasons. One is that it happened in the sparsely populated interior rather than in a large city, and the movement had no flowery-penned advocates on par with Paine, Franklin, or Jefferson. Another is that it predated the famous Committees of Correspondence, which wouldn’t be formed until 1772 and did not really become effective until 1773. The Committees of Correspondence, a system perfect for spreading (and embellishing) accounts of royal misdeeds, would have leaped at the chance to tell the tale of the Regulators. But that was in the future. Perhaps the biggest reason the Regulators remain unknown today,
though, is that they lost — and they lost to locally recruited militia, not lobsterbacks from Britain. Unlike the Boston Massacre’s protest-turned-massacre allure or the Tea Party’s political theater, in May 1771 the Regulators found themselves actually in the arena, facing the militia in what is now Alamance County. When Gov. William Tryon called on the rebels to disarm or he would order the militia to fire, the Regulators responded that it should “Fire or be damned!” Fire they did, and the militia earned a quick victory over the rebels at the Battle of Alamance. It’s easy to see how all this could be one uninterrupted story: rise of the Sons of Liberty (North) and Regulators (South), 1764-65; Boston Massacre, 1770; Battle of Alamance, 1771; Boston Tea Party, 1773; First Continental Congress, 1774; battles of Lexington and Concord, 1775; Declaration of Independence, 1776. But that’s not how it is remembered. Some of that is due to the reasons above, but some is surely due to regional arrogance. Can anyone imagine the Battle of Alamance being forgotten if it had happened in Virginia or Massachusetts? Alas, our humble vale has veiled an important part of the patriot story, so this year let us remember the forgotten Regulators and their small part in the independence movement.
EDITORIAL | Ray Nothstine
What is with all the civil war talk? Political violence and secession talk is heating up again — and no, it’s not emanating out of South Carolina. Pat Buchanan recently posed the likelihood regarding an impending civil conflict in a June column, given what he believes is a nonviolent media and governmental coup against President Donald Trump. Stanford’s Hoover Institution scholar, Victor Davis Hanson, recently discussed the topic of “A Cold Civil War” on his brilliant “The Classicist” podcast last month as well. Of course, there are others broaching the topic given rapid national fragmentation, political violence, and old fashioned hotheadedness. A few are nearing Preston Brooks territory, and some are cheering on the Brooks-like antics. If you don’t remember, Brooks was the South Carolina congressman who delivered a violent caning to a Massachusetts lawmaker for calling the state of South Carolina and Brooks’ cousin “a harlot,” among other put-downs, during a debate over slavery in 1856. The soon to be bludgeoned senator stepped over the line in chastising thenSouth Carolina Sen. Andrew Butler, which included ugly swipes at his speaking ability after a stroke. Brooks, of course, was cheered in many Southern editorials and presented with a plethora of canes, some of which were inscribed “hit him again.” The story is still relevant today because it’s often seen as a prelude to more violent sectional divisions that would cost over half a million Americans their lives. At the
time of Brooks, save for some radicals on both sides, few were envisioning or even clamoring for the kind of conflict that emerged. In the wake of the politically motivated shooting of congressman and majority whip Steve Scalise, which included three others injured by gunfire, debates raged on social media. Some even wondered if Scalise deserved to die given his political leanings, and particularly so because he favored repeal of Obamacare. This troubling trend, where every tragedy or event in the news cycle is immediately politicized, is only growing worse. Ideological tribes use tragedy and even death to reinforce their worldview, while many ignore the baser and seemingly more natural response of sympathy and compassion. This notion elevates the belief that political partisanship and objectives are above everything else in creation and eventually morphs into the justification of violence to secure those goals. While South Carolina and a few other states sometimes get the bad rap on nullification and leading the secession charge, some wonder if we are seeing it again, particularly in liberal states like California. The Golden State, once known for true diversity, is increasingly authoritarian in trying to compel other states to bow to its demands. “To Golden State progressives, California should be California, and Tennessee should be California, too,” wrote David French in National Review. California now bans travel by government
officials to eight states, including North Carolina, for what they deem to be discriminatory legislation towards the LGBTQ community. Most of the laws they cite as “discriminatory” are religious liberty protections. Of course, California includes special exemptions within their ban, and no doubt public universities in the state will ignore the ban, particularly when it comes to sporting events. So, it’s more about virtue signaling than a truly principled boycott — for now. At any rate, federalism does not work for California, as they increasingly make it a point to ignore a host of federal laws they disagree with. Gov. Jerry Brown even recently referred to his state as a “separate nation.” Tennessee took the announcement that they were to be included in the travel ban in stride and even passed a rebellion poking fun at California’s “exorbitant taxes, spiraling budget deficits” and a host of other ills that plague the state. They too called on the other “forty-eight states to refrain from imposing their unfounded moral judgement on their sister states as California has done in order to prevent escalating foolishness.” We are a long way from resembling anything close to the battlefields of over 150 years ago, but if one pays attention, it’s not hard to see all the escalating foolishness.
A genius solution to global warming In response to “Cooper signs on to Paris climate change pact,” (June 6): Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum to place it on, and I can move the world.” We have the lever and fulcrum that can save the world. We just need to start using it. The threat is global warming. Forget Paris. We have a much simpler, faster, more effective, proven, realistic, bi-partisan/ conservative solution with a global “domino” effect which will jump-start a multi-trillion-dollar economic boom while swiftly phasing out fossil fuels. It works on the principle of self-interest. It doesn’t ask anyone to give up anything or make any sacrifices — except for polluting fossil fuel corporations. It makes them pay an escalating carbon pollution fee, all of which goes to every taxpayer in equal monthly “carbon dividend” checks. And the amount of those checks keeps going up every year. This will create over 5 million good-paying, permanent (40year), local U.S. jobs and many million more in associated jobs while increasing our gross domestic product $75-80 billion annually. Solar and wind have been growing at 12 times the national average for the past five years (DOE) and employs about five to nine times the number of people fossil fuels do to produce the same amount of energy, while clean energy costs keep dropping exponentially. Coal is never coming back. King Coal was killed by cheaper natural gas and now cheaper solar and wind is coming for natural gas. It’s reached grid parity in at least 20 states already. We really can save the world while making the vast majority of Americans financially better off with this simple policy. It’s genius. Lynn Goldfarb Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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.
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Guest Opinion | DANIEL DePETRIS
Trump should go easy on North Korea over Warmbier death It would be imprudent for the U.S. to terminate negotiating channels with Pyongyang that could be valuable in the future.
Otto Warmbier was the quintessential American college student. He faced a promising future and was keen to broaden his view of the world. It was likely that sense of adventure that convinced him to join a tour group traveling from China to North Korea — a country few outsiders understand. Unfortunately, it did not take long for Warmbier to discover that North Korea was a pot of misery and inhumanity. In January 2016, North Korean authorities arrested Warmbier at Pyongyang airport for stealing a propaganda poster from a hotel. Two months later, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for acts against the state. Fifteen months after that sentencing, Warmbier was flown back to the United States in a vegetative state. He died a few days later. The brutal mistreatment of a 22-year-old American in North Korea’s custody has shocked the country, with President Donald Trump describing Warmbier’s incarceration and likely torture as “a total disgrace” that “should never ever be allowed to happen.” There is no question that the Trump administration will need to respond in some formal way to Warmbier’s untimely death, and there has been no shortage of pundits and experts recommending tough action against Pyongyang. Suggestions include everything from unilaterally slapping secondary sanctions on Chinese firms that do business with the North Korean government to cutting off any possibility of talks in the future. The editors at the National Review even recommended a U.S.-led campaign to kick North Korea out of the United Nations. The problem with North Korea, however, is that we are not talking about a normal state operating under normal protocols. Its political leadership does not respect the normal moral value of right and wrong. This is exactly why the Trump administration must tread cautiously before doing anything that could turn a heartbreaking loss into a regional cataclysm. Incremental, but effective, measures against Pyongyang in retaliation for Warmbier’s suspicious death would send a stark warning to Kim that his regime will be held accountable. But just as importantly, it would stop shy of goading the North Koreans into reacting in a violent or irrational way. There are several policies that the Trump administration should and must implement. The most obvious recommendation is Trump prohibiting U.S.
citizens from traveling to North Korea as tourists. Although the U.S. State Department has repeatedly warned Americans not to travel to North Korea, that travel warning does not carry any legal weight. The White House can take the State Department’s optional bulletin and transform it into a mandatory edict. Trump can do this either by issuing his own executive action or by publicly supporting a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives that would ban the Treasury Department from issuing a license related to tourism to any individual or entity subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Pyongyang must understand that it will no longer be able to profit from several hundred Americans visiting North Korea every year as long as the regime continues to arbitrarily arrest and prosecute U.S. citizens. In addition, the three Americans currently detained in North Korea must be transferred immediately into U.S. custody. Another option for the White House is an expansion of sanctions against any firm, individual, entity, financial institution, or government that accepts North Korean workers onto their territories. In February 2017, the U.N. Security Council’s Panel of Experts on North Korea reported that the Kim regime “earns money by dispatching migrant workers overseas” — a practice that South Korea’s Unification Ministry has estimated brings in roughly $900 million a year. While $900 million not seem like a lot for a national government, it is a valuable source of revenue for North Korea, which needs every penny it can get. Any country that continues to import forced labor from North Korea is contributing to the problem and does not deserve to operate within the U.S. financial system. Many lawmakers in Washington would like to go a lot further, including indefinitely suspending any talks between the U.S. and North Korea as long as Kim flouts the principles of common humanity. But as terrible as this entire ordeal is for the Warmbier family, it would be imprudent for the United States to terminate negotiating channels with Pyongyang that could be valuable in the future. The most prudent action that the U.S. can take is to ensure that no other American suffers the terrible fate of Otto Warmbier. Daniel R. DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities. The opinions expressed here are his own.
