A panel of speakers at a Tuesday “Voices for Veterans” event recently agreed that America has a moral obligation to care for members of the military after they have completed their service.

The panelists’ remarks were in response to a question by moderator Michael McElroy, a political correspondent at Cardinal & Pine, the North Carolina online publication that hosted the event for the purpose of “supporting North Carolina’s veterans and military families.”

Big VA cuts spark big worries

The comments came amid concerns about steep staffing cuts at Veterans Administration hospitals. VA staff and supporters contend proposed cuts will hinder the ability to adequately care for veterans. More than 80,000 positions — just over 17% of the roughly 470,000 people it employs — could be eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the federal government’s second largest department.

The Trump administration is thinking about numbers and not people when it proposes such deep cuts to the VA, said Ann Marie Patterson-Powell, a VA nurse.

“They’re not looking at the human side of it. Patterson-Powell said. “We promised those who signed up and left their families, their homes — everything behind — to serve the country. We said, ‘If you do this for me, we’re going to take care of you when you come back.’”

The nation must do for veterans what it said it would do with “no strings attached, with no arguments, with no pushback,” Patterson-Powell said.

Dr. Kyle Horton, founder of On Your Side Health, a nonprofit that addresses health care disparities and works to improve veterans’ care, said the nation has a sacred obligation to protect those who serve.

“Those who wrote a blank check in service to this country with their lives do not deserve to be penny-pinched by Washington bureaucrats,” Horton said.

Horton added: “They don’t deserve to be penny-pinched by Captain Bone Spurs in the White House [a reference to President Donald Trump, who obtained a medical excuse from serving in the Vietnam War due to bone spurs] right now and they don’t deserve to be penny pinched by DOGE [the so-called Department of Government Efficiency] and [Elon] Musk who don’t even know what they’re doing. Period.”

Patterson-Powell said there is a push by the Trump administration to privatize the VA. That could be harmful to veterans who wouldn’t receive the specialized care they now get at the VA, she said.

Scott Peoples, a retired Army captain, member of Veterans for Responsible Leadership (VFRL) and an advocate for free and fair elections, noted that America fights its wars with volunteers. The proposed budget VA budget cuts could make people think twice about making a commitment to serve, Peoples said.

“How we take care of them after service is kind of our Number One recruiting tool as well for future people who want to join the military,” Peoples said.

He said the Trump administration’s firing of VA staff members made him angry.

“Every single one of those people got into it for the right reasons; wants to serve their country by taking care of our veterans and the way they have so inhumanely shrugged off cutting people with no transparency, just people receiving emails, people having moved their families across country [to work at the VA], is just despicable,” Peoples said.

Grier Martin, Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said the cuts would have a devastating impact on rural communities.

“If these cuts go through, you’re going to see the VA’s presence in rural areas start to dry out,” Martin said. “These are areas that are already starting to see their civilian hospitals close also.”

The state’s decision to expand Medicaid has been helpful in helping some rural hospitals remain open, he said, but veterans will have difficulty finding care near home if the VA’s presence is diminished.

“If you live on the coast, you’re not going to drive to Durham and you’re probably not going to drive to Fayetteville to the VA hospital to get your care,” Grier said.

Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe) said the outpouring of concern and support for veterans gives him cause for hope amid threats of major cuts to the VA.

“That is how change happens,” Ager said. “It may not be immediate. It may not always be completely satisfying. But the fact that veterans are coming together, that the community is coming together to support veterans, I think will eventually lead to change.”

Threats to democracy

A second panel discussion moderated by Cardinal & Pine’s managing editor Billy Ball, focused on threats to democracy and the evolving role of veterans as defenders of democracy.

Panelist Bobby Jones, president of VFRL and retired Navy commander, said he could see the cost of freedom in the faces of the veterans in the audience. Jones said the services the VA provides are essential to national security.

“I know this panel is about national security, but my thing is you cannot have one without the other,” Jones said. “The VA has to be sound in order for us to have a proper national security apparatus.”

