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Anyone care to comment on today's Duke lacrosse team editorial?

The student newspaper, the Duke Chronicle, has been providing good coverage.

Its Web site includes a disturbing story that begins:

"Durham Police Department officers approached residents outside houses on N. Buchanan Boulevard shortly after 6 p.m. Friday night, telling them that there were threats of gang violence targeted at Duke students."

It's going to take a little longer, but Jim Black will resign as speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives.

His defenders, meanwhile, are saying some of the most incredible things, as reported today by Mark Binker.

Rep. Nelson Cole, D-Rockingham: "Speaker Black has been the victim of character assassination. No one has said yet he's broken the law."

Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford: "All of this is simply character assassination that's politically motivated."

Are these guys reading from a script provided by Black himself? How could anyone say these things with a straight face?

Character assassination? I'd call it character suicide.

No one has said Black has broken the law? Well, yes, the State Board of Elections has said it believes he did, which is why it referred its findings to the Wake County District Attorney's Office for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Politically motivated? Who is politically motivated? The Democrat-majority elections board? The Democratic attorney general, who's got Black in his sights? Virtually all of the state's daily newspapers? That statement couldn't be more ridiculous. But, then, it comes from the same man who says the N&R's investigation of Project Homestead was racist.

Here's Rep. Maggie Jeffus, D-Guilford: "I guess I feel like he (Black) will make the right decision when the time comes."

Sadly, that seems to epitomize the utter spinelessness of House Democrats. Whatever Black decides will be the right thing.

OK, Maggie, Earl, Nelson and the whole bunch. By standing with Black, you are hereby telling your constituents that YOU support:

-- the eye exam requirement that would have kept kindergartners out of school unless their parents forked out $100+ to their local optometrist for tests that most medical professionals say would be unnecessary (and adopting that provision without a hearing or debate);

-- video poker;

-- the Michael Decker payoff, and the backup strategy of raising money for a possible Steve Wood payoff;

-- giving inside access to Meredith Norris while she was on the payroll of a lottery vendor, during consideration of lottery legislation;

-- asking donors to write checks for campaign contributions but leaving the payee's space blank, to be filled in later by the speaker.

Do these people really believe all that's OK? Are they willing to live by the standard that, as long as unethical behavior isn't yet proven to be illegal, it's acceptable?

Or is their support for Black what's really politically motivated? Is it not safe yet for them to stand up to him? Do they think there's a chance that he can hang on and reward them with some of the million bucks he has in his campaign coffers?

If so, I predict that's a gamble they're going to lose. And they're inviting the inescapable conclusion that, by condoning Black's methods, they're no better than he is.

Addendum, 2:30 p.m. Monday:

Rep. Alice Underhill, D-Craven, didn't mince words in her letter to Jim Black asking him to resign, as reported by the AP.

His political troubles, she wrote, are "severe and irreparable."

Can anyone honestly deny that?

Jill Carroll's release from captivity in Baghdad was a happy story Friday. It was widely reported that the American freelance journalist said, "I was treated very well," and never threatened.

I don't really blame news organizations like the Washington Post for taking that statement at face value. The main story line was that Carroll was safe after nearly three months of captivity.

Still, a little time should have been taken to evaluate the circumstances of Carroll's statement, which she later disavowed.

In fact, she says now, she was under duress.

With guns pointed at her, she made what she described as a propaganda videotape Thursday. Even after her release the next day, when she was dropped off outside the office of an Iraqi political party and took refuge there, giving the initial interview, she still did not feel secure enough to speak freely.

Here's her real feelings, as reported by her employer, the Christian Science Monitor:

"The people who kidnapped me and murdered Allan Enwiya (her translator) are criminals, at best. They robbed Allan of his life and devastated his family. They put me, my family and my friends - and all those around the world, who have prayed so fervently for my release - through a horrific experience. I was, and remain, deeply angry with the people who did this."

Carroll calls herself a journalist whose job is to discover the truth. It sounds as if she is now truthfully describing her captors.

They're not freedom-fighters, insurgents or patriots. They're not defending themselves or their country from an American occupation. They're murderers and kidnappers - criminals, at best. Iraq won't be safe until they're put out of business.

Joe White, chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, has been getting a lot of critical messages from people in Guilford County about Terry Grier.

Same thing for the other two finalists for the C-M superintendent job.

How much effect will the bad reviews have on his thinking?

"I'm at a stage in my life where I don't have a lot of attention to pay to negative people," White told me this afternoon.

I'm still trying to figure out why people here who say they want to get rid of Grier are so eager to torpedo his chances in Charlotte-Meck.

Happy 25th, Andrew. I always knew you'd go far.

It finally dawns on Tom DeLay that he doesn't have a political future.

He should have reached that decision before the Republican primary in his Texas congressional district, not after. Now it will be harder for his party to keep his seat.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Jim Black ...

Robert Arey, who owns 15 Charlotte-area convenience stores, isn't selling lottery tickets.