Mourners stand out side the art center before a funeral service for Otto Warmbier, who died after his release from North Korea, at Wyoming High School in Wyoming, Ohio.
JOHN SOMMERS II | REUTERS
column | Jonah goldberg
Beware the motives of ‘progressive’ companies acting altruistically Let me just say this at the outset: Mildred Dresselhaus, who died in February at the age of 86, was an amazing woman.
Let me just say this at the outset: Mildred Dresselhaus, who died in February at the age of 86, was an amazing woman. An accomplished physicist who won just about every scientific award short of the Nobel Prize, Dresselhaus was by all accounts a pioneer, patriot, and great American. Nonetheless, I still find GE’s commercial in her honor to be profoundly creepy. The ad opens with a little girl unwrapping her birthday present. “A Millie Dresselhaus doll!” she exclaims. The doll shows the elderly Dresselhaus in her apparently trademark red sweater and black slacks. The montage speeds up after that. Little girls are all dressed like Millie for Halloween. A maternity ward where all the little girls are named “Millie.” Then, a girl leaving her physics exam texts her friend. “Aced physics!!” she types, followed by two Dresselhaus emojis. Finally, the narrator chimes in, during a scene with two young women snapping pictures of themselves posing in front of a giant mural of Dresselhaus. “What if we treated great female scientists like they were stars?” the narrator asks. More scenes of young people freaking out over the octogenarian scientist unfold, before the the narrator goes on: “What if Millie Dresselhaus, the first woman to win the National Medal of Science in Engineering, were as famous as any celebrity?” Paparazzi fight to snap a picture of her having lunch. Crowds fill public squares as people around the world flock to stadiums for her lecture. Glassy-eyed women wait in anticipation for her to walk on stage. “What if we lived in a world like that?” the narrator asks. Then the screen goes black. And in simple white text we learn that “GE is helping create that world.” The commercial goes on to explain that GE wants to get more women interested in science and engineering, which is fine by me. But the company, which depends heavily on government contracts, subsidies and regulations, has a long history of tapping into trendy political fads and causes that just so happen to help its bottom line.
The most famous was GE’s “Green Week” propaganda campaign back when it owned NBC. GE ordered all of NBC’s shows — news, sitcoms, dramas, sports — to incorporate messages about the importance of fighting climate change and using renewable energy. Only rarely would anyone disclose that the corporate behemoth made billions of dollars selling products — light bulbs, wind turbines, greenhouse gas credits — that wouldn’t be profitable without government subsidies and regulations. The crowd that normally demonizes big business as evil and “right-wing” didn’t care. Neither did the usual media critics and decriers of conflicts of interest. Why? Because they agreed with the political agenda that GE was parasitically exploiting. When big businesses do what the left likes, words like “greed,” “propaganda,” “crony capitalism,” “corruption,” etc., never come to mind. They call it “corporate responsibility.” At the time I liked to ask, “What if Rupert Murdoch ordered all of Fox’s shows, including its prime-time sitcoms, to commit to ‘Pro-Life Week’? What would be the response then?” To my mind, that would have been better than Green Week, because at least Murdoch has no financial interest in federal abortion policy. I have no idea what, if any, profit motive informs the Dresselhaus ad other than the desire for GE to be seen as a loyally progressive company and to get on the good side of various regulators, bureaucrats and feminist groups. But it’s still creepy and awfully condescending. It’s creepy because any society based on deranged cults of personality is scary and weird. Making science itself into some kind of fanatical faith is almost a dystopian cliche. It’s condescending because it makes it sound like the notion that women can be scientists and engineers is the stuff of science fiction or fantasy. If GE did the same kind of ad, only imagining a world where black people could be scientists, I suspect that would be more obvious. Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review.
MICHAEL BARONE
Democrats — and Republicans — lack credibility on economic issues Liberal writers and political operatives, now that it’s finally dawning on them that no one is going to find evidence that Donald Trump conspired with Russia to steal the presidential election, are turning to giving advice to the Democratic Party. A consensus is arising that Democrats should rely less on identity politics and more on economic appeals. In retrospect, they over-relied on the theory that demographic change — increasing percentages of nonwhite voters and single women — would produce automatic victories.
The fact is that both parties’ traditional economic policy levers seem poorly adapted to repair today’s economic weaknesses. Another problem is that reliance on a coalition of minorities encourages a self-righteous mindset that dismisses everyone else as “deplorable.” Hillary Clinton’s resort to this label at a Manhattan fundraiser was not an accident. The better course, say many Democrats — from The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer to the narrowly defeated candidate Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District — is to stress economics. They yearn to return to the days when the Democratic Party was the party of the union guy with a lunch pail, when blue-collar workers voted by a 2-1 margin for Democrats. Those days are actually long past. Republicans have been carrying white non-college graduates for 25 to 30 years, since long before Trump came onto the political scene. Trump’s achievement, with his trade and immigration proposals, was to increase the margin with those voters significantly in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin by appealing to those raised in union households who had been sticking with the Democrats. But what do Democrats have to offer on economics? Higher tax rates on high earners? Most voters like the idea but don’t seem convinced that it would help people like them. Maybe increased revenues would reduce budget deficits or enable government to hire more bureaucrats or pay them more. But would that mean a better life for voters? What about jacking up wages by increasing the minimum wage? Again, that polls really well, but it’s a policy that wouldn’t do much for most ordinary people. It could even hurt the intended beneficiaries; a University of Washington study showed that Seattle’s sharply increased minimum wage has significantly reduced low-skilled workers’ incomes because of a reduction in their hours. The problem for Democrats is that the United States already has a progressive tax structure, more so than much of Europe, and already supplements low-wage work with the earned income tax credit. Marginal adjustments of these policies might help some people, but they wouldn’t set the political world afire. Meanwhile, promises of free college or free health care lack credibility. Negative ratings of Obamacare in the Obama years and current Republican repeal-and-replace proposals show an ingrained skepticism that government can provide improved services. Voters may have noticed that government aid policies have coincided with above-inflation cost increases in higher education and health care. Political promises to spend more may not work with an electorate that fears that spending cuts might hurt but doubts that spending increases would help. Historically, Democrats have championed countercyclical Keynesian spending to prevent or curtail recessions. But today we’re at the opposite side of the business cycle, with low unemployment after an extended period of budget deficits and low interest rates. Trump’s job approval rating is higher on the economy than on almost any other issue. It’s true that economic growth has been lagging at a historic rate and that workforce participation, especially among non-college-educated men, has been deteriorating. But those were phenomena of the Obama years, which weakens Democrats’ credibility in addressing them. However, the trends are deeper and longer-lasting, which means that Republicans don’t have much credibility, either. The fact is that both parties’ traditional economic policy levers seem poorly adapted to repair today’s economic weaknesses. Voters may just be zoning out when either Democrats or Republicans argue they can strengthen the economy. If that’s right, then elections most likely will continue to be fought out mainly on identity politics lines. Democratic economic appeals won’t win over many blue-collar Christians in flyover country any more than Republican economic policies will win over many high-income coastal secularists. The good news for both parties is that recent elections show that both sides can win. The bad news: Both can lose. 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.
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ENTERTAINMENT the BRIEF
Apple’s iPhone turns 10 Slow start of ubiquitous device is now forgotten
‘Hamilton’ creator issues musical riposte to immigration debate
By Stephen Nellis Reuters NEW YORK — Apple iPhone turns 10 this week, evoking memories of a rocky start for the device that ended up doing most to start the smartphone revolution and stirring interest in where it will go from here. Apple has sold more than 1 billion iPhones since June 29, 2007, but the first iPhone, which launched without an App Store and was restricted to the AT&T network, was limited compared to today’s version. After sluggish initial sales, Apple slashed the price to spur holiday sales that year. “The business model for year one of the iPhone was a disaster,” Tony Fadell, one of the Apple developers of the device, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. “We pivoted and figured it out in year two.” The very concept of the iPhone came as a surprise to some of Apple’s suppliers a decade ago, even though Apple, led by CEO Steve Jobs, had already expanded beyond computers with the iPod. “We still have the voicemail from Steve Jobs when he called the CEO and founder here,” said David Bairstow at Skyhook, the company that supplied location technology to early iPhones. “He thought he was being pranked by someone in the office and it took him two days to call Steve Jobs back.” The iPhone hit its stride in 2008 when Apple introduced the App Store, which allowed developers to make and distribute their mobile applications with Apple taking a cut of any revenue. Ten years later, services revenue is a crucial area of growth for Apple, bringing in $24.3 billion in revenue last year. Fans and investors are now looking forward to the 10th anniversary iPhone 8, expected this fall, asking whether it will deliver enough new features to spark a new generation to turn to Apple. That new phone may have 3-D mapping sensors, support for “augmented reality” apps that would merge virtual and real worlds, and a new display with organic LEDs, which are light and flexible, according to analysts at Bernstein Research. A decade after launching into a market largely occupied by BlackBerry and Microsoft devices, the iPhone now competes chiefly with phones running Google’s Android software, which is distributed to Samsung Electronics and other manufacturers around the world. Even though most of the world’s smartphones now run on Android, Apple still garners most of the profit in the industry with its generally higher-priced devices. More than 2 billion people now have smartphones, according to data from eMarketer, and Fadell, who has worked for both Apple and Alphabet, sees that as the hallmark of success. “Being able to democratize computing and communication across the entire world is absolutely astounding to me,” Fadell said. “It warms my heart because that’s something Steve tried to do with the Apple II and the Mac, which was the computer for the rest of us. It’s finally here, 30 years later.”
