WAKE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE WHITE SUPREMACY TO SNAPCHAT: School administrators are investigating whether to punish students at two schools outside Raleigh, North Carolina, for exchanging racist messages online. Wake County Schools spokeswoman Lisa Luten said Monday the Snapchat discussions involved three students at East Wake High School in Wendell, and a larger number of students in nearby Johnston County, which Johnston schools' spokesman Nathanael Shelton confirmed. Both districts are investigating. WTVD reports the group chat was exposed by a 14-year-old black girl at East Wake, who posed with a white-face avatar to confirm what she'd heard about. The messages included "Pullin triggers and shootin n------"and "#bring slavery back." The girl's parents told WTVD that her principal told them there was little to be done because the threats weren't "specific" or "imminent."
https://www.wral.com/north-carolina-students-investigated-in-racist-online-chat/18683049/

ROBESON BOARD OF ELECTIONS CHAIR EXONERATED BY STATE BOARD: Tiffany Peguise-Powers, a Democrat and a Lumberton lawyer, was facing allegations of violating state law and state board policy against public comments or actions and social media postings that can be interpreted as an endorsement of a political candidate. The four members of the five-member State Elections Board who were present voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint. It took the State Board members less than two hours of hearing opinions and testimony to decide the charges in the complaint filed Aug. 20 by Shannon resident Julius Locklear did not meet the standards of being violations. “Mr. Locklear didn’t attend the hearing,” Powers said. When asked, Powers spoke little about the hearing, instead focusing on what she called misinformation published about her.
https://www.robesonian.com/news/127700/board-unanimously-clears-elections-chair

REVEREND BARBER JOINS 5 OTHERS IN RECEIVING NC'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD: Civil rights activist the Rev. William Barber, longtime museum director Larry Wheeler and four others are this year's recipients of North Carolina government's highest civilian honor. Gov. Roy Cooper's administration announced on Monday the North Carolina Award's honorees at a Nov. 16 event in Raleigh. Barber was president of the North Carolina chapter for several years and now co-leads the national Poor People's Campaign. Wheeler was director of the North Carolina Museum of Art for nearly 25 years and oversaw its vast expansion. Other 2019 recipients are Senior U.S. District Judge Earl Britt, author Philip Gerard, radio station founder Deborah Proctor and HIV researcher Dr. Catherine Wilfert. The General Assembly created the award in 1961 to recognize North Carolina residents who've contributed to fine arts, literature, public service and science.
https://www.wral.com/barber-wheeler-among-6-receiving-north-carolina-award/18682951/

TRUMP IS NOW ACTIVELY OBSTRUCTING IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: The Trump administration on Tuesday blocked a planned deposition from Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and a central figure in the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, according to a statement by his lawyer. Sondland was scheduled to be deposed on Tuesday morning before House committees seeking information about his activities as President Trump urged Ukraine to investigate his political opponents, according to his lawyer, Robert Luskin. Luskin said Sondland was not appearing at the direction of the State Department. Text messages made public last week show that Sondland, whose portfolio does not include U.S.-Ukraine relations, inserted himself into the effort to obtain a commitment from Ukraine to launch the investigations. At the time, the government in Kiev was eagerly awaiting the release of nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid and the arrangement of a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In one text message, Sondland wrote that Trump “really wants the deliverable,” referring to a clear demonstration from Ukraine that it would undertake the investigations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/gordon-sondland-key-us-official-in-political-storm-...

TRUMP TWEETS ABOUT HIS "GREAT AND UNMATCHED WISDOM" DURING BACKLASH OVER TURKISH INVASION: Defending his decision to clear the way for a Turkish military operation against America’s Kurdish allies in northern Syria, announced in a White House statement on Sunday night, Mr. Trump said it was “time for us to get out” and let others “figure the situation out.” But his move touched off a broad rebuke by Republicans, including some of his staunchest allies, in some of the sharpest language they have leveled against a Trump foreign policy decision. And in response, the president pivoted sharply and said he would restrain Turkey. “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),” the president wrote on Twitter. He did not explain what would be off limits, but aides insisted he had not given a green light to an invasion. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the House Republican leadership, called withdrawing forces “a catastrophic mistake.” Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said it would be “a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria.” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, said, “The President’s decision to abandon our Kurd allies in the face of an assault by Turkey is a betrayal.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/turkey-syria-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Sto...