North Carolina Now; Episode from 1999-05-21

It's Friday, May 21st, tonight trying to find an equitable solution to health care mandates in North Carolina now. Hello, I'm Marieta Mitre, welcome to North Carolina now for this Friday evening. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School Desegregation Trial is moving along in federal court in the Queen City. On tonight's program, we'll get the latest on this history-making court case, the outcome of which could impact all North Carolina schools. Plus, we'll look at how the expensive providing health care coverage is impacting businesses and lawmakers alike. But first, speaking of lawmakers, the General Assembly continues in session, formulating laws and building a state budget for the next two fiscal years. And John Basin has been following their progress, and he joins us now for an update. Hello, John.

Hi, Marieta. The Supreme Court ruled this week that the three judge panel erred in its decision to declare the 12th Congressional District Unconstitutional can't believe we're talking about redistricting again, but what does this mean for the legislature? Marieta, redistricting talk never stops, so we'll have another census in 2000, and we'll be redistricting again then. What this latest decision means is that the plan that the lawmakers came up with in 1997 to address concerns expressed by the court and people who had challenged the district, the plan that they came up with then, the 12th District, which stretched from Greensboro to Charlotte, is now back in play, and in fact, unless courts rule otherwise between now and then, the next election that we have, will take place under that plan. It's a very long and very complicated history of redistricting, and the challenges that go with it since the 97 plan had been challenged, the legislature had to come up with another plan, and so actually another plan that reduced the size of the 12th District and took it out of Greensboro has subsequently been passed, but the high court ruled that the lower

court, as you said, erred in not holding a trial to look at the facts involved in the redistricting situation. So it basically goes back, the legislature is still on hold waiting to see what the courts will do, and apparently there will be a trial where these facts will be discussed. Any talk yet as to when that trial will be held? I haven't heard any. I don't know that they know at this point. They know only that the Supreme Court has basically said the lower court made a mistake in not holding a trial, and they tossed it back down to them, saying, if you want to do it right, you have to hold this trial. I know lawmakers have been concerned as with the rest of the state and the nation about schools safety, and they have been talking about increasing the penalties for bomb threats made to schools. Yes, that bill passed a Senate Committee this week, is headed back to the Senate floor. The bill increases the penalty for, makes it a more serious felony to call on a bomb threat at school, and unfortunately there have been dozens of these in North Carolina

since the Columbine incident, I think 42 was the number raised in committee the other day. This bill also can hold parents liable if parents should have known or did know that their child was going to or had made a threat. I think under the current version of the bill liable up to $100,000 in losses to school systems. What's been happening in some cases, the bomb threat gets called in, the kids go home and you've got 1,000 lunches that were going to be served that day that all have to be thrown out. Significant economic loss to the state, not to mention the fear of students and teachers and parents. Every time one of these threats is called in, lawmakers want students to know that this is serious business. If they get caught, they're going to be in serious trouble. One little asterisk, however, to the bill is that it will not go into effect with what's left of this school year. It will be effective only for threats called in after it goes into effect, which is later on. Hopefully some of these threats will calm down over the summer break. I think that's the hope.

But bombs aren't the only threats to schools. They're also dealing with the issue of guns, anything taking place in that regard. There are already laws that prohibit students from taking a gun onto school grounds. They're working on a bill this week. They would make it a felony for students to bring a gun to an off-campus event like a football game. That's a loophole in the law of the system, Mr. Meater. That change also will make it illegal for school employees to bring guns onto school grounds. That's for the fear that is in the back of everyone's mind that a disgruntled employee will come in with a weapon. They are addressing these things. There are already laws on the books, but they're tightening them up as needed. John and very quickly, the Republicans have chosen a person to take over the leadership role of Leo Dottry. Now Mr. Dottry is still maintaining his house seat, but he's giving up his leadership position. What's the changes in the hierarchy of the Republican Party there at the legislature? Well, it's strictly on the House side. They've elected a new minority leader. It's Representative Richard Morgan, who served as rules chairman when Republicans ruled the House for the last four years before this, so he's not an unknown entity.

