Tyler Shough throws for 2 TDs to earn first win as Saints defeat Panthers 17-7

Tyler Shough throws for 2 TDs to earn first win as Saints defeat Panthers 17-7

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Tyler Shough threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers 17-7 on Sunday to snap a four-game skid.

Shough — a rookie who began the season as the Saints’ backup QB — connected on a 62-yard scoring strike to Chris Olave and a 30-yard TD pass to Juwan Johnson to earn his first win as a starter. Alvin Kamara ran for 83 yards for the Saints (2-8).

Olave finished with five catches for 104 yards as the Saints outgained the Panthers 388 yards to 175.

Bryce Young was limited to 124 yards passing and turned the ball over twice as his four-game win streak as a starter ended. Rico Dowdle had 53 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries for Carolina (5-5).

Dowdle got the Panthers on the board with a 5-yard TD run on the opening possession, and it looked like it might be Carolina’s day. Dowdle, who was fined last week for his “two pumps” touchdown celebration, lined up like he was going to do it again — but this time didn’t make any pelvic thrusts.

But the Panthers regressed from there, with their next five first-half possessions resulting in 36 net yards and four punts.

The Saints took advantage. Olave beat Carolina’s best cover cornerback, Jaycee Horn, for a long TD to give New Orleans a 10-7 lead at halftime.

Carolina’s 83 yards in the first half were its fewest this season, and not much improved in the second half.

The Panthers appeared to catch a break in the third quarter after the Saints blocked a field-goal try by Ryan Fitzgerald, but had one of their linemen touch the live ball. Carolina recovered and got a new set of downs.

But just a few plays later, Young fumbled a handoff to wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. and the Saints got the ball back.

Carolina had another shot after Nic Scourton sacked Shough on fourth down, but Young followed with an underthrown pass down the right sideline that was picked off by Alontae Taylor.

This time, the Saints took advantage, with Shough finding a wide-open Johnson down the left sideline for a 30-yard touchdown to make it a two-possession game.

Injuries

Panthers: TE Michell Evans (ankle) left in the first half and linebacker Trevin Wallace (shoulder) exited in the second half.

Up Next

Saints: Have a bye next week before hosting Atlanta on Nov. 23.

Panthers: At Atlanta on Sunday.

A look at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 inductees and how they were honored

A look at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 inductees and how they were honored

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has inducted its 2025 class of music giants.

The ceremony held Saturday at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater was a mix of tributes, speeches and performances by acts like Soundgarden, Salt-N-Pepa and Big Boi of Outkast, along with numerous A-list musical guests.

Artists become eligible for the hall 25 years after their first music release.

Here’s a look at this year’s Rock Hall class, a few of their defining songs and who inducted them.

Outkast

American rap duo that began in the 1990s. Key songs: “Hey Ya,” “Ms. Jackson” and “Roses.”

Inducted by Donald Glover. Medley performance included Big Boi, Janelle Monáe, JID, Doja Cat, Killer Mike, Sleepy Brown

Bad Company

English rock band formed in the 1970s. Key songs: “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company.”

Inducted by Mick Fleetwood. Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke was joined by Nancy Wilson of Heart and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on guitars and Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson on vocals.

Cyndi Lauper

American singer and songwriter whose solo career began in the early 1980s. Key songs: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “True Colors.”

Inducted by Chappell Roan. Lauper performed a medley of her hits, including duets with Avril Lavigne, Raye and Salt-N-Pepa.

Soundgarden

American rock band formed in 1984. Key songs: “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” and “Outshined.”

Inducted by Jim Carrey. Surviving Soundgarden members performed with Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile, who took the place of late vocalist Chris Cornell. Cornell’s daughter, Toni, also performed with Nancy Wilson.

Salt-N-Pepa

American rap group formed in the 1980s. Key songs: “Push It,” “Let’s Talk About Sex” and “Shoop.”

Inducted by Missy Elliott, the group performed a medley of their hits with a special appearance from En Vogue.