Why not?

He's against the lottery, he tells News 14 Carolina.

And, he found from his experience in South Carolina, people buying other items don't like waiting in line at the counter behind lottery players.

For convenience stores, he says, the lottery is an inconvenience.

Is he right?

Is it now less safe to be a Duke student in Durham?

The Herald-Sun reports an assault against a man apparently targeted because he was a Duke student.

"I might think twice before I wear a Duke sweatshirt out late at night, or a Duke ball cap," says a female student who was with the assaulted man.

Meanwhile, in a sidebar to its story about the assault, the Duke Chronicle says some Durham lawyers question the Durham Police Department's collection of DNA samples from 46 lacrosse players.

Basically, it's contended that authorities have no right to obtain evidence from individuals who aren't specifically suspected of committing a crime.

An exotic dancer hired by lacrosse players to perform at a party March 13 said she was sexually assaulted and choked by three white men. Forty-six white lacrosse team members were ordered to provide samples. Forty-three of them aren't guilty; in fact, Duke President Richard Brodhead has said some didn't attend the party.

I don't know about this contention. In one sense, it's casting a wide net to demand DNA samples from 46 when only three are suspected. But which three? It seems the victim is unable to provide enough detailed description to eliminate anyone who's white and on the lacrosse team.

Of course, if I were innocent, they wouldn't need a court order to get my DNA. I'd be the first to volunteer.

Let's just say that not everyone in Ireland is interested in truth and reconciliation just yet.

My column today:

For thousands of North Carolina high school seniors planning to continue their education next year, this is decision time. ...

Today's editorial.

The National Immigrant Solidarity Network is calling for a Nationwide Immigrant General Strike on May 1.

Can this be renamed Hire an American Day?

The father of the alleged Durham sexual assault victim says his daughter can identify her attackers, the News & Observer reports today:

"She said ... 'I'll never forget those faces,' " he said," according to the N&O.

That's a real puzzle to me.

Has she been shown photos of the Duke lacrosse team members and asked to pick out the three she says raped her? If not, why not? If so, why haven't charges been filed yet against those three?

And why in the world were 46 team members required to give DNA samples?

Why are police and the Durham DA allowing the cloud of guilt hang over all 46 if the three suspects can be identified?

Addendum, April 6: Duke is issuing a flurry of statements about this whole affair. They're worth reading.

This isn't frustrating, it's infuriating.

The taxpayers are out a lot of money -- and not only the $500,000 or so the city was bilked by Project Homestead. The long SBI investigation consumed a tremendous amount of expensive staff time, as did the long review of that report by the Guilford County District Attorney's Office.

For what? No criminal charges, thanks to poor memories and shoddy bookkeeping by the people responsible.

And a sealed report.

The public pays and pays, and gets nothing in return. That's not right, and City Council should not accept that without exploring every possible means to obtain the SBI report.

Failing to do so strengthens suspicions that some council members would rather the report not see the light of day. As Stan Swofford reported more than two years ago, some actively protected Michael King from close scrutiny.

Greensboro taxpayers deserve better and should demand a better effort by city officials to let out all the facts that have been gathered.

Good job, Jennifer Fernandez and Lynn Hey, on covering Terry Grier's day in Charlotte yesterday.
According to the Charlotte Observer, however, it was really Peter Gorman's day.

The 42-year-old superintendent from the 20,000-student Tustin Unified School District in California impressed just about everyone, the Observer reported.

The three finalists for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg job are interviewing (again) with the school board today. The board is not obliged to follow the recommendations of the panels it put together to question the candidates yesterday, or the general public.

But, with Gorman emerging as a strong favorite based on his showing yesterday, it will be hard, but not impossible, for the board to choose Grier or Frances Haithcock.

There is one scenario that helps Grier.

If the board is split between Gorman and Haithcock, the current interim, Grier could become a compromise choice. We'll see.

Update: Grier withdraws.

Guilford's superintendent has said many times: He's happy in Guilford County. So he's staying.

That will disappoint his critics here, but his supporters (there are many) will be pleased.

And it will spare the school board from having to search for a replacement.

I'm looking forward to attending a few Hoppers games this season. The Park is a great place to hang out.

Did you look at the player bios in Sports today? (Here's the roster on the team Web site.) There are guys from six foreign countries, plus California. Fans will be able to hear baseball chatter in English, Spanish and Australian. What a great game.

It's no surprise to see a couple of players from Venezuela and one each from the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Those countries are baseball factories.

Why are there few, if any, U.S. minor leaguers from Japan? Obviously, baseball has been strong over there for a long time. I guess they develop talent in their own professional leagues, then send some of their best players straight to the Majors.

So, can the Hoppers play? It'd be great if they had a Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Andy Pettite, Otis Nixon or Reggie Sanders on the team. But, even if they don't, they're playing baseball. The Park is fun. There's plenty of food and beer. It's spring. Yeah!

I'll say this for Harry Taylor: He's got guts.

