WPTF News Archives - Page 5 of 104

Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power-shifting law could be first of many

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 13, 2024, 1:33 am

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein have challenged a portion of a law just enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly that erodes Stein’s powers and those of other top Democrats elected last month. The lawsuit filed Thursday in state court focuses on a provision that would prevent Stein from picking his own commander of the State Highway Patrol. More court challenges are likely because the bill enacted Wednesday with a veto override seeks to weaken Stein and others elsewhere. Later this month, Cooper leaves office after eight years. Republican lawmakers didn’t immediately respond to the lawsuit.… Read More

Back trouble and brain fog bothered suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing, his posts show

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 7:26 pm

Social media posts from Luigi Mangione show the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson underwent successful back surgery last year that alleviated debilitating chronic pain. He repeatedly posted on Reddit about his recovery and offered words of encouragement for other people with similar conditions. But notably absent from the posts are explicit concerns about corporate greed within the health insurance industry. Those appear to have surfaced only later: in the handwritten manifesto recovered this week by police. Despite recent revelations about a potential motive, Mangione’s descent into rage and violence remains largely a mystery.… Read More

Bill Belichick ‘always wanted’ to give college coaching a try. Now he will at North Carolina

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 4:25 pm

New North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick said he had long been interested in coaching in the college ranks. But it had never worked out until now, as he takes over the Tar Heels program. Belichick led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles during a 24-year run there that ended last year. University trustees approved terms of a five-year deal for him Thursday morning before he held his introductory news conference on campus.… Read More

Stock market today: Wall Street’s rally stalls as Nasdaq pulls back from its record

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 4:22 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes fell following some potentially discouraging data on the economy. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% Thursday for its fourth loss in the last six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.7% from its record set the day before. Reports in the morning showed more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits than expected, while inflation was hotter at the wholesale level than economists expected. Adobe helped drag the stock market lower after giving forecasts for profit and revenue in its upcoming fiscal year that fell a bit shy of analysts’.… Read More

Country star Morgan Wallen sentenced in chair-throwing case

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 3:39 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country music star Morgan Wallen has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. He had been charged for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-story bar in Nashville and nearly hitting two police officers with it. Wallen appeared in court alongside his attorney on Thursday. He was sentenced to spend seven days in a DUI education center and will be under supervised probation for two years. According to the arrest affidavit, Wallen was accused of throwing a chair off the roof of Chief’s bar on April 7. The chair landed about a yard from the officers. Witnesses told police they saw Wallen pick up a chair, throw it off the roof and laugh about it.… Read More

Holiday Gift Guide: Handcrafted items from North Carolina support hurricane recovery

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 2:24 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The town of Asheville, North Carolina, is known for its artists and restaurants. In September, it was devastated by flooding from Hurricane Helene. Even businesses not physically harmed suffered weeks without power and water. And Asheville was essentially closed to tourists during its busiest season. So local artists and small businesses are now hoping that visitors will return to speed their recovery. And they’re selling handcrafted holiday gifts online. The heavily damaged River Arts District, for instance, lets artists sell through its website. And the tourism authority Explore Asheville has set up a site called “Love Asheville from Afar.”… Read More

Trump is named Time’s Person of the Year and rings the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 11:14 am

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized by Time magazine as its person of the year. The honors Thursday for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump’s remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November. At the stock exchange, Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump grinned as people chanted “USA” before he opened the trading day and raised his fist.… Read More

North Carolina announces 5-year deal with Bill Belichick to take over as coach of the Tar Heels

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 12, 2024, 1:19 am

North Carolina and Bill Belichick have agreed to a five-year deal for the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach to become the Tar Heels’ next football coach. The school announced the hiring Wednesday. That came roughly a week after the 72-year-old Belichick’s name surfaced as an unlikely candidate to replace the program’s winningest coach in Mack Brown. The deal still requires approval by UNC trustees. Belichick won six titles in his 24-year run as head coach of the Patriots. Most of that success came with quarterbacking great Tom Brady.… Read More

North Carolina GOP lawmakers enact a law eroding the incoming Democratic governor’s powers

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 11, 2024, 7:07 pm

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina House Republicans have enacted legislation that erodes some powers of several statewide offices newly-elected Democrats are slated to hold next month. Lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. One of the most significant changes shifts the power to appoint state elections board members from the governor to the state auditor. The state auditor will be a Republican next year. The law also diminishes some powers of the attorney general, lieutenant governor and schools superintendent. Opposition to the bill has drawn protests in the state House’s gallery.… Read More

Republican protests in close North Carolina races dismissed by elections board

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 11, 2024, 5:39 pm

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elections board has dismissed protests filed by several Republican candidates trailing narrowly in their races last month who have questioned well over 60,000 ballots cast this fall. The Democratic-majority board agreed Wednesday to throw out the protests of GOP Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and three legislative candidates. Members voted mostly along party lines. Griffin was fewer than 750 votes behind Demcoratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs from over 5.5 million ballots cast. The board’s decisions can be appealed to state court. One legislative race at issue could end the Republicans’ GOP veto-proof majority come next year.… Read More

Stock market today: Wall Street gets back to climbing, and the Nasdaq tops 20,000

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 11, 2024, 4:21 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got back to climbing after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% Wednesday to break a two-day losing streak and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a dip of 0.2%. Stocks got a boost as expectations built that the Fed will deliver another cut to interest rates at its meeting next week.… Read More

Gun found on suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO matches shell casings at scene, police say

Author: The Associated Press | Date: December 11, 2024, 3:39 pm

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — New York City’s police commissioner says the gun found on the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO matches shell casings found at the crime scene. Commissioner Jessica Tisch also said Wednesday that lab results matched suspect Luigi Mangione’s prints to a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing. Police had said earlier that they believed the gunman bought the items at a nearby coffee shop while awaiting his target. Mangione is jailed in Pennsylvania on weapon and forgery charges, but he also has been charged in New York with murder in Brian Thompson’s death. His lawyer has noted that Mangione is presumed innocent.… Read More