Shannon Stapleton | REUTERS
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda on Wednesday released what he called a “musical counterweight” to the U.S. political debate on immigration, inspired by one of the best-known lines from his Broadway musical. The video “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” portrays refugees and immigrants from around the world and is accompanied by a new song, set to rap lyrics, about their struggles, setbacks and contributions to society. Dmitry Vinogradov | REUTERS
What happens in Vegas Nevada puts pot on the menu for fun-seekers By Alex Dobuzinskis Reuters LAS VEGAS — Nevada, the only state where both gambling and prostitution are legal, is adding recreational marijuana to its list of sanctioned indulgences for adults, with sales kicking off at more than dozen shops beginning on Saturday. As result of a legalization measure approved by Nevada voters in November, the state will join four other U.S. states and the District of Columbia in allowing recreational sales. Authorized marijuana shops will be able to sell up to one ounce (28 grams) for recreational use by customers 21 years and older, said Stephanie Klapstein, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Taxation. Public consumption of
marijuana is prohibited, and Nevada has enacted new regulations against edible forms of pot that could appeal to children, such as fruit-shaped candies infused with cannabis. Nevada is also imposing a 10 percent excise tax on pot sales in addition to the regular 4.6 percent state sales tax. Nevada has yet to finalize the exact number of stores that regulators will approve. Sixty applications were submitted from across the state, according to Klapstein, whose department is overseeing the state’s pot market. Only medical cannabis dispensaries, which became legal in the state in 2015, are eligible to apply for licenses for recreational sales. Many of them are expected to open in Las Vegas, Nevada’s largest city and gambling magnet. “Tens of millions of visitors per year from all over the U.S. and around the world will see firsthand that regulating
marijuana works,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that backed the November 2016 ballot measure. Voters in three other states — California, Maine and Massachusetts — have also approved marijuana legalization. In 2012, Washington and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, followed by Oregon and Alaska. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Most states allow it for medical purposes, but not for recreation. A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman in an email declined to comment on Nevada’s state-sanctioned marijuana sales and added that the department is reviewing its policies on marijuana enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has long opposed easing marijuana restrictions. At a speech in March, he described marijuana as “only slightly less awful” than heroin and said the United States needed to discourage drug use.
Networks look online to attract young viewers back to television By Jessica Toonkel Reuters NEW YORK — Discovery Communications and Time Warner’s Turner are taking the unusual step of streaming full episodes of new shows online or on apps before they air on TV to attract younger viewers in the face of slipping ratings. Premium channels like CBS’s Showtime have done this for years to entice new subscribers, but cable networks have not, fearing they might cannibalize TV ratings. But today viewers have many more choices as streaming companies like Amazon.com and Netflix bring a year-round slate of new shows on top of broadcast television. As a result, networks need to do more to promote new shows, according to Dave Morgan, head of advertising technology company Simulmedia. Previously, networks focused all marketing around a show’s premier, said Kevin Reilly, chief creative officer at Turner. “Today, the entire first season is a marketing vehicle,” he said. “If I said that five years ago, peo-
“Today, the entire first season is a marketing vehicle,” he said. “If I said that five years ago, people would have said ‘You’re out of your mind.’” — Dave Morgan, head of advertising technology company Simulmedia ple would have said ‘You’re out of your mind.’” Over the past year, Turner put five premiers on Facebook and Google’s YouTube. Discovery’s true crime channel, Investigation Discovery (ID), plans to put the first episode of at least five of its series on its app for cable subscribers before they air on TV, said Kevin Bennett, general manager of ID. When college football season starts in August, Walt Disney’s sports network ESPN, which is struggling with declining subscribers, will let online viewers
watch 10 minutes of any game or show for free on its app. If the app recognizes the viewer as a fan of a specific team, it will showcase that team’s games, Justin Connolly, executive vice president, affiliate sales and marketing at ESPN, told Reuters. After 10 minutes, they will have to verify they are a cable subscriber or sign up. By putting some episodes online for free, Turner faces the added risk of upsetting its cable and satellite partners. Aware of that, Turner has only selected certain shows to put online. Last June, Turner’s TNT got about 6 million viewers for the first episode of its new family crime drama, “Animal Kingdom,” which it streamed on Facebook and YouTube before it aired on TV. Turner said 16 percent of those online viewers — or about 960,000 people — came back to watch the show on TV. Turner believes that putting the premier online helped the show to increase its share of younger viewers, between 18 and 49 years old, from 899,000 at the show’s television debut to 1.15 million by the final episode. “It might not build Nielsen
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Michelle Rodriguez, Halle Berry, speak out on diversity, women in film Halle Berry, the only black woman to ever win a best actress Oscar, said her 2002 win turned out to be meaningless, and “Fast and Furious” star Michelle Rodriguez warned she may quit the action movie franchise unless filmmakers “show some love for women.” Their comments proved a reality check for women in Hollywood even as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it invited 298 more women to join its ranks in a bid to improve diversity at the Oscars.
Actor Johnny Galecki says worth living in rural California despite burned ranch A ranch belonging to “Big Bang Theory” star Johnny Galecki has burned down in a California wildfire but the actor said living in the area was worth it despite the risk of fires. Galecki, 42, who plays nerdy experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter in the hit TV comedy series, was not at home on Monday when the brush fire consumed his ranch in countryside near San Luis Obispo in central California.
ratings, but it builds engagement,” said Michael Engleman, executive vice president of entertainment marketing at Turner, referring to the TV industry’s leading ratings firm. ID has put the second episodes of some shows on its ID GO app for cable subscribers immediately after the first episodes aired on TV in a bid to drive people to its app and to create a buzz, Bennett said. Last spring, Discovery streamed the second episode of its miniseries about Casey Anthony, the Florida mom acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter, right after the first episode aired on TV. When the episode aired on TV the next night, it was the highest-rated second episode for ID ever on TV, Bennett said. For Discovery, whether viewers watch its shows on its app or on TV is not a key distinction. Discovery gets a 50-percent premium on ads sold through the app since they are more targeted and viewers cannot skip ads, said Paul Guyardo, chief commercial officer at Discovery. Such tactics can help when Discovery begins negotiations with its pay TV partners, he said. “When we come up for renewals, we aren’t just providing a linear channel,” Guyardo said. “That helps with renewals and rate increases.”
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
Canes bring back an old friend Washington Capitals right wing Justin Williams (14) carries the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in game six of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena in Pittsburgh on May 8, 2017.
the Wednesday SIDELINE REPORT
SPORTS
NHL
Hurricanes add Jooris on one-year deal On top of signing veteran Justin Williams on Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes added depth to their forward ranks by signing Josh Jooris. Jooris, who has played for the Flames, Rangers and most recently Arizona, had four goals and eight assists in 54 games last season. “I thought he was really good in Calgary and Arizona,” coach Bill Peters said. “[He] played real well against us head-to-head the last game in Arizona here last year; just a guy who’s hard to play against, is a very competitive player with a good motor.”
By Cory Lavalette North State Journal
Anthony reportedly open to trade from Knicks
GOLF
Houston Shell Open vandals caught by cops Police apprehended two teenagers who recently caused damage on and around the 16th green at the Golf Club of Houston, host course of the Shell Houston Open on the PGA Tour, by performing “donuts” with their four-wheeler. The club tweeted pictures of the two individuals on an ATV after a video camera caught them causing the damage, and when they returned the next day, they were followed home by an off-duty police officer. Names of the culprits were not announced, but their parents reportedly offered to pay for the damage, and the green already was repaired. NBA
Nuggets land Millsap on massive deal The Denver Nuggets waited a while to dive into free agency, but finally took the plunge on Sunday by signing Paul Millsap to a monster contract, signing the forward to a three-year deal worth $90 million. The third year of the contract for Millsap, 32, is a team option.
Hurricanes bring back Justin Williams Known as “Mr. Game 7,” 35-year-old won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with Carolina, two more in L.A.
NBA
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who has had a tumultous tenure with the team, is willing to waive his no-trade clause and accept a move to either the Houston Rockets or the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to a report from ESPN. Anthony was notably at odds with former Knicks president Phil Jackson, who reportedly wanted to buy out the disgruntled star, and now Melo is interested in teaming up with either James Harden/Chris Paul or LeBron James/Kyrie Irving.
CHARLES LECLAIRE | USA TODAY SPORTS
BRAD PENNER | USA TODAY SPORTS
Los Angeles Clippers player Chris Paul greets draft prospects before the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 22.
NBA offseason launches free-agency frenzy The 2017 NBA free agency period opened up over the weekend and it was wild. The Sports Xchange The 2017 NBA offseason is already decidedly more fun than the 2017 NBA playoffs. After watching the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers blitz their way through respective sides of the bracket before the Warriors downed the Cavs 3-1 in the NBA Finals, things were getting a bit stale in professional basketball. Free agency fixed that pretty quickly, with a slew of wild trades and signings kicking off the weekend and NBA free agency as players inked massive deals and moved locations at a rapid pace. Here are the five most important things you need to know about the wild start to free agency over the holiday weekend.