He's a powerful speaker, and his presence will be felt on the House floor as he takes over the minority leader job that Leo Dottry is vacating so he can spend more time focusing on his campaign for governor. All right, John. As always, thank you for the update, and we want to remind our viewers to join you tonight at 10 p.m. for a complete wrap-up of this past week's legislative activities on legislative We Can Review. Great. Have a great weekend, John. You too. Now, among the many issues being debated by state lawmakers is health care, especially health care coverage or the lack thereof. Producer Lisa Wilder tells us about some of the health care mandates currently under consideration in the General Assembly and what they mean for consumers, small businesses, and the health care industry. Health care and health care benefits continue to spark heated debates, not just in Congress, but in the state legislature as well. Candated health care coverage is no exception. Coverage for oral contraceptives is one of many health care mandates being discussed at the General Assembly this session.

These mandates are important, but wherever there are mandates, there will always be opposition. The health care mandates are one of the biggest issues that we are dealing with in the General Assembly this year. Contraceptive mandate will cost $17 per employee per year, and that's not much seems perfectly reasonable. But then they have this other mandate that's going to cost $25 per employee per year, and this other mandate that's going to cost $40 per employee per year, and before you know it, you've got $200 extra per employee per year. We can't afford it. But some health officials argue that you can't put a price on health care and that more health care benefits are needed. Senator Forrester, a family physician, is the sponsor of this session's heavily discussed contraceptives bill. It allows a person who has an insurance policy that covers prescription drugs to have contraceptive coverage as well. According to Senator Forrester, some mandates are necessary. In an ideal world, it would be nice if we didn't have to have mandates, but this is not

an ideal world, and with health maintenance organizations, HMOs and managed care, sometimes we have to have mandates in order to get the benefits that are best for their patient. Senator Forrester has successfully pushed several mandates, including the mammogram, pap smear, and prostate cancer screening tests. But not all legislators agree that health care mandates are the answer. Representative Red Wine feels that health care mandate bills need to be studied together rather than individually. Well, there are a lot of good ideas to expand health care coverage in the state of which I support, and a lot of people support. We just need to be cognizant of the costs when those are all done at once, and I think that's the crux of the issue to make sure we don't overload our insurance providers instead. Another mandate under discussion this session is a statewide program to help increase public awareness about osteoporosis, a bone loss disease that affects over 28 million

Americans, 80% of them women. When Lee Steinegel discovered she had some health concerns that seemed to affect her bones, she decided to take a preventive approach to preserve her bone health. Today she's seeing her doctor for a bone mass measurement test to find out more about the density of her bones, one of the checkpoints for osteoporosis. So he was sort of concerned about my bones, and I have noticed I had like a little hump and back of my neck, and I really never noticed it before, and I was sort of concerned about that, and I also, which I didn't tell him, but my gums had started receiving, and I could also be from bone loss. And that's why Lee is having this screening done, and also why she feels it's important to have this health test covered by insurance. Lee believes that prevention goes a long way. Well, you know, I feel like I exercise, and I take, I'm about 1,200 milligrams of calcium, and I do try to eat nutritiously, and you know, take vitamins and stuff like that.

So I was sort of trying to prevent it myself, so I'll find out today how good a job I did. We followed Lee through her bone mass screening, one of the preventive measures discussed with the proposed mandate. This screening will provide her with important information to help prevent osteoporosis. The jury is out on just how effective healthcare mandates are. Still, legislators continue to take a serious look at bills that help North Carolina residents receive quality healthcare. While some small business owners say healthcare mandates are too expensive, others feel they can actually help attract and keep good employees. Well, coming up on North Carolina now, a visit to a museum that preserves our state's strong maritime tradition.

But first, let's check in with Mitchell Lewis for Statewide News Summary. Hello, Mitch. Hi there, Marita. Good evening, everyone. Topping the news, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, North Carolina's plagued with one of the most serious drinking water problems in the southeast. EPA officials say the state's overburdened water inspectors have let the enforcement lag at water sources serving roadside stores, small businesses, and rural churches, raising the possibility of human consumption of contaminated water. A recent survey of 1,800 North Carolina Wells found water unfit to drink at 126 churches, stores, and other locations. State officials say periodic bacteria tests are a requirement for many businesses that choose to provide well water to visitors and customers. Opponents of the death penalty are calling for a temporary halt to executions in North Carolina. Capital punishment foes say studies are needed to determine whether prosecutors are fairly handling death penalty cases. State Senator Ellie Canard has introduced a bill to block executions until legislators have looked at such issues as whether poor defendants have adequate access to lawyers