He faced President Bush in Charlotte yesterday and, in a calm, resolute manner, let him have it.

From the Charlotte Observer's account:

But the president got a different reaction when he took a question from Harry Taylor, a Charlotte real estate broker.

"While I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food," said Taylor, 61.

"If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice ... about whether I can abort a pregnancy."

"I'm not your favorite guy," Bush interrupted to laughter and applause. "Go on, what's your question?"

"What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened, by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency," Taylor continued. "And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself. ... I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak. ... That is part of what this country is about."

"It is, yes," Bush replied.

Who came out better in the encounter? Clearly, Bush did.

Taylor's list of accusations against the president will resonate with some critics, of course. But they're grossly exaggerated.

Tap his phone and arrest him? If Taylor is a figure in a terrorist investigation maybe. Preclude him from breathing clean air, drinking clean water and eating safe food? I don't think so. Abortion? Bush certainly does not favor abortion, but he hasn't actually done anything to restrict access to it.

I agree with Taylor that this country is about a citizen's right to wag his finger at the president and tell him he ought to be ashamed of himself. More people should have the chance. In this case, however, the president looked better by receiving the criticism with good humor than did the accuser. Maybe his handlers ought to set up more of these confrontations. It could push up Bush's approval ratings.

For what it's worth, Durham police report 24 cases of forcible rape in the city this year, through March 17.

One case stands out.

But who's rallying on behalf of the other 23 victims?

Sorry to be missing this today.

Maybe next year.

I might be crazy, too, but it actually looks like fun. Sort of.

Former Mayor Carolyn Allen's response on our Second Opinion page today (not posted yet, I don't think) makes me appreciate all the more how much courage it took for John Young to write his article published Sunday.

He's the "brother" who betrayed the cause.

He's "demonized the survivors of the events of November 3, 1979," according to Allen.

Did he? I don't get that impression from his column. He simply pointed out the agenda and tactics of the Workers Viewpoint Organization/Communist Workers Party to help explain how the terrible confrontation on that date came about. He hopes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will consider that as it forms its conclusions.

But, according to Allen, this is undercutting the process and feeding distrust and suspicion.

Allen reveals her view of the Nov. 3 victims by using the Holocaust as an analogy: "But who could conceive of such a process without hearing from the victims who survived the ordeal, those who were targets of extermination who somehow escaped, and from their families. Would not what they had to say be important?"

Was Nov. 3 like the Holocaust, helpless victims marked for extermination by an evil, all-powerful regime? If Young perceived that attitude among those who pushed for the Truth and Reconciliation process, it's no wonder he called for a more balanced presentation.

Allen pushed her Holocaust point further:

"When all had been heard, one would hope that no one would conclude that there was no such thing as the Holocaust and that the killing of these human beings was the right thing to do."

Is that a suggestion that Young is the Nov. 3 equivalent of a Holocaust denier? Or that others who fail to accept a certain account of the Nov. 3 history are like Holocaust apologizers? I hope Allen is only guilty of an ill-fitting analogy and doesn't want readers to glean such a message. But it's unmistakable that Young is now regarded as a traitor to the cause.

I'll bet he expected that. If so, he's a brave man.

The N.C. Department of Revenue must have an arrangement with the Department of Public Instruction to test taxpayers' math skills.

Check out the exercises on page 25 of your North Carolina tax instruction booklet: 2005 Tax Rate Schedule.

For example, if you're single with taxable income between $60,000 and $120,000, your tax is $4,072.50 + 7.75% of the amount over $60,000.

Or if you're married filing jointly with taxable income between $21,250 and $100,000, your tax is $1,275 + 7% of the amount over $21,250.

Or if you're married filing separately and your taxable income is between $50,000 and $100,000, your tax is $3,393.75 + 7.75% of the amount over $50,000.

Are our schools producing people who can figure out their taxes? Not likely. I know college graduates who can't work problems like these.

And why is it harder to do your state taxes than federal?

The N.C. Supreme Court has set up a Medicaid Catch-22 for illegal immigrants.

Although it sounds hard-hearted, I think that's the right thing to do.

Eric Collins wrote about this interesting case Saturday. It's especially timely given the demonstrations across the country for immigrants' rights.

I read the court's unanimous ruling this morning. (It's relatively short and to the point. Unlike their federal counterparts, North Carolina's Supremes generally don't pontificate to excessive length.)

Eric explained the case very well. Basically, an illegal immigrant showed up at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro very sick. He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia. His immediate symptoms were treated and his condition was stabilized, and he also was prescribed a course of chemotherapy, which lasted for more than a year-and-a-half. Medicaid was billed for the cost, but coverage was denied.

The Supreme Court agreed Medicaid rules prohibit coverage. Aliens not lawfully admitted for U.S. residency aren't eligible except when immediate medical treatment is required.

The court interpreted that exception in the most narrow sense possible. If the patient isn't in crisis at that moment, he doesn't need immediate treatment.