Jones was critical of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said neither man understands the concept of service to country.

“For the first time, I believe in American history, we have leadership that doesn’t get it, that thinks the Constitution is nothing more than a suggestion,” Jones said. “Hell, even the South for the Civil War had the good sense to defect and secede before going against the Constitution.”

America is in “unparalleled, unprecedented times” and veterans must step up to lead the country out the quagmire, Jones said.

Ball asked the panel to discuss the much-watched North Carolina Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Allison Riggs, a Democrat. The outcome of the closely contested race wasn’t resolved until this month after nearly six months. Griffin conceded after a federal judge ordered the state to certify Riggs’ election victory.

Military and overseas votes were at the center of the election dispute. Griffin challenged the validity of some military and overseas absentee ballots in the 2024 contest.

“To protect military and veterans’ families’ votes, really has to come from the voters, really has to come from political pressure,” said Sean Wright, a former Army medic. “We have to make it, as voters, unacceptable to take away the right to vote.”

Rep. Terry Brown (D-Mecklenburg) said men and women who serve overseas have expectations that they will be treated with a certain amount of respect.

“This election really showed how little the powers that be cared about that,” Brown said. “I like to think about it in terms of people that talk a good game, but they don’t back it up.”

Brown said Americans can’t afford to take a day off defending democracy.

“We have to make sure that’s it’s not just doing election season, it’s not just when there are votes on the line, it’s not just when a bad thing happens,” Brown said. “It’s all the time that we’re making sure that y’all are laser-focused on protecting against threats to our democracy.”

Jay Carey, leader of Resist & Persist, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy organization, said the challenge to the state Supreme Court election was a test by the GOP to determine how much the judicial system and voters could stomach.

Carey, who garnered national attention after he was escorted out of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ townhall meeting in Asheville in March, said there will be more challenges to valid election victories.

“They’re [the challenges] are going to get more and more ridiculous,” Carey said. “It’s going to tie up time and waste more money. Like I said, it was a test. They just wanted to see what they could do.”

The discussion turned to talk of Trump’s removing the military’s Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) and replacing them with what some panelists said are loyalists to the administration. JAGs advise commanders on legal matters and oversee the military judicial system.

Jones said the legal protections provided by JAGs are critical to defending the nation against internal threats he fears are coming from the Trump administration.

“I can’t stress the panic level enough on this,” Jones said. “All of the dominoes are falling. To those of us paying attention, it’s blatantly obvious. Any time there’s a voice of dissent, they shut it down.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Congresswoman Alma Adams issued a statement late last week criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to suspend the 1890 Scholars Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Scholars Program was established in 1992 in partnership with USDA and the nation’s 1890 land-grant universities, of which there are 16, including North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. The scholarship program’s goal is to increase the number of students from rural and underserved communities who study food, agriculture, natural resource and other related sciences. It provides recipients with full tuition, fees, books, room and board.

“It is infuriating that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended the 1890 Scholars Program ‘pending further review,’” Adams said. “This is a clear attack on an invaluable program that makes higher education accessible for everybody, and provides opportunities for students to work at USDA, especially in the critical fields of food safety, agriculture, and natural resources that Americans rely on every single day.”

Scholars must attend one of the 1890 land-grant universities and pursue degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. The “1890s” schools were established or funded due to the 1890 Morrill Act, which was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. The goal was to expand the opportunities for people of color to access education, specifically in agriculture and mechanical arts.

“This program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system, not an example of it,” Adams said. “I demand USDA immediately rescind this targeted and mean-spirited suspension and reinstate the 1890 Scholars Program, for which the deadline for students to apply was originally March 1, 2025.”

Jacqueline Torok, director of media relations for N.C. A&T, said the university currently has 20 scholars who “will not experience any change in financial support.”

The program has supported more than “100 high-achieving students” from rural and underserved communities studying agriculture, food, natural resources and related sciences at North Carolina A&T since it was established, Torok said.