Chubby Checker

American singer who began releasing records in the 1950s. Key songs: “The Twist,” “Limbo Rock,” “Let’s Twist Again.”

Inducted via video tribute. Checker accepted remotely via a video feed.

Joe Cocker

English singer who began releasing records in the 1960s and died in 2014. Key songs: “You Are So Beautiful,” “Up Where We Belong,” “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

Inducted by Bryan Adams. Medley performance by Teddy Swims, Tedeschi Trucks Band, along with Adams, Lauper, Chris Robinson and Nathaniel Rateliff who took the stage for a rendition of “With A Little Help from My Friends.”

The White Stripes

American rock band that began in the 1990s. Key songs: “Seven Nation Army,” “We’re Going to Be Friends,” “Doorbell.”

Inducted by Iggy Pop. Tribute performance by Olivia Rodrigo, Feist and Twenty One Pilots.

Warren Zevon

American singer-songwriter who began releasing solo records in the early 1970s and died in 2003. Key songs: “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” “Werewolves of London,” “Keep Me in Your Heart.”

Inducted by David Letterman. Honored with performance by the Killers.

Carole Kaye

American session musician who played on scores of hits starting in the 1950s, primarily on bass. Key songs: The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.”

Inducted via video tribute.

Thom Bell

American music producer and songwriter starting in the 1960s who died in 2022. Key songs: the Delfonics’ “La-La (Means I Love You),” the Spinners’ “The Rubberband Man,” the Stylistics’ “You Make Me Feel Brand New.”

Inducted via video tribute.

Nicky Hopkins

English session musician who played keyboards on dozens of hits starting in the 1960s and died in 1994. Key songs: the Beatles’ “Revolution,” the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”

Inducted via video tribute.

Lenny Waronker

American music producer and executive starting in the 1970s. Key songs from artists he produced or signed: Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E’s in Love,” Prince’s “Purple Rain,” R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.”

Inducted via video tribute.

US airlines cancel more than 2,500 weekend flights largely due to government shutdown

US airlines cancel more than 2,500 weekend flights largely due to government shutdown

By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights by Saturday evening as the Federal Aviation Administration’s mandate to reduce air traffic because of the government shutdown showed no signs of easing.

The slowdown at many of the nation’s busiest airports did not cause immediate widespread disruptions. But it deepened the impact felt by the nation’s longest federal shutdown.

“We all travel. We all have somewhere to be,” said Emmy Holguin, 36, who was flying from Miami to see family in the Dominican Republic. “I’m hoping that the government can take care of this.”

Analysts warn that the upheaval will intensify and spread far beyond air travel if cancellations keep growing and reach into Thanksgiving week.

Already there are concerns about the squeeze on tourism destinations and holiday shipping.

Here’s what to know about the flight reductions:

How many flights have been canceled?

Cancellations jumped Saturday — typically a slow travel day — to more than 1,500, following just over 1,000 the previous day, according to the tracking website FlightAware. By the evening U.S. airlines already had canceled another 1,000-plus for Sunday.

Airports in Atlanta and Chicago, as well as Charlotte, North Carolina, and Newark, New Jersey, saw numerous disruptions throughout the day. Ongoing staffing shortages in radar centers and control towers added to the cancellations and delays at several East Coast airports, including those around New York City.

Not all the cancellations were due to the FAA order, and those numbers represented just a small portion of the overall flights nationwide. But they are certain to rise in the coming days if the slowdown continues.

The FAA said the reductions impacting all commercial airlines started at 4% of flights at 40 targeted airports and will be bumped up again Tuesday before hitting 10% on Friday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned this week that even more cuts might be needed if the shutdown continues and more air traffic controllers are off the job.

Why are the flights being canceled?

Controllers have gone without paychecks for nearly a month during the shutdown, leading many to call in sick and compound previously existing staffing shortages.

Most are working mandatory overtime six days a week during without pay, and some are taking second jobs to pay their bills, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has said.

On Saturday the union said it had delivered 1,600 handwritten letters from members to Congress calling for the shutdown to end.

How are passengers being affected?

