THE CASH STUFF FOR OCT. 29, 2026

                                                              ERNIE PITT

                                        PUBLISHER PITT AND THE NC BLACK PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION HOSTS SEN. BARCK OBAMA DURING 2008 CAMPAIGN

ERNIE PITT, FORMER

OWNER/PUBLISHER OF

WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE

DIES AT AGE 80

By Cash Michaels

Another pioneer of North Carolina’s Black Press has passed on.

Ernest Harold “Ernie” Pitt, the original owner, cofounder and publisher of The Winston-Salem Chronicle died Oct. 23rd.

He was 80 years old.

“He was a pioneering publisher, a Vietnam veteran, a community leader, and a member of the North Carolina Media & Journalism Hall of Fame,” said Pitt’s son, Wali. “For 43 years, he led The Winston-Salem Chronicle.”

Founded in 1974, The Chronicle, as it is more commonly known, became the voice of Winston-Salem’s African-American community under Ernie Pitt. Starting as a four-page weekly with no money or investors, it not only reported news most important to its community, but also challenged the Twin City’s political power structure when needed on behalf of the Black community.

Along with his then wife, Elaine, working behind the scenes to keep the newspaper afloat, Pitt hit the streets in search of stories and events he could put in The Chronicle so that his community was kept abreast rneyre were plenty of copies to cover the community. And of course, just like the Black newspaper owners of yesteryear, Pitt made sure he sold as much advertising as possible to build The Chronicle, and keep it viable and alive.

For Ernie Pitt, publishing The Chronicle was a fulfilling journey in creating a Black enterprise that built wealth, provided a platform for community leadership, and carefully built a legacy for others, especially young people to follow. Through The Chronicle, publisher Pitt became nationally known for his vision and commitment to excellence.

In 2017, Pitt sold the newspaper to The Chronicle Media Group.

In April 2022, Pitt was inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame.

On April 29th, 2008, as president of the NC Black Publishers Association, Ernie Pitt led a roundtable of NC Black Publishers from across the state in welcoming then presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who would go on to become the first African-American president of the United States. That historic meeting was captured in a YouTube video that remains on the site (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1NA4T0F-rU).

Long before Ernie Pitt started The Chronicle, he led an interesting life.

In 1965, the U.S. Army sent him  as a teenager to Vietnam. He admits to be a young man with no direction at the time. ‘The Army seemed to be a holding ground….to get yourself together,” he recalled. When Pitt left the Army, he got into trouble, ending up in prison for two to three years. But he taught school to inmates while there. It was Ben Ruffin, a special assistant to then Gov. Jim Hunt, who helped to get him a pardon.

It was at NC A&T University in Greensboro where Pitt Realized he had a writing talent.

Pitt ultimately decided to start a Black newspaper in Winston-Salem b because it was the only major city in North Carolina without one. It was a hard task, but ultimately Pitt succeeded in building The Chronicle into a community institution.

“You can only be resurrected when you’ve gone through the fire,” Ernie Pitt Once said. “And I’ve been through the fire several times.”

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                                      ILLEGAL GUNS SEIZED BY FEDS IN NORTH CAROLINA 

                                      TO WASHINGTON, DC. PIPELINE

FEDS SHUTDOWN ILLEGAL

GUN PIPELINE FROM

NORTH CAROLINA TO DC

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Federal law enforcement officials from both North Carolina and Washington, D.C. announced last week the shutdown of an illegal pipeline of firearms that pumped guns from North Carolina onto the streets of Washington and other cities up and down the East Coast.

“A conveyor belt of weapons feeding violence up the East Coast, putting illegal guns onto our streets — today that conveyor belt has stopped,” D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanne Pirro told reporters during a Washington, D.C. press conference. Pirro was flanked by officials from North Carolina’s Eastern District, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

All of them, including U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyce of North Carolina’s Eastern District, were there to also announce a 13-count indictment against five defendants - Brian “B” Agee, age 40, charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms, six counts of firearms trafficking and aiding and abetting and six counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer; Arnis Lecresha Young, 33, charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms, six counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer, and six counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer; Frank “Fatboy” Rayvonne Harris, 38, charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms; Antonique Whitaker, 34, charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms;, two counts of aiding and abetting firearms trafficking, and two counts of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer;  Christian Shedetta Atkinson, 30, charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms, and one count of making a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for conspiracy to traffic firearms from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., and 10 years federal imprisonment for making false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing that they’re getting some of these guns from North Carolina,” Boyce said. “But thanks to the great work of our ATF partners, they found the pipeline and they let us know about it.”