1. Chris Paul is headed to Houston The Houston Rockets acquired the All-Star guard from the Los Angeles Clippers in a blockbuster eight-player trade that sent reverberations throughout the entire league. Paul, 32, will join James Harden in the backcourt with the Rockets, who sent Sam Dekker, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, DeAndre
Liggins, Darrun Hilliard, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Wiltjer, a topthree protected 2018 first-round pick and $661,000 to the Clippers. “Any day you can acquire a Hall of Fame-level player is a good day for the franchise,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. ”... It’s a weapons race in the NBA, and you’re either in the weapons race or on the sidelines. We felt with Harden in his prime, Chris Paul in his prime, this gives us a real shot to chase the juggernaut teams that are out there and puts us right there with them.” The biggest question is how Paul, a ball-dominant point guard if there ever was one, will work with James Harden, who was an MVP candidate in Mike D’Antoni’s offense last year thanks to an absurdly high usage rate. But the modern reality of the NBA is you need multiple superstars to compete for a title. Paul had until Wednesday to opt out of the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent. The Clippers risked losing Paul for nothing in free agency. Paul could have signed a new deal with the Clippers that started at $34 million a year had he opted out of his contract. He will now be eligible to sign a five-year, $205 million maximum extension See NBA, page B7
RALEIGH — Eleven years and a couple weeks removed from scoring the empty-net goal that clinched the 2006 Stanley Cup for the Carolina Hurricanes, Justin Williams in returning to Raleigh. The team announced Saturday Williams had signed a two-year contract worth $9 million that brings back the 35-year-old winger who has since won two more Cups and earned a reputation as hockey’s top clutch player. “It’s a fit for your family. It’s an opportunity to win. It’s familiarity with players and coaches. And it’s certainly your role on the team and how you fit in,” Williams said Saturday of picking a destination in free agency. “A lot of things go into it, but those are kind of the top four. And Raleigh hit all of them.” Williams was traded to the Kings in the 2009, and Carolina reached the conference final that year. Williams went on to win titles in Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014 — including earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in the second run. His return to Carolina reunites him with teammates from the 2006 team. Cam Ward is still manning the net, albeit as the likely No. 2 goalie behind newcomer Scott Darling, while Rod Brind’Amour now stands behind the bench as an assistant coach. Signs Williams could be open to returning to the Hurricanes emerged leading up to free agency. Carolina general manager Ron Francis — who captained Williams for all of six weeks in 2004 — admitted Friday he had talked to the Capitals’ pending free agent during the NHL’s allowed interview period. “There was a lot of interest in Justin,” Francis said on Saturday. “I think it got down to three teams that were very serious, and we were obvi-
“It’s a fit for your family. It’s an opportunity to win. It’s a familiarity with players and coaches. And certaintly your role on the team and how you fit in. Justin Williams on signing with the Hurricanes
See WILLIAMS, page B7
INSIDE
JEFF CURRY | USA TODAY SPORTS
The sweltering summer is starting to heat up and that means it’s time for the Midseason Classic from Major League Baseball. The 2017 All-Star Game will be a scorcher too, with the game being played in Miami on July 11 and will feature a host of the young stars who are emerging to perform at the highest level. The Nationals and Astros led the way this year in terms of starters, netting three a piece. See the full list of player on B4 & B5.
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
B2 WEDNESDAY
07.05.17
TRENDING
Mike Trout: Angels outfielder ramping up activity in an effort to get back on the field according to the team. Trout, who tore a ligament in his left thumb and had surgery, is hoping to return before the Angels last series before the All-Star Break. Otto Porter: Former first-round pick received a max offer from the Kings in free agency according to multiple media reports, with Sacramento offering a four-year contract worth $106.5 million. Porter, taken No. 3 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Wizards, averaged 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last year. Kevin Cash: Tampa Bay Rays skipper managed to stick around the clubhouse and manage the team on Sunday afternoon despite breaking his ankle after running near Camden Yards earlier in the morning. Cash said he rolled his ankle while crossing a railroad track. Carey Price: Canadiens goaltender was locked up by team on a massive new contract, netting an eight-year deal worth $84 million that will keep him with the team through the 202526 season and earn him $10.5 million per season starting in 2018-19. Kyle Lowry: Free agent point guard will return to Toronto as Lowry reportedly agreed to re-sign with the Raptors on a three-year, $100 million contract according to multiple reports. Gordon Hayward: Current free agent is being wooed by multiple teams, including the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat and the Utah
Jazz.
beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES
BOXING
No one had a worse weekend than Manny Pacquiao, who lost a highlycontroversial decision to Australian fighter Jeff Horn, who claimed the WBO welterweight title in the “Battle of Brisbane.” The 12-round fight featured Pacquiao landing 182 punches to Horn’s 92, but Horn, fighting in his home country, was given the fight by all three judges.
TROY TAORMINA | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
“We gotta get paid more I’m pretty sure 2014 class will change the market.” Bills WR Sammy Watkins tweeting over the weekend about crazy contracts handed out to NBA players during free agency and NFL players needing to get more.
DAVE HUNT | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
NHL
TENNIS
DAVID KOHL | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
“I’ll say it loud and clear again: it’s the Dodgers fans’ fault.” Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen talking about the failure of the team with the second-best record in baseball not getting a single position player as a starter in the All-Star Game.
MLB
3 Number of pitchers with three-straight seasons of 10 wins and 150 strikeouts before the All-Star Break, thanks to Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer joining an elite group of starting pitchers in Major League Baseball history. Scherzer joins Nolan Ryan (197274) and Randy Johnson (2000-02) as the only three players to do so. The Washington ace currently leads the NL in strikeouts.
GEOFF BURKE | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
ANDREW COULDRIDGE | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
Wimbledon has already seen its share of rain delays, owing to the June weather in London. But there have been plenty of interesting storylines, including the annual presence of the Duchess of Cambridge, on hand to see England’s Andy Murray play.
Legendary winger Jaromir Jagr was still looking for a new home for 201718 after the Florida Panthers told him he would not be re-signed. The 45-year-old ranks second all-time in points and third in goals in NHL history.
MLB
Despite what some would call limitations as a baseball player, Tim Tebow continues to grab headlines. After being promoted to high Class A, in what many believed was a promotional stunt, the former Heisman Trophy winer and NFL quarterback managed to hit a home run in his first day with the St. Lucie Mets. Tebow also made a diving grab of a fly ball at the warning track to flash his glove. Tebow went 3-for-5 in his first doubleheader. JASEN VINLOVE | USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
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North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017 Jim Mackay known as “Bones” as the caddie for Phil Mickelson (not pictured) walks off the course after viewing a practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc. on June 13.
MICHAEL MADRID | USA TODAY SPORTS
Mickelson teeing it up without ‘Bones’ for first time Lefty will take the course without his longtime caddy for the first time at the Greenbrier Classic By Tom LaMarre The Sports Xchange THIS WEEK, Phil Mickelson begins life without caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay, who has been carrying his golf bag for 25 years. Mickelson will have his brother, former Arizona State golf coach Tim Mickelson, by his side when he tees it up on Thursday in the Greenbrier Classic on the Old White TPC Course at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. “This is an opportunity for me to spend time with one of my favorite people in the world, my brother Tim,” said Mickelson, who maintains the breakup with Mackay was amicable. “There’s nobody I like or love or respect more than Tim, and for us to have this time together the rest of the year is something I will cherish.” Something else has to change for Lefty at the Greenbrier. In three previous starts in the tournament, he has posted scores of 70-73--143 in 2011, 71-71--142 in 2012 and 74-68--142 in 2013, and missed the cut each time. He is an aggregate 7-over par for the six rounds. “This course is brutally difficult,” Mickelson said after failing to reach the weekend in 2011. “It’s a very hard golf course. It’s hard to get the ball stopped. I hit sand wedges 40, 50 feet in. It’s hard to get the ball close. ... “The people here have been terrific. They’ve been very supportive of the tournament and
very nice. This is such a great place here that it’s cool to see the people come out here and support pro golf.” Despite not making the cut in any of his three starts, Mickelson and his family came to love the Greenbrier experience, which includes zip-lining, bowling, horseback riding, bike riding, carriage tours, falconry, fishing, croquet, shooting, kayaking, off-road driving, paintball, swimming, Segway tours, shuffleboard, tennis and whitewater rafting. Or you can visit the fallout bomb shelter built for members of the United States government during the Cold War. Mickelson enjoyed the Greenbrier so much that he bought a home on the property and last year became a member of the Greenbrier Sporting Club plus a Tour Ambassador for the resort. He joined Greenbrier golf professional emeritus Lee Trevino and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, also a Greenbrier Sporting Club member, as golf stars representing the resort. It’s a tradition that dates to the late Sam Snead, the Greenbrier’s first golf professional emeritus, whose 82 victories are the most in PGA Tour history. “My family, like all others who have visited the resort, loves the Greenbrier,” said Mickelson, whose primary residence is near San Diego. “I’m excited (to) be calling the Greenbrier Sporting Club home and to be part of such a wonderful community. ... The Greenbrier truly is America’s resort.” Lefty will be making his first start since missing the U.S. Open at Erin Hills last month because of his daughter’s high school graduation. When the Greenbrier Clas-
USA Baseball Collegiate National Team readies for Cuba friendly series College squad ready for tough challenge against international rival By Andrew Schnittker NSJ Correspondent NINE GAMES into its schedule, this summer’s USA Baseball Collegiate National team is starting to take shape. With an 8-1 record through nine games and a recent series sweep over visiting Chinese Taipei, manager John Savage is starting to get a good feel for his team during a five-game series against Cuba that started Sunday night at the National Training Complex in Cary that will also include games in Durham and Charlotte. “I think, pitching wise, we throw the ball well,” Savage said. “We have some swing and miss stuff, so there is strikeouts there, which obviously helps defenses and runs scored and all the things that you want on the mound. Offensively, there’s some guys that have swung the bat; we’ve showed a little power, which is good. “We’re pretty versatile, pretty left-handed. We do have the option to throw up six, seven, eight lefthanders at a right-handed pitcher. Defensively, we’ve been just OK. I think that would probably be the biggest disappointment, just in terms of defense. To beat Cuba, we’ve got to play better defensively.” For a group of promising young college baseball players,
spending their summer wearing the stars and stripes is an opportunity to raise their profiles and gain valuable experience going into their draft years. “It’s a substantial resume builder,” Savage said. “You play on the college national team, it’s a year before your draft. You get a lot of high end looks from very influential people in Major League Baseball. That’s one positive. Playing against international people is certainly a positive. It’s a little bit different style, wood bats, playing with some of the best players throughout the country is another great part of the summer. Getting coached by different coaches. ... “Next June, when these guys are up for the draft, the fact that they played for USA Baseball and got scouted very heavily, certainly will help them going into the draft. They have the whole spring to improve that status. I just think being a USA baseball player is a big deal at the end of the day, not only for confidence, for your resume, and then just your full experience, it can really help you in a lot of different ways.” For the CNT, international travel is usually a part of the summer agenda. This summer, however, the team has gotten the opportunity to show off the local baseball facilities in the area to top international opponents, starting with Chinese Taipei and now with Cuba coming to town. “It has almost like a little Yankees feel to it,” Savage said. “They
sic was canceled last year after historic rain and flooding swept through West Virginia on June 23, less than two weeks before the tournament was scheduled to be played, Mickelson offered to do more. The TPC Old White Course was repaired in time for the tournament, but the Greenbrier Course was much more significantly damaged. Phil Mickelson Design is handing the renovation of the course, which was designed by Seth Raynor and opened in 1929. “I contacted (Greenbrier Resort owner) Jim (Justice) and said, ‘If you’re willing to have me, I want to come back and play in the Greenbrier Classic for the rest of your tenure,’” Mickelson said. “I also want to help those in need in rebuilding a great community. ... “I’ve always been a big fan of Seth Raynor’s work. My goal is to stay true to his design concepts while updating the course to challenge and excite generations to come. By restoring the Greenbrier to its full glory, we’ll help the town and region recover from the devastating flood damage. ... “We have a tremendous piece of property that comes with a great history and we are going to make it great for the future of the Greenbrier Resort and the region.” The Greenbrier Course hosted the 1979 Ryder Cup, a Senior PGA Tour event from 1985-87 and the 1994 Solheim Cup. The course is being played as a 12-hole layout until July 1, when it will close for Mickelson’s redesign, which will include renovation of eight holes and the addition of 10 new holes. Until then, hopefully Mickelson has learned enough about the TPC Old White Course enough to at least make the cut this week.
