With report of nursing home oversight problems, NC lawmakers need to step up | Opinion

A recent audit of North Carolina’s health department found problems with the oversight of nursing homes. Friends of residents also hear many reports about complaints not being investigated promptly.

Often by the time an investigation is done, families have moved a resident, staff have left the facility and, in many cases, the resident has declined to the point of hospitalization or death. Residents and families want the state to provide sufficient resources to support quality services and promote a system of care in which we can take pride. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case in N.C.

Calls to the General Assembly to support specific staffing standards, appropriate sufficient funds to support quality care and to provide additional resources to hire and maintain staff to complete nursing home inspections have fallen on deaf ears. We hope that this audit will spark discussion and intervention from state leaders to better protect our nursing home residents.

William Lamb, Raleigh

Lumbee

What has not been widely reported about the failure of the Lumbee Fairness Act to pass the Senate in 2024 was that U.S. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis threatened in November to block funding for the Wounded Knee Massacre Site in South Dakota unless Congress passes the act.

As a result, a group of federally-recognized tribes opposes the tactics of bypassing the Senate and House committees on Indian affairs and using political influence to obtain recognition by an act of Congress. These federally-recognized tribes maintain that because the Lumbees have only “oral tradition” to prove that they are descended from either the Croatoan, Cherokee, Cheraw, Tuscarora or all, the matter should be referred to the Office of Federal Acknowledgement to determine the legitimacy of their claims.

David Cohen, Chapel Hill

Trump’s silence

Over the last several weeks President-elect Donald Trump has spent a lot of time bullying, threatening and taunting one of our most reliable allies and partners, Canada, and the small nations of Panama and Greenland, but has remained silent when it comes to the continued aggression and atrocities committed by Putin’s Russia against Ukraine and its citizens. This is the “leader” we chose?

Lee Evans, Raleigh

MAGAs in NC

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” certainly applies to the MAGAs in N.C. After the 2024 election, we have had to witness their revenge on Josh Stein, Jeff Jackson and other Democrats who won top offices in the state.

In a lame duck session, they ignored the voters and stripped the governor and the attorney general of key duties that weaken their positions. Knowing they would be one vote shy of a supermajority after the election, these greedy legislators just could not let the will of the people go.

Republican Jefferson Griffin has refused to follow the results of two recounts and a rejection of his appeal to throw out 60,000 votes and will not concede to winner Democrat Allison Riggs for the N.C. Supreme Court. Keep in mind, Riggs will give the Democrats two people on the court, while the Republicans have managed to secure five seats.

No doubt they’re just doing what Trump would do — deny the results of an election. Even in N.C., the MAGAs cannot always win.

Laura Stillman, Raleigh

UNC women’s soccer

The UNC women’s soccer team’s national championship win in Cary on Dec. 9 shows that all things are possible for women and girls in America. As a spectator, I delighted in noticing the wonderful number of young women and girls in the crowd.

How many of these young people will achieve goals great and small, but not inconsequential, because they were watching people like them live out their dreams on the pitch?

Leaving the game, the positive energy in the crowd was palpable. The general mood in the country seems stressful, but there are positive examples for women, young and older, that can guide them to successful futures and lives.

Mike Collins, Raleigh

Butt out, Musk

No one person, especially a South African billionaire, should dictate U.S. policy. Now’s the time for Trump voters to tell Congress to tell Elon Musk to butt out.

Marshall Hardy, Raleigh