          “If you’re selling guns in eastern North Carolina to other places and you want to go gun trafficking from there, we’re going to be looking for you, we’re going to find you, and we’re going to prosecute you,” Boyce warned.

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BLACK CHURCHES MOBILIZE

“SOULS TO THE POLLS”

WEEKEND TO MAXIMIZE

BLACK VOTE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Even though Sunday early voting was eliminated in at least 20 North Carolina counties across the state this year, Black churches in other counties like Mecklenburg, New Hanover and Guilford mobilized their congregations after church services for "Souls to the Polls" last weekend so that African-Americans could join upwards of over 340,000 early Black voters out of over 1.6 million total voters across the state as of October 25th who cast their ballots going into the final week of early voting before the November 3rd midterm elections. 

        At that same point in 2022, only 1.04 million total had early voted in that midterm. Registered Black voter turnout in 2022 was only 42%, the lowest since 2010. That percentage is expected to improve this midterm election.

Highlighting current Black turnout efforts, the North Carolina Association of Educators partnered with the New Hanover County NAACP to host a "Souls to the Polls" event at St. Luke AME Zion Church in Wilmington where congregants were encouraged to wear a red shirt, vote at the nearest early voting site to the church, then enjoy food together after they voted.

In Durham, it was "Social Justice Sunday" as members of St. Joseph AME Church and the surrounding community gathered at the church, and either walked or rode to the early voting site on the nearby campus of North Carolina Central University to cast their ballots after church service.

“We have a huge caravan of people from our church, from our community, from neighboring churches where we worship together,” the Rev. Dr. Abdue Knox, pastor of St. Joseph’s told ABC-11 news.

In Greensboro, the Black Action March sponsored by New Light Baptist Church and Pastor Greg Druemwright drew large groups of marchers to the Barber Park Polling Place so people could vote.

There were also "Souls to the Polls" events in Alamance, Forsyth, Johnston, Rowan, and Wake counties.

Mecklenburg County held its "Souls to the Polls" event on Saturday.

October 25th was the last Sunday per the midterm elections for early voting to be held. Early voting ends Saturday, Oct. 31st at 3 p.m.. Those who were not able to take advantage of early voting can still cast their ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd. Polls open at 6:30 a.m., and close at 7:30 p.m.. Make sure you have your photo identification with you. All absentee mail-in ballots are required to be at your local county board of elections office by 5 p.m. on Nov. 3rd. 

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THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR OCTOBER 29, 2026

                                                                    CASH MICHAELS

                               FOR REPUBLICANS, DECENCY IS

NOT ON THE BALLOT

by Cash Michaels

Do you know how I know Republicans up for election this midterm are going to get their collective skin peeled off and handed to them when it’s all over? Because these hardhearted, ignorant SOBs have no common sense, no human dignity and no honor.

        The GOP just loyally follow their surely-going-to-Hell president down the primrose path without regard for what people think of them, what they do, and what they refuse to apologize for. It is some of the most ignorant behavior in or out of politics I’ve ever seen.

Take the governor’s race in Ohio, for example. By now you know the sad, sorry story. The Democratic candidate, Dr.  Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Dept. of Health, had been slightly leading in that race against the Republican, former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. So what does Ramaswamy do to even the score? He puts out a new one-minute television campaign ad that features Amy Acton’s long estranged mother, Donna Arthur, someone Acton hasn’t seen for at least 50 years, calling the Democrat a “liar” and disputing Acton’s claim that as a 12-year-old child, she was removed from her mother’s custody after being repeatedly sexually abused by her stepfather, and that she and her little brother were forced to live in a tent before that separation.