are an organization that is deep in winning and deep in producing players. ... It’s cool, it’s great. It’s certainly going to be a challenge, and having them coming over here, I know they restarted in 2012, I think it’s a really neat deal for our players.” In terms of raising their draft profiles, competing against a talented, experienced Cuba team will be a great opportunity for the USA kids. It will be a tall task, however, “The physicality of Cuba, the experience of Cuba, they’re very competitive,” Savage said. “They’re grown men. Our guys will have to step up a little bit. Chinese Taipei was a good team, but I think all the anticipation is Cuba is more than that. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge, and it’s going to be fun to see how young guys step up and meet this opportunity and challenge.” In order to knock off its rivals, Team USA will need to continue to play to its strengths while improving upon aspects it has struggled with so far. “Defense, I think we definitely have to play better defense,” Savage said. “We’re coming together offensively, I think we’re swinging the bats, we’re putting better at bats together. We’re playing better team offense. “We really have to maintain our ability to pitch. For us to well this series, we’ve really going to have to pitch, upgrade our defense, and keep that offense going against really premiere pitching. We’re going to have our hands full, but our guys are excited. They know what it means to wear the uniform and to play Cuba. We’ve got to play sound, fundamental baseball, and we’ll have a chance.” Game one of the series goes Sunday night at 6 p.m. at the National Training Complex in Cary.
B3
SPLITTER TO SPOILER
Stenhouse a superspeedway sensation ICKY STENHOUSE JR. continues to dominate on the R fastest tracks and picked up his
second win in seven races. It took Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 157 races to earn his first victory. It took just seven more races for Stenhouse to earn his second. The suddenly surging Roush Fenway Racing driver pulled off his second superspeedway win of the season on Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400. It was not only a second victory for Stenhouse, but also further secured his spot in the playoffs with nine races remaining and six spots left in the postseason. Stenhouse may have already won a race at Talladega earlier this season, but was still not viewed as a true challenger week in and week out. But after collecting his fourth top-five finish and second checkered flag of the year, it’s hard not to pay attention to the No. 17 team when the playoffs roll around. “This validates what we did at Talladega,” Stenhouse said. “I want to first off thank all the troops that have fallen for our country, for our freedom. That is most important right now. Thank the good Lord for letting me come out here and do what I do for a living and work with this great group of guys. “We have been working hard at Roush Fenway and this pushes us further along.” Some will say that many of the top contenders in Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch all bowing out earlier helped, but Stenhouse still had plenty of competition to get to the front. Past Daytona winners in Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan were all still driving up near the front before bowing out of the lead pack at the end. More than anything, the second win gives Stenhouse great positioning for when the playoffs begin. His two wins give Stenhouse a total of 10 playoff points, slotting him at fifth behind only Martin Truex Jr., Johnson, Larson and Brad Keselowski, respectively. And with his No. 17 team firmly entrenched near the top of the postseason, he’s earning the respect of fellow drivers in the process. “He’s learned a lot,” runner-up Clint Bowyer said. “He’s become a good plate racer. I remember when he came in, he was a little bit chaotic, but he’s not now. He’s got it figured out, and he’s won two of them.”
Close, but no cigar When the green flag dropped in NASCAR’s overtime, the top five consisted of David Ragan, Ty Dillon, Stenhouse Jr., A.J. Allmendinger and Michael McDowell. Of the top 10, only Stenhouse and Ryan Newman had prior wins this season, setting up for what could have been a fantastic underdog story in NASCAR. The sport got one in Stenhouse, but could’ve had so much more. Ragan has won two superspeedway races in his career, but is driving for a Front Row Motorsports team that has a total of two race wins as well. Allmendinger has a road course win, but has gone winless and has just two previous top 10s to his name this season, including a thirdplace result in the Daytona 500. As for Dillon and McDowell, both were laps away from the best races of their careers. The rookie Dillon wound up 16th after a poor second restart, but led seven laps — his second-most this season. McDowell, on the other hand, continued to fight up front and came away with a fourth-place result. It was the highest career finish for both McDowell and Leavine Family Racing, a singlecar team that had yet to finish inside the top 10 this season. “It was a great run from us,” McDowell said of his fourth-place finish. ” It wasn’t without trouble. We were around a lot of the
R. CORY SMITH
carnage out there and was able to make it through. There was a lot of hard racing tonight, three-wide, bumper-to-bumper all night long.” Not everyone was happy with McDowell’s performance, though. In Stage 2, McDowell made contact with Kyle Busch, triggering a multi-car pileup that collected Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray. McDowell also bumped into the rear of Chase Elliott’s car, sending him flying through the infield grass and costing him a chance at a comeback win after running out of fuel while leading the Daytona 500. While he was able to collect himself before talking to the media. Elliott’s response in the car was telling. “That is the biggest dumbass I’ve ever seen in my life,” Elliott told his crew. “That sumbitch couldn’t drive a wood screw through sh**.” He may have riled up Elliott earlier in the night, but McDowell and LFR come away with a result similar to a win for most teams. Even with a few drivers upset over his tactics, the payoff for a top-five finish in Daytona is well worth the animosity in the garage.
Dale’s disastrous final Daytona run Dale Earnhardt Jr. did everything he could to fight his way back to the lead lap only to see his day end in disastrous fashion. A massive wreck ended likely his final race at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night as Kevin Harvick spun out and collected the No. 88 on Lap 106. “I wish we could’ve had a better finish tonight,” Earnhardt said. “But it just wasn’t meant to be.” Earnhardt hasn’t been able to put together many great runs this season, only collecting one top five and four top-10 finishes this season. But after collecting the pole for the Coke Zero 400, Junior was viewed as the favorite to finally win his fifth race at Daytona. The No. 88 ran near the front throughout the first stage, finishing second at the end of the first segment. A bump from Paul Menard sent Junior careening into the wall and caused him to lose two laps. Earnhardt got back the two laps and was running in sixth place when Harvick spun, sending both to the garage. “We just blew a tire,” Harvick said afterward. “I hate it for our Jimmy John’s Ford guys. That’s the way it goes. It just blew out right in the middle of the corner. I hate to wreck half the field. That’s a part of what we do.” Outside of Harvick and Junior, however, most of the pack wasn’t affected. Both Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne spun out, but neither suffered severe damage and remained on the track. Though the wreck wasn’t necessarily the “Big One,” it dealt a big blow to NASCAR’s most popular driver in his final season. With just nine races remaining before the start of the playoffs and no more restrictor-plate races prior to the cutoff, the pressure is on Earnhardt. But after a strong run at a track that has been dubbed “Dale-tona” in previous years, Earnhardt is confident heading into the final stretch of the regular season. “As soon as we got our laps back, I knew anything was possible,” Earnhardt said. “We were just drafting back up through there and I think [Harvick] had a flat and just really had nowhere to go. ... It was fun. We had a pretty strong car.”
JASEN VINLOVE | USA TODAY SPORTS
NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) celebrates after winning the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 1 in Daytona Beach, Fl.