and investigators. The latest concern over death penalty executions stems from a case in which a North Carolina death row inmate won a new trial when it was found that favorable evidence was withheld in his case. The North Carolina town of Butler could be the site of a new federal prison. Butler, which is located just north of Durham, is already home to a minimum and medium security facility. The Granville County town is also home to assume to be completed prison hospital. The proposed federal prison would house more than 1,100 inmates and would create 250 300 new jobs. It looks as if it will be another year before the rest home industry will have a chance to expand in North Carolina. The state Senate has unanimously approved a bill to extend through September 2000, a moratorium on building more rest homes in the state. The moratorium grew out of concerns that newer assisted living facilities were causing vacancies at traditional rest homes. The measure has gained House and Senate approval and now goes to Governor Hunt for his signature. The chancellor at the North Carolina School for the Arts has announced he will retire next

summer. Alex Ewing, the fifth chancellor of the school, was appointed in 1990. Ewing will retire on June 30, 2000, which will give the school a full year to find a successor. During his tenure, the chancellor secured money and support to begin the school of filmmaking in 1993. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather, highs will range from the mid-70s to mid-80s. Most areas of the state can expect partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the mountains. In business news, North Carolina lawmakers are divided over plans to expand the use of incentives to lure big businesses to the state. Just after a House committee considered a plan to scale back tax incentives for businesses, a Senate committee voted to expand them. The state began providing tax credits in 1996 to businesses that create new jobs. Those credits have cost North Carolina close to $11 million in tax revenue. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. .

. . . The Charlotte Mecklenburg school system took a surprising approach to its defense in a desegregation trial taking place in federal court. The state's largest school system is being sued by a group of white parents over the use of race and school assignments. The race-based approach was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark swan versus Board of Education case back in 1971. But the parents claim the school system has satisfied all the requirements of that court order more than a decade ago.

And that race should no longer be used to determine which school students should attend. The parents prefer a neighborhood school approach. David Haines has been covering this trial since it began more than a month ago and he joins us for this weekly update. David, thanks for taking the time to be with us again. Always a pleasure to make the drive to Chapel Hill. So what is that surprising approach that the school board is taking? Until now, the school board through its cross-examination has effectively been saying that the problems with integrating the school systems are really kind of the fault and the problem of past administrations and past school board. But this week, the school board began presenting its side of the case and now they're effectively adding on to those that pass blame by saying that we, this current administration, this current school board is not following school board policy, is not obeying the court order. And the upshot of it is the burden of busing and all the problems related to that are falling unfairly on the African American students. Essentially, what they're saying is we have failed to integrate these schools according to the 1971 court order.

So how is this approach helping to make their case? Well, the school system's case sort of says we have not overcome the vestiges of the dual school system that existed in Charlotte about way back in the 1960s. And in order to make that case, they have to say, in effect, we have failed to fulfill the court order that we were, that was imposed upon us way back in 1971. So they're being consistent, but at the same time, they're also saying to the Charlotte community, we have failed in this effort. The 25 years that we've been telling you that we have integrated these schools and that we're doing the good job with school desegregation and we're a national model. Well, maybe that wasn't quite true. It's an amazing revelation. So what's the reaction in the community, Ben? Surprisingly, and perhaps because it is really just evolving, and perhaps because it's a very tedious case, there hasn't been much reaction so far. No editorializing in the Charlotte Observer, the city's largest newspaper, very little talk about it on talk radio, no letters to the editor yet. Now this is an election year for three members of the school board.

They also have a big bond election coming up, and maybe people will react more when the judge issues is ruling probably in August or September, right about the time when school starts. So are you telling me this case, there really isn't getting a whole lot of press in Charlotte? Well, it gets a story every day and a couple of the television stations and the newspaper in Charlotte, but it is not the story that it was at the beginning of the trial. Then it was a page one article, and we observed it now, sometimes it gets on the front page of the local section, but more often it's kind of buried in the local section. Typical as people follow trials, that's what I think is going to be. Yes, yes, especially civil trials, because they tend to be a little more tedious, a little more built on a minutiae. Now last week you told us a little bit about the motion to dismiss that was filed, which is typical in all cases, but what's the status of that? Right, I think last week we said that they were going to argue that motion this past Monday, the attorneys for the plaintiffs, the parents, said they needed some more time, the judge granted them that, they are scheduled to argue that motion, as well as a school system motion that they not have any financial accountability to the parents, no fines or anything.

