EDITORIAL: Say no to a fishing expedition; let’s watch out for Florence

Sept. 08--Merit: For the state elections board, which has voted to challenge federal subpoenas seeking millions of voter records from the state and from 44 counties in eastern North Carolina. The federal subpoenas, issued on behalf of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, initially sought somewhere between 15 million and 20 million documents from the state and local boards of elections by the end of this month.

State elections board Chairman Andy Penry said the blizzard of subpoenas was handled sloppily and haphazardly by U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon's office. "It simply came out of the blue," Penry said. "They were requesting the production of in excess of 15 million documents within 20 days. And the demand for documents gave no indication of what the U.S. attorney and a Wilmington grand jury plan to do with the information. ICE has brought charges in a few incidents of non-citizens who have illegally registered to vote or who actually voted.

The bottom line, though, is that this sweeping request for documents would require thousands of hours of work by state and county employees, likely costing millions of dollars, without any indication of what the work is for. If it's even possible to do it all by the end of this month, it would play havoc with preparations for the November elections.

The U.S. attorney's office did say after the initial furor that the compliance date was negotiable -- that the state and counties could take until the end of the year to comply. But state law prohibits release of much of the information that the feds want, Penry said. "That's a good statute and it's there for a really good reason. So we are not going to disclose that information at this point."

Good.

Merit: For city and county officials who are already taking the initial steps to get ready for a visit from Hurricane Florence. The big and powerful storm's path still isn't clear, but by the end of this week, many computer models were starting draw a bulls-eye on the North Carolina coast. Earlier models had shown it turning back out to sea before it made landfall, which still could happen. Florence's winds had reached dangerous Category 4 levels earlier in the week, but then it died back to a tropical storm. But over this weekend, it's expected to roar back to at least Category 3 ferocity.

In Fayetteville and Cumberland County, emergency management officials were making sure equipment was fully fueled and ready to respond. It's way too soon to make the traditional bread-and-milk raid on the grocery stores, but Cumberland County residents would be wise to visit the county's website (co.cumberland,nc.us) and sign up for Cumberland Alerts! through the Emergency Notification System. The system provides extreme-weather alerts that could be lifesaving.

Only two years removed -- and still recovering -- from the flooding brought by Hurricane Matthew, we know well just how badly a visit from Florence could go. We hope all our neighbors will join us in keeping an eye on Florence.

Demerit: For whoever dropped a female pit bull into a clothing donation bin in Spring Lake this week. The dog was found by passers-by and police were called. They had to cut the lock on the bin to get the dog out. The dog was alive and alert but seriously dehydrated. She's in the care of Cumberland County Animal Control now, which is investigating the incident and seeking information from the public. After a 72-hour holding period, the dog will be put up for adoption. We hope she finds the loving home she deserves.

This, sadly, wasn't the worst incident of animal cruelty we saw in the past week. A Fort Bragg soldier from Hoke County was charged Wednesday with child abuse for letting a 6-year-old live in squalid conditions, and for starving a dog to death. Another dog found at the home was severely malnourished. The incident reminds us that abuse of animals frequently leads to abuse of humans as well.

Merit: For Cumberland County's good decision in 2004 to contract with a company that guaranteed to save $6.2 million in energy costs over 12 years. It turned out that the pact with Johnson Controls saved the county more than $9 million. The contract allowed the county to upgrade infrastructure and reinvest money it saved to make its buildings more efficient. The investment paid off. A report on the project says the county produced nearly 94,000 fewer tons of greenhouse gases during the contract period.

It turns out that being energy-wise is even better than being penny-wise.

The county is now looking at new proposals that could trim another 20 to 25 percent from government utility costs over the next decade. Given the experience to date, that sounds like another smart move.

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