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
B4
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
B5
MLB announces All-Star Game rosters After weeks of fan voting and teams campaigning to have their stars selected, the MLB announced the rosters for the 2017 All-Star Game in Miami on July 11 Sunday night. Let’s
take a look at the starters for both the American and National League. —R. Cory Smith and Andrew Schnittker, The North State Journal
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AMERICAN LEAGUE george springer, of, astros Springer just wrapped up the best month of his career in June, with a .333 average, 1.145 OPS and 11 home runs (leading the AL for June) in 105 at bats on the month. Hitting leadoff for the MLB-leading Astros this year, Springer is batting .287 with a .941 OPS, 52 RBI and 24 home runs in 77 games.
carlos correa, ss astros The first-overall pick of the 2012 MLB Draft, this is Correa’s first AllStar appearance, and also first start by an Astros shortstop.. The 22-year-old leads AL shortstops in most categories this year, with a .319 batting average, .948 OPS, 58 RBI and 17 dingers in 289 at bats.
aaron judge, of yankees Judge is the first Yankees outfield All-Star starter since Curtis Granderson in 2012, and the first Yankee to start the midsummer classic under the age of 26 since 1977. In addition to his lofty home-run totals (27), Judge brings a .327 average, 1.135 OPS and 62 RBI in 78 games.
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jose ramirez, 3b indians Ramirez will make his All-Star debut in Miami, representing the defending AL champs. Ramirez has earned his spot, leading AL third basemen in both average and OPS at .325 and .963, respectively while adding 42 RBI and 15 homers in 80 games and 305 at bats.
chris sale, p red sox An offseason move from Chicago to the AL East held open the possibility of declining production, but Sale has been nothing short of outstanding for Boston, going 11-3 with a 2.61 ERA to go along with a league-leading 166 strikeouts in 120 innings pitched.
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mike trout, of Angels Trout has missed 33 games this year following left thumb ligament surgery. Trout has begun rehabbing, but is not a lock to be ready for the All-Star game. Before his injury, Trout had compiled a .337 average, 1.203 OPS, 36 RBI and 16 homers in 47 games.
marcell ozuna, of marlins The lone starting outfielder in Marlins history, Ozuna is making his second straight start for the NL side. He could later be joined in the outfield by Giancarlo Stanton, the only other Marlins All-Star. Ozuna is hitting .316 with 22 homers and 59 RBI with a .949 OPS in 80 games played.
Jose altuve, 2b Astros Altuve is one of three starters and five total All-Star players from the Astros. Considered to be one of the best second basemen in the MLB, Altuve is enjoying another strong season in Houston. Altuve is batting .326 with a .917 OPS, 40 RBI and 11 home runs in 81 games this year.
zack cozart, ss reds Cozart is in the midst of a resurgent season with career highs in nearly every category. It has been 17 years since Barry Larkin was the last shortstop from Cincinnati started the All-Star Game. Cozart is hitting .322 with nine homers and 33 RBI with a .958 OPS in 60 games played.
Justin Smoak, 1b blue jays Smoak is in the midst of a career season if he keeps up his production, with a .303 batting average, .964 on-base plus slugging percentage, 52 RBI and 22 home runs so far in 80 games played. Smoak is the first Blue Jays first baseman to start in the All-Star game since Carlos Delgado in 2003.
Nolan arenado, 3b, rockies Already a two-time AllStar, Arenado was one of four players selected from the Rockies after sending just four combined in the last two seasons. Known more for his glove work as a four-time Gold Glove winner, Arenado is hitting .298 with 15 homers and 62 RBI with a .896 OPS in 83 games played.
Reserve batters salvador perez, c gary sanchez royals yonder alonso The 2015 World Series starlin castro Triangle Business Journal Publication: MVP is becoming jonathan schoop IO #:of an All-None somewhat miguel sano Issue: Star fixture of late. This will JUN be28, 2017 Ad Type: startTHIRD-P4C Perez’s fourth-straight franscico lindor Glover Park Group - 427547-06 Client: in the midsummer classic inB: = None mookie betts United Health Group Project: Miami, and his fifth-straightT: = 23” x 6” avisail garcia = None Campaign: 2017 UHG - HCWH NC All-Star appearance. Perez S:has michael brantley 0 Proofs: Creative: Here to Serve been a slugger for Kansas City again this season, swatting 16 nelsonAE:cruz BH home runs.
clayton kershaw, p, dodgers After missing a large Ship Info: portion Triangle Business Journal of the 2016 None season with a back None injury, Kershaw has returned None,going None None with a fury, 12-2 in 17 firstAttn: None half starts through Sunday and None ERA along with posting aT:2.32 E: None in 116 innings 135 strikeouts pitched.
charlie blackmon, of, rockies The Rockies outfielder will be making his second All-Star appearance in 2017. Currently slotted at leadoff for one of the best teams in the West, Blackmon is hitting .313 with 17 homers and 58 RBI with a .938 OPS in 82 games played.
bryce harper, of nationals The 2015 National League MVP is raking and earned the 24-year-old his fourth start in five All-Star appearances. When Harper makes his fourth start, he will be in sole possession of the most starts in Nats history. Harper is hitting .318 with 20 homers, 62 RBI and a a 1.025 OPS in 75 games.
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List of pitchers Max Scherzer carlos martinez robbie ray zack greinke stephen strasburg greg holland kenley jansen wade davis brad hand corey knebel pat neshek
Reserve batters yadier molina paul goldschmidt joey votto dj lemahieu corey seager josh harrison jake lamb giancarlo stanton ender inciarte michael conforto cody bellinger
daniel murphy, 2b nationals After hitting for careerhighs in average, OBP and homers last season, Murphy has been sensational again for the Nats while typically hitting in the No. 5 spot sandwiched between Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon. Murphy is hitting .334 with 14 homers and 55 RBI with a .960 OPS in 76 games played.
ryan zimmerman, 1b, nationals Zimmerman is the first Nationals/Expos player to make a start at the position since Al Oliver in 1983, joining two other starters from D.C. and five total players from the franchise. Zimmerman is hitting .335 with 19 homers and 62 RBI with a .996 OPS in 75 games played.
Buster posey, c Giants Posey is making his fourth start in five career All-Star Games and third in a row — a Giants record for a catcher. The last player to start three in a row for the NL behind the dish? Mike Piazza. Posey earned it, too, hitting .339 with 10 homers and 35 RBI with a .937 OPS in 71 games played.
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Across North Carolina, UnitedHealth Group is partnering to improve health care. By working with employers to offer better care at a lower cost. Helping rural families access affordable care through technology. Improving care for seniors by providing convenient, innovative in-home services. And, partnering with nonprofits that serve the children of our military families. To all those with a passion to improve health care, our question is: How can we help?
UnitedHealthGroup.com/NC
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North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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UNC tops ACC in Directors’ Cup standings; State, Wake show improvement The Tar Heels finished fifth overall in the annual all-sports competition among the nation’s Division I schools By Brett Friedlander North State Journal THE DIRECTORS’ CUP standings aren’t an entirely accurate way of ranking the nation’s top college athletic programs because of a scoring system that’s skewed to benefit schools that sponsor the most varsity teams. It’s the reason Stanford, which boasts 36 varsity teams, has won the all-sports competition in each of the last 23 years. Wake Forest, by contrast, fields only 16 programs while North Carolina and NC State have 26 and 22 teams, respectively. Taken in its proper context, however, the Directors’ Cup can be an effective way of comparing a school’s performance from year to year. In that respect, 2016-17 can be considered a success for the Tar Heels, Wolfpack and Deacons. UNC, boosted by a national championship in men’s basketball and runner-up finishes in field hockey and men’s tennis, finished fifth in the overall standings and was the top-rated program among ACC schools with 1,154 points. This marks the 18th time that the Tar Heels have topped the conference in the Directors’ Cup standings. It’s also their seventh top-five overall finish and their
2016-17 National Top 10 1. Stanford 1563 2. Ohio State 1343.75 3. Florida 1252.5 4. Southern California 1251.25 5. North Carolina 1154 6. Michigan 1133.25 7. Texas 1067.75 8. Penn State 1046.75 9. Oregon 1027 10. Kentucky 1025
2016-17 ACC Standings 1. North Carolina (5th) 1154 2. Florida State (13th) 921.75 3. Virginia (19th) 862 4. Notre Dame (23rd) 801 5. Louisville (26th) 767.5 6. NC State (29th) 710.5 7. Duke (32nd) 679.5 8. Virginia Tech (40th) 549.5 9. Syracuse (44th) 519.25 10. Clemson (52nd) 471.5 11. Wake Forest (55th) 443 12. Miami (56th) 441 13. Boston College (72nd) 303 14. Pitt (92nd) 216 15. Georgia Tech (102nd) 198
best since finishing second in 2009. UNC, in 1994, is the only other school besides Stanford to have won a Directors’ Cup title. Of greater significance, this year’s finish is an improvement from last year’s seventh-place showing and 1,089.50 points. State and Wake also showed improvement from 2015-16 in this year’s final standings, which were announced Thursday. The Wolfpack continued an
MLB umpire John Tumpane addresses the media concerning an incident involving a potential suicidal woman he helped to rescue prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on June 28. CHARLES LECLAIRE | USA TODAY SPORTS
Safe in Pittsburgh: Umpire keeps suicidal woman alive John Tumpane helped save a woman’s life before she committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Pittsburgh By Bob Cohn The Sports XChange PITTSBURGH — Straight out of his suburban Chicago high school, John Tumpane became a professional umpire at 18. After a long slog beating the bushes, he reached his destination last year: the major leagues. Apparently, however, there was one more place he needed to be. That place was the Roberto Clemente Bridge, where on Wednesday a woman was poised for an apparent suicide attempt. She might have succeeded if not for Tumpane. The 34-year-old umpire guessed the woman was about the same age. Part of the crew working the series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park, Tumpane was crossing the bridge over the Allegheny River en route to his North Shore hotel around 2:30 p.m. “Maybe 30 feet in front of me, I saw a woman up ahead and I saw her put her leg up on the rail,” he recounted after the game. “And that obviously grabs your attention. “There was a couple up ahead of me. I kind of scurried up a little bit and said, ‘What’s this lady doing?’ And, as soon as I said that, she flipped over the rail to the other side, and my instinct was to just go right at her. I didn’t want to scare her because I wasn’t sure what was going on. “I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ She said, ‘Oh I just want to get a better look from this side of the rail.’ I just kind of put my arm
on her shoulder and said, ‘Oh no, why don’t you come back over on this side? It’s the same view over here.’ “She said, ‘No, no, I’m good,’ and I knew at that point she wasn’t just taking a look at the other side. “At that point, she said, ‘Just let me go. It’ll be better off that way.’ And I said, ‘No, come on. Let me buy you lunch. Why don’t you come back over on this side? We’ll talk things over.’ “She said, ‘No, no.’ And I said, ‘Come on, please.’ “At that point, I was able to get both arms around her, hang on and just try to console her and talk to her.” He said he signaled to a nearby pedestrian to call 911. Tumpane said another man grabbed the woman’s arm. But her feet were dangling off the ledge, he said, “and we had to pull her up.” Michael Weinman, the Rays’ multimedia production manager, also happened upon the scene, and Tumpane told him to hold the woman’s ankles to the bottom rail. Meanwhile, police and other support had arrived. The woman was handcuffed to the bridge, and an ambulance eventually took the woman away. Tumpane resumed his life, a bit shaken. He went to the park, put on the tools and took his post behind the plate. He did his job. Still, he said, there were times he couldn’t help but spot the big yellow bridge just beyond the ballpark, “in between innings and whatnot, just thinking of how things could have maybe been. Glad it was this way.” Tumpane said the woman told him, “You’ll just forget me after this.” He told her, “No, I’ll never forget you.”
