WPTF News Archives - Page 19 of 91

Biden suggests Trump supporters are ‘garbage’ after comic’s insult of Puerto Rico

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 10:03 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is reacting to a comic calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at a Donald Trump rally by saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” For some, it recalled then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton dismissing Trump supporters in 2016 by evoking a “basket of deplorables.” It was also a departure from Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris, who has been careful not to insult his supporters and has worked to woo crossover Republicans. Biden later posted on social media that he was referring to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico.”… Read More

Two closing arguments show the stark choice between Trump and Harris

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 9:43 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — In the shadow of the White House, Kamala Harris is vowing to put country over party. Inside a New York City sports arena, Trump called his Democratic opponent “a train wreck who has destroyed everything in her path.” Trump’s allies also labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said Harris, who would be the first woman president, had begun her career as a prostitute. Two nights and 200 miles apart, the presidential candidates’ dueling closing arguments outlined in stark terms the choice U.S. voters face on Nov. 5 as they weigh two very different visions of leadership and America’s future. Voters will decide which vision they prefer in just six days.… Read More

Teri Garr, the offbeat comic actor of ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Tootsie,’ has died

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 9:37 pm

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” Teri Garr has died. She was 79. Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” said publicist Heidi Schaeffer. “Young Frankenstein” established her as a talented comedy performer, with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael proclaiming her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.” Although best known for comedy, Garr showed in such films as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “The Black Stallion” and “The Escape Artist” that she could handle drama equally well.… Read More

Autonomous tech is coming to farming. What will it mean for crops and workers who harvest them?

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 4:37 pm

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Autonomous tech is coming to farming. From self-driving tractors to fruit-picking robots, a growing number of technology companies are bringing automation to agriculture. Advocates of the technology say it will ease the sector’s labor shortage, help farmers manage rising costs, and provide workers with respite from extreme weather — issues that are closely related to climate change. But despite a hot automation market, many small farmers and producers across the country aren’t sold on whether a slate of often-costly technologies could shape the future of farming.… Read More

Stock market today: Rising tech stocks send Nasdaq to a record as most of Wall Street stumbles

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 4:31 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — Rising technology stocks sent the Nasdaq composite to a record, but trading was mixed along the rest of Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Tuesday, even though the majority of stocks in the index fell. Gains for Microsoft, Meta Platforms and other influential Big Tech stocks helped mask weakness elsewhere, and they pushed the Nasdaq up 0.8% to top its record set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell 0.4%. Homebuilders and Ford Motor dropped to some of the market’s sharpest losses following the latest profit reports. Treasury yields eased in the bond market.… Read More

COVID-19 led to extra college eligibility. Those 5th-year players are set for their last runs

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 4:11 pm

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic led to college athletes being granted an additional year of eligibility. Now the majority of those players impacted by that move are preparing for their final seasons in college basketball. The rule impacted the 2020-21 season as players competed in empty arenas and amid constant testing. Now, many are in their fifth years. The list includes five preseason Associated Press All-Americans. One is North Carolina guard RJ Davis as the lone returning AP first-team All-American from last season. Others include big man Hunter Dickinson of No. 1 Kansas and guard Mark Sears for No. 2 Alabama.… Read More

Panthers send WR Diontae Johnson, 6th-round pick to Ravens, get back 5th-rounder, AP source says

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 3:52 pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — According to a person familiar with the situation, the Carolina Panthers have traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick in 2025 to Baltimore for the Ravens’ 2025 fifth-rounder. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Tuesday because the trade has not been made official. Johnson has been Carolina’s leading wide receiver since being acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He did not play in Sunday’s 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos because of a rib injury.… Read More

FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims surrounding the 2024 election

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 3:16 pm

With early voting underway, false and misleading reports have emerged online. A woman who was shown in a video shouting at a young girl in a stroller outside the rally for Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday was falsely identified. She was not a former employee of the Harris County Democratic Party.… Read More

UFC champ Jon Jones agrees to anger management classes to resolve assault charge

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 2:30 pm

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has agreed to attend anger management classes to resolve a pair of misdemeanor charges stemming from a drug test at his home in which he was accused of being hostile. A bench trial had been set to begin Tuesday before a New Mexico judge. But attorneys announced at the start of the virtual proceeding that an agreement had been reached. The case will be dismissed as along as Jones completes four hours of anger management classes and follows all laws over the next 90 days. Jones has said that the allegations were baseless and that he never threatened anyone.… Read More

Harris reaches for a big moment in her closing argument for ‘turning the page’ on Trump

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 11:56 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will pledge to Americans that she’ll work to improve their lives while Republican Donald Trump is in it for himself as she delivers her campaign’s closing argument Tuesday from the same site where the former president fomented the Capitol insurrection in 2021. One week out from Election Day, Harris’ address from the grassy Ellipse near the White House is designed to encourage Americans to visualize their alternate futures if she or Trump takes over the Oval Office in less than three months. Her campaign hopes to draw a massive crowd to Washington for the event.… Read More

Shohei Ohtani returns after dislocating shoulder, goes hitless as Dodgers take 3-0 World Series lead

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 29, 2024, 12:33 am

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani was 0 for 3 with a walk and a hit-by-pithc, remaining in the lineup after dislocating a shoulder as the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 3-0 World Series lead over the New York Yankees with a 4-2 victory. He walked on four pitches leading off the game and scored on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer off Clarke Schmidt. Ohtani looked uncomfortable as he winced and grimaced while swinging. He dropped to 1 for 11 in Series… Read More

Fires set in drop boxes destroy hundreds of ballots in Washington and damage 3 in Oregon

Author: The Associated Press | Date: October 28, 2024, 11:51 pm

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Incendiary devices have been set off at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland, Oregon, and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy.” The Monday morning fire at the drop box in Portland was extinguished quickly thanks to a suppression system inside the box as well as a nearby security guard, and just three ballots were damaged there. But another fire at a transit center drop box in Vancouver destroyed hundreds of ballots. Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be one of the closest U.S. House races in the country.… Read More