Let me repeat that in more blunt terms.The Republican in the Ohio governor’s race finds the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, and entices her to get on camera to call her daughter, an alleged child rape victim, a “liar” for all the world to hear, in hopes that voters would be so disturbed by it, they would vote against her.

Weaponizing your opponent’s own mother and personal agony in a political campaign. That was low enough, until the press dug further into the story and discovered that Democrat Amy Acton is not only an alleged child rape victim, but that her criminal stepfather was indicted by a grand jury for being her alleged rapist. He apparently skipped the state of Ohio to escape prosecution and his wife - her mother - chose to leave with him, leaving her two children - young Amy and her little brother - behind, never to be seen again until now.

Acton’s stepfather died in 2004. He was never prosecuted for the alleged crime.

         "This is probably the worst politics you could imagine, and it's bringing a lot of attention to Amy Acton's story, her narrative," Republican CNN commentator Scott Jennings surprisingly, but rightly said.

While most normal people and a handful of Republicans denounced Ramaswamy and his campaign for running the disgusting ad, most of the GOP kept their cowardly mouths shut, except for you-know-who.

Vice President J.D. Vance, and then later Pres. Trump, gave Ramaswamy’s ad their full-throated endorsement, carelessly thinking they were displaying some kind of macho courage under fire.

“It’s a mother speaking badly against Amy Acton, and to me it’s very easy,” Trump told reporters at the White House last week, mock thanking God for the ad. “If it were my mother speaking badly about me, you’d be making it the number one story in the news.”

Damn skippy!

And what about Vance? What demented pearl of “wisdom” did our vice president offer when asked for comment?

"I have to admit that I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America.” 

Goodness, what is it with these clowns?

I commend the current Republican governor of Ohio, Mike Dewine, and the precious few other Republicans who had the good sense to at least condemn the cruel and intrusive ad (though DeWine still refused to yank his endorsement of Ramaswamy). It’s bad enough that Trump and the Republicans are still being tagged with trying to coverup the Epstein files situation and what Trump’s alleged role in that whole sleazy affair may be. So to behave like this towards an alleged child rape victim who just happens to be a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is just mind-blowing.

So where does this lower-than-low, political sewer-swamp situation stand now?

Well, that bit of foolish Republican bluster has wildly backfired on the Ramaswamy campaign just days before the November 3rd midterm election, pushing Acton solidly in front, most likely to stay. Showing no shame, he has vowed to spend $4 million more to make sure the ad is seen by more people online and on television. But the tremendous negative national press attention has countered any advantage he thought he had in the race.

        This sad Republican nonsense has gotten so bad, The Cleveland Plains Deal, one of Ohio’s largest newspapers, has reversed it’s “no endorsement” policy, saying it could not “remain silent” about Ramaswamy’s disgusting ad “crossed the line” of decency.

The Dealer has now endorsed Dr. Acton.

This from the Washington Post about how Americans feel about this sort of thing:

Polls show that voters are disheartened by the tone of American politics, including Republicans who have backed Trump. A Gallup survey released late last year found 69 percent of Americans believe the Republican Party and Republicans have gone too far with the use of inflammatory language to attack their opponents, while 60 percent believe the same of Democrats and the Democratic Party.

       "Our politics is a reflection of us, and I think that is where we are at as a country, and so our campaigns are reflecting that," said Jason Savage, a longtime Republican operative in Maine who used to run the Maine Republican Party. He argued that too many Republican candidates try "to replicate something they saw before."

Ya think?

        Now get this - after catching hell for his one minute campaign ad featuring Dr. Acton’s mother, Ramaswamy has now edited it down to thirty seconds, making it worse. Now we see the mother, Donna Arthur, saying the following:             

"I love my daughter, and Amy is a liar. I saw her lying about her opponent. That's why I'm speaking up to you now. Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor. If you think she'll make your life better, you're fooling yourself. It will only get worse."

Former President Barack Obama, a decent Democrat in my book, has said the following while recently endorsing Dr. Acton - "There's got to be something inside you where you just say, 'No office is worth stooping that low.”

