– His name is Isaiah Thompson, but based on all the headlines coming out of New York City, he may as well go by "subway surfer" from here on out. Police arrested the 22-year-old and accused him of (calmly) riding on the outside of a subway car, a stunt that was captured in an Instragram video by a rider inside the car, reports Gothamist. Even more remarkable: This is at least the fourth time that Thompson has been arrested for the same offense, reports the New York Post. “I just wanted to take the video because I thought it was awesome and also scary as hell," Matthew Beary, the man who filmed last week's risky ride, tells the Post. The city's transit chief has a different view: "This young man is lucky he ended up in police custody and not in a hospital or worse," says Andy Byford. (The Washington Post rounds up two deaths and one serious injury since 2016 alone for other subway surfers.) Thompson faces charges of reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, and creating a hazardous condition.

Expand this summary.

The NYPD says the subway surfer who was videotaped riding on the outside of a C train last week has been arrested. And this was at least the third time he's been caught doing so, leading one to wonder: does he know something we don't know?

 Isaiah Thompson, 22, was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct for the most recent subway surfing incident. Police tell Gothamist this was at least the third time over the last year that he was caught riding on the outside of a train—he was previously arrested in March and November of 2017 and hit with similar charges, which clearly did nothing to quench his thirst for the thrill of riding uncomfortably while hanging on by his fingertips. (The NY Post says he was arrested a fourth time in September also for subway surfing, though police could not confirm that.)

 Straphanger Matt Beary took the above video around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, between the Clinton-Washington and Lafayette Street stations on the C line. Beary says the subway surfer casually hopped off the train at Lafayette Street. "I just wanted to take the video because I thought it was awesome and also scary as hell," he told the Post.

 New York City Transit chief Andy Byford told Gothamist: "Riding on the outside of a subway car is incredibly dangerous, disruptive, and foolish - it can cause major delays and easily result in death. This young man is lucky he ended up in police custody and not in a hospital or worse. We’re grateful to the NYPD Transit Bureau for its excellent police work and will assist in any way possible to obtain a strong conviction."

 In September 2017—one of the months Thompson was arrested for subway surfing according to the NY Post's sources—the man in the video below was captured on video subway surfing:

 This is the part where we have to remind you that subway surfing is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really dumb and deadly. Just wait for the next train to come, you can survive waiting five more minutes, and just ride an MTA bus if you want an adrenaline rush. ||||| It’s summertime in New York City, which means the subway is at its most insufferable. Missing a train means waiting even longer in the suffocating heat of the rat-infested underground ovens that are New York subway stations. The trains are packed and sweaty, and the particularly unlucky commuter might get stuck in a car with broken air conditioning.

 But one Brooklyn man has allegedly made a gutsy, incredibly dangerous habit to avoid all that, opting to ride on the outside of the train, “where fresh breezes and mole people beckon from the velvety darkness,” as Gothamist put it.

 It was about 8:30 a.m. Friday when the daring soul missed the northbound C train at the Clinton-Washington Avenues stop in Brooklyn.

 After the doors closed, the man, identified by the New York Police Department as 22-year-old Isaiah Thompson, grabbed onto the train from the outside. And off he went, surfing through the subway tunnel while some commuters — including one headphone-clad man looking at his phone — rode unsuspecting inside, according to a video captured by another subway rider, Matthew Beary.

 “It was just sort of like spur-of-the-moment, take a camera out not knowing what was happening, but realizing as I’m taking this video that this guy is clearly hanging on,” Beary told Pix 11.

 The video, which has now been viewed on Instagram more than 39,000 times, shows the man holding on in a calm, nonchalant manner, even letting down one of his arms. One woman with her back to the surfer is seen gazing out the window at him, her face stunned.

 “It gave me the feeling that he had done this before,” Beary told CBS New York. “As he rode down he pressed himself against the door tightly so that way he wouldn’t get hit by anything.”

 “My thought was I hope he’s going to be okay,” Beary added. “The woman next to me had her hand over her mouth in shock.”

 Thompson survived his voyage, jumping off at the Lafayette Avenue stop, according to Beary. “Classic NYC craziness,” Beary wrote on his Instagram post.

 But on Tuesday, days after Beary posted his video on Instagram, Thompson was arrested at his residence in Brooklyn, the NYPD told The Washington Post. He was charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct.

 And according to NYPD officials who spoke to New York news outlets, this was not the first time Thompson has been caught riding on the outside of a train.

 Police told Gothamist that he was previously arrested in March and November of 2017 on similar charges. Authorities told the New York Daily News he was arrested four times in 2017, mostly on the C train line in Brooklyn.

 New York City’s transit chief, Andy Byford, told Gothamist that riding on the outside of a subway car is “incredibly dangerous, disruptive, and foolish — it can cause major delays and easily result in death.”

 Indeed, several people have died trying such a stunt. In January, a 29-year-old man fell to his death between two subway cars while riding on the roof of a New York City train. In 2017, A 13-year-old boy was seriously injured after crashing into a sign at the end of a station platform while subway surfing. In 2016, a Brooklyn urban photographer reportedly died after trying to ride on top of a Coney Island-bound F train.

 “This young man is lucky he ended up in police custody and not in a hospital or worse,” Byford told Gothamist.

 Thompson could not be located for comment. |||||


– So Ted Cruz's book won't be listed among the New York Times' best sellers, even though it racked up about 12,000 sales in its first week. But if you think Cruz is angry, you've got it exactly backward, reports Politico. The feud is a sign that the "campaign gods are smiling down" on him, writes Dylan Byers. It's helping him among conservatives who loathe the paper as too liberal, and it's generating more attention for his book. If you missed the original controversy, the Times essentially accused the Cruz campaign of rigging the system by buying up books in bulk. But publisher HarperCollins disputes that, as does the campaign. “The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out," says spokesman Rick Tyler. "But their response—alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’—is a blatant falsehood." Tyler challenged the newspaper to present its evidence for the accusation. In a piece at the Washington Post headlined "Ted Cruz hits the jackpot: A book war with the New York Times," Philip Bump predicts an ironic conclusion to the tale: The book will eventually show up on the Times' list because all this attention will do wonders for authentic, no-doubt-about-it sales. "In which case Cruz gets the conservative cred of being blackballed by the Times and the PR bonus of being a Times bestseller. Win-win."

Expand this summary.

The campaign gods are smiling down on Ted Cruz, gifting him a feud with conservatives’ most despised news outlet at a time when most 2016 campaigns are gasping for Trump-free air.

 At issue: The New York Times refuses to grant the Texas senator’s memoir, “A Time for Truth,” a place on its powerful list of bestselling books, despite his publisher’s insistence that his numbers should vault him well ahead of other titles in the top 10.

 Story Continued Below

 News of Cruz’s exclusion broke this week after HarperCollins, the book’s publisher, sent a letter to the Times inquiring about its omission from the list, sources with knowledge of the situation told POLITICO, which first reported the story. The Times responded by telling HarperCollins that the book did not meet their criteria for inclusion.

 On Thursday, a Times spokesperson said that the book was excluded because the paper had found its sales to be mostly “strategic bulk purchases” — a common practice among political authors, but a claim hotly disputed by Cruz’s campaign.

 “The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response — alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’ — is a blatant falsehood,” Cruz campaign spokesperson Rick Tyler said in a statement Friday. “The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher Harper Collins.”

 “We call on the Times, release your so-called ‘evidence.’ Demonstrate that your charge isn’t simply a naked fabrication, designed to cover up your own partisan agenda,” Tyler continued. “And, if you cannot do so, then issue a public apology to Senator Cruz and Harper Collins editor Adam Bellow for making false charges against them.”

 Tyler’s blast came just minutes after HarperCollins announced it had found “no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization” — a statement that all but accused the Times of lying. The publisher also pointed out that ‘A Time For Truth’ “ranked high on other publishing industry bestseller lists including Nielsen Bookscan (#4) … The Wall Street Journal (#4) and Barnes and Noble (#7),” all of which “omit bulk orders books from their rankings.”

 Cruz’s camp is clearly relishing the controversy, which has been good for business.

 “It’s been a good week and a half with wall-to-wall coverage of the book, and yes, this latest unfortunate news courtesy of the New York Times is a chance to get yet more attention and drive readers to Senator Cruz’s book,” said Keith Urbahn, co-founder of Javelin, a D.C.-based literary agency and communications firm that represented Cruz on the deal and helped with his book rollout. “This controversy is already helping sales.”

 Several Cruz-linked Twitter accounts, including @TedCruz, also retweeted a Washington Post blog post with the headline, “Ted Cruz hits the jackpot: A book war with the New York Times.”

 Cruz is somewhat better positioned than many of his fellow 2016 rivals, who have struggled to get attention since real estate mogul Donald Trump entered the race.

 Not Cruz. Not only is his book a success, giving him a second round of publicity after his May 23 launch, he also appears to be having little trouble raising funds. His campaign announced this week that he had raised at least $51 million split between the official campaign and four super PACs, putting him in second place in the money race behind former Florida governor Jeb Bush and well ahead of Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.