They're scheduled to argue that next Tuesday. All right, and what do we have to look forward to for the coming weeks? Well, that motion argument, more of the same in the presentation of the school boards case and maybe a little more awareness of this in Charlotte, I'll have to let you know next week. All right, David, thanks for the update. Now David, we'll join us again next week for another update on this Charlotte School Disegregation case. North Carolina's maritime environment is an important part of our state's culture and history, especially for our many coastal communities.

Tonight, producer Maria Lundberg takes us to Beaufort, where this rich heritage is interpreted and preserved. The songs of Minhaden Chantymen were a familiar sound in the old days of fishing along the North Carolina coast. Lives and livelihoods were closely connected to the water in those days, and this strong bond with the sea continues today in the coastal town of Beaufort. If you visit Beaufort, it quickly becomes obvious that fishing and boating are an important part of this area's past and present, so important in fact that there's a museum here which is devoted to preserving our state's maritime heritage. The North Carolina Maritime Museum stands as a beacon on the waterfront, drawing in visitors to learn about our coastal history and resources.

Our purpose is to preserve the state's maritime culture, that is its coastal culture. The same is inland, you would go to a museum to find the material culture of the state, its furniture or its weapons or tools or automobiles things that tell about the past here. The emphasis is on things belonging to the sea or having to do with the coast. The museum contains an impressive collection of ship models, including one which salutes the Minhaden Fishing Industry. Saltwater aquariums show diverse marine life. North Carolina's waters support one of the largest varieties of plant and animal species along the Atlantic coast. Nearby is one portion of a huge collection of 5,000 seashells from around the world. This exhibit teaches about life-saving methods for passengers shipwrecked off our coast. One method was to use a harness called the Breach's Boy.

Another was this 1890s life car which carried several people to safety. Historic lighthouses are represented here with this powerful lens which was in service from 1892 through the 1960s. Traditional North Carolina workboats are on display, including the flat bottom skiff and the spritzel which was commonly used in North Carolina from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. One very interesting artifact in the museum is this gangway board which came from the original USS North Carolina built in 1820. This user-friendly museum reaches out to more than 200,000 visitors a year. Numerous volunteers give their time to help the museum in its mission of educating the public. Pen shell, the English name because the Indians make different colored eggs out of graces in place, mix it with water and put it in the shell, unique point, a lot of them to write draw pictures of an English sew with the Indians with the only name they did the pen shell.

Education has a high priority at the Maritime Museum. We do in excess of 300 public programs a year listed scheduled programs. What's why we do that is because the subject here is so involved. We have so much to talk about, not only to cover the history, the maritime history of the state, but also to deal with the environmental issues that have become so important, the fragile nature of the coast, this is something relatively new in historical terms. We have a real responsibility to share these things with the public. We are publicly funded and that is part of our mission. Educational programs for all ages range from workshops to summer science classes and coastal ecology field trips. Across the street from the museum is its watercraft center, where visitors can observe boat building and restoration in progress. The center has a collection of about 30 North Carolina boats, including one which dates

back to the Civil War. Coastal people have real emotional attachment to old boats. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to take everything that's offered to us, but we try to take the important ones and the ones that are significant or transitional from one era to another and we can do restoration work over there and build replicas and indeed pass on those traditions of what North Carolina boat building was about. The watercraft center offers many classes to the public and uses the expertise of sailors passing through. Many tourists come to Beaufort to enjoy the relaxing natural beauty of the area, but those who visit this museum can also learn about the importance of the state's maritime past and how that heritage affects the present and our future. It makes you sensitive to the way resources are being used today. Coastal resources are especially fragile and it makes you want to preserve those things

for the good of our future and our children's future. And we hope by being able to put this in perspective in historical terms that we will make the general visitor or visitors more sensitive to how we use our coastal resources. The North Carolina Maritime Museum offers year-round classes and field trips for all ages. In fact their programs are so popular that many people scheduled their vacations around them. If you would like more information about the museum and its programs you can call 2527287317. Admission is free. And that wraps up North Carolina now for the week. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on Monday and the meantime have a wonderful weekend. Good night.