MARK J. REBILAS | USA TODAY SPORTS
North Carolina Tar Heels forward Theo Pinson (1) holds the trophy after the win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz. on April 3. North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65.
upward trend by finishing 29th overall and sixth in the ACC with a score of 710.50. That’s four places and 32.50 points higher than a year ago, and the second-best result in school history. State has posted its three highest Directors’ Cup finishes in each of the past three years. Wake, meanwhile, made a quantum leap from last year’s 68th-place finish by placing 55th overall and 11th among ACC schools. The Deacons’ 443 points were an improvement of more than 100, thanks to a national runnerup showing in men’s soccer, a football bowl game and NCAA tournament appearances in both men’s basketball and baseball.
That’s an especially impressive result considering that they are at a distinct numerical disadvantage to most of their rivals. The Directors’ Cup scoring system awards points to a maximum of 10 men’s and 10 women’s programs per school, based on NCAA postseason results. Wake has only eight men’s and eight women’s varsity teams. Unlike its three in-state ACC rivals, Duke finished worse in 201617 than it did during the previous season. The Blue Devils finished 32nd overall and seventh among ACC schools with 679.5 points, down from 24th place with 804 points in 2015-16.
East Carolina, meanwhile, had an even more dramatic drop. The Pirates, who finished 114th last year with a total of 150.0 points, fell completely off the list of 293 programs because they failed to register a point in the 17 sports they fielded this year. Other state Division I schools that did qualify for consideration include Campbell (119th, 145.5 points), Charlotte (137th, 117), Appalachian State (161st, 92.5), NC A&T (169th, 85), High Point (179th, 78), Davidson (203rd, 64), UNC Wilmington (213th, 50), Elon (213th, 50), Gardner-Webb (248th, 26), UNC Greensboro (252nd, 25); UNC Asheville (252nd, 25), NC Central (293rd, 5).
Mavericks already glowing about Dennis Smith Jr. following NBA draft Dennis Smith Jr. hasn’t even suited up for Dallas yet, but he’s already earning the confidence of a Mavericks legend By R. Cory Smith North State Journal BACK ON JUNE 28, 1998, Dirk Nowitzki was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Dallas Mavericks on draft night. Nowitzki was booed after Dallas gave up Robert Traylor for the German wunderkind who would go on to be the best player in the franchise’s history. Meanwhile in North Carolina, Dennis Smith Jr. was still perfecting the art of standing on his own at the tender age of seven months old. But with the Mavs’ ninth overall pick being used on Smith, the two players will now share the court with one another this upcoming season. Though he hasn’t seen Smith up close to this point, he is already lauding Dallas for pulling the trigger on the former NC State point guard. “It’s a great pick,” Nowitzki said. “You can never have enough shooters or enough athletes in today’s game. He brings, obviously, crazy athleticism. And his shot is really good.” Smith is doing much more than walking now. After putting together a stellar season for NC State on a personal level with 18.1 points, 6.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, DSJ was seen as one of the fastest and most athletic guards in the country when he entered the 2017 NBA Draft. The “crazy athleticism” that Nowitzki quipped about was likely centered around videos of his rumored 48-inch vertical jump leading up to the draft. Package his scoring ability and those intangibles all into one package and Smith offers something Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle can’t wait to coach. “Dennis is the kind of guy that we haven’t had here since I’ve been here,” Carlisle said. “His quickness, his ability to attack in space, use screen-rolls and those kinds of things, just from a dynamic athleticism standpoint we have not seen.” If there’s one area where Smith admittedly needs to work to flourish at the NBA level, it’s on the defensive side of the ball. Smith was part of a Wolfpack team last year that was historically bad for the program and ultimately cost Mark Gottfried his job. While he finished second in the ACC last year in steals at 1.94 behind only fellow lottery pick Dono-
BRAD PENNER | USA TODAY SPORTS
Dennis Smith, Jr. (NC State) is introduced as the number nine overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 22.
van Mitchell, Smith lacked crucial defensive principles to limit some of the top college players in the country. Even he admits — quite literally — that he has some room to grow in that department. “I want to learn exactly how to play defense,” he added. “You know, that’s not something that was really pressed about last year. And with the staff we had, we were more of an offense-oriented team, so we really didn’t learn too much about defense.” Having the ability to guard NBA players straight out of college is far from a reality, though, according Carlisle. “There’s no player that comes into this that can be totally prepared to play defense in the NBA with the pace, the strength difference, the speed difference and all those kinds of things,” Carlisle said. “But I think Dennis understands that staying on the court to do that means you’ve got to be strong in both areas.” If any player knows about being blasted for his defensive effort, it’s the last No. 9 overall pick for the
Mavs in 1998 — Nowitzki himself, after being traded from the Bucks. During his first year in the NBA, the German phenom was given the nickname “Irk Nowitzki” due to the fact that he hadn’t earned the “D” in his name. Now entering his 20th season in the league, Nowitzki has become the face of the franchise Carlisle and Mavericks management hope Smith can eventually become. The 13-time All-Star, 2007 NBA MVP and 2017 NBA Teammate of the Year is more than capable of helping teaching Smith what it takes. “It’s been fun representing this franchise for such a long time,” Nowitzki said. “I’m obviously one of the oldest guys in the league now. When I came in, I was the youngest and the German wunderkind. And the next thing you know, you’re almost 40. “Now I’m there to help and get the younger guys better. Hopefully [Smith will] have a great impact right away for us. We’re all here to help him succeed and be a great player for this franchise for a long time.”
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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DAVID BANKS | USA TODAY SPORTS
Martin Necas puts on a team jersey after being selected as the number twelve overall pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft at the United Center in Chicago on June 23.
Hurricanes prospects find familiar faces at development camp Carolina brings 29 players to Raleigh for week of learning how to be a pro By Cory Lavalette North State Journal RALEIGH — Eighteen-year-old Martin Necas came to Raleigh last week a newly minted first-round pick. Fellow Czech Robert Kron — the Carolina Hurricanes’ head European scout who surely encouraged the team to select his fellow countryman — was in town to see the team’s prospects, but otherwise Necas was in a foreign place, surrounded by new faces. But Necas and the 28 other players — some blue-chip prospects, others late draft picks, and a handful of camp invitees looking to make an impression — in town for Carolina’s prospect development camp were all there for the same reason. “It’s a dream. The National Hockey League is my dream,” Necas said. “I’m here and, like I said, I’m really glad.” For someone who has spent just a year learning English in preparation to come to North America, Necas acquitted himself well. As for the rest of the prospects in Raleigh for the week, there were wideeyed first-timers and veterans like Warren Foegele, the 2014 third-round pick who was at his fourth development camp and will turn pro this fall. “His maturity is outstanding,” assistant general manager and incoming coach of the Charlotte Checkers Mike Vellucci said. “Every camp we noticed it more and more. He’s gotten more physical as far as his strength, he’s done really well in his training.” At the camp-closing Summerfest
NBA from page B1
with the Rockets since he is being acquired in a trade.
2. Thunder pick up Paul George Next summer, Paul George may join his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. For now, he will be a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Multiple outlets reported Friday night that George was traded by the Indiana Pacers to the Oklahoma City Thunder. George’s name has been in trade rumors ever since June 18 when he informed the Pacers he was not re-signing and planned to become a free agent when his contract was up next summer. Since then, he has reportedly expressed a desire to join the Lakers. He has also been linked to the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, among others. The Thunder are sending guard Victor Oladipo and forward Domantas Sabonis to the Pacers, the same package GM Sam Presti acquired when he dealt Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic last offseason. Flipping Ibaka for George, even if it’s only on a oneyear rental, is magician-like. The move places George alongside NBA MVP Russell Westbrook for at least one year and occurs nearly a year after Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City to join the Golden State Warriors as a free agent.
scrimmage Saturday, Foegele took an attempt in the end-of-game shootout on goaltender Jeremy Helvig, his teammate two seasons ago in the Ontario Hockey League. “I played with Foegele in Kinston and we did a couple shootouts in practice, so I knew what he was going to do,” Helvig said with a smile. Before them, Julien Gauthier and Callum Booth — who were traded last season from their respective QMJHL teams to the Saint John Sea Dogs — went head to head. Looking on was Spencer Smallman, the captain of the Sea Dogs who teamed up with Booth and Gauthier to lead Saint John to the league title. “I first met them here at camp [last year], and we became good friends at camp, we hung out,” Smallman said. “I kind of mentioned that to our GM in Saint John and see if we could maybe work out a deal to get them in Saint John, and fortunately it worked out. We had a great team and ultimately we got the championship.” Across the locker room was Nicolas Roy, whose Chicoutimi Saguenéens handed Saint John their only two losses in the QMJHL playoffs during the year. “Nic’s a great guy and is a great player,” Booth said. “So it was a pretty good challenge throughout the year. I’m pretty sure he got a couple on me, so he’s got a little bragging rights.” But Booth, along with Gauthier and Smallman, did take time throughout the week to remind Roy who won their series. “For sure now we talk about it, but it’s fun to be with them now,” Roy said. Goaltender Jack LaFontaine, one of the wide-eyed prospects from last year, returned to Raleigh bigger, stronger and clearly more confident.