 In that sense, Cruz’s feud with the Times is a happy bonus.

 Eileen Murphy, the Times spokesperson, said Friday that the paper was standing by her initial claim that the “overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales [of Cruz’s book] were limited to strategic bulk purchases.” Murphy did not respond to a request for comment regarding the Cruz campaign’s statement.

 In her initial response, Murphy said the Times had “uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold.” She later added, “Our goal is that the list reflect authentic best sellers, so we look at and analyze not just numbers, but patterns of sales for every book.”

 The Cruz campaign called Murphy’s initial explanation “cryptic,” and her later claims about bulk purchases “false.”

 “Their decision to blackball Cruz’s book suggests that the Times very much does not want people to read the book,” the campaign said. “There were no ‘strategic bulk purchases.’ Cruz spent last week on a nationwide book tour, signing copies of his book at multiple locations. Booksellers at each event had long lines — sometimes over 400 people per event.”

 “A Time For Truth” was published on June 30 and sold 11,854 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Bookscan’s hardcover sale numbers. That’s more than 18 of the 20 titles that will appear on the bestseller list for the week ending July 4, including Aziz Ansari’s “Modern Romance,” which is #2 on the list, and Ann Coulter’s “Adios America,” which is #11.

 Cruz’s memoir has also sold more copies in a single week than Rand Paul’s “Taking a Stand,” which has been out for more than a month, and more than Marco Rubio’s “American Dreams,” which has been out for six months.

 That may partly be the result of much more aggressive promotion, and partly because Cruz’s book is simply more interesting, with revealing anecdotes about his half-sister’s drug overdose, his time looking at pornography while clerking on the Supreme Court, and his blistering attacks on his fellow Republicans.

 “What will really make this book a long-term success is that Senator Cruz deliberately decided not to craft a boilerplate book of safe bromides, like most politicians do,” Urbahn said.

 A public brawl with The New York Times won’t hurt, either. As the Post’s Philip Bump noted, “When Costco axed Dinesh D’Souza’s book from its shelves last summer for poor sales, the resulting outcry ensured so much demand that Costco quickly restocked it.”

 “It’s important to look at a book like a campaign, setting the groundwork early and then seizing opportunities,” noted Urbahn. “The New York Times, ironically, offered us exactly that.” |||||

 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 Perhaps the only thing better for Sen. Ted Cruz's 2016 candidacy than seeing his book on the New York Times bestseller list is seeing the New York Times refuse to include it.

 Politico reported Thursday night that Cruz's (R-Tex.) new book, "A Time for Truth," would be left off of the paper's bestsellers list. It does appear on the Publisher's Weekly list for the week, identifying that 11,853 copies were sold, landing it in fourth place between books from former Playboy bunny Holly Madison and enthusiastic facial-expression-maker Aziz Ansari.

 At first, the reason that Cruz wasn't being included weren't clear. A spokesperson for the Times simply told Politico that the paper has "uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold. This book didn't meet that standard this week."

 Eventually, though, the Times told Politico that "the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases" -- in other words, someone bought a lot of copies of the book so that Cruz would make it onto the bestseller list. Or, to put it more bluntly: Someone gamed the system.

 Cruz's publisher denies that. In a statement to Buzzfeed, HarperCollins said that it had "investigated the sales pattern for Ted Cruz’s book" and "found no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization." It went on to note that Nielsen Bookscan excludes bulk sales from its figures, which resulted in the 11,800 number above.

 You will not be surprised to learn that the news of Cruz's omission was met with either gloating or fury directed at the liberal media, depending on observers' political leanings.

 For example:

 Update, 4:00 p.m.: Cruz joins the fight. In a statement to Politico, spokesman Rick Tyler said, "The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response — alleging 'strategic bulk purchases' — is a blatant falsehood. The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher Harper Collins."

 If you're curious, that 11,800 in sales is substantially lower than the 86,000 first-week sales of Hillary Clinton's "Hard Choices" -- though that was backed up with a healthy public relations blitz. (It's closer to Clinton's fourth week, when she sold 17,000 copies.) It's also lower than the sales of Mitt Romney's 2012 book, "No Apology," which did 42,000 in sales in its first week.

 Here is a prediction! The Times will soon include Cruz's book on its list, in part because the negative (or, depending on how you look at it, positive) publicity will help goose sales. When Costco axed Dinesh D'Souza's book from its shelves last summer for poor sales, the resulting outcry ensured so much demand that Costco quickly restocked it.

 In which case Cruz gets the conservative cred of being blackballed by the Times and the PR bonus of being a Times bestseller. Win-win. |||||


Article:
Print Share + Twin Suicide Pact Had Columbine Connection

 ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) ―

 CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger has learned why twin sisters from Australia may have come to Colorado to carry out their suicide pact.Investigators found a magazine cover related to the Columbine tragedy at the La Quinta Inn where Kristin and Candace Hermeler, 29, were staying before they shot themselves. But their connection dates back to 1999, just a couple of months after the shooting.Kristin wrote two letters to Brooks Brown, a student at Columbine High School who was once targeted by Eric Harris, one of the Columbine gunmen.Brown and Harris became friends before the April 20,1999 shootings at the high school.In one letter dated June 12, 1999, Kristin wrote, "As someone who has been rejected, victimized and ostracized in their life, I would like to thank you for giving him (Eric) that chance."She went on to write, "Thank you for not judging and for accepting Eric and Dylan who were, from what I have heard, rejected and victimized by so many others. Thank you so much. Sincerely, Kristin."In another letter dated July 14, 1999, she wrote, "... you felt like everyone hates you. Words could never tell you how sorry I am that you feel like anyone hates you. It completely baffles me as to why anyone would hate someone when they don't know them, it sickens me."Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said that Kristin died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her sister, Candace survived after shooting herself. She remains in serious condition at Swedish Medical Center.Her family released this statement Friday afternoon, "Our family would like to say thank you for the outpouring of support and concern shown during this past week. This is an extremely difficult time for our family. We would especially like to thank the Arapahoe County Sherriff's office for their diligence and perseverance in determining the facts and circumstances of this situation. We are also grateful to the paramedics who responded and assisted our daughters."Ernest and Kelsay Hermeler also requested privacy.The Hermeler twins were at the Family Shooting Center inside Cherry Creek State Park on Monday and were shooting for an hour and a half before the incident. The details of what exactly happened have been unclear until now because the surviving twin has been unable to communicate clearly to deputies what happened.On Thursday she was able to share the fact that the sisters had planned to commit suicide together and "did in fact shoot themselves," according to authorities.The sisters had been at the shooting range for lessons. Investigators believe they carefully planned out what was to be their final moments."In reality they walked in that gate right there just as jovial and smiling and talking to each other like a couple of gals out on a field trip," said shooting range owner Doug Hamilton.Because each woman turned the gun on herself, not the other, investigators said no crime was committed."Her demeanor was somewhat defensive which I believe any of us would. She is here in a foreign country being interviewed by law enforcement," said Captain Louie Perea."But she was willing to speak with us and did speak with us for some length of time."The case has attracted international attention, bringing reporters from Australia to Colorado."In the beginning it has been a real mystery case, a puzzle that everyone has been quite intrigued in as the days have developed," said Emma Dallimore an Australian TV reporter who recently arrived to cover the story. "It just seems more and more to be a very tragic story.""Based on the physical evidence collected, the surviving sister's statements, and video surveillance footage from the shooting center the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office believes that this incident was indeed a suicide and attempted suicide," the sheriff's department wrote in a prepared statement.Officials said they are not releasing the video surveillance footage obtained from the shooting range.

 (© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.) ||||| The Hermeler twins' interest in Columbine High School grew from their experience as victims of bullying, as suggested by their phone calls and 11-year-old letters to a Columbine survivor.

 Kristin Hermeler, the 29-year-old sister who committed suicide Monday at an Arapahoe County gun range, called herself "someone who has been rejected, victimized and ostracized" in a letter to Columbine survivor Brooks Brown.

 "I just wanted to write to you and let you know that not a day goes by that I do not think about what happened," she wrote in a letter dated July 14, 1999.

 A month earlier she wrote, "I am completely shattered by what happened."

 Her sister, Candice, survived the .22-caliber bullet she fired into the

 Kristin's Letters Click for larger versions.

 center of her forehead at the same instant her sister killed herself.

 The existence of the letters was first reported by News4.

 Connecting to Columbine

 "It was a very sweet letter, very sad," Brooks Brown told The Denver Post by telephone Saturday. "It was her wanting to know why it happened, trying to understand."

 Brooks Brown said they made contact by phone, letters and e-mail — but not for many years.

 He said Kristin told him she and her sister had been bullied "physically and mentally."

 Judy Brown, Brooks' mother, spoke to both twins at length on the phone in 1999. On Saturday, she recalled how sensitive and sympathetic the two girls were.

 At the time, the twins were 18 years old.