Here's the Catch-22 from the opinion written by Justice Ed Brady:

"At the time of his initial treatment in the emergency room, there is no dispute petitioner presented with an emergency medical condition. However, soon after his admission to the facility, petitioner's condition dramatically improved. During petitioner's chemotherapy threatments, his condition was stable and, therefore, he was no longer entitled to Medicaid coverage. As testified to by a medical doctor under contract to review cases for the Medicaid program, if petitioner had not received chemotherapy treatments, he would have eventually regressed into a state of an emergency medical condition. However, as also testified to by that same physician, at the time the chemotherapy treatments at issue were provided to petitioner, he did not meet the requirement of having an emergency medical condition."

In other words:

The man arrives in crisis; therefore, he's eligible for coverage.

He's stabilized, so he's no longer eligible for coverage -- even though without treatment he'll relapse into crisis again.

Yes, that's awful. It doesn't make sense medically.

But the crux of the issue is eligibility for an expensive U.S. entitlement program -- Medicaid. Can anyone who manages to cross a U.S. border immediately qualify for full coverage to treat any medical condition?

The N.C. Supreme Court says that's not the intent of Congress, and I have to agree.

I mean, can Americans sneak into Canada for free medical treatment courtesy of Canadian taxpayers?

We're very generous in providing Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants in emergency situations. How much more should we be expected or required to do?

Former Guilford Superintendent Jerry Weast, now in Montgomery County, Md., is giving students community service credit for attending today's immigrant demonstration in Washington.

Read about it in the Washington Post.

Students there are on spring break, so they aren't cutting class. But, is this stretching the definition of community service? Seems so to me.

Thanks to Mad Dog for passing this item on to me.

If John Calipari coaches at State, will the Wolfpack resurrect the recruiting of the nation's best Italian-American players as during the Valvano era?

Corchiani, Del Negro, Gugliotta, Giomi ... Magnifico!

Our Easley Money lottery could rake in really big bucks if only we had more poor counties.

Look on the bright side, governor: Maybe we will.

My column today:

The Duke scandal looks like a lacrosse game played without goals. It's full of intense action -- running, shooting, sticking. But, ultimately, no one can win. ...

The Charlotte-Meck school board voted 8-0 last night to hire Peter Gorman as superintendent.
One member abstained because he wanted the process reopened.

The board named three finalists for the job: Gorman, interim superintendent Frances Haithcock and our own Terry Grier.

Several members initially seemed to favor Haithcock, but Gorman was a clear choice among community leaders, school system employees, parents and members of the public who attended small group meetings and a community forum with the candidates last Wednesday.

Grier withdrew Thursday.

The public was given a role in the hiring decision and made the most of it. The board was wise to listen and wise to unite behind its final choice.

Ottawa, April 13, 2020 -- The Canadian government today declared its intention to build a fence along its entire border with the United States and to increase Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway coast guard patrols to intercept illegal immigrants crossing into the country.

This measure was prompted by recent demonstrations in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and other large cities by illegal immigrants demanding citizenship rights.

An estimated 10 million U.S. nationals now live in Canada illegally, and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Driven northward by the massive influx of immigration from Latin America since the U.S. declared its border with Mexico to be open, Americans have been crossing into Canada by the thousands daily. The populations of Southern U.S. states from California to North Carolina have become majority Hispanic, with Spanish the predominant language of commerce, culture and education. English-speaking Americans unwilling or unable to assimilate are seeking refuge in more culturally compatible Canada.

The migration also is fueled by global warming, which has cut the Canadian winter to a mere eight months, and by Canada's generous social welfare system.

Canadian authorities have been slow to respond to the waves of newcomers, who are inundating many Canadian communities. The American immigrants, while trying to disguise themselves as Canadians -- including African Americans, who affect Caribbean accents in order to pose as members of the Toronto-area's long-established Jamaican population -- quickly expose themselves by their inability to name the country's capital city and their reluctance to use the one-dollar coin. In addition, those who settle into Quebec are shocked to learn that the official language there is French.

Finally bowing to pressure, the government now vows to close the border and round up and deport as many Americans as possible. The Labor Ministry reports that Americans have contributed to a surge in the unemployment rate, although some Canadian businesses contend that Americans take jobs that Canadians won't do, and accept lower wages.

Ottawa is ready to take aggressive action, unnamed government sources say, after failing in efforts to persuade the U.S. administration to curtail the northward exodus of Americans. Washington's suggestion that Canada dissolve its border with the U.S., or that it cede to the U.S. the several western provinces where no one lives, was firmly rejected.

"We insist on maintaining our sovereignty as a nation," the prime minister stated. "If the Americans choose to be overrun, that's their concern. But we won't turn our country over to illegal immigrants."

The government's announcement is expected to trigger more protests, but Royal Canadian Mounted Police brigades are standing by to arrest everyone waving a U.S. flag.

Ted Vaden, public editor of The News & Observer of Raleigh, writes today that he's uncomfortable with some of the paper's coverage of the Duke lacrosse story.

