Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia’s race for governor

Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia’s race for governor

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation.

The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way the Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers.

Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN’s Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble.

“They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we’ve got to move forward,” she told a crowd gathered at Saucy’s Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell.

Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive.

Underfunded and lacking unity

Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her “Operation Defend & Deliver” campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms.

An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment.

The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia.

Earle-Sears’ ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing.

Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled.

After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months.

Earle-Sears’ campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges.

This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears.

One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin’s campaign.

Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: “Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents’ rights have been protected, Virginia’s economy is growing, and communities are safe.”

Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June.

When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was “working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.”

Tepid support from Trump

Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump’s terms.

Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears.

“I mean, I would,” he said. “I think probably she’s got a tough race. … She shouldn’t have, because the candidate she’s running against is not very good, but I think she’s got a tough race. But I would.”

Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee.

At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to “imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.” Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin’s administration.

Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they’ve got. She predicted that she would show them come November.

“How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?” she said. “Don’t believe it.”

Not that she doesn’t need more money to make that happen.

“Are we going to pass the offering bucket?” Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. “OK, see, you’re laughing again, and I’m not laughing because that’s what it’s going to take for us to win.”

Jen Pawol breaks MLB’s gender barrier as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game

Jen Pawol breaks MLB’s gender barrier as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Jen Pawol felt love and support from fans, family, peers and players as she made history as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game in the major leagues.

“It was amazing when we took the field,” Pawol said. “It seemed like quite a few people were clapping and calling my name. That was pretty intense and emotional.”

Pawol’s much-anticipated debut came as the first base umpire for Saturday’s first game of a split doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. It was a smooth debut.

“She did a good job,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can tell she knows what she does.”

Pawol said she had a group of about 30 friends and family members, including her father, at the game and she immediately identified a major difference of working in a major league stadium. Those familiar faces were not so easy to find at Truist Park.

“When I looked up they weren’t in the lower tier like in the minor leagues,” Pawol said. “When I looked up it took me a while. Whoa, they’re up there! I’ll never forget that. That was just awesome.

“The dream actually came true today. I’m still living in it. I’m so grateful to my family and Major League Baseball for creating such an incredible work environment. … I’m just so thankful.”

Pawol’s first real test came in the third inning of Atlanta’s 7-1 win when she called Braves catcher Sean Murphy safe on a close play. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough did not challenge the call.

Pawol also showed she will make animated calls. When Miami’s Xavier Edwards grounded into a double play in the third inning, Pawol pumped her fist and lifted her leg when she called Edwards out.

Pawol couldn’t help but notice her debut was being watched closely. Fans responded with a warm ovation when the video board focused on the umpire between innings, forcing her to take a quick glance at her image.

Pawol worked third base in the second game of the doubleheader. She will be in the spotlight when she calls pitches behind the plate in Sunday’s final game of the series. As a rover, she’ll then be waiting for her next assignment.

While she waits, the umpire cap she wore in her first game will be on the way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“This is one of the proudest moments in all my career,” crew chief Chris Guccione said. “I’ve been blessed with working playoffs, I’ve worked two World Series, All-Star games, and this is right up there. It gives me chills even thinking about it. And the magnitude, it just hit me just now the magnitude of this thing and how hard she’s worked.

“This is just a great role model for girls and women out there and I’m just so proud of her. This is a special moment. I’m so proud of her.”

There was much anticipation for her historic debut on Saturday. A crowd of photographers gathered while waiting for the umpires to walk onto the field from their entry ramp near the Marlins dugout.

McCullough and Braves bench coach Walt Weiss greeted Pawol when lineups were exchanged at home plate before the game. Pawol then jogged down the first base line. She shook hands with Marlins first base coach Tyler Smarslok before taking her position on the right field line for the first pitch.

Pawol said Thursday she was “overcome with emotion” when notified she would make her Major League Baseball debut this weekend.

Pawol, 48, has been working in the minor leagues since she was assigned to the Gulf Coast League in 2016. She was assigned the Triple-A championship game in 2023 and worked spring training games in 2024 and again this year.

“Anytime anybody grinds their way through the minor leagues, I don’t care who it is, that’s a tough thing,” Snitker said. “I’m happy for anybody who grinds it out.”

Asked if she is prepared for a confrontation with a manager upset about a call, including some known to kick dirt onto umpires, Pawol said it wouldn’t be the first time.