 "It never goes away," Judy Brown said. "Bullying changes who you are and who you become."

 During their visit to Colorado, which began a few months ago, the twins never contacted the Browns.

 Why the women decided to commit suicide together at the Family Shooting Center remains a mystery, and so far the surviving twin has refused to discuss the reason with investigators.

 Angry and distraught during the investigators' two-hour bedside interview Thursday, she denied any interest in Columbine, despite a photocopy of a May 1999 Time magazine cover that depicts shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris that was found among the twins' belongings.

 "I don't give a (expletive)," Candice said, according to police. "It happened a long time ago."

 About a year before the Columbine massacre, Brooks Brown had been subjected to personal and online threats by eventual shooter Harris, to the point that his parents contacted law enforcement and America Online. But eventually the two had made peace — to the point that, according to a May 10, 1999, Time magazine article, Brooks Brown told his parents in early April that Harris had "grown up" and become "a new Eric."

 On April 20, 1999, Brooks Brown came across Harris in the school parking lot just minutes before the shooting. Harris was pulling a bag of materiel from his car, which, unknown to Brown, contained explosives.

 "Brooks, I like you," Harris told him. "Now get out of here. Go home."

 Brooks left. Minutes later, 15 people, including Harris and Klebold, were dead or dying. Another 23 were wounded.

 The killings sparked national debates about the influence of guns, music, video games and TV and movie violence. It also led to a new focus on the dangers of high school cliques and bullying.

 Grappling with pact

 Candice remained in serious condition Saturday evening at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood. Her parents arrived in Denver on Friday and have asked reporters to respect their privacy.

 Hospital spokeswoman Karen Prestia would not discuss whether Candice Hermeler is on a suicide-prevention watch, or what kind of treatment she is receiving.

 Barb Mettler, chairwoman of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado, said people like Candice are likely to try to "complete the mission."

 She's not surprised the twins seemed so normal the day they intended to die.

 "Once the decision has been made to commit suicide, things become normal — that decision becomes normal to that person," she said.

 "They're not doing it because they want to kill themselves; they're doing it because they want the pain to stop, the emotional pain and sometimes the physical pain."

 Outwardly the twins seemed to have little reason to want to die. Attractive, educated and well-traveled, they came from a privileged background with, by all accounts, loving, supportive parents.

 "It cuts across all demographics, genders, all economic situations," Mettler said of suicide.

 As unusual as twins in a suicide pact might seem, it's also understandable, said Mettler, who is also a counselor at Spanish Peaks Mental Health Center in Pueblo.

 "It's much like a mother who kills her children and commits suicide, because she's convinced no one else can care for her children," she said. "Twins are so connected that they think no one else could understand them, and one couldn't go on without the other. It's a little like the idea that 'We came in together, we'll go out together.' "

 Final minutes at the range

 Investigators and gun-range staff said the twins had gone to the range twice before.

 Monday afternoon, they took a Yellow Cab from their motel 6 miles away to the shooting range.

 They rented two pistols, a revolver and a semiautomatic, for $20 each and began to fire away at targets in lane No. 13 at the outdoor range, chatting with others, even borrowing an overcoat from another shooter when a gloomy cold front moved in Monday afternoon.

 At 2:52 p.m., they decided it was time to die, after placing the borrowed coat on a table.

 Fifteen-year-old Will Gwaltney and his father, Bill, a shooting instructor, were in the next lane.

 Efforts to reach the Gwaltneys on Saturday were unsuccessful.

 On Friday, Bill Gwaltney told the Herald Sun newspaper of Melbourne, Australia, that his son shouted, and he saw one of the twins writhing on the ground. Will called out, "There's a problem, there's a problem!" and his dad began CPR.

 With blood in her hair and bulging eyes, Candice sat back on her feet, unresponsive, according to investigators.

 "It's a difficult feeling," Bill Gwaltney said. "You wish you could have prevented it, but nobody knew it was coming."

 Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174

 or jbunch@denverpost.com |||||Summary:

– The Australian twins who shot themselves at a Colorado firing range may have been obsessed with the Columbine school shootings, which happened just 20 miles from the shooting range where one sister died. Investigators found that Kristin Hermeler, the twin who died, wrote letters to a former Columbine student in 1999, and they found a magazine cover related to the tragedy in the twins’ belongings, CBS 4 reports. Investigators determined that no crime was committed since each twin shot herself. Kristin’s letters were to Brooks Brown, a student who received so many threats from Columbine gunman Eric Harris a year before the shooting that his parents contacted the police—but who then forgave and befriended Harris, telling his parents just weeks before the shooting he was "a new Eric." “As someone who has been rejected, victimized, and ostracized in their life, I would like to thank you for giving [Eric] that chance,” she wrote. Brown tells the Denver Post he and Kristin went on to talk via phone and email, but hadn’t spoken in years. Surviving sister Candice was “somewhat defensive” while being questioned, a police officer says; she reportedly said, “I don’t give a [expletive]. It happened a long time ago,” when asked about Columbine.


Write a summary based on this article:

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) ended his bid to become the next House majority leader on Thursday night, leaving Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the only candidate to replace Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who was defeated in a historic primary loss on Tuesday.

 "After thoughtful consideration and discussion with my colleagues, I have made the decision to not continue my run for House majority leader," Sessions said in a statement.

 ADVERTISEMENT

 "Today, it became obvious to me that the measures necessary to run a successful campaign would have created unnecessary and painful division within our party. At this critical time, we must remain unified as a Republican conference. As always, I stand ready and willing to work with our team to advance the conservative agenda that the American people demand and deserve."

 Sessions is the House Rules Committee chairman and former head of the House GOP campaign committee.

 Barring a late, new challenger, McCarthy will become the second-ranking House Republican after the leadership election scheduled for June 19.

 While Sessions began seeking support within minutes of Cantor's surprise loss, he could not overcome the advantage that McCarthy had built up as the party's chief vote counter and top fund-raiser.

 He also struggled to unify the conference's right flank. Many conservatives wanted another Texan, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, to seek the post, but he decided Thursday morning to stay out of the race. And as the Texas delegation deliberated over which member to support, McCarthy moved aggressively behind the scenes to lock down support.

 McCarthy was further aided by Speaker John Boehner's (Ohio) decision to schedule the secret ballot election just over a week after Cantor's announcement that he would step down. The quick turnaround left little time for Sessions or other challengers to build enough support to take out McCarthy. Cantor will stay on as majority leader until July 31 to provide a transition.

 Three other top conservatives, Reps. Paul Ryan (Wis.), Tom Price (Ga.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio), have also passed on the race.

 Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) is taking a look at challenging McCarthy, and a source familiar with his thinking said he's "getting a lot of encouragement from members." The conservative is well regarded by his fellow members of the 2010 GOP class, but it's not clear whether he could seriously threaten McCarthy.

 With McCarthy likely to become majority leader, the more competitive leadership election became the race to replace him as whip.

 That race pits McCarthy's chief deputy, Rep. Peter Roskam (Ill.), against the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), and another conservative, Rep. Marlin Stutzman (Ind.), who surprised many members with his entry on Thursday morning.

 — This story was updated at 9:39 p.m. ||||| U.S. Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) talks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting with House Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) (not pictured) and the House Republican caucus at the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 11, 2014.

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Representative Pete Sessions said on Thursday night he was dropping out of the race for House majority leader, leaving just one candidate in the contest to replace Eric Cantor.

 "After thoughtful consideration, I made the decision to not continue my run for House Majority Leader," the Texas lawmaker said in a statement. "Today, it became obvious to me that the measures necessary to run a successful campaign would have created unnecessary and painful division within our party.

 His decision leaves Representative Kevin McCarthy of California as the only lawmaker known to be lobbying for the No. 2 Republican position in the House of Representatives.

 (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Cooney) |||||

– Unless a surprise challenger emerges at the last minute, the race to replace Eric Cantor as the House's second-ranking Republican is already over. House Rules Committee chief Pete Sessions says he has dropped his bid to become majority leader "after thoughtful consideration and discussion" with colleagues, leaving Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy as the only lawmaker known to be seeking the position, reports Reuters. Cantor—the first majority leader ever to lose a primary—is stepping down at the end of July following his shock defeat at the hands of little-known Tea Party challenger David Brat. "It became obvious to me that the measures necessary to run a successful campaign would have created unnecessary and painful division within our party," Sessions said. The leadership election will be held by secret ballot next week but the more competitive race is now the one to succeed McCarthy as whip, the Hill finds. McCarthy's chief deputy, Rep. Peter Roskam, is in the running, along with Rep. Steve Scalise, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, a hardline conservative who was punished last year for defying House leaders, the Indianapolis Star notes.


Summarize this article:

An American World War II veteran and his wartime girlfriend will spend this Valentine's Day together following an emotional reunion after more than 70 years apart.

 Norwood Thomas, 93, laughed Wednesday as he met and hugged Joyce Morris, 88, for the first time since 1945.

