N.C. State and East Carolina meet Thursday to open the season in a testy instate series. The Pirates beat the Wolfpack in the Military Bowl to end last season. That game included a late on-field brawl. Both teams have returning quarterbacks in ECU’s Katin Houser and N.C. State’s CJ Bailey.… Continue Reading
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize. In a post on its website, Cracker Barrel said it will retain its old logo, which features an older man in overalls sitting next to a barrel and the words “Old Country Store.” The tempest over the logo began last week, when the company announced plans for a simplified design featuring only the company’s name. Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel made the change as part of a wider plan to modernize its restaurants and appeal to younger customers. But many fans protested the move.… Continue Reading
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street after an afternoon push left major indexes just below their recent records. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Tuesday after drifting between small gains and losses for much of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Boeing rose 3.5% after Korean Air announced a $50 billion deal with the company that includes buying more than 100 aircraft. Dish Network parent EchoStar surged 70.2% after AT&T said it will buy some of its wireless spectrum licenses in a $23 billion deal. Treasury yields held steady.… Continue Reading
ATLANTA (AP) — Cameron Young watched a couple of key changes pay huge dividends. One was a new Pro V1 golf ball that helped him manage spin. That was right before his first tour victory. Another was changing caddies. He went to close friend and former Wake Forest teammate Kyle Sterbinsky. Young says Sterbinsky was debating whether to keep grinding on smaller tours. Two weeks turned into two months and they’ve been on a roll. He says Sterbinsky reads greens better than most players. In other golf news, Tiger Woods has a new corporate deal with Insperity. Will that lead him to a PGA Tour Champions event?… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook’s lawyer says she’ll sue President Donald Trump’s administration to try to prevent him from firing her. Longtime Washington attorney Abbe Lowell said Tuesday that Trump “has no authority to remove” Cook. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the Fed’s board of governors, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the Fed to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. The Republican president said Monday he was removing Cook because of allegations she committed mortgage fraud. Cook was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 and says she won’t step down.… Continue Reading
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 blue slip process for weeks and has pushed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to abandon the practice. But the veteran Iowa Republican senator hasn’t budged. On Monday, Trump said he may sue, arguing he can only get “weak” judges approved in states that have at least one Democratic senator. Senate Republicans have been unbowed, arguing they used blue slips to their own benefit when Democrat Joe Biden was president.… Continue Reading
It’s a love story and, baby, she said yes: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged. The superstar singer and football player revealed the news in a five-photo joint post on Instagram on Tuesday. It’s the fairytale culmination of a courtship that for two years has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world. It’s unclear when and where the two got engaged. The announcement comes not long after Swift’s appearance on “New Heights.” That’s the podcast hosted by the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and his brother Jason Kelce.… Continue Reading
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week. Cracker Barrel said Monday that it could have done a better job sharing the company’s reasons for the new logo. It also emphasized that many things won’t change, like the rocking chairs on its front porches. Cracker Barrel took heat on social media last week when it announced a simplified logo featuring only the chain’s name. Gone was the picture of an older man in overalls leaning against a barrel. The words “Old Country Store” were also removed.… Continue Reading
SALISBURY, Mass. (AP) — Hurricane Erin never made landfall, but it left behind rough ocean conditions along the U.S. East Coast. At least two people have died, a 17-year-old boy in New Hampshire and a 59-year-old man in New York, after they went swimming in heavy current. A search continued Monday for a man who was missing after his boat capsized off of Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts on Saturday. The teen was pulled away by a strong ocean current off of Hampton Beach. The man was swimming at Sailors Haven in the Fire Island National Seashore. Forecasters say there are no coastal watches or warnings for newly formed Tropical Storm Juliette in the Pacific Ocean and Tropical Storm Fernand in the Atlantic.… Continue Reading
More than 180 current and former FEMA employees have published a letter warning of potential disaster due to cuts in the agency. The letter coincides with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, highlighting concerns about management and capacity at FEMA. It warns that current practices echo conditions the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act aimed to prevent. The letter criticizes policies like expenditure approval and reassignment of staff to ICE. It calls for FEMA to be an independent cabinet-level agency. Thirty-five signatories included their names, while 141 remained anonymous due to fear of suppression.… Continue Reading