Triangle/Local
Find zen in your garden with zinnias
By MIKE RALEY WPTF Weekend Gardener My mother-in-law, Jean Reeves, was smart, hard-working, industrious, caring and pretty. She loved gardening, and taught her equally pretty daughters about vegetables and flowers and how they co-exist in nature. When I fell in love with Melissa, I also…
Hurricane Erin still stirring up dangerous waves while it moves away from the East Coast
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin kicked up big waves Thursday along the mid-Atlantic coast and began a slow march out to sea after pelting North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and swells that flooded a few…
Hurricane Erin picking up steam as it edges along the East Coast
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday while creeping closer to the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City. Forecasters expect the storm to…
NC Governor warns coast folks ‘to take care’ as Hurricane Erin forces evacuations and beach closings
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday while creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City. Forecasters expect the storm to peak…
Summer celebrations meet closed beaches and warnings on US East Coast due to Hurricane Erin
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — From Florida to New England, people trying to enjoy the last hurrahs of summer along the coast were met with rip current warnings, closed beaches and in some cases already treacherous waves…
State/Regional
Trump and Republican senators fight over a century-old tradition for judicial nominees
By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Senate’s century-old tradition of allowing home state senators to sign off on some federal judge and U.S. attorney nominees is “old and outdated.” Republican senators disagree. Trump has been complaining about what’s called the…
Hurricane Erin leaves rough seas with 2 swimmers dead and a search underway for a missing boater
SALISBURY, Mass. (AP) — Hurricane Erin never made landfall but left behind rough ocean conditions along the U.S. East Coast. At least two people died after they had been swimming in the heavy current, and a search continued Monday for a man who was missing after his…
Hurricane Erin never hit land or caused major damage, but threatened turtle nests weren’t so lucky
By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press As Hurricane Erin pelted North Carolina’s barrier islands with strong winds and waves this week, it destroyed many nests of threatened sea turtles, burying the eggs deep in sand or washing them out to sea. On Topsail Island more than half the…
North Carolina Supreme Court says bars’ COVID-19 lawsuits can continue
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court issued favorable rulings Friday for bars and their operators in litigation seeking monetary compensation from the state for COVID-19 restrictions first issued by then-Gov. Roy Cooper that shuttered their doors…
North Carolina updates more than 20,000 voter records, seeks more ID numbers
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Voter registration records for more than 20,000 people in North Carolina have been successfully amended thus far in an effort by election officials to add missing identification numbers. In mid-July, the State Board of Elections began formally…
World/National
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un travels to Beijing to watch military parade alongside Putin and Xi Jinping
By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading to Beijing by train on Tuesday to attend a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, North Korea’s state media reported. The event could potentially demonstrate their three-way unity against…
Trump plans a hefty tax on imported drugs, risking higher prices and shortages
By PAUL WISEMAN and TOM MURPHY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has plastered tariffs on products from almost every country on earth. He’s targeted specific imports including autos, steel and aluminum. But he isn’t done yet. Trump has promised to impose hefty import taxes…
Stocks pull back from their latest all-time highs on Wall Street
By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Wall Street closed out another winning month Friday, even as stocks gave back some of their recent gains, pulling the market below its latest all-time highs. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% a day after climbing to a record high.…
Trump ends ex-Vice President Harris’ Secret Service protection early after Biden had extended it
By SEUNG MIN KIM and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has revoked former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service protection that otherwise would have ended next summer, senior Trump administration officials said Friday. Former vice presidents typically get federal government protection for six…
Trump proposed getting rid of FEMA, but his review council seems focused on reforming the agency
By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA Associated Press Four days after starting his second administration, President Donald Trump floated the idea of “ getting rid of ” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages federal disaster response. But at a Thursday meeting, the 12-person review council he appointed to…
Entertainment
Trump is cutting 500-plus jobs at Voice of America and its parent agency despite legal challenges
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters is eliminating jobs for more than 500 employees, a Trump administration official said. The move could ratchet up a monthslong legal challenge over the news…
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged
By JOCELYN NOVECK and DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press It’s a love story and, baby, she said yes: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged, they announced Tuesday. In a five-photo joint post on Instagram, the superstar singer and football player revealed their engagement, the fairytale culmination of a courtship…
‘Sopranos’ star Jerry Adler, Broadway backstage vet turned late-in-life actor, dies at 96
By MALLIKA SEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind-the-scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died at 96. Adler died Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New…
Don’t fret: Air guitar world title returns home to Finland after 25 years
OULU, Finland (AP) — Finnish air guitarist Aapo “The Angus” Rautio plucked victory from thin air on Friday night, grabbing the world championship title for his homeland for the first time since 2000. This year’s Air Guitar World Championships reached the climax with a final Friday…
Trump says he’ll keep extending TikTok shutdown deadline
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is calling national security and privacy concerns related to TikTok and its Chinese parent company “highly overrated” and said Friday he’ll keep extending the deadline for the popular video-sharing platform until there’s a buyer. Congress approved a U.S. ban…
Sports
Belichick loses college coaching debut as TCU uses 2 defensive TDs to beat UNC 48-14
By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Bud Clark had a first-half pick-six and Kevorian Barnes had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first second-half snap to help TCU spoil Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut by rolling past North Carolina 48-14…
Belichick loses college coaching debut as TCU uses 2 defensive TDs to beat UNC 48-14
By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Bud Clark had a first-half pick-six and Kevorian Barnes had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first second-half snap to help TCU spoil Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut by rolling past North Carolina 48-14…
Sayin, defense propel No. 3 Ohio State past top-ranked Texas 14-7
By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State coach Ryan Day and his players spent the preseason saying the opener against top-ranked Texas wouldn’t be about defending last year’s national championship but about establishing the identity of this year’s team. Julian Sayin and…
NC State’s late 4th-down stop seals 24-17 win against East Carolina to open season
By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — N.C. State stopped East Carolina on a fourth-and-1 deep in its own end with 37 seconds left to hold on for a 24-17 season-opening win Thursday night. After trailing 17-0 before halftime, ECU pushed all…
Fiery texts from Michael Jordan, NASCAR executives disclosed in NASCAR antitrust battle
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The bitter fight between NASCAR and two of its teams who have filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the stock-racing giant spilled into public view Thursday during an acrimonious hearing that included the disclosure…