Triangle/Local
Bottlebrush blooms, fall color make Clethra a versatile shrub
By MIKE RALEY WPTF Weekend Gardener I have many different species of plants in my landscape. However, I do not own a “Clethra alnifolia” or “sweet pepper bush” or “summersweet”. I bet if I were to ask brother Rufus if he planted one in his…
Duke University pilot project examining pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in college
LUCAS LIN and ANANYA PINNAMENENI/The Chronicle The Chronicle DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — As generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have become increasingly prevalent in academic settings, faculty and students have been forced to adapt. The debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022 spread uncertainty across the higher education…
Joseph McNeil, who helped spark a protest movement at a North Carolina lunch counter, dies at 83
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Joseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South, died Thursday, his university…
Fayetteville State University sets record enrollment, retention gains
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WPTF) – Fayetteville State University is experiencing another year of record enrollment while also posting some of the strongest academic gains in its history, school leaders announced Tuesday. For the fourth straight year, FSU reached an all-time high enrollment with 7,628 students, surpassing…
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…
State/Regional
A Democrat governor, a Republican legislature: How Josh Stein is navigating North Carolina politics
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press FLETCHER, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has taken an unusual approach with Republican political opponents in his first eight months leading a highly competitive state where divided government has become the norm. He’s trying to get along with…
Republican North Carolina state Sen. Bobby Hanig announces bid to unseat Democrat Don Davis in 2026
POWELLS POINT, N.C. (AP) — A coastal North Carolina legislator announced his bid on Wednesday for a U.S. House seat next year, looking to unseat Democratic incumbent Don Davis in what is now the state’s currently only swing congressional district. State Sen. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County…
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…
World/National
RFK. Jr’s family members say he is a ‘threat’ to Americans’ health and call for his resignation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family are calling for him to step down as health secretary following a contentious congressional hearing this past week, during which the Trump Cabinet official faced bipartisan questioning about his tumultuous leadership of federal health agencies. Kennedy’s…
Trump executive order aims to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War
By CHRIS MEGERIAN, SEUNG MIN KIM and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump sent a sharply different message on Friday when he signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of…
US hiring stalls with employers reluctant to expand in an economy grown increasingly erratic
By PAUL WISEMAN, ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and CORA LEWIS AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market, a pillar of U.S. economic strength since the pandemic, is crumbling under the weight of President Donald Trump’s erratic economic policies. Uncertain about where things are headed, companies…
Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing
By MATT BROWN and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the…
Judge reverses Trump administration’s cuts of billions of dollars to Harvard University
By COLLIN BINKLEY and MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to reverse its cuts of more than $2.6 billion in research funding for Harvard University, delivering a significant victory to the Ivy League school in…
Entertainment
Mahjong nights draw young crowds to San Francisco bars and restaurants
By TERRY CHEA Associated Press San Francisco (AP) — When Ryan Lee first played mahjong two years ago, he got hooked. He dug out sets of the classic Chinese tile game from his parents’ house and brought them to San Francisco, where he started hosting…
OpenAI and Meta say they’re fixing AI chatbots to better respond to teens in distress
By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Artificial intelligence chatbot makers OpenAI and Meta say they are adjusting how their chatbots respond to teenagers asking questions about suicide or showing signs of mental and emotional distress. OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, said Tuesday it is preparing to roll…
Graham Greene, a trailblazing Indigenous actor best known for ‘Dances with Wolves’, dies at 73
By MARIA SHERMAN AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Graham Greene, a trailblazing Indigenous actor whose long and successful career on the big and small screen included an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Kicking Bird in “Dances with Wolves,” has died. He was 73. Greene…
A $1.4B Powerball jackpot is up for grabs after 40 drawings without a winner
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An estimated $1.4 billion lottery jackpot will be up for grabs Wednesday night thanks to dozens of drawings without a big winner. The massive Powerball prize is the sixth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot. It’s a result of 40 consecutive drawings stretching over…
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…
Sports
Belichick on Patriots: ‘I’m not welcomed in their facility, so they aren’t welcomed in ours’
By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bill Belichick won six Super Bowls during nearly a quarter of a century coaching the New England Patriots, but it’s clear that relationship has deteriorated since his departure in January of 2024 leading to plenty…
Bill Belichick earns first win as college head coach as North Carolina defeats Charlotte 20-3
By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Gio Lopez threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Chris Culliver on the first possession, Davion Gause ran for a 12-yard score and Bill Belichick got his first win as a college head coach as North…
Bill Belichick earns first win as college head coach as North Carolina defeats Charlotte 20-3
By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Gio Lopez threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Chris Culliver on the first possession, Davion Gause ran for a 12-yard score and Bill Belichick got his first win as a college head coach as North…
Bailey, Smothers lead N.C. State comeback against Virginia, 35-31
By MITCHELL NORTHAM Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — CJ Bailey rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as North Carolina State defeated visiting Virginia 35-31 on Saturday in a non-league clash between two Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Bailey, the sophomore quarterback for the…
Panthers and Jaguars expect improvements from revamped defenses in season opener
By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Although much of the focus remains on quarterbacks and former No. 1 overall draft picks Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence, the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars have an equally important question heading into their…