Most were relieved to find that airlines largely stayed on schedule Friday, and those whose flights were called off were able to quickly rebook. So far, longer international flights have not been interrupted.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about which flights will be canceled next.

And not everyone has the means to pay for a hotel or deal with a last-minute disruption, said Heather Xu, 46, who was in Miami on Saturday after a cruise and flying home to Puerto Rico.

“Travel is stressful enough. Then you put these disruptions in place, and it really makes everything more challenging,” she said.

Rental car companies reported a sharp increase in one-way reservations Friday, and some people simply canceled flights altogether.

Diana Alvear of Bridgewater, New Jersey, scratched her family’s trip next weekend to see in-laws in California because of concerns about flying when controllers are working long hours and understaffed.

She also was nervous about being stranded, which would be “a huge debacle” for work. United Airlines gave her credit for the airfare, but the family is still out nearly $700 for the deposit on an Airbnb.

“This has been costly to us, and it’s a huge disappointment for us and our family,” Alvear said. “It’s really weighing on our hearts that we had to do this.”

What could be the impacts beyond air travel?

First there is the potential for higher prices in stores, as nearly half of U.S. air freight is shipped in the bellies of passenger aircraft.

Major flight disruptions could bring higher shipping costs that get passed on to consumers, said Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University.

Further losses will ripple through the economy if the slowdown continues, from tourism to manufacturing, said Greg Raiff, CEO of Elevate Aviation Group.

“This shutdown is going to impact everything from cargo aircraft to people getting to business meetings to tourists being able to travel,” Raiff said. “It’s going to hit the hotel taxes and city taxes. There’s a cascading effect that results from this thing.”

___

Associated Press journalists Cody Jackson in Miami, Paul Wiseman in Washington, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed.

November 9th 2025

November 9th 2025

Thought of the Day

Photo by Getty Image

Today is a perfect day to do better.

Carolina rookies Legault, Nystrom make team history by scoring 1st NHL points in win over Sabres

Carolina rookies Legault, Nystrom make team history by scoring 1st NHL points in win over Sabres

By BOB SUTTON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The injury-ravaged Carolina Hurricanes found new sources of offense from two rookie defensemen, and the pair made team history in the process.

Charles Alexis Legault and Joel Nystrom picked up their first NHL points in Saturday night’s 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Their performance marked the first time in the Hurricanes’ team history that two defensemen posted their first points in the same game. And, it was the fourth time in Carolina history — since the relocation from Hartford — that any two players recorded their first points in a game.

Legault had an assist and an empty-net goal, and Nystrom assisted on a goal early in the third period as Carolina extended its winning streak to three games.

“We don’t judge their game based on that,” Hurricanes coach Rod’Brind’Amour said. “But those are nice little bonuses for them. Both guys have been solid. We ask a lot of them.”

Legault scored by sending the puck nearly the length of the ice into the unattended net with 1:28 remaining in the game. But, his first point came when he assisted on Eric Robinson’s goal 29 seconds into the third period.

“You dream of scoring one since you’ve been a kid, so being able to get one tonight is a great feeling,” Legault said.

Nystrom’s assist came on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s score 29 seconds into the third that extended Carolina’s lead to 3-1.

“Today I got my first point and I’m real happy for that,” Nystrom said. “… (Kotkaniemi) he did a really good shot. I have to thank him, too.”

In franchise history combining Hartford and Carolina, Mark Howe and Charles Luksa were the last defensive pair to get their first career points in the same game, in October 1979.

Legault and Nystrom have been living together since their somewhat unexpected additions to the NHL team this fall.

“We spent a lot of time together the last couple of weeks,” Nystrom said.

Carolina played without defenseman Jalen Chatfield for the first time this season. He left Thursday night’s game with an upper-body injury after a blow to the head from Minnesota’s Tyler Pitlick, who was assessed a match penalty.

The Hurricanes have been without defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere for more than a week. That twosome, plus Chatfield, all played in 70 or more games last season.

The Hurricanes also recalled defenseman Gavin Bayreuther from Chicago of the AHL earlier Saturday, but he was a healthy scratch.