 "This is about the most wonderful thing that could have happened," said the former U.S. paratrooper, who flew 9,000 miles to Australia to see his long-lost sweetheart after they reconnected via Skype.

 Play Facebook

 Twitter

 Google Plus

 Embed See the Moment Vet Is Reunited With His WWII Love 0:55 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog

 Norwood, from Virginia Beach, was 21 when he met a then-17-year-old Morris in London shortly before the 1944 invasion of Normandy.

 He returned to the U.S. after the war, and they exchanged letters. Thomas asked Morris to come to the U.S. to marry him, but she misunderstood and thought he'd found someone else, so she stopped writing.

 The two eventually married other people. Thomas' wife died in 2001; Morris divorced her husband after 30 years.

 However, the flame never quite went out.

 Last year, Morris asked one of her sons to look for Thomas online and they found his name featured in an article about D-Day.

 Norwood Thomas, 93, seen checking in for his long flight to Australia. Hyunsoo Leo Kim / \The Virginian-Pilot via AP

 After their story was featured on Australia's Channel 7, hundreds of well-wishers made donations to help fund an emotional reunion.

 "We are going to have a wonderful fortnight together," she said to him as they finally embraced in the city of Adelaide.

 Norwood said: "It was a nice feeling to see this woman that I hadn't seen in 70 years."

 He told reporters about the night he first saw her, in wartime London.

 "This friend and I were walking across a bridge at Richmond across the Thames river and we looked down below and saw these two young ladies that were talking to a man about renting a row boat so we decided we'd go down and say 'hello,'" he said.

 "This young lady had a smile that would melt you and of course I was melted and it very rapidly developed into something from attraction to a very strong affection."

 She recalled: "We snogged, as you call it, when it was dark and nobody could see us."

 The reunited couple reflected on how their paths never again crossed — but wished they had.

 "I would have had a totally different life … and probably a much happier one," Morris said. ||||| After a 10,000-mile long flight from Virginia to Australia, a World War II U.S. army veteran finally reunited with his wartime girlfriend today after recently reconnecting online.

 For the first time in over 70 years, Norwood Thomas, 93, came face-to-face with Joyce Durrant Morris, 88, his long-lost first love.

 The two were speechless at first and shared a warm embrace and kiss on the cheek.

 "This is about the most wonderful thing that could have happened to me," Thomas said, in a reunion broadcast on Australia's Channel TEN TV show "The Project."

 Nine News Australia

 "Good," Morris replied with a laugh. "We're going to have a wonderful fortnight."

 The two said they planned to spend Valentine's Day together.

 Thomas and Morris' story began in the spring of 1944 in London. The two had dated for a few months but were separated when Thomas was forced to leave for the Battle of Normandy in France, he told ABC News in November.

 ABC

 For over seven decades, the two lived separate lives. Both married other people, though Morris is now divorced and Thomas' wife passed away a few years ago. Morris also lives in Australia.

 The two were brought together again last November, when Morris' son found contact information for Thomas' son online. The men reconnected their parents through Skype and phone calls, the first of which brought the wartime lovers to tears.

 ABC

 "When she called me 'Tommy,' her nickname for me, Oh, my God, it stirred emotions that had been dormant for a long, long time," Thomas told ABC News. "She had always been on the fringes of my thoughts this whole time. She'd always pop up as a pleasant memory, and it turns out that she'd been thinking of me this whole time too."

 Though Thomas wasn't sure if he'd call his "strong feelings" for Morris "love" quite yet, he said he was excited to see Morris again in Australia and to "reminisce about their old days together," his son Steven Thomas told ABC News last month.

 Thomas' trip was made possible by hundreds of people who made donations online after reading his story and by Air New Zealand, which made arrangements to fly Thomas and his son first class, free of charge. |||||

– It was the hug he'd been waiting 70 years for. World War II vet Norwood Thomas, 93, greeted his wartime sweetheart Joyce Morris, 88, in person on Wednesday for the first time since their brief love affair in London in 1944, per NBC News. "This is about the most wonderful thing that could have happened," Thomas said after flying 10,000 miles from Virginia to Adelaide, Australia, where he'll spend the next two weeks. "We are going to have a wonderful fortnight together," Morris added, telling reporters she still remembers when the couple "snogged" decades ago "when it was dark and nobody could see us." On Wednesday, reports ABC News, they shared a kiss on the cheek; they plan to spend Valentine's Day together as well.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Another person in Illinois has died after using synthetic marijuana, reports the Chicago Tribune. The central Illinois woman, who was in her 30s, is the fourth person to die in the state after apparent use of the tainted substance. She's the third central Illinois victim; the fourth was from Chicago. In the last few weeks, more than 150 people across 13 counties have been hospitalized after using synthetic pot laced with what health officials believe to be a type of a rat poison known as brodifacoum, a powerful anti-coagulant. A widely used pesticide, when ingested by humans brodifacoum can cause bleeding from the nose or gums, as well as internal bleeding. Symptoms include coughing up blood and bloody urine, health officials say, and brodifacoum poisoning can be treated with vitamin K administered via IV to stabilize the blood’s clotting ability. The treatment is effective if initiated before excessive bleeding occurs, per the American Council on Science and Health. CNN reports health officials urge anyone who has a reaction to synthetic marijuana to call 911 or go to an emergency room.

In a rapid series of progressively escalating press releases by the Illinois Department of Public Health, it appears that a dangerous synthetic cannabinoid product called K2, spice, synthetic marijuana, legal weed or fake weed has now claimed its latest victim in an outbreak currently totaling 38 people whose severe bleeding is linked to exposure of this substance. The state division just announced the first death in this cluster. Over recent days, the toll of those harmed continues to increase with all being hospitalized for spontaneous excessive bleeding, including but not limited to coughing up blood, urinating blood, bloody stools, bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose and gums.

 Illinois government officials warn that these items were sold by convenience stores and dealers or obtained from friends. They have issued this advisory:

 “If you have purchased any of this product in the past month, do not use it. If you have used any of these products, and start experiencing severe, unexplained bleeding or bruising, please have someone take you to the hospital immediately or call 911. Do not walk or drive yourself. Tell your health care providers about the possible link between your symptoms and synthetic cannabinoid use.”

 What are synthetic cannabinoids?

 The agency goes on to inform about the varying misperceptions people have with respect to synthetic cannabinoids and their falsely perceived safety. As per their description, they are human-made, unregulated mind-altering chemicals that fall under a drug category called new psychoactive substances (NPS). These substances are sprayed on dried plant material for smoking or sold in liquid form to be used in vaporizing devices.

 They are sold and used recreationally under many names (e.g. herbal or liquid incense, K2, Spice, Black Mamba, Bombay Blue, Genie, Zohai, among others). Often pitched as being able to mimic the effects of cannabis because the chemical makeup is similar to those in the marijuana plant, the marketing of synthetic cannabinoids as synthetic “pot” can be deceptive and untrue. Synthetic cannabinoids have been found to impact the brain with greater potency, be volatile and life-threatening.

 What is causing the internal bleeding (and now death) in Illinois?

 According to the Chicago Tribune,

 “Consumption of synthetic cannabinoids previously has caused serious health problems such as seizures and kidney failure, but the side effect of severe bleeding is tied to the recent outbreak, said Dr. Patrick Lank, a medical toxicologist who works at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.” The article goes on to reveal “three of the hospitalized people tested positive for brodifacoum, more commonly known as rat poison.”

 You may be familiar with the drug coumadin - a blood thinning medication used to treat clots and prevent stroke - whose generic name is warfarin. Brodifacoum is often called a “superwarfarin” because it is extremely powerful with a long duration of action.

 Rat poison notoriously contains ingredients that have anticoagulant properties - or substances that impede someone’s ability to clot effectively. This particular compound antagonizes Vitamin K (which is necessary for proper clotting) and has an especially long half-life, so treatment for poisonings requires high doses at regular, continuous intervals for protracted periods of time. Over-the-counter options are not good enough given the severity of the problem and the urgency needed to correct it. And, therapies are mostly helpful when initiated before extensive bleeding and blood loss takes place.

 Once someone loses their ability to clot a cascade of untoward events follows. With such internal bleeding and blood loss, a person can go into shock, suffer a stroke, cardiac events, loss of consciousness and death.

 The bottom line…

 Efforts to liken synthetic cannabinoids to the active ingredient in marijuana by calling the products synthetic “pot” or “marijuana” are misleading misnomers. These “products” contain many highly potent, dangerous chemicals and you are taking big risks when using them.

 ADDENDUM (4/2/18, 8pm)

 The Illinois Department of Public Health now reports 2 deaths, 56 cases and expects these numbers to rise. See their link here for daily updates on this outbreak. ||||| A woman from central Illinois has become the fourth person in the state to die from synthetic marijuana, officials announced Tuesday.

 The woman, whose name was not disclosed, was in her 30s, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

 Previously, two men, one in his 20s and another in his 40s, died in central Illinois, along with a Chicago-area man in his 20s.