I pray when this midterm election is over, Ramaswamy will have learned his lesson about dirty ads in political campaigns, and that he loses very hard and fast. Such an unprincipled character does not deserve to win a public office anywhere I can think of.

To say the least, there have been plenty of recent incidents proving that when it comes to Republican candidates, decency and truth are nowhere on the ballot. Michael Whatley’s Senate campaign’s false claims that former Governor Roy Cooper was responsible for releasing criminals from prison who then went on to kill people. Whatley’s campaign couldn’t find any actual cases in North Carolina to prove that nonsense true, so they went to South Carolina.

What a baldface liar!

The clearly derogatory terms used to refer to Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to stoke an unjustified fear of Muslim-Americans, with Trump calling him “a jihadist” and “terrorist.” The record shows El-Sayed is, and never has ben either of those.

Trump’s Dept. of Justice raiding Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s home weeks before her re-election and openly questioning her naturalized citizenship and patriotism. This is an unAmerican as it gets, all because Trump considers Rep. Omar a political enemy.

        To insult to injury, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has reportedly given upwards of $158 million if not more just in September alone to the Ken Paxton for Senate campaign in Texas. It’s no secret that Paxton is by far one of the most crooked Republican politicians in the nation. Plus Trump is campaigning there repeatedly because no matter what happens elsewhere, Paxton is his boy, and Trump has too much ego wrapped up in that man.

So why are Republican candidates like Whatley and Paxton trying to mimic Trump and Vance?

This from CNN:

         The most obvious explanation for this ominous turn in the campaign, beyond Trump’s propensity for such dark arts, is that the Republicans lack a better story to tell. 

In other words, these people are not capable of offering good government, or even a concept of good government, and don’t even try.

No, my friend. Look hard at your ballot. You won’t find honesty or decency anywhere near where a Republican candidate’s name is printed. They’re all too enamored thinking they can duplicate Trump’s negative success despite what the polls say. And to be fair, Republicans were up to this nonsense long before Trump ever got into office.

  You have just a few days left to make it clear that you’re tired of their dishonesty, tired of their corruption, tired of their lies. You’re a taxpayer, and you deserve honesty and truth in government. That’s what you’re voting for. And you should make that very clear to any Democrats you vote for too. Trump has shown all of us that we, as a citizenry, deserve better than what Republicans have been giving us.

And I mean all Republicans, especially those who have thrown in with a crooked power-hungry maniac who is twisting our beloved country into a pretzel just to serve his legacy.

You’re doing very well at the early voting booth so far, America and North Carolina. Keep voting to take back our nation from the corrupt forces of evil.

Vote for decency if you haven’t already! Do it because it is the only way Americans deserve how to truly live!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE CHIEF ESTELLA PATTERSON

SIX OF SEVEN CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG 

POLICE OFFICERS RESIGN AFTER 

INTERNAL PROBE OF RACIST TEXTS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson, an African-American woman, expressed “disgust, anger and frustration” after an internal CMPD investigation revealed seven CMPD officers engaged in racist and sexist text messages targeting Black residents. Six of those disgraced officers have now resigned from the force. Chief Patterson told reporters that she hopes to soon call them all “former employees.”

The seven CMPD officers are:

          Seth Elliott (resigned on Aug. 4)

        Mateo Juarez (resigned on Oct. 15)

          Joseph Kelly (resigned on Oct. 11)

          Alexander Larsen (resigned on Oct. 19)

          Tredan Maronic (resigned on Oct. 13)

          Matthew Osborn (resigned on Oct. 12)

         Jeremiah Todman (remains suspended without pay pending Civil Service Board review)

"The allegations against them are serious, they're deeply troubling, and frankly, I'm disappointed that we're even having to talk about this," Patterson, who formerly served as chief of the Raleigh Police Dept., told reporters during a briefing Oct. 15th. "As a Black woman who began my career here in this very department, it's especially painful and disheartening to hear concerns from our community about racism coming from within the ranks of this organization."