“More than dozens of times,” she said. “It doesn’t go very well for him. The night is usually over for him. It’s just part of the game.”

Pawol, who is from New Jersey, had only a few days to prepare for Saturday’s doubleheader. She said she was told of her long-awaited promotion during a Wednesday conference call with director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry.

Pawol was a three-time all-conference softball selection pick at Hofstra. She worked as an NCAA softball umpire from 2010-16.

Pawol’s rise to make MLB history came 28 years after the NBA gender barrier for game officials was broken and 10 years after the NFL hired its first full-time female official. The men’s soccer World Cup first hired a female referee three years ago. The NHL has not had any women as on-ice officials.

CDC shooter believed COVID vaccine made him suicidal, his father tells police

CDC shooter believed COVID vaccine made him suicidal, his father tells police

By JEFF AMY and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia man who opened fire on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, shooting dozens of rounds into the sprawling complex and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The 30-year-old shooter also tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire late Friday afternoon, the official said. He was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Bullet holes are visible at the door of a CVS pharmacy near where police say a man was shooting at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday. (AP video: Jeff Amy)

DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose skepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his career, voiced support for CDC employees Saturday. But some laid-off CDC employees said Kennedy shares responsibility for the violence and should resign.

CDC shooter identified

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation named Patrick Joseph White as the shooter, but authorities haven’t said whether he was killed by police or killed himself.

The suspect’s father contacted police and identified his son as the possible shooter, the law enforcement official told AP. The father said his son had been upset over the death of the son’s dog, and he had also become fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the official. The family lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of CDC headquarters.

A voicemail left at a phone number listed publicly for White’s family wasn’t returned Saturday.

Employees at the CDC are shaken

The shooting left gaping bullet holes in windows across the CDC campus, where thousands work on critical disease research. Employees huddled under lockdown for hours while investigators gathered evidence. Staff was encouraged to work from home Monday or take leave.

At least four CDC buildings were hit, Director Susan Monarez said on X.

Sam Atkins, who lives in Stone Mountain, said outside the CVS pharmacy on Saturday that gun violence feels like “a fact of life” now. “This is an everyday thing that happens here in Georgia.”

Kennedy reaches out to staff

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose,” Kennedy said Saturday. “We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.”

Some rejected the expressions of solidarity Kennedy made in a “Dear colleagues” email, and called for his resignation.

“Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC’s workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust,” said Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off employees opposing changes to the CDC by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Under Kennedy, CDC has laid off nearly 2,000 employees. Trump proposes cutting the agency’s budget in half next year, moving some CDC functions into a new Administration for a Healthy America. Kennedy has a history as a leader in the anti-vaccine movement, but he reached new prominence by spreading distrust of COVID-19 vaccines. For example, he called it “criminal medical malpractice” to give COVID-19 vaccines to children.

Kennedy parlayed that attention into a presidential bid and endorsement of Trump, leading to Trump naming him secretary. Kennedy continues to undercut the scientific consensus for vaccines, ordering $500 million cut from vaccine development funding on Tuesday.

Opponents say officials’ rhetoric contributed

Fired But Fighting also called for the resignation of Russell Vought, noting a video recorded before Trump appointed him Office of Management and Budget director with orders to dismantle much of the federal government.

“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Vought said in the video, obtained by ProPublica and the research group Documented. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.”

A request for comment from Vought’s agency wasn’t returned.

This shooting was the “physical embodiment of the narrative that has taken over, attacking science, and attacking our federal workers,” said Sarah Boim, a former CDC communications staffer who was fired this year during a wave of terminations.

A distrust of COVID-19 vaccines

A neighbor of White told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White spoke with her multiple times about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, who lives on the same street as White’s family, said he seemed like a “good guy” while doing yard work and walking dogs for neighbors, but he would bring up vaccines even in unrelated conversations.

“He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people.” Hoalst told the Atlanta newspaper. “He emphatically believed that.”

But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: “I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”

Slain officer leaves wife and 3 kids

Rose, 33, was a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in March and “quickly earned the respect of his colleagues for his dedication, courage and professionalism,” DeKalb County said.

“This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father,” DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said.

Growing security concerns

Senior CDC leadership told some staff Saturday that they would do a full security assessment following the shooting, according to a conference call recording obtained by the AP.

One staffer said people felt like “sitting ducks” Friday. Another asked whether administrators had spoken with Kennedy and if they could speak to “the misinformation, the disinformation” that “caused this issue.”

