Thought of the Day
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” – Abraham Lincoln
August 10th 2025
August 9th 2025
Thought of the Day
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.”
Refreshing Caprese Salad
This recipe is a classic! Great for an appetizer, light lunch or side in the summer heat.
Ingredients
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 12 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced (or you can use mozzarella pearls)
- 1 bunch fresh basil, washed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
1. Prep the veggies and cheese
Slice your tomato and cheese and wash the basil.
2. Assemble ingredients
On a plate, place a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella and a few basil leaves on top of each other. Repeat until the salad is layered nicely and you use all of your tomatoes and cheese.
3. Drizzle
Drizzle the salad with olive oil and balsamic glaze.
4. Season it up
Sprinkle the salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and garnish with a few leaves of basil.
5. Serve it cold
Serve right away and savor the taste of summer.
Wall Street drifts as stock markets worldwide take Trump’s new tariffs in stride
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s tariffs taking effect on dozens of countries had only a muted effect on markets worldwide.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after briefly climbing to the cusp of its all-time high during the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 224 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to a record.
Worries are high that Trump’s tariffs are damaging the economy, particularly after last week’s worse-than-expected report on the job market. But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies are helping to offset the concerns, at least for now.
Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher. The Bank of England cut its main interest rate on Thursday in hopes of bolstering the sluggish U.K. economy.
The U.S. tariffs that took effect Thursday morning were already well known, as well as lower than what Trump had initially threatened. Some countries are still trying to negotiate down the tax rates on their exports, and continued uncertainty seems to be the only certainty on Wall Street. All the while, the U.S. stock market faces criticism that it’s climbed too far, too fast since hitting a bottom in April, with prices looking too expensive.
On Wall Street, worries about tariffs helped drag down the stock of Crocs.
The footwear maker tumbled 29.2% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said it expects revenue to drop as much as 11% in the current quarter from a year earlier, while tariffs are dragging on its profitability. The company cited “continued uncertainty from evolving global trade policy and related pressures around the consumer.”
Eli Lilly dropped 14.1% even though the drugmaker likewise reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Analysts said some investors were disappointed with results that Lilly provided for a late-stage study of its potential pill version of the popular weight-loss drug Zepbound.
Intel sank 3.1% after Trump called for its CEO to resign, while accusing him of being “highly CONFLICTED,” though he gave no evidence.
Apple helped keep the market’s losses in check, as it rose on hopes that its massive size can help it navigate Trump’s economy. Its stock climbed 3.2% after CEO Tim Cook joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday to say it’s increasing its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years.
Trump also announced a 100% tariff on imported computer chips, but he added “if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.”
“Large, cash-rich companies that can afford to build in America will be the ones to benefit the most,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “It’s survival of the biggest.”
DoorDash added 5% after the delivery app topped Wall Street’s profit expectations for the latest quarter. It attracted new customers and saw the total number of orders increase.
Duolingo, the language-learning app, jumped 13.7% after it crushed Wall Street’s expectations. The company said its subscription revenue grew 46% over the same period last year.
All told the S&P 500 edged down by 5.06 points to 6,340.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 224.48 to 43,968.64, and the Nasdaq composite rose 73.27 to 21,242.70.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
Stocks climbed 0.2% in Shanghai and 0.7% in Hong Kong after China reported that its exports picked up in July, helped by a flurry of shipments as businesses took advantage of a pause in Trump’s tariff war with Beijing.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6%. Toyota Motor’s stock fell after it cut its full-year earnings forecasts largely because of Trump’s tariffs, but Sony rose after the entertainment and electronics company indicated it’s taking less damage from the tariffs than it had expected.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23% from 4.22% late Wednesday after the latest reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed.
One said that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. That could be an indication of rising layoffs, but the number remains within its recent range.
“There is nothing to see here!” according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “These are not nearly recession readings.”
A separate report said that productivity for U.S. workers improved by more during the spring than economists expected. That could help the U.S. economy grow without adding more pressure on inflation. And that’s particularly important when Trump’s tariffs look set to increase prices for all kinds of things that U.S. households and businesses buy.
___
AP Business Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
Furry Friday: Meet Sunkist!
Sunkist is a one-year-old bulldog/boxer mix who loves snuggling close and savoring life’s little moments-like stopping to smell the roses on a peaceful walk. She’s the perfect blend of playful curiosity and calm affection, ready to share both adventures and cuddles with her forever family.
Sunkist knows exactly what she likes and isn’t shy about setting boundaries when playing with other male dogs. She’s clear that she’s not interested in any humpy or overly forward male dogs, so her best match would be a low-key, respectful boy who’s happy to be just friends.
This lovely lady went on an outing with a volunteer. She did great in the car even though she needed a boost to get in. She likes to keep her adventures short and sweet in hot weather. And she loves a good spa day to keep up her good looks!
If you’re looking for a loving, soulful companion who’ll join you for thoughtful strolls and plenty of cozy moments, Sunkist might just be the perfect fit.
If you’re interested in learning more about Sunkist, please reach out to our Volunteer Matchmakers at [email protected] with the subject line “Sunkist 259854.
Sunkist is up to date on vaccinations, flea/tick, and heartworm prevention, is microchipped, and will be spayed prior to going home. If you have dogs or cats, we recommend slow introductions over time. If you have children in your home, we recommend supervision between animals and children at all times.
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August 8th 2025
Thought of the Day
Too many folks go through life running away from something that isn’t after them.