“We are discussing this important program with the UNC System and our elected representatives and are hopeful that support will be fully restored in the near future,” she said.

The “1890s” — as they are often referred to — also include:

• Delaware State University
• Florida A&M University
• Fort Valley State University, Georgia
• Kentucky State University
• Langston University, Oklahoma
• Lincoln University, Missouri
• Prairie View A&M University, Texas
• South Carolina State University
• Southern University, Louisiana
• Tennessee State University
• Tuskegee University, Alabama
• University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
• University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• Virginia State University
• West Virginia State University

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com.

On Sunday, Alba Colon-Nieves returned home to Charlotte after a 10-day visit to Puerto Rico.

Colon-Nieves, her husband and business partner Esther Ramirez-Pevney traveled to Colon-Nieves’ hometown of Bayamon, then south to the coastal town of Caba Rojo. They visited family and friends, frolicked on pristine beaches and feasted on tasty island dishes.

The trio was well rested and still in vacation mode when they touched down Sunday afternoon, but the good feelings would soon end. Their cell phones immediately began to blow up with messages from friends sharing videos from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The peace and restfulness the three achieved over the previous 10 days quickly dissipated after seeing video clips of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”

“It was such a slap in the face,” Colon-Nieves said. “It made me sit up straight and think, what are these people talking about. We have over 5.9 million Puerto Ricans living in the mainland (U.S.), Puerto Ricans that can vote, and you say something like that?”

Alienating a sizable voting bloc?

In the U.S., the Puerto Rican population is concentrated in Florida (21%), New York (17%), New Jersey (8%), Pennsylvania (8%) and Massachusetts (6%).

Ramirez-Pevney said that allowing a comedian to tell such tasteless jokes during a campaign rally is not a winning strategy for Trump.

“Why would anyone think that it’s in good taste to go to Madison Square Garden in a political rally and decide at the last minute that the way we’re going to get the last MAGA voters is to show how racist we are and how this voting group [Puerto Ricans], this huge voting group, how we can knock them down,” Ramirez-Pevney.

According to the Associated Press, Puerto Rico’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat, wrote on Facebook that, “Garbage is what came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth, and everyone who applauded him should feel ashamed for disrespecting Puerto Rico.”

Esther Ramirez-Pevney (Courtesy Photo)

Several Puerto Rican celebrities including megastar rapper Bad Bunny have thrown their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris after Hinchcliffe’s remarks.

Colon-Nieves said Puerto Ricans across the country must send the Republican Party a stern message on Nov. 5.

“If half of 5.9 million people say I’m not going to put up with this and we’re not going to let anyone talk about our island and our people this way, then we can impact the election.”

Both she and Ramirez-Pevney are urging Puerto Ricans to vote for Harris on Nov. 5.

“That’s how you fix this problem,” Colon-Nieves said. “You have to show the people who believe what that guy [Hinchcliffe] said that we’re not garbage and that we have the power in our hands — with as many Puerto Ricans as we have — to change it.”

Watching video clips of Hinchcliffe was painful, Colon-Nieves said, particularly after just having returned from Puerto Rico where she saw Americans enjoying the island, the people and culture.

“And he’s [Hinchcliffe] is calling it an island of garbage?” she said. “Right now, I’m a little bit teary-eyed because we’re not an island of garbage.”

Colon-Nieves and Ramirez-Pevney are co-owners of the Puerto Rican Festival of the Carolinas, which was held in Concord over the summer.

Ramirez-Pevney is president of E&A Productions Inc., an events promotions company. Colon-Nieves is vice president.

In those roles, the two women “promote Puerto Rican culture in North Carolina” and come in contact with many of the more than 120,000 Puerto Ricans who call the state home. In 2021, Puerto Ricans were 12% of the state’s total Hispanic population.

“We’ve already had to endure paper towels being thrown at us by our then-president [Trump] and it wasn’t funny,” Ramirez-Pevney said. “It’s not funny now to be called an island of garbage.”