It is clear CDC leaders fear employees could continue to be targeted. In a Saturday email obtained by the AP, CDC’s security office asked employees to scrape old CDC parking decals off their vehicles. The office said decals haven’t been required for some time.

___

Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed from Albany, New York.

Trump has said abortion is a state issue. His judicial picks could shape it nationally for decades

Trump has said abortion is a state issue. His judicial picks could shape it nationally for decades

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — One called abortion a “barbaric practice.” Another referred to himself as a “zealot” for the anti-abortion movement. Several have played prominent roles in defending their state’s abortion restrictions in court and in cases that have had national impact, including on access to medication abortion.

As President Donald Trump pushes the Senate to confirm his federal judicial nominees, a review by The Associated Press shows that roughly half of them have revealed anti-abortion views, been associated with anti-abortion groups or defended abortion restrictions.

Trump has offered shifting positions on the issue while indicating he wants to leave questions of abortion access to the states. But his court nominees will have lifetime appointments and be in position to roll back abortion access long after the Republican president leaves the White House.

Bernadette Meyler, a professor of constitutional law at Stanford University, said judicial nominations “are a way of federally shaping the abortion question without going through Congress or making a big, explicit statement.”

“It’s a way to cover up a little bit what is happening in the abortion sphere compared to legislation or executive orders that may be more visible, dramatic and spark more backlash,” she said.

Trump is having an enduring impact on the federal courts

Of the 17 judicial nominees so far in Trump’s second term, at least eight have argued in favor of abortion restrictions or against expanded abortion access. No such records could be found for the other nine, nor did the AP review find evidence that any of Trump’s judicial nominees support increased access to abortion.

“Every nominee of the President represents his promises to the American people and aligns with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling,” a White House spokesman, Harrison Fields, said in a statement that referenced the 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. “The Democrats’ extreme position on abortion was rejected in November in favor of President Trump’s commonsense approach, which allows states to decide, supports the sanctity of human life, and prevents taxpayer funding of abortion.”

Trump’s first term also had an enduring impact on the courts, appointing 234 judges. By the end of that term, more than one-quarter of active federal judges were nominated by Trump, including three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

Challenging abortion care, medication, Planned Parenthood

In his second term, all but five of his 17 nominees are from states that went for Trump in 2024 and where Republicans have pushed severe abortion restrictions. Among them, four nominees are from Missouri and five are from Florida.

Here is a look at the nominees who have tried to reduce abortion access or have advocated for restrictions. They did not respond to requests for comment:

— Whitney Hermandorfer, who has been confirmed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has built much of her relatively short career as a lawyer around challenging former President Joe Biden’s policies related to abortion and transgender rights. She challenged a federal law requiring employers to provide workers with reasonable accommodations to get abortion care, as well as Title X regulations that required providers who receive funding through the program to give information about abortions to patients if asked.

Hermandorfer defended Tennessee’s abortion ban, one of the strictest in the country, in court and tried to dismiss a lawsuit from doctors seeking clarification on exemptions to the ban. She said abortion deserves special scrutiny because “this is the only medical procedure that terminates a life.”

— Maria Lanahan, a district court nominee in Missouri, helped write the state’s complaint in a lawsuit that had sweeping national implications for access to medication abortion. The case challenged the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone despite decades of evidence showing the drug is safe and effective.

The lawyer supported Missouri’s effort to strip Planned Parenthood of state Medicaid funding and defended the state’s abortion ban after a group of clergy sued, arguing it violated the state constitution’s protections for religious freedom.

— Jordan Pratt, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, called abortion a “barbaric practice” and “one of the most severe invasions of personal rights imaginable” in an amicus brief supporting Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. The state now bans the procedure at six weeks.

In 2025, Pratt struck down a Florida law that created a judicial waiver program for minors seeking to have abortions without parental consent. The lawyer also worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization that opposes abortion and has sued to reverse the FDA approval of mifepristone.

— John Guard, also nominated to fill for the same district, defended Florida’s then-15-week abortion ban in court as the state’s chief deputy attorney general.

— Joshua Divine, a deputy solicitor general of Missouri who is nominated to be a district judge in the state, is currently representing Missouri in a case challenging the FDA approval of mifepristone. Divine co-authored the lawsuit, which includes misinformation about medication abortion, including that it “starves the baby to death in the womb.”

In his college newspaper, Divine described himself as a “zealot” for the anti-abortion movement, referred to abortion as “the killing of an innocent, genetically unique human being” and argued that life begins at fertilization.