 Health officials reported that 153 people in 13 counties in Illinois have gotten sick from synthetic cannabinoids believed to be laced with rat poison. Most victims are from the Chicago and Peoria areas.

 Synthetic marijuana is not marijuana at all but man-made chemicals sold on the premise that they act on the same brain cell receptors as the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, THC.

 In recent weeks, victims have begun showing up in hospital emergency rooms after coughing up blood, bleeding in the urine, nose or gums, or having internal bleeding, officials said. It was determined that they were suffering from a chemical found in rat poison called brodifacoum, which prevents blood from clotting. Officials said the poison is believed to have been mixed in with the synthetic marijuana.

 Patients are treated with intravenous transfusions of vitamin K to restore their blood’s clotting ability, followed by vitamin K pills. On Monday, officials announced a donation of nearly 800,000 vitamin K tablets by the Bausch Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. in Laval, Quebec.

 rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

 Twitter @RobertMcCoppin

 RELATED

 Illinois gets donation of nearly 800,000 vitamin K tablets to treat poisoning from synthetic marijuana »

 71-year-old central Illinois woman charged in synthetic marijuana case »

 Tainted synthetic pot eyed as cause of another Illinois death as store owner accused of selling substance held without bail » ||||| (CNN) A fourth death in central Illinois has been connected to synthetic cannabinoid use, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday.

 Since March 7, synthetic cannabinoids have sickened 153 people and been blamed in four deaths: a woman in her 30s, a man in his 40s and two men in their 20s.

 Synthetic cannabinoids across Chicago and parts of central Illinois have been found to contain brodifacoum, a rat poison, according to state health officials.

 Earlier this month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned about life-threatening bleeding linked to the use of synthetic cannabinoids, often sold as spice, K2 or fake weed . A CDC "outbreak alert" noted that there were some bleeding cases also in Indiana, Maryland, Missouri and Wisconsin.

 Now, the number of hospitalizations and deaths is continuing to climb.

 "We continue to see new cases of individuals experiencing severe bleeding after using synthetic cannabinoids," Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said in a written statement Tuesday.

 "Like so many other drugs, synthetic cannabinoids are addictive and people are not able to give them up. Alternatively, they think that it won't happen to them because they know their dealer or trust wherever they purchased the drugs," he said. "If you know someone who uses synthetic cannabinoids, tell them these are deadly products and try to help them get treatment."

 The US Attorney's Office charged three men with federal drug offenses and accused them of conspiring to sell synthetic cannabinoids at a Chicago convenience store, in connection with some of the cases.

 JUST WATCHED Police: Spike in synthetic marijuana overdoses in 2015 Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Police: Spike in synthetic marijuana overdoses in 2015 02:13

 Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made chemicals that can be sprinkled on dried, shredded plant material and smoked or consumed as vaporized liquids inhaled through an e-cigarette or other device.

 Although these mind-altering chemicals are called cannabinoids, since they are designed to be similar to the chemicals found in marijuana, their actual impacts on the brain and body are much more powerful. They can cause serious side effects that are different from those of marijuana.

 One study of a synthetic cannabinoid, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2016, found that it was 85 times as potent as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the mind-altering chemical in marijuana.

 Since the synthetic cannabinoids in Illinois were found to contain rat poison, most of the hospitalizations have been related to unexplained bleeding, such as coughing up blood, blood in the urine, bloody nose and bleeding gums.

 A chemical in rat poison prevents blood from clotting, causing the severe bleeding, according to the state health department.

 Health officials warn that anyone who has a reaction to synthetic cannabinoids, such as severe bleeding, should call 911 or be taken to an emergency department immediately.

 To treat the bleeding, doctors use high doses of vitamin K, up to 30 tablets a day for up to six months, which can help restore the blood's ability to clot.

 Follow CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.

 Since this rising number of cases calls for a large amount of vitamin K and long duration of treatment -- costing up to thousands of dollars for each patient -- the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that it's working to find a way to place no financial burden on patients tied to the synthetic cannabinoids outbreak.

 The Bausch Foundation, the charitable organization of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, donated nearly 800,000 tablets of vitamin K to the department. |||||


Article:

Article Excerpt

 WASHINGTON—Behind the political showdown over the deadly U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, are a few dozen heavily edited words.

 The 94-word intelligence summary emerged from a daylong email debate between more than two dozen intelligence officials, in which they contested and whittled the available evidence into a bland summary with no reference to al Qaeda, an assessment the administration now acknowledges was wide of the mark.

 Now famous as "the talking points," the 94 words were used by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on Sunday talk shows days after the attack. That moment has become a proxy for a ... ||||| Article Excerpt

 WASHINGTON—Behind the political showdown over the deadly U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, are a few dozen heavily edited words.

 The 94-word intelligence summary emerged from a daylong email debate between more than two dozen intelligence officials, in which they contested and whittled the available evidence into a bland summary with no reference to al Qaeda, an assessment the administration now acknowledges was wide of the mark.

 Now famous as "the talking points," the 94 words were used by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on Sunday talk shows days after the attack. That moment has become a proxy for a ... |||||
What is a summary?

– The Wall Street Journal today takes a look at the life and death of 94 little words: the heavily edited and ultimately faulty Benghazi talking points compiled by the CIA in the wake of the consulate attack. Just a day after the attack, the CIA's reports were already referencing al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb. The following day, David Petraeus appeared before House and Senate groups; he, too, mentioned the terrorists, and was asked to compile unclassified talking points that Congress could use. By noon on Sept. 14, a draft was circulating—and it referenced al-Qaeda. But an exhausting process of editing followed, with more than two dozen CIA officials weighing in on the copy over email—and battling about the inclusion of al-Qaeda. Those opposed argued it should be removed because the intel was shaky (sourced from intercepted phone calls) and over fears it could alert al-Qaeda members to the fact that they were being watched. The opponents won out, though the term "extremists" remained; the FBI agreed with the call. It also contained this line: "The demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo." On Sept. 15, the CIA station chief in Tripoli began to voice his concern with the assertions that the attack was both spontaneous and that demonstrations were occurring. He sent the CIA an email summarizing his thoughts the next day—but Susan Rice had already been hand-delivered the 94 fateful words the night before, so that she could prep for her news show appearances. Click for the Journal's full take, which charts the ultimate change in the CIA's assessment.


Write a summary based on this article:

Police have expanded their search area for Noah Terry Thomas of Pulaski County. (Photo: Pulaski County Sheriff's Office)

 DUBLIN, Va. (WUSA9) -- Pulaski County Sheriff's Office authorities say the investigation into the discovery of the body of a missing five-year-old boy in a septic tank will be "moving forward the focus will be on facts and physical evidence and will not be driven by speculation or rumors."

 The autopsy on Noah Thomas has been completed my the medical examiner, but the cause of death is pending. No timetable has been given on when those results will be released.

 Autopsy on #NoahThomas is FINISHED. Medical Examiner: Results are PENDING. Cause of death will help exlpain what happened to Noah. @wusa9 — Mola Lenghi (@MolaReports) March 27, 2015

 County spokesperson Anthony Akers delivered the statement for the sheriff to the media on Friday morning. Akers would not speak about the investigation into Noah Thomas' death beyond what the sheriff's written statement contained, but did thank residents, search team members and members of the media for their help and cooperation over the last several days.

 The body of a missing five-year-old Virginia boy was found in a septic tank Thursday afternoon, the Pulaski County Sherriff's Office said. WUSA

 Very few details are emerging from this investigation. All week police talked about their frustration over a lack of leads while searching for Noah Thomas.

 Then on Thursday, police had a major break when they found Noah's body in the septic tank on his parents property. Now it seems as if leads may be drying up again.

 Authorities are pleading with the public to come forward with any information or tips they may have.

 Police say no arrests have been made, there are no suspects, no charges and no cause of death.

 Noah Thomas was found dead Thursday in a septic tank in Dublin, Va.

 Noah was last seen Sunday morning by his mother. He was watching cartoons when she says she took a two hour nap. She woke up and Noah was gone. Five days later his body was found.

 Police are not not releasing much information and they're not answering many questions about the investigation, or anything close to it.

 WUSA9's Mola Lenghi asked repeatedly about the septic tank, how someone can gain access to it, if there's any possibility of an accident and he didn't get any answers.

 Authorities will be relying heavily on Noah's exact cause of death. Once they know that, they hope to have a better understanding of what happened.

 Authorities say the family is fully cooperating with the investigation.

 Pulaski County Sheriff's Office continue to encourage people to come forward with any information about the boy's disappearance or death.

 Noah Thomas went missing from his home on Sunday and his body was found shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday near his family's home.

 Since Sunday, authorities canvased a nearly 10 mile radius around the house, as it turned out, Noah was right there on the property.

 "His body was found in a septic tank after a more detailed and aggressive search. The recovery of the body is now a part of our investigation, " Jim Davis, of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said.

 The body of a missing five-year-old Virginia boy was found in a septic tank Thursday afternoon, the Pulaski County Sherriff's Office said.

 The FBI is on scene to provide forensic support.