George was the 10th overall pick by Indiana out of Fresno State in 2010. He has career averages of 18.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 488 regular-season games. George also appeared in 81 and 75 games, respectively, in the last two seasons after missing most of the 2014-15 campaign recovering from a gruesome knee injury. Last season, he averaged a career-high 23.7 points and 6.6 rebounds on a career-best 46.1 percent shooting. Oladipo was acquired by the Thunder in a 2016 draft night trade with the Orlando Magic for Serge Ibaka. In his only season with Oklahoma City, Oladipo averaged 15.9 points on a career-best 44.2 percent shooting in 67 games. Since being picked by Orlando as the second overall pick of the 2013 draft, Oladipo has averaged 15.9 points in 291 regular-season games.
3. Jazz land Rubio, Timberwolves get Teague Point guard Jeff Teague agreed to a three-year, $57 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to multiple reports. The agreement with the former Indiana Pacers player came just hours after the Timberwolves traded point guard Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz for a protected 2018 first-round pick via the Oklahoma City Thunder. Teague’s deal contains a player
“I felt much more prepared,” LaFontaine said of coming back. “But like last year, this is a ton of fun. Obviously [there’s] some new faces and some familiar faces, too.” One is Luke Martin, who also was a freshman at the University of Michigan last year and played defense in front of LaFontaine. “I room with Jack. I see too much of him at some times,” joked Martin, the 6-foot-2, 221-pound defenseman Carolina picked in the second round two weekends ago. “But it’s good coming down here with one of my best buddies from school. It just makes it easier, the whole transition, having someone with you.” LaFontaine and Martin were captained last season on the Wolverines by senior Nolan De Jong, and the duo met their captain’s family earlier in the spring at graduation. That included his younger brother Brandon, who was a sixth-round pick of the Hurricanes and plays for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks. “It’s funny, he’s a lot like his brother — really smooth-skating, sees the ice well,” LaFontaine said of Brandon. “And just off the ice, too. His attitude, he’s very laid-back.” De Jong, who went undrafted last year, was among the eight new draft picks who were at their first Hurricanes development camp. The week was an eye-opener for some of the newcomers, but at least De Jong had his brother’s teammates alongside him. “It’s good to have a couple familiar faces here,” he said. For 29 kids coming from four countries, six states and seven provinces, it was a week to learn what it takes to be an NHLer. Surely it helps to have someone you know skating beside you.
option for the third year, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal was struck as NBA free agency opened Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET. The new contract doesn’t become official until the free agency moratorium is lifted at noon ET on July 6. Teague, 29, averaged 15.3 points and 7.8 assists in 82 games in 2016-17 for the Pacers, his first year in his hometown of Indianapolis after seven seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. The Timberwolves sent Rubio to the Jazz on Friday to clear salary-cap space for free agency. Rubio, 26, has two years left on his contract. He is owed $14.25 million in 2017-18 and $14.95 million in 2018-19. Rubio averaged 11.1 points. 9.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 75 games last season. He averaged 10.3 points and 8.5 assists during his six seasons with the Timberwolves since being selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2009 draft. “We’d like to thank Ricky for his time in Minnesota over the course of the last six-plus years,” Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Ricky has been a consummate professional over my time in Minnesota and has done tremendous things in the community. We appreciate all he’s done for the organization and wish him the best of luck in Utah.”
ously extremely excited when he said today that we were the team he wanted.” Brind’Amour had given his stamp approval the day before, saying Williams would be a great addition. “I’ve been pushing hard to get Justin. I love the guy,” Brind’Amour said. “You look at what he brings to your team. You know, he’s not going to get us 30 [goals], he’s not going get us 80 points; he’s not going to do that. But what he could do for us in this locker room is what we need.” There was also compelling evidence of Williams’ interest: he and his wife, Kelly, had bought a home in neighboring Cary in May, an indication Williams was willing to at least make the Triangle his post-hockey home, if not more. “It was a long-term play, and you know, we bought it and said maybe perhaps we might be there one day,” Williams said. “I really didn’t think it would be this summer, but again you have no idea what’s going to happen in free agency.” It turns out the interest was mutual. Williams — an Ontario native with more than 1,000 games played and nearly 700 career points — was up for the challenge of helping return Carolina to the glory days he had been a part of, while Francis was looking for exactly the type of on-ice and locker room leadership Williams can provide. “He’s shown in the big games he rises to that level he needs to get to to be successful,” Francis said. “And on a team with a lot of young players, we think he’s going to have a huge influence in our locker room in getting those guys to understand what it takes to be successful.” On top of all that, Williams is still an effective and reliable point producer. He’s missed just three games in the last six seasons and been a consistent 20-goal, 50-point player during his time in Washington and Los Angeles. He put up his best numbers in Carolina, where he had his only two 30-goal seasons. However Williams’ career has never been defined by statistics, but rather his playoff heroics. His moniker as “Mr. Game 7” came thanks to his performance in hockey’s biggest games — in eight playoff Game 7s, Williams has seven goals and seven assists. He won his first Game 7 in 2003 with the Flyers (he had a goal and two assists), but his legacy as the game’s top clutch player truly started in Carolina. He had a goal and two assists in Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals against the Buffalo Sabres, then added the empty-net clincher as Carolina won the Cup in front of its home fans over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7. That carried over to Los Angeles. He scored twice in Game 7 against San Jose in the second round of the 2013 postseason, then bit the Sharks again the next year, scoring twice in Game 4, adding three points in Game 6, and registering an assist in Game 7 to help the Kings complete their rally from a 3-0 series deficit. He had a goal and an assist in both Game 7 wins over Anaheim and Chicago that season, leading the Kings to a Cup Final appearance where they dispatched the Rangers in five games (he opened the scoring in that Cup-clincher, too). Not until this year’s second-round Game 7 defeat to Pittsburgh, the eventual champions, had he lost a Game 7. Neither coach Bill Peters nor Francis were ready to hand Williams the captaincy yet, but he could be an ideal choice for a young team. “We’ll talk about that when the time’s right. … But he’s a guy who’s obviously worn letters wherever he’s been,” Peters said. “He’s been a leader, and he’ll come in here and be a leader also.” His signing proved costly, but his addition makes Carolina, with him and Ward, just one of three teams in the league (Chicago, Pittsburgh) with two former playoff MVPs on their roster. The first goal will be to make the postseason, something Carolina hasn’t done since the year Williams was traded away. From there, as Williams and the Hurricanes of the past have proven, anything can happen. “You have to go through trying years and failure before you get to your goal,” Williams said. “And Carolina, there’s no question — they haven’t made the playoffs since 2009, so that’s a long time. “We’re done losing. It’s time to climb the ladder and get relevant.”
4. Blake Griffin inks max deal in L.A. While Paul is joining forces with Harden and the Houston Rockets, Blake Griffin is staying put. Multiple outlets reported Friday night that Griffin agreed to a five-year contract to remain with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Los Angeles Times reported the deal, which was confirmed by ESPN and The Vertical. Griffin will get a deal worth $173 million after canceling meetings with Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets. Griffin is returning to the Clippers two days after Paul was dealt to the Rockets due to a reported rift with coach Doc Rivers. Last week, Griffin opted out of his contract and became an unrestricted free agent. Griffin was the top overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Oklahoma. He missed the 2009-2010 season with a knee injury and a number of injuries have kept the five-time All-Star out for a combined 83 games in the last three regular seasons. With Griffin and Paul, the Clippers have made the postseason in the last six seasons but never advanced past the second round. Griffin was injured in Game 3 of the first-round series against Utah and didn’t return. Los Angeles lost the deciding seventh game at home. Griffin averaged 21.6 points and 8.1 rebounds last season in
61 games. In 471 regular-season games, Griffin has averages of 21.5 points and 9.4 rebounds to go along with a 51.8 shooting percentage.
5. Mamas let your babies grow up to be shooters J.J. Redick is joining the Philadelphia 76ers on a one-year deal worth $23 million, according to a published report. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the deal and Redick, 33, confirmed the signing on his Twitter account Saturday, writing “Trust the process” — a reference to the 76ers’ rebuilding slogan. “It’s where I wanted to be,” Redick told ESPN about the signing. The veteran sharpshooter was enticed by the prospect of playing with tPhiladelphia’s young talent and in coach Brett Brown’s system, per Wojnarowski. Redick recently relocated his home to the East Coast after spending the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 15.8 points and shooting 44.0 percent from 3-point range. The former Duke standout played his first six-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic from 2006-07 to 2012-13 before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. He signed as a free agent with the Clippers the following season. Redick has averaged 11.9 points in 690 games over 11 NBA seasons.
North State Journal for Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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