He also stepped into a prominent role in the fight over abortion rights in the state after Missouri voters approved an abortion rights amendment in 2024. That amendment did not immediately override state laws. It left it up to abortion rights groups to ask courts to knock down abortion restrictions they believed were now unconstitutional. During the ensuing legal battles, Divine represented the state in defending a host of abortion restrictions.

— Chad Meredith, Trump’s nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, defended the state’s abortion ban and other restrictions while he was the state’s chief deputy general counsel. That included a law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and describe images to abortion patients.

— Bill Mercer, a Republican state lawmaker in Montana who is nominated for a U.S. District Court judgeship in the state, has repeatedly supported anti-abortion bills. Those include ones that sought to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy; require a 24-hour waiting period and mandatory ultrasounds for abortion patients; require parental notification for minors to get an abortion; prohibit the use of state funding for abortions; prohibit certain insurance policies from covering abortions; and restrict what types of medical professionals can dispense medication abortion.

— Jennifer Mascott, a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office and a Trump nominee to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has spoken repeatedly about abortion law in panels and interviews.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Mascott in an interview on “Fox News Live” disagreed with the argument that the decision undermined the court’s legitimacy. She said abortion issues are “more appropriately decided” by the states, elected officials in Congress and people in their local communities.

Anti-abortion groups are optimistic based on Trump’s early nominees

Anti-abortion groups said it is premature to make broad conclusions about whether the nominees would help carry out their policy goals but that they were optimistic based on the names they have seen so far.

“We look forward to four more years of nominees cut from that mold,” said Katie Glenn Daniel, director of legal affairs for the national anti-abortion organization SBA Pro-Life America.

Kristi Hamrick, spokesperson for Students for Life, said she was hopeful the administration will continue nominating those “who will respect the rule of law.”

Abortion rights advocates said Trump is embedding abortion opponents into the judiciary one judge at a time.

Mini Timmaraju, president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, said the courts, until now, have largely been an effective option for advocates to challenge state abortion bans and restrictions.

“This just feeds into this larger strategy where Trump has gotten away with distancing himself from abortion — saying he’s going to leave it to the states while simultaneously appointing anti-abortion extremists at all levels of government,” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

August 10th 2025

August 10th 2025

Thought of the Day

August 10th 2024

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” – Abraham Lincoln

August 9th 2025

August 9th 2025

Thought of the Day

August 9th 2024

Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile!

Browns’ Shedeur Sanders impressive in NFL preseason debut, tosses 2 TD passes in win over Panthers

Browns’ Shedeur Sanders impressive in NFL preseason debut, tosses 2 TD passes in win over Panthers

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rookie Shedeur Sanders’ NFL preseason debut was so impressive even LeBron James took notice.

Sanders completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdown passes in the first half to Kaden Davis on Friday night as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Carolina Panthers 30-10.

“That young (man) looking good out there,” James posted on X. “Keep going UP!!! HEAD down on the grind and HEAD high to the most high.”

The four-time NBA champion followed up with another post, adding “And I don’t wanna hear that ‘It’s only preseason’ bs. Cause if he was out there not going in y’all would be on his (butt) about it! So give credit and grace lames.”

Sanders, a highly-rated draft prospect who endured a dramatic fall into the fifth round in April, entered the game fourth on the Browns depth chart, but was pressed into starting duty because of injuries. His status could change after he led three touchdown drives in nearly three full quarters of action, showing tremendous poise and awareness in the pocket.

“I honestly don’t know and don’t care,” Sanders said when asked if he thinks he should move up the depth chart. “I did some good and bad. I know moving forward I won’t do the same mistakes twice whatever the decision is.”

While Sanders played into the third quarter, counterpart Bryce Young had a quick, but effective night for Carolina.

Young played two series and completed 4 of 6 passes for 58 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker to give Carolina an early 7-0 lead. Coker, who is battling for a roster spot after a solid rookie season, had an impressive night, also hauling in a long pass with one hand while a defender had ahold of one of his arms, although the play was called back on a penalty.

But this night belonged to Sanders.

After failing to score in his first three possessions while facing Carolina’s starters, Sanders began to heat up against the second team in the second quarter.

The Browns caught a break when they recovered a muffed punt return by the Panthers at the Carolina 10.