Lopez throws 2 TD passes, North Carolina beats Stanford 20-15

Lopez throws 2 TD passes, North Carolina beats Stanford 20-15

DOUG BONJOUR Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Gio Lopez threw for two second-half touchdowns and North Carolina’s defense relentlessly pressured Elijah Brown as the Tar Heels beat Stanford 20-15 Saturday for their second straight victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Jordan Shipp led the Tar Heels (4-5, 2-3 ACC) with 83 yards receiving on five catches. His 55-yard touchdown grab extended the lead to 20-3 early in the fourth quarter. Lopez, who was 18 of 25 for 203 yards passing, also connected with Davion Gause for a 20-yard score.

“Good win,” coach Bill Belichick said. “Good to win at home. Always good to win at home. Proud of our team.”

Brown, a redshirt freshman making his first start this season and the second of his career, threw for 268 yards with one touchdown and one interception but was also sacked nine times.

Two late touchdowns, including a 24-yard catch by CJ Williams, made it a one-score game with 1:48 to play, but it was too little, too late for Stanford (3-7, 2-5 ACC), which dropped its third straight.

Williams finished with six catches for 61 yards, while Caden High added 10 receptions for 102 yards.

“I’m really happy with how Elijah fought back,” coach Frank Reich said. “Obviously, some of the protection stuff, he was just trying to hold on. He didn’t flinch, it didn’t faze him.”

The first half featured just 147 total yards and as many punts (six) as points.

Fittingly, North Carolina’s defense set up the first score when Andrew Simpson stripped Brown, allowing Smith Vilbert to recover at the Stanford 7. That led to a Rece Verhoff 27-yard field goal.

The Tar Heels’ 3-0 lead after the first quarter was their first since a Sept. 13 win over Richmond.

Ethan Kenney converted a 38-yard field goal on the half’s final play, making up for an earlier miss.

The takeaway

Stanford: Brown got into a rhythm after a quiet start, but protection issues were too much to overcome.

North Carolina: Considering how bleak things have looked early in Belichick’s tenure, the Tar Heels will take all the wins they can get. Sneaking into a bowl game is still a possibility.

Setting the tone

Melkart Abou Jaoude had three sacks, giving him eight in the last three games and 10 this season. Tyler Thompson also had three sacks and Simpson added two.

“When our defense shows up like that — they’ve been showing up the last couple of games — we’ve got to respond to them,” Lopez said. “It’s complementary football.”

Up next

Stanford hosts California on Nov. 22 following a bye.

North Carolina visits Wake Forest next Saturday.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in Manhattan, kicking off New York’s holiday season

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in Manhattan, kicking off New York’s holiday season

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was hoisted aloft at its new home in Manhattan on Saturday, marking the start of New York City’s holiday season.

This year’s tree is a 75-foot-tall (23-meter-tall) Norway spruce from the upstate town of East Greenbush, a suburb of Albany. After being cut down this week, it made the roughly 150-mile (240-kilometer) journey south on a flatbed truck, drawing curious onlookers along the way.

The crowds were much bigger at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where workers used cranes to hoist the 11-ton tree into position overlooking the iconic skating rink. People gathered with coffee cups and phones as crews secured the spruce and began the careful process of stabilizing it.

The tree will be soon be decorated with more than 50,000 multicolored, energy-efficient LED lights and crowned with a Swarovski star weighing 900 pounds (408 kilograms).

It will be lit Dec. 3 during a live TV broadcast hosted by country music star Reba McEntire and remain on display until mid-January, after which it will be milled into lumber for use by the affordable housing nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.

The tree was donated by homeowner Judy Russ and her family. She said it was planted by her husband’s great-grandparents in the 1920s.

“For this to now become the center of New York City Christmas is incredible,” Russ told the radio station 1010 WINS.

The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression. The comparatively modest 20-foot (6-meter) balsam fir was outfitted with garlands handmade by the workers’ families.

The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933.

Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments

Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments

By DAVID A. LIEB, MICHAEL CASEY, SCOTT BAUER and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown, even though residents in some states already have received the funds.

A judge had given the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked an appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.

After a Boston appeals court declined to immediately intervene, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued an order late Friday pausing the requirement to distribute full SNAP payments until the appeals court rules on whether to issue a more lasting pause. Jackson handles emergency matters from Massachusetts.

Her order will remain in place until 48 hours after the appeals court rules, giving the administration time to return to the Supreme Court if the appeals court refuses to step in.

The food program serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly with lower incomes.

Officials in more than a half-dozen states confirmed that some SNAP recipients already were issued full November payments on Friday. But Jackson’s order could prevent other states from initiating the payments.

Which states issued SNAP payments

In Wisconsin, more than $104 million of monthly food benefits became available at midnight on electronic cards for about 337,000 households, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said. The state was able to access the federal money so quickly by submitting a request to its electronic benefit card vendor to process the SNAP payments within hours of a Thursday court order to provide full benefits.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said state employees “worked through the night” to issue full November benefits “to make sure every Oregon family relying on SNAP could buy groceries” by Friday.

Hawaii had the information for November’s monthly payments ready to go, so it could submit it quickly for processing after Thursday’s court order — and before a higher court could potentially pause it, Joseph Campos II, deputy director of Hawaii’s Department of Human Services, told The Associated Press.

“We moved with haste once we verified everything,” Campos said.

Trump’s administration told the Supreme Court that the fast-acting states were “trying to seize what they could of the agency’s finite set of remaining funds, before any appeal could even be filed, and to the detriment of other States’ allotments.”

“Once those billions are out the door, there is no ready mechanism for the government to recover those funds,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the court filing.

Officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state also said they moved quickly to issue full SNAP benefits Friday, while other states said they expected full benefits to arrive over the weekend or early next week. Still others said they were waiting for further federal guidance.

Many SNAP recipients face uncertainty

The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for Americans with lower incomes.

An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of nearly $300 and a family of four up to nearly $1,000, although many receive less than that under a formula that takes into consideration their income.

For some SNAP participants, it remained unclear when they would receive their benefits.

Jasmen Youngbey of Newark, New Jersey, waited in line Friday at a food pantry in the state’s largest city. As a single mom attending college, Youngbey said she relies on SNAP to help feed her 7-month-old and 4-year-old sons. But she said her account balance was at $0.

“Not everybody has cash to pull out and say, ‘OK, I’m going to go and get this,’ especially with the cost of food right now,” she said.

Later Friday, Youngbey said, she received her monthly SNAP benefits.

The legal battle over SNAP takes another twist

Because of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration originally had said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. However, two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the shutdown. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who ordered the full payments Thursday.

In both cases, the judges ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.

On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.

Thursday’s federal court order rejected the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.

In its court filings Friday, Trump’s administration contended that the judge usurped both legislative and executive authority in ordering SNAP benefits to be fully funded.

“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers,” Sauer told the Supreme Court.

States are taking different approaches to food aid

Some states said they stood ready to distribute SNAP money as quickly as possible.

Colorado and Massachusetts said SNAP participants could receive their full November payments as soon as Saturday. New York said access to full SNAP benefits should begin by Sunday. New Hampshire said full benefits should be available by this weekend. Arizona and Connecticut said full benefits should be accessible in the coming days.

Officials in North Carolina said they distributed partial SNAP payments Friday and full benefits could be available by this weekend. Officials in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and North Dakota also said they distributed partial November payments.

Amid the federal uncertainty, Delaware’s Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer said the state used its own funds Friday to provide the first of what could be a weekly relief payment to SNAP recipients.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Bauer from Madison, Wisconsin; and Catalini from Newark, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Mark Sherman in Washington; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Anthony Izaguirre in New York; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Mingson Lau in Claymont, Delaware; John O’Connor, in Springfield, Illinois; Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Colleen Slevin in Denver; and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

November 8th 2025

November 8th 2025

Thought of the Day

Photo by Getty Image

You don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step.