 Police are still trying to determine a cause of death but some family members suspect foul play. The boy's uncle told the Roanoke Times, "You don't get in a septic tank by accident. Somebody's going to pay."

 It could be mere coincidence but after the sheriff offered a $5,000 reward, the boy's body was found Thursday afternoon. According to neighbors, every home has a septic tank which is roughly four to five feet underground.

 The sheriff says while there is no hard evidence Noah was home Sunday, he is trusting the mother's statement that she last saw her son watching cartoons in the living room that morning. He asks the public not to judge the parents, saying "they are living a nightmare."

 A candle light vigil is planned to remember the life of Noah Thomas. The memorial will be held Friday, 8 p.m. at the Pearisburg Rec Center (also known as the old King Johnston Middle School) located at 1410 Wenonah Ave. in Pearisburg, Va.

 PREVIOUS: Noah Thomas missing: $5K reward offered for info

 This hazmat vehicle was just seen pulling up to the area where #NoahThomas was last seen. http://t.co/knanWpZ81tpic.twitter.com/54hII8LxT2 — WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) March 26, 2015

 This is the scene outside the Highland Rd. home #NoahThomas went missing from. http://t.co/knanWpZ81tpic.twitter.com/WhJtB8PiN8 — WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) March 26, 2015

 RELATED STORIES:

 Search for missing Va. boy stretches into 4th day

 Search area expanded for 5-year-old Va. boy

 Read or Share this story: http://on.wusa9.com/1bycCsk ||||| Thank you for Reading.

 Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.

 A subscription is required to continue reading.

 Thank you for reading 10 free articles on Roanoke.com. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 10 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber to the Roanoke Times newspaper you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click Sign Up to subscribe, or Login if you are already a member.

 Thank you for reading 10 free articles on Roanoke.com. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 10 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber to the Roanoke Times newspaper you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click below to Get Started. |||||

– Noah Thomas' mother says her 5-year-old was watching cartoons in his Pulaski County, Va., home on Sunday when she took a two-hour nap. She woke up and he was gone. Yesterday, his body was found in a septic tank on his parents' property, USA Today reports. Investigators have yet to determine what happened, and this morning the sheriff's office called for a focus on "facts and physical evidence" rather than "speculation or rumors." The investigation is currently framed as a "death investigation, with WDBJ noting "crime scene" tape wasn't used at the scene. Authorities should know more when a cause of death is determined, though it's not clear when that will be. Investigators haven't answered questions about how the septic tank can be accessed and whether it's possible the death was an accident, but at least some family members have their suspicions. "You don't get in a septic tank by accident," an uncle tells the Roanoke Times. "Somebody's going to pay." Neighbors say septic tanks in the area are typically four to five feet underground; Noah's body was found just hours after a $5,000 reward was announced. As for his parents, they are cooperating with authorities, and the sheriff, who describes them as "living a nightmare," asked that the public refrain from rushing to judgment. Says the uncle, "No one loved Noah more than Paul and Ashley." The search for the boy began within half an hour of his mother realizing he was missing, WDBJ reports.


– Here's Mitt Romney's assessment of the Dark Knight massacre that claimed 12 lives: Different gun laws would not have made any difference. Even though the candidate has supported stricter gun controls in the past, he said on CNBC yesterday: "I still believe that the Second Amendment is the right course to preserve and defend, and I don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this type of tragedy." He called Colorado's gun laws "very stringent," adding: "Our challenge is not the laws. Our challenge is people who, obviously, are distracted from reality and do unthinkable, unimaginable, inexplicable things." Romney backed a ban on assault weapons—including the AR-15 used in the Aurora rampage—when he was governor of Massachusetts. The weapons are legal in Colorado, where few modifications have been made to gun laws since the Columbine massacre. “I believe the people should have the right to bear arms, but I don’t believe that we have to have assault weapons as part of our personal arsenal,” Romney said on Fox News in 2004. He won't get much push-back from President Obama, who also plans not to take any action on stricter gun control laws in the wake of the bloodbath.

Expand this summary.

Mitt Romney said now is "not a time to be talking about the politics associated with what happened in Aurora" during an interview Monday, but said legislation he signed while governor of Massachusetts to ban weapons like those used in the Friday massacre was a "combination of efforts" of groups on both sides of the debate.

 "The law that we signed in Massachusetts was a combination of efforts both on the part of those that were for additional gun rights and those that opposed gun rights, and they came together and made some changes that provided, I think, a better environment for both, and that's why both sides came to celebrate the signing of the bill," Romney told CNBC's Larry Kudlow, according to a transcript released before the evening airing of the interview. "Where there are opportunities for people of reasonable minds to come together and find common ground, that's the kind of legislation I like. The idea of one party jamming through something over the objection of the other tends to divide the nation, not make us a more safe and prosperous place. So if there's common ground, why I'm always willing to have that kind of a conversation."

 As Massachusetts governor, Romney signed into law the first state ban on assault weapons. That ban outlawed the type of rifle, an AR-15, which was one of the guns used in Friday's shooting. Police say the suspect, James Holmes also used a shotgun and two pistols to kill 12 attending the midnight movie and injure 59 others.

 In the interview, the presumptive GOP nominee stressed that it's time "to reach out to others in their community" and "get on to policy down the road."

 "I still believe that the Second Amendment is the right course to preserve and defend and don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this type of tragedy," Romney said. "There are-were, of course, very stringent laws which existed in Aurora, Colorado. Our challenge is not the laws, our challenge is people who, obviously, are distracted from reality and do unthinkable, unimaginable, inexplicable things."

 Both campaigns dialed down the rhetoric after Friday's tragedy, taking a pause from politics and both sides took down their ads in the state. On Friday, both President Obama and Romney changed their tone and instead of holding boisterous rallies turned them into short speeches remembering the victims and the senseless tragedy.

 But, it was clear Monday both campaigns put their gloves back on and Romney admitted the short pause was over.

 Get More News at ABC Politics and a Different Spin at OTUS News

 "I think we are, but we're starting also with a level of thoughtfulness and seriousness that I think is appropriate in the aftermath of a tragedy of this nature," Romney said. "Obviously, the campaigns are under way. We're talking about our respective views and at the same time, our hearts are heavy as we think about the funerals that'll be held this week and the families that have been so tragically altered by virtue of the loss of life."

 Kudlow asked if those poignant speeches by both candidates and the less negative tone could continue. Romney said, "It really would be nice" before going after Obama calling their campaign the negative one.

 "I mean, I know that the president, when he called me and congratulated me on becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, said that America is-will benefit from a-an important and healthy debate," Romney said. "I haven't seen the healthy, important debate coming from the president's team. It's been almost all attack ads on all sorts of peripheral issues."

 A recent study of a two week period ending in July found the two campaigns were quite similar when it came to slinging mud. Advertising trackers Kantar Media's CMAG found 89 percent of Obama's ads were negative, while 94 percent of Romney's ads were negative. ||||| Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) shake hands with supporters who formed a receiving line after Romney delivered remarks about the shooting in Colorado during what was supposed to be a campaign event at Coastal Forest Products in Bow, New Hampshire July 20, 2012.

 RENO, Nevada |

 RENO, Nevada (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has backed gun control measures in the past, said on Monday that additional laws would not have stopped last week's massacre in a Colorado movie theater.

 "I still believe that the Second Amendment is the right course to preserve and defend and don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this type of tragedy," Romney told CNBC's Lawrence Kudlow in an interview.

 Both Romney and his opponent, Democratic President Barack Obama, have demurred on the prospect of new gun control laws in the days since a gunman opened fire during a showing of the new "Batman" movie in a Denver suburb early on Friday, killing 12 and wounding 58.

 In the interview, Romney said that "very stringent" gun laws already exist in Colorado. Specifically, Romney was asked about laws that might ban the online sale of ammunition or restricting the sales of semi-automatic weapons.

 "Our challenge is not the laws, our challenge is people who, obviously, are distracted from reality and do unthinkable, unimaginable, inexplicable things," Romney said.

 Some gun-rights groups have been skeptical of Romney because of his support for gun control measures when he served as governor of Massachusetts.

 When asked if an assault weapons ban had worked in Massachusetts, Romney focused instead on how the law had bipartisan support.

 "Actually the law that we signed in Massachusetts was a combination of efforts both on the part of those that were for additional gun rights and those that opposed gun rights, and they came together and made some changes that provided, I think, a better environment for both, and that's why both sides came to celebrate the signing of the bill," Romney said.

 (Editing by Alistair Bell and Mohammad Zargham) |||||


Summarize this article:

Citigroup Inc. (C), the lender that took the most government aid during the financial crisis, will seek approval for a “meaningful” payout to shareholders after failing to meet minimum standards in U.S. stress tests.

 “We still believe that our company has the capacity to return more capital to shareholders,” Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said in an internal memorandum obtained by Bloomberg News. “We will work with the Federal Reserve to formulate a plan that returns meaningful capital while satisfying our regulators.”

