When Hurricane Helene tore through the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Pat and Charlie Gowan didn’t think twice about staying. The family, who had lived in their home for two generations and run Triple C Campground, had weathered plenty of storms. But no one expected anything quite like this.… Read More
Sunday is the time to move clocks back in the U.S. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time, which means setting your clock back an hour. Standard time will last until March 9 when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time. That spring time change can be tough on your body but the fall change should be easier to adjust to. Most countries don’t make time changes. It’s mostly North America and Europe. In the U.S., there are two exceptions. Arizona and Hawaii stick to standard time year-round.… Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top House Republicans are seeking documents and internal communications regarding President Joe Biden’s statement earlier this week in which he appeared to take a swipe at supporters of Donald Trump. White House press officials altered the official transcript of Biden’s statement, drawing objections from the federal workers who document such remarks for posterity. The lawmakers say “The White House cannot simply rewrite President Biden’s rhetoric,” and are questioning whether whether the decision to create “a false transcript and manipulate or alter the accurate transcript” produced for the National Archives and Records Administration was a violation of federal law.… Read More
ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — Rescue workers in Tennessee have recovered the body of the final person still missing after massive flooding from Hurricane Helene hit a plastics factory there. Twenty-nine-year-old Rosa Andrade was one of six employees killed after they were unable to escape the rising waters in Erwin, a small town in East Tennessee. Surviving workers have stated they were not allowed to leave Impact Plastics until water had flooded the plant’s parking lot and the power went out. The company’s owner has disputed that claim. The raging waters swept away 11 workers on Sept. 27 and only five were rescued. More than 200 deaths have been attributed to Helene.… Read More
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state government is diverting $100 million to spend on loans to farmers and cleanup after Hurricane Helene. The Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission voted unanimously Friday to spend the money. It had been set aside for construction projects or paying off existing debt. Of the money, $75 million will be used to provide disaster relief loans to farmers and associated businesses in the agricultural industry. The other $25 million will be spent to clean up timber losses and other debris. A state agency that lends money to farmers will begin working on a plan to spend the $100 million on Monday.… Read More
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Early in-person voting in North Carolina ends Saturday, but the number of people who’ve cast ballots by this method already has exceeded the total from four years ago. State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said that 3.71 million people had cast early in-person ballots as of early Friday. The previous record was 3.63 million people voting in fall 2020. Early in-person voting has become increasing popular in the presidential battleground state over several election cycles. State and national Republicans this year have encouraged supporters to vote early. Brinson Bell said voter turnout in counties affected by Hurricane Helene continues to outpace turnout statewide.… Read More
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon led U.S. stock indexes higher, while a surprisingly weak jobs report marred by some unusual occurrences cemented bets on Wall Street for another cut to interest rates next week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday and recovered some of its loss from the day before, which was its worst in eight weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8%. Amazon rallied after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Treasury yields pushed higher after initially falling following the jobs report, which was distorted by some unusual occurrences.… Read More
ELLERBE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina had been projected as the state with the most closely watched race for governor this fall. But advantages late in the race appear to favor Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein over Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Stein’s campaign has overwhelmed Robinson in fundraising, including a massive $44.6 million haul from July to mid-October. Stein’s coffers have been used for ads attacking Robinson for past inflammatory comments on abortion, women and other topics. And a September CNN report alleging Robinson made racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago shook his campaign. Robinson denies writing the posts and sued CNN for defamation.… Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden appeared to take a swipe at supporters of Donald Trump, drawing objections from the federal workers tasked with recording the president’s remarks for posterity. That’s according to two U.S. government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press. The White House found itself scrambling to respond to a wave of queries from reporters after Biden appeared to refer to Trump supporters as “garbage” during a call with Latino activists. In that moment, there also was a difference of opinion between the press office and the official stenographers on just what Biden said.… Read More
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Google Maps is heading down a new road steered by artificial intelligence. The shift announced Thursday will bring more of the revolutionary AI technology that Google already has been baking into its dominant search engine to the widely used digital maps service that the internet company launched nearly 20 years ago as part of its efforts to expand into new frontiers. Google Maps recently surpassed 2 billion worldwide monthly users for the first time, a milestone that illustrates how dependent people have become on the service. With the introduction of Google’s AI technology, the maps are now being set up to become an entertainment guide in addition to a navigational tool.… Read More
PHOENIX (AP) — Kamala Harris says Donald Trump’s comment that he would protect women whether they “like it or not” shows that the Republican presidential nominee does not understand women’s rights to make decisions about their own lives. Harris spoke Thursday in Wisconsin before setting out to spend the day campaigning in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada. The remarks by Trump come as he has struggled to connect with women voters and as Harris courts women in both parties with a message centered on freedom. She’s making the pitch that women should be free to make decisions about their bodies and that if Trump is elected, more restrictions will follow.… Read More
NEW YORK (AP) — After 42 seasons, Bob Costas is retiring from baseball play-by-play. Costas had done games the past couple seasons for MLB Network and TBS Sports. His final games were the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Costas’ contract with TBS expired at the end of the season, but his plans to retire from baseball play-by-play had been in the works for over a year. The Athletic was the first to report on Costas’ baseball play-by-play retirement. Costas plans to address his decision at a future date.… Read More