Three of the officers accused were hired before Chief Patterson’s tenure, although all of them were hired within the last three years, according to WCNC-TV. Still, she expressed her commitment to ensure citizens that racist and sexist attitudes among CMPD officers would not become a “systemic problem.”

"I have not read all the messages," she continued. "I can share with you that the biases show racial [and] sexual [prejudices]. They also show religious biases... My personal reaction is one of disgust, anger, frustration."

Legally, Chief Patterson said she is not allowed to reveal any specific information about the internal investigation, including the text messages. The case is considered a personnel matter, and the officers involved can only be officially terminated by the Civil Service Board. Patterson assured that all traffic stops, data from those traffic stops, along with body-worn video and arrest records were reviewed, along with any public complaints.

Even though there were no public complaints, or evidence of racial or sexual bias beyond the text messages, Chief Patterson said she is asking for a federal investigation into possible civil rights violations by the officers. In the meantime, she is seeking to revoke the law enforcement certifications of the six officers so that they cannot be hired by any other police agency in North Carolina.

"I hope they will not be an officer anywhere in this country," Patterson added.

Even though the CMPD cannot release specific information about the racist/sexist text messages in question, local television outlets in Charlotte have reported at least one of the accused officers sent a message earlier this year saying that “ their "texts sound like a clan rally”, and that one of the text threads "included a contest over who could pull over the most Black drivers,” repeatedly used the N-word while discussing “"using force and firing on Black residents."

Reportedly, the allegations grew out of the probe of CMPD Officer Seth Flock for alleged misuse of the Flock license plate surveillance network, for which he’s now facing criminal charges for. It was his phone that was downloaded by investigators that revealed the the racist/sexist text thread involving other other officers.

The text message case has attracted the attention of several in the civil rights community, including civil rights attorney and North Carolina native Benjamin Crump.

"A badge should NEVER be a license for discrimination!" Crump wrote on X. "These allegations call into question traffic stops and use-of-force incidents involving these officers!"

Other attorneys are suggesting that any cases where the accused officers are involved should be “frozen” until the internal investigation is completed.

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EARLY VOTING IN NORTH CAROLINA

BEGINS WITH A ROAR, AS VOTERS 

EAGER TO CAST BALLOTS SHOW UP

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

After several days, early voting in North Carolina for the 2026 midterm elections is breaking records as citizens are lining up across the state to cast their ballots either for or against candidates in local, state and federal offices.

On Oct. 15th, the first day of One Stop Early Voting across the state, a record 237,541 ballots total were cast (which included 201,609 in-person votes; 29,631 civilian mail-in votes; 753 military mail-in votes; and 5,548 overseas votes), comprising 3.01% of the total eligible voters registered in North Carolina. 

That 201,609 in-person total ballots on the first day of early voting for the 2026 midterms in North Carolina also surpassed the previous first day in-person early voting record of 137,387 in 2022, an increase of 46.7% over four years ago.

In terms of voting by race on the first day of early midterm voting, while white turnout statewide on the first day of early voting was 156,552 or 66% of the vote Oct. 15th, Black voters comprised 56, 057, or 24% of the first day early vote.

Those numbers are significant taking into account North Carolina’s voter registration statistics by race. Whites comprise 63%, and Black voters are registered at 19%, while voters who describe themselves as “other” are 18%.

In that same vein, the first day of early midterm voting saw Democrats lead the way with 111,484 for 47% of the total turnout, Republicans with 46,341 for 20% of turnout, and unaffiliated at 79,256 for 33% of turnout.

In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters lead all with over 40% of voters registered, followed Republicans with 30% registered, and then Democrats with over 29%.

Michael Bitzer with the Center for NC Politics & Public Service at Catawba College further analyzed who came out to vote on the first day of 2026 midterm early voting in North Carolina, and offered the following:

“One final data point to watch over the next two-plus weeks: are these early voters ‘high propensity’ voters, meaning they voted in the four past elections, and if so, what is their party breakdowns and are they using the same vote methods as they cast a ballot in the past?”

2026 midterm early voting will last from Oct. 15th to Oct. 31st. The total number of voters who participated in the 2022 midterm early voting in North Carolina was a record 3,786,904. 

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