Two plays later Sanders fired a 7-yard TD strike between two defenders to tie the game in the second quarter. After a couple of nifty runs and throws, Sanders found Davis again over the middle for a 12-yard score to give Cleveland the lead with 1:04 left in the first half.

Davis finished with three catches for 23 yards.

Cleveland stretched its lead to 21-7 in the third quarter when Gage Larvadain scored on a jet sweep from 4 yards out.

Legette, Jenkins get tossed

Panthers second-year wide receiver Xavier Legette had a short night after getting ejected early in the first quarter when he threw several punches at Browns cornerback Rayshawn Jenkins after the two got locked up in a block well after the completion of a play.

Jenkins, who eventually ripped off Legette’s helmet, was also ejected from the game.

Up next

Browns: Visit Philadelphia on Aug. 16.

Panthers: Visit Houston on Aug. 16.

Wall Street clocks another winning week

Wall Street clocks another winning week

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, capping a choppy week of trading with the market’s third winning week in the last four and another milestone.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, finishing just shy of the record it set last week. The benchmark index also wiped out its losses from a slide last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite added 1% to the all-time high it set a day earlier.

Technology companies, with their hefty stock values, did much of the heavy lifting for the market. Nvidia rose 1.1% and Apple gained 4.2%.

Gilead Sciences jumped 8.3% for one of the market’s biggest gains. It reported financial results that easily beat analysts’ forecasts, while also raising its earnings forecast for the year. Expedia Group rose 4.1% after also reporting encouraging financial results.

They are among the final big batch of companies within the S&P 500 to report mostly strong financial results for the second quarter. Still, many have warned that current tariffs could cut into their profits.

Financial sector stocks also helped drive the market higher. Bank of America gained 2.4% and Mastercard rose 2.3%.

Elsewhere in the market, entertainment giant Paramount Skydance slid 10.5% a day after the company was created by the closing of an $8 billion merger of Skydance and Paramount. Shares in rival Warner Bros. Discovery sank 8%.

The main focus throughout the week has been on President Donald Trump’s trade war and its potential impact on the U.S. economy, as well as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. Trump began imposing higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday.

Still, the market appeared to largely shrug off the latest tariff escalation.

“The S&P 500’s rebound this week may highlight the extent to which the market is becoming numb to tariff headlines,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.

The unknown path of the economy amid an unpredictable tariff policy has been the key reason for the Fed to hold its benchmark interest rate steady.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, though, has been under increasing pressure from Trump to cut interest rates. Policy decisions aren’t made solely by the Fed chair. All 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee vote on interest rate changes.

Trump has an opportunity to exert more control over the Fed following his nomination of Stephen Miran to a vacancy on the Fed’s board of governors. Miran is a top economic adviser to Trump and is a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates.

The Fed’s last decision to hold interest rates steady included two votes to lower interest rates. Its next meeting is in September, and Wall Street is overwhelmingly betting that the central bank will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.

Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.25% late Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury which more closely tracks expectations for Fed actions, rose to 3.76% from 3.73% late Thursday.

The expectation for an interest rate cut follows a series of signals last week that the economy could be weakening. That included reports showing that inflation edged higher in June and employers in the U.S. hit the brakes on hiring in July.

Both are key concerns for the Fed, which has been trying to cool inflation down to its target rate of 2% while also fulfilling its “full employment” mandate.

Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher. Concerns about inflation reheating could be overshadowed by worries about a weakening employment market.

Wall Street and the Fed will get more insight next week on inflation’s temperature and the economy. The government will release updates on inflation at both the consumer and wholesale levels, along with a report on retail sales.

“We believe stocks will stay supported amid solid fundamentals, but fresh headlines in the coming week may challenge investor sentiment that remains vulnerable to tariff, economic, and geopolitical risks,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer for the Americas and global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 49.45 points to 6,389.45. The Dow rose 206.97 points to 44,175.61, and the Nasdaq rose 207.32 points to finish at 21,450.02.

Asian markets closed mostly lower except in Tokyo, where the Nikkei rose 1.9% after Japan’s main trade envoy said the U.S. had agreed to correct a problem over tariffs that will apply to exports to the U.S.

European markets were mixed.

Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished

Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished

By MAKIYA SEMINERA and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press

Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene’s devastating pathway through western North Carolina, a vibrant tourist attraction offering visitors a serene escape in the Blue Ridge Mountains is being torn down.

Like many other beloved sites in the region, the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Rutherford County crumpled from the relentless floods and winds from remnants of Helene last September. Now, the town of Lake Lure said Thursday that it will start its demolition of the historic structure later this month.