He's responding to criticisms that Duke players, not yet charged with any crime, have been tried in the press, and that misdemeanor offenses going back years have been detailed -- while their accuser's own background of misdemeanor offenses has been much less prominently displayed.

(Today, the N&O published a long story about her. She remains unnamed in the press, however.)

He argues -- correctly -- that the early coverage was driven by DA Mike Nifong, who declared from the start that he believed the alleged victim's story.

Vaden adds that the Duke team's rowdy behavior, even absent a rape charge, is newsworthy. I find that assertion disingenuous. It wouldn't make news without the reported rape.

Vaden concludes with the most absurd question I've seen raised during this entire incident: "Why does Duke abide a 47-member sports team that has only one black player?" Huh? Would he ask why a college would abide a basketball team with only one white player? That's really driving the already overblown racial aspects of this case over the edge of reason.

As to his main point, I think the media initially did act on a presumption of guilt regarding this case. Only in the last week or so are serious doubts about the veracity of the accuser's account getting more play in print, online and on the air.

Media coverage has been sensationalistic and too prone to exploiting questionable angles. The impression given, that Durham and Duke mix together like oil and water, isn't entirely accurate. Duke is a part of the Durham community, not apart from it.

Of course, the media didn't create this story. The media didn't launch the criminal investigation. The media didn't prompt Duke to shut down the lacrosse program and initiate a in-depth evaluation of campus attitudes and its relationship with Durham.

How all this will play out is anyone's guess. Clearly, irreparable damage has been done. The media may be partly responsible, but so is everyone who has jumped to conclusions one way or another and, worse, tried to exploit the raw emotions unleashed.

Today's Counterpoint, "Alcohol no excuse for bad behavior," isn't posted yet on the Letters blog. I'll put the text on the continuation of this post.

The writer is critical of my column last week about the Duke lacrosse mess and particularly about player Ryan McFadyen. I'll leave it to readers to decide whether I said we should excuse McFadyen's offensive e-mail or that I gave any sort of indication in my column that I wish to promote violence against women.

What astounds me, however, is the writer's assertion that "McFadyen is most emphatically not innocent of crime. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

I hope the writer might explain what crime it is exactly that McFadyen is "not innocent of." For what should he be prosecuted -- writing an e-mail?

There's a whole lot of confusion over this incident in Durham, but the writer of the Counterpoint seems to have it all figured out. She's judge and jury, having convicted one Duke player of an unspecified crime -- no matter what involvement, if any, he may have had with what did or did not happen at the infamous party on March 13-14.

Is Charlotte the only place where some people have a problem with the letters UNC?

The Observer reports today (registration required) on the latest little movement at UNC Charlotte to change the name to University of Charlotte.

The university's athletic teams already refer to themselves as the Charlotte 49ers.

Do folks at UNC Greensboro, Asheville, Wilmington or Pembroke also labor under an identity crisis caused by the UNC designation?

I omitted UNC Chapel Hill, of course, because it's universally known as THE UNC, or simply Carolina.

That's probably the real source of the problem in Charlotte. The state's largest and most glamorous city has a university that's sometimes regarded as a mere branch or satellite of the main campus in Chapel Hill. Not true, of course, but the perception sticks in some Queen City craws.

Changing the name to the University of Charlotte, however, would create an opportunity to craft a new identity consistent with Charlotte's image as an exciting, dynamic, rapidly rising city. The University of Charlotte doesn't sound like a component of a larger UNC system but an independent major university.

In other words, it's all about image and ego.

UNC Charlotte leaders don't seem inclined to push for this change right now. Bucking the UNC system isn't really such a good idea. But I wouldn't bet against Charlotte pulling it off someday.

So, what about the University of Greensboro?

Kenyans won the men's and women's divisions of today's Boston Marathon -- no surprise there -- but American men finished 3rd, 4th and 5th. Two more were in the top 10.

That's the best U.S. showing in many years.

East Africans dominate world distance running, with Americans rarely challenging for major titles. Maybe there's a chance of that changing.

Not that the U.S. public cares -- outside of Boston on Patriot's Day, that is. Frank Shorter was a national hero after he won the Olympic marathon in 1972, but no one gets any attention these days.

There wasn't quite an American breakthrough at Boston today. Could it happen at the Beijing Olympics in 2008?

Then again, with the horrible air pollution in Beijing, I don't know if anyone can survive a marathon.

It's a rare candidate for political office who wants to be anonymous.

Welcome to Durham DA Mike Nifong's world lately.

From The News & Observer of Raleigh's story updated a few minutes ago:

"By 8 a.m. today there were more reporters on the sixth floor of the Durham County Judicial Building than grand jurors.

"At 11:40 a.m. two detectives handling the case arrived with a box of manila envelopes and disappeared into a small office near the grand jury room. They said nothing to reporters.

"The anticipation of indictments had reporters embark on a stakeout of Nifong that was awkward, if not actually ludicrous.