Ramirez-Pevney is referring to the 2017 incident where then-president Trump, on a visit to Puerto Rico, tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd of citizens affected by Hurricane Maria. Critics said the move was demeaning to Puerto Ricans and unbecoming of a president.

On the island, Ramirez-Pevney said there is support for the GOP that’s driven by the idea that the path to statehood is through the Republican Party. Although Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote in U.S. elections, some who move to the states bring that mindset with them, she said.

“That’s where the Republican votes come from, but definitely not by mocking people on the island, not by mocking our culture or by calling us garbage,” Ramirez-Pevney said.

Ramirez-Pevney, who grew up in New York, said Puerto Ricans are a proud people.

“I came here to North Carolina in 2008 and I started celebrating our culture through a festival that showcases and educate people as to the vibrancy and the culture and the music and the food of the people and never had an [racial] incident,” Ramirez-Pevney said.

Holding Trump responsible

Although Trump did not say the offensive words, he’s still responsible for what people invited to his rally say, Ramirez Pevney said.

Debbie Guerrero (Courtesy Photo)

“How do you not know who you’re putting on stage and what they stand for,” Ramirez-Pevney said. “This particular comedian has tons of available posts that you can research and see where he’s coming from.”

Debbie Guerrero, a senior infrastructure engineer who lives in Concord, also believes Trump is responsible for offensive remarks made at his political rallies.

“They [political parties] screen who is going to represent them at these rallies,” Guerrero said. “They [GOP] clearly knew what they wanted said and they got someone who could say it.”

Guerrero, a Puerto Rican born and reared in New York, said Hinchcliffe didn’t just call the island garbage, he also called the people of Puerto Rico garbage.

“He was calling the people, everything and everybody that represents that beautiful island garbage and that did not sit well with me at all,” Guerrero said. “Those who applauded that comedian [Hinchcliffe] or are in agreement with what he said or see no problem with what he said, they are part of the problem.”

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and X.

On the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., North Carolina students have released a video about what they say are “cruel comments” Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson lodged against its survivors.

Robinson, R-Guilford, is a gubernatorial candidate.

Seventeen students and faculty died during one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings at the high school, which has since been demolished.

“Student activists, who are basically begging for their lives to be made more safe in this country, and he’s mocking them?” Luke, a UNC-Chapel Hill student, said in the nearly two-minute long video. “That shows that he does not care about us.”

Enfiniti, a junior at Meredith College, said Robinson is unfit to lead.

“I wouldn’t want someone like that representing me or being the person that I trust with my safety and livelihood,” Enfiniti said.

Other video participants noted recent active shooter events at UNC-Chapel Hill, as wells family members and friends who have been affected by gun violence in communities and in schools.

A Coalition Against Robinson’s Extremism (CARE) press release that accompanied the video did not provide a last name for the students. The video included students in both college and high school.

Less than a week after the Parkland shooting, Robinson made a gun rights’ speech before the Greensboro City Council that launched his political career. He was praised and scorned for the video, which has been viewed millions of times.

“What I want to know is, when are you all going to start standing up for the majority? And here is who the majority is. I’m the majority. I’m a law abiding citizen whose never shot anybody,” said Robinson said during the council meeting.

Comments Robinson made in a Facebook post in the wake of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting were highlighted in the press release.

“Let me see if I have this correct. A spoiled, angry, disobedient CHILD shot and killed 17 of his classmates, and now spoiled, angry, know it all CHILDREN are trying to tell law abiding ADULTS that we must give up our Constitutional RIGHT to own certain weapons,” Robinson said in a Feb. 27, 2018 Facebook post.

Robinson didn’t stop there. He argued that a conservative approach to school security and safety would have prevented the shooting.

“If, two days before this shooting, a hard nosed nonsense conservative had walked into that school and put into place the ideals and principles that would have avoided that massacre, you spoiled little bastards would have kicked and screamed like babies in a crib,” Robinson wrote in the post. “That’s what you are doing now. In fact you’re doing less than that. A baby’s cries are useful and necessary.”

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.