 The Fed objected yesterday to Citigroup’s capital plan, which may have included a request for a higher dividend. SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI), Ally Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc. (MET) also fell short in the Fed’s test of how 19 of the nation’s biggest lenders would fare in a severe economic slump.

 The results are a blow to Pandit, who has told investors the New York-based bank is ready to return capital to shareholders after slashing the dividend during the financial crisis. Capital plans submitted for the tests typically involve requests for higher dividends and share buybacks, which the Fed allowed for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

 “Investors are going to be disappointed,” said Michael Shemi, a director at Christofferson, Robb & Co., a New York- based investment firm with about $1.5 billion under management, referring to Citigroup. “Citi appears to have been too aggressive with their capital plans.”

 Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Citigroup Center in New York. Close Citigroup Center in New York. Close Open Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Citigroup Center in New York.

 Shares Decline

 Citigroup fell 3.2 percent to $35.27 at 11:50 a.m. in New York, the biggest drop on the 24-company KBW Bank Index. JPMorgan, which jumped 7 percent yesterday, was up 0.4 percent, and Wells Fargo declined 1 percent.

 Pandit scrapped Citigroup’s dividend in 2009 as part of the company’s $45 billion bailout, which was later repaid. He reinstated a 1-cent payout last year and has been selling riskier assets to rebuild the bank’s strength. The Fed didn’t object to keeping the current quarterly payout, Citigroup said.

 The Fed’s decision “is disappointing, but we remain very optimistic about the long term,” Pandit wrote in his memo.

 The tests may also set back Ally, the Detroit-based auto and home lender rescued by taxpayers, which had planned an initial public offering to repay its bailout. Ally, run by CEO Michael Carpenter, and SunTrust, led by CEO William H. Rogers, said they will submit revised plans.

 Deep Recession

 The Fed is testing to see how the capital of U.S. banks might hold up through a deep recession and a second housing crisis. The scrutiny focused on variables such as trading and counterparty losses and write-offs on credit cards and first- lien mortgages. Most of the 19 banks passed.

 Disclosure of stress-test results in May 2009 boosted confidence in the financial system by giving investors more certainty on the maximum losses firms might sustain, and bank stocks beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the next 12 months. The KBW Bank Index (BKX) jumped 4.6 percent yesterday after JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. lender, announced it had passed the test and was raising its dividend 20 percent.

 The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for Citigroup to increase its payout to 28 cents this year from 3 cents. They projected the bank would buy back about $2.18 billion in shares, or 2.2 percent of the total, after making no repurchases last year.

 Overstated Risks

 Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, declined to comment on what was in the capital plan. Ally said in an e- mailed statement that the Fed’s analysis overstated some risks and didn’t account for some of the auto and home lender’s financial and management resources.

 Citigroup’s projected Tier 1 common capital ratio fell to 4.9 percent, below the central bank’s minimum requirement of 5 percent, in a test estimating the effects of a severe economic slump, according to data released by the Fed. Citigroup would surpass the threshold if the bank didn’t pursue a dividend increase or share buyback, according to the Fed’s data.

 Citigroup still has more than $200 billion of unwanted assets in the Citi Holdings unit, including more than $100 billion of mortgages, according to a filing.

 “We continue to have the same goals that I mentioned before, which is that this will be the year that we’ll start returning capital,” Pandit told analysts on Jan. 17.

 Federal Aid

 Ally has benefited from $17.2 billion of federal aid, which it needed after losses swelled on subprime home mortgages made by its Residential Capital mortgage subsidiary. A statement e- mailed by Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for Ally, said the Fed’s analysis “dramatically overstates potential contingent mortgage risk, especially with respect to newer vintages of loans.”

 The tests also didn’t give enough credit for “management’s track record” and commitment to addressing the mortgage risks, and doesn’t “adequately contemplate contingent capital that already exists,” according to the statement.

 The U.S. Treasury holds $5.9 billion of preferred shares that must be converted into common equity no later than Dec. 30, 2016, according to the lender’s annual securities filing.

 Ally has considered putting the ResCap unit into bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter have said. Once known as GMAC when it was part of General Motors Co., Ally remains one of the biggest auto lenders and has profited from a recovery in car sales. The U.S. gained a 74 percent stake in the company in return for rescuing Ally in 2008.

 Raising Capital

 “They’ve done a lot less capital-raising than others,” said Kirk Ludtke, an analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based CRT Capital Group LLC. Ally’s capital plan may include additional contributions to ResCap, he said.

 SunTrust’s Tier 1 common capital ratio would fall to 4.8 percent if the Atlanta-based lender carried out capital plans submitted to the Fed, according to the test results. Capital plans can include dividend payouts, stock repurchases and share sales. Ally’s ratio was estimated at 2.5 percent, regardless of any capital actions it proposed, according to Fed data.

 SunTrust, ranked eighth in the U.S. by deposits, said it would have met Federal Reserve standards without the plan for capital actions that the lender submitted to the regulator. Distributing dividends and share buybacks tend to weaken performance on the tests by draining capital.

 Shares in SunTrust rose 66 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $23.23 at 11:50 a.m. in New York trading after the company said first- quarter earnings will probably beat the average estimate compiled by First Call.

 Housing Loans

 The lender amassed losses amid a housing slump in the nation’s Southeast. After posting profits of more than $1 billion annually before 2008, the company booked a $1.56 billion loss in 2009 as write-offs surged.

 About 27 percent of SunTrust’s residential construction loans and 29 percent of its residential mortgages were concentrated in Florida, which suffered some of the worst mortgage defaults during the financial crisis.

 “I don’t think these stress tests are about who needs more capital,” said Michael Rose, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates Inc. “Clearly it’s about who can return capital. So maybe what they asked for might have been a little aggressive.”

 Rose, who rates the shares “outperform,” said he’d been expecting SunTrust to double its 5-cent quarterly dividend. “It’s not like they failed by a wide margin,” he said, calling the test’s scenario “onerous” and “probably unrealistic.”

 MetLife’s Results

 MetLife’s total risk-based capital ratio would be 6 percent, compared with the minimum acceptable level of 8 percent, the Fed said as part of its review of how companies would withstand a “stress scenario.”

 The insurer had requested approval for $2 billion in share repurchases and an increase of its annual dividend to $1.10 a share from 74 cents, according to a statement from the New York- based company. MetLife, which is overseen by the Fed because of its banking operations, was prevented by the regulator last year from increasing its dividend.

 CEO Steven Kandarian is winding down the banking business and said he expects the firm to have as much as $7 billion of excess capital by the end of this year. Kandarian said he remains “fully committed” to returning funds to shareholders, and that MetLife is on track to stop being a bank holding company by the middle of this year.

 “At the end of the day this is an insurance company,” said Edward Shields, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP. MetLife’s inclusion in the Fed test is “like putting a square peg into a round hole.”

 Shares in MetLife fell 4.5 percent in New York. The stock gained 27 percent this year through yesterday.

 Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), the Cincinnati-based lender, said the Fed objected to increases in its 8-cent quarterly dividend and some common share buybacks. The government didn’t object to its redemption of as much as $1.4 billion in certain trust-preferred securities.

 To contact the reporters on this story: Donal Griffin in New York at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net;

 To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Marcinek in New York at lmarcinek3@bloomberg.net ||||| “It is night and day,” Jason Goldberg, senior analyst at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, said before the announcement. “In 2009, about half the banks failed the stress test. The industry’s capital position is higher today, and better quality. There is a lot less leverage.”

 JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), in an announcement before the Fed’s release, said it would raise its dividend 20 percent and authorized a $15 billion share repurchase plan after the central bank tested its capital.

 The Fed said an unemployment rate of 13 percent, a 50 percent drop in stock prices and a 21 percent decline in house prices under the stress scenario would produce aggregate losses of $534 billion over nine quarters.

 Even with that blow, the 19 banks would see their tier one common capital ratio -- a measure of bank strength against loss -- fall to 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 in the hypothetical scenario, above the 5 percent minimum the Fed required. The ratio was 10.1 percent in the third quarter of last year.

 To contact the reporters on this story: Craig Torres in Washington at ctor To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Zumbrun in Washington at jzumbrun@bloomberg.net;res3@bloomberg.net;

 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net ||||| Article Excerpt

 Most of the biggest U.S. banks passed the latest round of "stress tests" administered by federal regulators—a milestone in the recovery from the financial crisis that clears the way for investors to receive tens of billions of dollars in increased bank dividends and share buybacks.

 But in a major setback to Citigroup Inc.'s efforts to restore investor confidence, the Federal Reserve rejected the bank's request to raise its dividend and expand its buyback. Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, passed the stress test, but the Fed indicated it would fall short of some capital requirements if it boosted the ... |||||

– The Federal Reserve released the results of its latest round of stress tests at the nation's biggest banks, and they're generally being received as good news. Fifteen of the 19 banks passed, which is what outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post are highlighting in the the first paragraph. But the AP and Bloomberg opt to focus on the four that failed, and each singles out Citigroup in the opening paragraph. (The three other banks that failed to impress were SunTrust, MetLife, and Ally Financial.) A Barclays Capital analyst sides with the rosier view, especially when the numbers are compared to the dark days of the Lehman collapse: “It is night and day. In 2009, about half the banks failed the stress test. The industry’s capital position is higher today, and better quality. There is a lot less leverage.”