"Just after noon, Nifong emerged from his office and walked straight across the hallway to the bathroom.

"Reporters swiftly surrounded the bathroom door, a crowd that included five television cameras, three still photographers, sound men with boom microphones and at least a dozen print reporters.

"When the toilet flushed, the group tensed, raised cameras and prepared. Nifong did not emerge with news.

" 'I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am,' Nifong said. 'I wish you could find me a way to give me my anonymity back.' "

Nifong might not be joking, even though he's running in a three-way primary to keep his job. Voting is two weeks from tomorrow -- and it suddenly looks very bad for the incumbent.

With no indictments coming from the grand jury today, Nifong is going to take heat from all sides of the Duke lacrosse team imbroglio.

Those who believe that a crime occurred will fault Nifong for blowing the case. Those who don't believe so will fault Nifong for pursuing the case without strong evidence.

Certainly, this may not be the last word. Today's grand jury session wasn't the last chance to gain indictments. Was it the best chance? Frankly, the defense seems to have a lot more momentum.

If Nifong wants to disappear, I'd say the voters are likely to grant him his wish unless he's got more going than it appears right now.

Addendum, 5:45 a.m. Tuesday: I'm just catching up to the late news that the grand jury returned sealed indictments of two Duke players. Who, and on what charges, remains unknown.

Today's Durham Herald-Sun documents how rare it is in Durham for indictments to be sealed. It reports this probably was done at Nifong's request, but Nifong won't explain the decision.

Oh, yes, the obvious question: If three players were accused of rape, why indictments against only two?

What a strange case.

The party that controls the Palestinian Authority endorses terrorist attacks against Israel, according to today's Boston Globe report.

No surprise. The Hamas charter still calls for the obliteration of Israel.

That doesn't inspire much hope for peace, particularly since every Palestinian attack draws a reprisal of equal or greater ferocity from the Israelis.

Israel can be faulted for some of its punitive policies, but Israel does not have the goal of eradicating Palestinians. Hamas represents the greater obstacle to peace, as its continued encouragement of terrorism shows.

From today's News & Observer of Raleigh:

"In court documents, authorities wrote that in the days after the allegations were made, the three team captains who lived at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. had listed the 40 or so team members who had been at the party. Seligmann was not on that list.

"On Tuesday, Kerry Sutton, a lawyer representing another member of the team, said a paper trail of cell phone records, ATM statements and taxicab receipts could show that one or both of the men were not at the party during the time when the woman says she was raped. It is unclear exactly what time the woman says the rape occurred."

The Associated Press offers a similar report:

"Another attorney, Robert Ekstrand, who represents dozens of players, said neither Seligmann nor Finnerty was at the party 'at the relevant time.' The indictment represents 'a horrible circumstance and a product of a rush to judgment,' Ekstrand said."

It seems odd that attorneys for players NOT charged would jump to provide alibi information for Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. Wouldn't that potentially shift attention to their clients?

It certainly warns DA Mike Nifong that he'd better present powerful evidence of guilt, because the defense may be able to provide a lineup of witnesses testifying that the defendants weren't around at the time the alleged rape occurred.

Does he know something about the second round of DNA testing?

Or could the victim have misidentified her attackers from photos?

Or is the players' contention true, that no crime occurred?

So, Scientific Games wins after all? (Nice job of reporting, Mark.)

No surprise. The big lottery vendor didn't invest so much in its effort to influence the North Carolina legislature for nothing.

But why is it a given that North Carolina has to offer "Power Play" just because the game is played in South Carolina and Virginia? (Correction, per Mark: It's South Carolina and Tennessee.) So what if we lose some business to those states? Who's running our state lottery -- South Carolina and Virginia (Tennessee)? Everything they do, we have to do? Then let's drop our gas tax to their levels, because we sure lose business on account of our high fuel tax.

Other states are also allotting higher percentages of lottery revenues to prizes, leaving less for education. Should we follow that strategy as well?

If it means rewarding Scientific Games just to have "Power Play," I think North Carolina will be better off without it. There ought to be just a little room for integrity in this operation.

While they're bound to tell the truth, City Council members should be asked about how much pull they used behind the scenes to keep money flowing to Project Homestead.

Anything else you'd like council members to answer while they're hooked up to the lie detector?

My column today:

Meeting with the newspaper consultant:

"Hey, man, come on in and have a seat. Mind if I call you Doug?"

"Please do. I'd rather you pretend I'm not 20 years older than you are."

"Cool! That'll help us keep this loose. So, like, how long have you been in the newspaper biz?"

"Let's just say I banged out my first stories on manual typewriters."

"Awesome. Cut-and-paste, copy boys and all that? I've read about that era."

"It was quaint."

"What sort of stuff did you do back then?"

"You name it. News, sports, photography. Cameras had just been invented. I even pasted up pages."

"Man, you must bleed ink."

"Definitely. This is a business you really have to love."