The shutdown has disrupted air travel. Will that drive a surge in car rentals and train bookings?

The shutdown has disrupted air travel. Will that drive a surge in car rentals and train bookings?

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government shutdown has rattled air travel — most recently with an unprecedented effort from the Federal Aviation Administration to cut flights by 10% at airports nationwide. And the disruptions are causing some to instead hit the road or buy a train ticket.

That could mean more business for car rentals, long-haul buses and commuter rails like Amtrak — particularly if flight delays and cancellations continue piling up as the U.S. approaches Thanksgiving and other peak holiday travel.

Amid the latest scramble, Hertz is already reporting a sharp increase in one-way car rentals. One-way reservations have spiked more that 20% through the coming weekend compared with the same period last year, according to the company, which has also pointed to the shutdown’s ongoing strain on travel overall.

“We join the airlines in urging Congress to swiftly pass a clean continuing resolution and restore certainty for travelers,” Hertz CEO Gil West said in a statement. “Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption.”

A press contact for peer-to-peer car-sharing company Turo said Friday that the platform’s nationwide bookings were also up 30% year-over-year. And Avis simiarly noted it had also seen “an increase in one-way rental activity as airlines adjust flight schedules,” maintaining that it would continue “to serve customers in the best way possible as travel conditions evolve.”

Amtrak, meanwhile, is predicting record Thanksgiving numbers.

The rail service said it began to see those bookings grow before the shutdown began — but told The Associated Press on Thursday that it was also “reasonable to expect an increased share shift to Amtrak” if flight disruptions mount. Amtrak has maintained that its routes are running normally amid the shutdown.

Flix North America, the parent company of FlixBus and Greyhound, is also preparing for more demand.

“Our message is simple: you still have options,” said Kai Boysan, CEO of Flix North America.

Boysan maintained that intercity buses are “one of the most dependable ways to get around” — and not impacted by the shutdown like flights are. “We anticipate more travelers may turn to ground transportation in the days ahead, and we’re monitoring demand closely and prepared to add capacity where needed to ensure people can keep moving,” he added.

A Flix spokesperson said Friday that many of its bookings typically occur within 24 to 72 hours of departure, noting that the company should have a “clearer picture” of the overall impact in the coming days.

Still, train and bus routes are sometimes more available in certain parts of the country than others. And some have also encountered sold-out tickets or rentals in recent days — instead turning to other creative options.

Karen Soika from Greenwich, Connecticut, found out Friday morning that her flight out of Newark, New Jersey, was rebooked for an hour earlier. But she later learned her plane was actually leaving from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport instead, at least an hour away.

She unsuccessfully tried to book a rental car to get to Utah for a weekend trip, before settling on another option: booking a U-Haul.

“I’m going to U-Haul and I’m going to drive a truck cross country,” said Soika.

Meanwhile, others are hoping to avoid lengthy alternatives.

Christina Schlegel, of Arlington, Virginia, is keeping an eye on the Wednesday flight she’s booked to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When word of cancellations broke, her husband suggested they just drive if their flight is among those affected, but Schlegel says she’d rather pivot to a different flight or airport.

“I don’t want to drive 12 hours,” said Schlegel, who is heading to Florida ahead of a Bahamas cruise.

It can be overwhelming for travelers to navigate whether or not their trips will be impacted — particularly if the trip is farther down the road. And the costs of buying backup options can add up overall. That’s caused some to sit on their current bookings.

“Everything is so fluid right now that many travelers are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach, especially looking ahead to Thanksgiving travel,” Aixa Diaz, spokesperson for motor group AAA, said in a Friday email.

Diaz urges consumers to stay informed, make flexible backup plans and take steps to reduce future headaches — such as carving out more travel time overall or taking a taxi or public transport to an airport instead of parking your own car, in case your return trip gets canceled or rerouted.

“Controlling what you can is key,” she noted.

_______

Associated Press journalists Matt Sedensky and Charles Sheehan in New York; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Ted Shaffrey in New Jersey contributed to this report.

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