– Protesters gathered in North Carolina tore down a 97-year-old Confederate statue in front of a cheering crowd of more than 100 people Monday. Activists used a ladder to put a rope around the statue's neck before a group of people pulled it to the ground, the News & Observer reports. Protesters, who had gathered outside the old courthouse building in Durham in response to the weekend violence in Charlottesville, then kicked and spat on the statue. The bronze statue of a soldier holding a muzzleloading rifle was erected in 1924, with the words "In Memory of the Boys Who Wore the Gray" engraved on the pillar, reports CNN. Police officers filmed the toppling of the statue. No arrests were made, though North Carolina brought in a law in 2015 banning the removal of monuments to the Confederacy from public property without permission from state officials, the AP reports. Police say they didn't arrest anybody because the toppling took place on county property. "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable, but there is a better way to remove these monuments," tweeted Gov. Roy Cooper. Protesters called for the removal of other monuments to the Confederacy, including the "Silent Sam" statue on the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus.

Expand this summary.

A protester kicks the toppled statue of a Confederate soldier after it was pulled down in Durham, N.C. Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. Activists on Monday evening used a rope to pull down the monument outside... (Associated Press)

 DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Protesters in North Carolina toppled a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier Monday at a rally against racism.

 Activists in Durham brought a ladder up to the statue and used a rope to pull down the Confederate Soldiers Monument that was dedicated in 1924. A diverse crowd of dozens cheered as the statue of a soldier holding a rifle fell to the ground in front of an old courthouse building that now houses local government offices.

 Seconds after the monument fell, protesters began kicking the crumpled bronze monument.

 "I was a little bit shocked people could come here and come together like that," said Isaiah Wallace, who is black.

 Wallace said he watched as others toppled the statue. He hopes other Confederate symbols elsewhere will follow.

 "I feel like this is going to send shockwaves through the country and hopefully they can bring down other racist symbols," he said.

 The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Authorities say one woman was killed Saturday after one of the white nationalists drove his car into a group of peaceful counter-protesters.

 Although the violence in Virginia has prompted fresh talk by government officials about bringing down symbols of the Confederacy around the South, North Carolina has a law protecting them. The 2015 law prevents removing such monuments on public property without permission from state officials.

 In response to the statue in Durham being torn down, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted: "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments."

 After the statue fell, several dozen protesters congregated on the street in front of the old courthouse. Some took pictures standing or sitting on the toppled soldier, in front of a pedestal inscribed with the words "In Memory of the Boys Who Wore The Gray." Police cruisers blocked off the street, and officers looked on — some filming. As it got dark, rally participants began to peacefully disperse.

 Robin Williamson, who works downtown, arrived in the area about an hour after the statue came down. Williamson, who is black, said he can sympathize with people who are upset with the state of racial discourse in the country.

 "People feel that with Donald Trump as leader, racists can be vocal," he said.

 He said that while Confederate monuments have been defaced in other cities, it was surprising to see an entire statue brought down by protesters.

 "This is a little bit more intense because they took the whole statue down," he said.

 ___

 Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/jonldrew ||||| A protest in downtown Durham on Monday night left a statue of a Confederate soldier erected nearly a century ago crumpled on the ground.

 Sheriff’s deputies recorded the event but did not intervene as a protester climbed a ladder and slipped a yellow, bungie-like cord around the soldier’s head and arm and a group pulled the cord.

 The statue did a somersault, collapsing against the stone pedestal in front of the old county courthouse on East Main Street.

 Protesters cheered and started to kick the crumpled mass.

 Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today.

 Gov. Roy Cooper criticized the action, tweeting that “the racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments.”

 Monday’s rally, the second in Durham in two days, began around 6 p.m. as more than 50 people gathered in front of the now county administration building chanting, sharing their experiences in Charlottesville, Virginia, and demanding that people fight racism in their communities and across the South.

 “Tactics are changing, which means that our strategies need to change, our unity needs to escalate and our demands to fight back and resist domestic terror needs to escalate,” said Eva Panjwani with the Workers World Party Durham.

 As the crowd swelled to more than 100 people, the protesters circled the statue of the soldier holding a muzzle-loading rifle and chanted “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!”

 Groups at the rally included members of the Triangle People’s Assembly, Workers World Party, Industrial Workers of the World, Democratic Socialists of America and the antifa movement.

 “This is a really an opportunity, this moment of Charlottesville to see what side of history we are choosing to side with,” Panjwani said. “This is not a call to make someone to feel guilty or ashamed. This is a call to say this is an ask from people of color to say which side are you on.”

 Conversations about loving your neighbor have not worked, she said.

 Alissa Ellis, of the Workers World Party Durham branch that was a participant in the Charlottesville protest, said people need to embrace multiple tactics because that is what kept her safe.

 “We need to shun passive, white liberalism” that elevates whites voices over black and brown voices, she said.

 Others called for all Confederate statues across the South to come down, including Silent Sam on the UNC Chapel Hill campus.

 Durham County sent out a statement at 12:23 a.m. that said local elected officials and senior staff understand the unrest in the nation and community, particularly following the senseless acts that took place in Charlottesville.

 “We share the sentiments of many communities around the nation that admonish hate and acts of violence as we believe civility is necessary in our every action and response,” the statement said. “Governmental agencies dedicated to public safety will continue to work collectively to ensure Durham remains a community of excellence where all of our residents can live peacefully, grow and thrive.”

 Stopping traffic

 After the Durham statue was pulled down, protesters walked down East Main Street and blocked the intersection at South Roxboro Street, some holding hands in the middle of the broad intersection.

 After about five minutes, the group left the intersection and continued to walk down Main Street on the sidewalk. They stopped at the construction site of the new Durham Police Department headquarters.

 Police blocked traffic and accompanied the group as members walked down the streets. No arrests were made, the department said Monday night. Durham County Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction over all county buildings and landmarks, it said.

 The line of protesters walked back to the old courthouse. Some took photographs with the fallen statue. Sheriff’s officials continued to take video.

 Isaiah Wallace, 26, of Durham, accompanied the protesters carrying and playing a guitar.

 Watching the statue fall “was awesome,” he said.

 “It’s going to send shock waves through the country, all the rest of the racist monuments and symbols can get town down also,” he said.

 Some of the protesters started to yell at sheriff’s officials standing on the steps of the old courthouse recording, and then Durham police officers blocking the street.

 Pierre Faulkner waved a sign in front of them that said “cops and clan go hand in hand” on one side and “Black Lives Matter smash white supremacy” on the other.

 “If y’all aren’t going to help us, we are going to help each other,” said Faulkner, 27, a student at Durham Technical Community College. “You understand that. Do you understand that? You look like you voted for Donald Trump.”

 At 8:26 p.m., a law enforcement official told protesters to disperse. “Leave the street. Leave the area right now. Leave the property of the county right now,” he said.

 A small group continued to follow Faulkner down Main Street. He stopped on the corner of Corcoran and Main streets, and people then started to go their separate ways around 8:34 p.m.

 Faulkner said all he wants is for their voice to be heard.

 “The message that they are trying to explain to these police is it doesn’t matter about your skin color. Everybody is one person. Everybody should be treated equally,” he said. “They’re standing out here with guns and bullet proof vests. We have no weapons. This is a peaceful protest. All we want is our voice to be heard.”

 More information sought

 Earlier Monday County Commissioners Chairwoman Wendy Jacobs said she had asked county staff to start researching the history of the Main Street monument and state legislation regarding Cconfederate monuments.

 “We don’t even have basic information about the history of the statue,” she said. “We don’t know anything about what the current laws are.”

 “The first step of any conversation is understanding what the facts are,” she said.

 Protesters pulled down this 15-foot-tall statue of a Confederate soldier Monday night, Aug. 14, 2017, on East Main Street in downtown Durham. Durham citizens erected and dedicated the statue on May 10, 1924, in memory of “the boys who wore the gray.” News & Observer File photo

 In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law preventing state agencies and local governments from taking down any “object of remembrance” on public property that “commemorates an event, a person, or military service that is part of North Carolina’s history.”

 A state law would be needed to remove a monument or relocate one to a site that’s not of “similar prominence.”

 A person who damages or destroys public property can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor under state law, and if convicted, can receive a fine of $500 and 24 hours of community service.

 The granite base on the Main Street soldier, which was dedicated in 1924, says, “In memory of ‘the boys who wore the gray.”

 There are about 120 Civil War memorials across the state, according to the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties.

 About a dozen are dedicated to Union soldiers, and others honor soldiers in a number of wars. About 100 are clearly monuments related to the Confederacy. The monuments are in cemeteries and on public and private properties. ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more |||||