"I'm with you there, Doug. That's why these old dinosaurs have to keep up with the times, you know, meet the future head-on, grab the new generation of media consumers."

"I'm all for that. How can I help?"

It was really eerie out early this morning. Out jogging, I experienced a mini-rain shower under every tall tree. Fog condensed on the branches, then fell to the ground. At first, I thought it really was raining, until I noticed it stopped as soon as I passed the tree. The temperature also seemed to be a couple of degrees lower in those spots. It was fun to be out in it.

I almost hate to belabor the point, but the Duke case just astounds me. Specifically, how could DA Mike Nifong press for an indictment of Reade Seligmann without having someone from his staff or Durham police interview this cab driver?

With the cabbie's testimony, buttressed by phone, ATM and Duke dormitory access records -- all of which the DA easily could have acquired -- there is no way a jury will believe Seligmann was present when the alleged crime occurred.

I wonder what evidence the DA has other than a photo ID from the victim. Maybe he should have her look at the pictures again and point to someone else.

In the meantime, how long is he going to wait until dismissing the charges against Seligmann?

I'm sure readers are waiting for my review of tonight's Judy Collins concert.

It was pretty close to a full house at the Carolina Theatre. Crowd profile: aging baby boomers and up.

Collins herself is up there, of course: 67 by my reckoning. Despite complaining of allergy trouble, however, she seemed to be in fine fettle tonight -- for about 40 minutes. Suddenly she darted off the stage. That was followed by an announcement that she was ill but would try to return. A half-hour later, she gamely resumed the concert -- quipping she had almost needed a bucket. She'd never before had to interrupt a concert for illness, she added. Nevertheless, she managed to go on and keep the audience enthralled past 10 p.m. (pretty late for a lot of us, and maybe her too).

The program included plenty of her standards, including "Both Sides Now," "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," "City of New Orleans" and "My Father," as well as her new, "Saints and Angels in New Orleans." Her voice was flawlessly clear on "Send in the Clowns," probably the song she's best known for. She finished with "Amazing Grace."

Collins was chatty early on, throwing in some political commentary -- not what you pay $35 a ticket for, but I can grant a lot of leeway to one of my alltime favorite singers. After her bout with nausea, she mostly stuck to business.

In addition to her outstanding vocals, Collins delivers exceptionally well at the piano when she's not strumming on the guitar.

Even at this latter stage of her long career, and on a night when she wasn't feeling her best, Collins turned in a fine performance. It was a pleasure to see her.

To paraphrase a famous saying: If not for the honor of being mentioned in Pulitzer prize-winner Leonard Pitts' nationally syndicated column, I might resent it.

Referring to former Duke lacrosse player Ryan McFadyen, on whom I focused my column April 12, Pitts writes on our Second Opinion page today:

"Doug Clark. a columnist for the News & Record, has expressed sympathy for the writer of that note, saying he was young and dumb and indulging in 'the sort of crude talk teenage boys sometimes exchange when they're sure no adults are listening.' "

McFadyen wrote the e-mail expressing a desire to murder and skin strippers.

Pitts rejects my sympathy for him, stating that healthy minds don't harbor such fantasies.

Of course, if he'd read my column closely, he would have understood that I did not sympathize in any way with the contents of the e-mail. There's no way to defend it, I wrote. McFadyen's parents need to get him in therapy, I added.

My sympathy for him was based on the fact that, at that point, he was the one Duke lacrosse player out of 46 who was subjected to national media attention. Based on his e-mail, a charge of "conspiracy to commit murder" was listed on a police search warrant application. He had been suspended from Duke, and it was questionable whether he'd be able to return to that university or any other. His life, in other words, was in tatters. A pretty sad event, in my opinion -- and for what? Writing an e-mail. As noxious as its contents were, it was only an e-mail.

McFadyen has not been charged with a crime, and it sure doesn't appear likely that he will be. But, so what? Pitts sees in him, and the other Duke lacrosse players -- or former players, because none will ever play lacrosse at Duke again -- "echoes of white privilege, white entitlement and white brutality."

Pitts notes that black people are watching this case closely amid accusations that DA Mike Nifong "initially dragged his feet because the accuser was black and the accused were white kids at an elite school in the South."

Oh, brother. Dragged his feet? Just the opposite. He went to the grand jury before basic elements of the police investigation were complete: without interviewing material witnesses (the cab driver who picked up Reade Seligmann before the alleged rape occurred), without getting documentary evidence about the movements of the accused, without the suspects' rooms having been searched, without all the DNA results in. As a result, it's likely that he's got at least one of the wrong guys, maybe both.

But Pitts knows this case so well that he can tell us what would have happened if roles were reversed and a white woman had been raped by three black basketball players: "You'd have to call out the National Guard." Huh? The white community in Durham would burn down Cameron Indoor Stadium or something? How the heck does Pitts know that?

Oddly, however, he mentions the Kobe Bryant and O.J. Simpson cases, in which black men were accused of raping and murdering white women, respectively. But I don't recall that anyone had to call out the National Guard in those instances. And then, neither Bryant nor Simpson was found guilty.