A three-arched bridge spanning the Broad River in western North Carolina was saved from demolition and transformed into a beloved tourist attraction. But damage from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene’s remnants is forcing Lake Lure to tear down the famed Flowering Bridge. (AP video/Allen G. Breed)

While the three-arched bridge dates back to 1925, it didn’t become the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge until almost a century later. Once the bridge was decommissioned, a group of local volunteers, Friends of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, worked to enhance it by adding its iconic gardens in 2013, according to the group’s website. The bridge attracted more than 150,000 visitors annually, said Linda Reandeau, a master gardener and the group’s marketing chair.

But then Helene brought destruction to western North Carolina last year, with the Lake Lure area — which served as a backdrop for a few scenes in “Dirty Dancing” — sustaining some of the worst damage. The town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village, as well as the lake itself, were covered in a layer of disfigured debris. The area still hasn’t recovered, but tourist attractions such as Chimney Rock State Park have reopened.

In the Flowering Bridge’s case, one end of the structure completely collapsed. Several other points also buckled from the damage, and its lush greenery was swept away in the storm. Over the past 11 months, the bridge has only continued to deteriorate, Reandeau said.

“It would have been 100 years old this year,” she said. “To see it destroyed as it was in the storm was very emotional and heartbreaking for me, along with all the other volunteers and so many people who have visited.”

The decision to demolish the bridge came after two engineering firms concluded that it couldn’t be restored, according to the town’s website. Demolition is expected to start on Aug. 18.

While the bridge will no longer remain, Reandeau said the landmark’s volunteer group is in the planning process for how to move forward. The nonprofit is waiting for occupancy certification to reopen its relatively unscathed education center, where it can hold gardening and art classes — and hopefully install new gardens nearby, Reandeau said.

“We haven’t gone away, we’re still here, and we really look forward to the day we can welcome back visitors to the gardens,” she said. “We fully intend to make another magical space. It’s just not going to happen immediately.”

Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished

Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished

By MAKIYA SEMINERA and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press

Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene’s devastating pathway through western North Carolina, a vibrant tourist attraction offering visitors a serene escape in the Blue Ridge Mountains is being torn down.

Like many other beloved sites in the region, the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Rutherford County crumpled from the relentless floods and winds from remnants of Helene last September. Now, the town of Lake Lure said Thursday that it will start its demolition of the historic structure later this month.

A three-arched bridge spanning the Broad River in western North Carolina was saved from demolition and transformed into a beloved tourist attraction. But damage from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene’s remnants is forcing Lake Lure to tear down the famed Flowering Bridge. (AP video/Allen G. Breed)

While the three-arched bridge dates back to 1925, it didn’t become the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge until almost a century later. Once the bridge was decommissioned, a group of local volunteers, Friends of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, worked to enhance it by adding its iconic gardens in 2013, according to the group’s website. The bridge attracted more than 150,000 visitors annually, said Linda Reandeau, a master gardener and the group’s marketing chair.

But then Helene brought destruction to western North Carolina last year, with the Lake Lure area — which served as a backdrop for a few scenes in “Dirty Dancing” — sustaining some of the worst damage. The town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village, as well as the lake itself, were covered in a layer of disfigured debris. The area still hasn’t recovered, but tourist attractions such as Chimney Rock State Park have reopened.

In the Flowering Bridge’s case, one end of the structure completely collapsed. Several other points also buckled from the damage, and its lush greenery was swept away in the storm. Over the past 11 months, the bridge has only continued to deteriorate, Reandeau said.

“It would have been 100 years old this year,” she said. “To see it destroyed as it was in the storm was very emotional and heartbreaking for me, along with all the other volunteers and so many people who have visited.”

The decision to demolish the bridge came after two engineering firms concluded that it couldn’t be restored, according to the town’s website. Demolition is expected to start on Aug. 18.

While the bridge will no longer remain, Reandeau said the landmark’s volunteer group is in the planning process for how to move forward. The nonprofit is waiting for occupancy certification to reopen its relatively unscathed education center, where it can hold gardening and art classes — and hopefully install new gardens nearby, Reandeau said.

“We haven’t gone away, we’re still here, and we really look forward to the day we can welcome back visitors to the gardens,” she said. “We fully intend to make another magical space. It’s just not going to happen immediately.”

Recent News

Powered By SoCast