I don't know whether three white Duke students raped a black woman in Durham on March 14. After all, I'm not a Pulitzer prize-winning nationally syndicated columnist. If those who are accused did not do what the "foot-dragging" DA says they did, however, I hope they won't be convicted. And, if they are innocent, I will sympathize with them for all the pain they've been put through.

If you care about the furniture market in High Point, what you want to see today is simple: Feet on the street.

Driving through town this morning, I observed parking lots filling up -- even those charging $20 a day -- and folks marching to showrooms. In strong numbers for the Monday before the market's official Thursday opening? Hard to say.

Furniture manufacturers can have a good market if they see the right buyers who place big orders. Retailers can have a good market if they see products they believe they can sell to their customers at home. I hope those ingredients are present this week.

Market's economic impact on High Point is derived from many sources: the money spent to set up and decorate showrooms, catering and other hospitality services, hotels, restaurants, transportation, parking and other everyday purchases. The more people here, the more money that stays in High Point and the Triad.

High Point is working hard to improve the market experience for visitors. Free concerts by Delbert McClinton and others can really help. Will the numbers bounce back up from lower turnouts the last couple of markets? A new central registration system this time should give the first really accurate information on market attendance. Let's hope that lots of feet on the street are counted.

The State Board of Elections publishes a Judicial Voter Guide, just in case you want to make a more informed selection for candidates for N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

The N&R editorial staff plans to offer endorsements in these races before the general election in November, but NOT for next week's primary.

You may not see much media coverage anywhere, which makes the voter guide all the more important.

Five candidates are running for a Supreme Court seat. The primary narrows that field to two.

Two Court of Appeals races are on next week's ballot. Take a look.

These contests are nonpartisan.

This is a good move by High Point police. After shooting more than a dozen dogs in the past year, they're going to find better ways to deal with animal-control issues.

While I love dogs, I'm not soft-hearted when it comes to dangerous dogs running loose. People have a right to get out in their own neighborhoods without worrying about being attacked by someone's snarling, snapping pet. I know sometimes it's necessary, as a last resort, for an officer to use a gun.

I also know, from long experience, that there are many responses before the last resort really does become necessary. With a little training, officers probably could deal effectively with a threatening dog short of killing it. High Point Chief Jim Fealy says his department will give it a try.

Part of the deal requires dog owners to do their part. They should keep their dogs on their own property, except under close restraint. They should recognize that not everyone else knows how sweet and lovable their 85-pound "puppy" is, especially when it's baring its teeth. They should respond responsibly to complaints about their pets.

Police shouldn't shoot a dog unless they have to. And dog owners should see to it that police don't have to.

President Bush, whose approval ratings are still dropping, finally has been goaded into "doing something" about high gasoline prices.

In a speech delivered today, he announced several initiatives.

He wants Congress to eliminate the tax breaks for oil companies -- although in the past those breaks were needed to help the industry develop more energy.

He's suspending purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- although in the past he said that wouldn't have a big impact on price, and rising prices hardly constitute a national emergency.

He's also curbing environmental restrictions on gasoline, a move that makes sense but probably will draw lawsuits from clean air groups and maybe even some states. He's calling on governors to get together and figure out how to reduce the number of "boutique fuels" -- blends required in different jurisdictions to meet particular environmental regulations. These stipulations drive up costs and cause supply problems.

He's endorsing investigations into possible price-gouging by oil companies. That sort of grandstanding works for liberals but not for politicians with roots in the Texas oil fields.

Oh, yes, he's also calling for conservation ("If we're trying to conserve energy, if we want to become less dependent on oil, let's provide incentives for consumers to use less energy") and an increase in domestic production, including expanding refinery capacity and -- here's a new idea -- drilling in ANWR. Good ideas, but if he succeeds in forcing gasoline prices down, and supplies increase, people will drive more and we'll soon jump right back into the same old crisis.

He's rejecting price controls and higher taxes, thank goodness.

(On the subject of state taxes, a personal observation: I saved 23 cents per gallon Saturday by driving five miles down I-26 from Columbus, N.C., to Landrum, S.C.)

For most of his presidency, Bush has taken a hands-off approach to gas prices, correctly letting the market work. Now, afraid that a summer of $3.50 or $4 gas prices will provoke voters to kick Republicans out of Congress, if they aren't planning to do that already, he wants to solve the problem.

Good luck. We're all burning gasoline at a tremendous rate in this country, and supplies are tight. We're going to pay more and, in the short run, I doubt that anything Bush does will make a dime's difference at the pumps.

My column today:

Tom Shaheen surprised me. He's a nice guy.

The executive director of the North Carolina lottery showed grace and a good sense of humor at a conference of editorial writers in Chapel Hill last Friday.

It wasn't an easy audience. Most editorial writers put lotteries on approximately the same moral plane as drug-dealing, child pornography and voting for Republicans. ...