Category Archives: WPTF News

Fired CDC chief Susan Monarez warns senators that RFK Jr. is endangering public health

Fired CDC chief Susan Monarez warns senators that RFK Jr. is endangering public health

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Susan Monarez is warning senators America’s public health system is headed to a “dangerous place” under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaccine advisers. Monarez and ex-CDC official Debra Houry describe exchanges in which Kennedy or political advisers rebuffed data supporting vaccine safety and efficacy. Monarez told the Senate health committee Wednesday deadly diseases including polio are poised to make a comeback in the U.S. Monarez says Kennedy demanded she “preapprove” recommendations from a CDC panel or face termination. The panel is expected to vote on new vaccine guidelines this week in Atlanta. Kennedy denies Monarez’s accusations he ordered “rubber-stamped” vaccine recommendations.… Continue Reading

Another beachfront stilt house collapses into the surf on the Outer Banks

Another beachfront stilt house collapses into the surf on the Outer Banks

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Ocean has claimed another beach house on the fragile Outer Banks. The home that collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Buxton, North Carolina, is the 12th to succumb to the surf since May 2020. An official with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the house was unoccupied. The other 11 were all in the village of Rodanthe, a few miles north. The barrier islands have been eroding amid sea level rise for years. The famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved inland in 1999.… Continue Reading

Amazon Prime Video will stream the Masters for the first time beginning next year

Amazon Prime Video will stream the Masters for the first time beginning next year

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Amazon Prime Video will stream two hours of coverage during the first and second rounds of the Masters beginning next year. The Masters will stream on Prime Video from 1-3 p.m. Eastern daily on April 9 and 10, leading into ESPN’s coverage both days from 3-7:30 p.m. Paramount+ will stream the third and fourth rounds on April 11 and 12 from noon-2 p.m. Eastern before CBS takes over beginning at 2 p.m. With the addition of Prime Video, primary broadcast and streaming coverage of the Masters will be at least 27 hours, up from 18 hours last year.… Continue Reading

Retail sales up 0.6% in August from July even as tariffs hurt jobs and lead to price hikes

Retail sales up 0.6% in August from July even as tariffs hurt jobs and lead to price hikes

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased their spending at a better-than-expected pace in August from July, helped by back-to-school purchases, even as President Donald Trump’s tariffs are starting to hurt the job market and lead to price hikes. The performance was also helped by the continued efforts by Americans to keep pushing up purchases ahead of expected price increases. Retail sales rose 0.6% last month from July, when sales were up a revised 0.6%, according to the Commerce Department’s report released Tuesday.… Continue Reading

Israel’s military begins its ground offensive in Gaza City and thousands of residents flee

Israel’s military begins its ground offensive in Gaza City and thousands of residents flee

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military has begun its ground offensive in Gaza City, slowly closing in on the Palestinian territory’s largest city. Tuesday’s operation marked another escalation in the war. Thousands of people streamed out of the city in vehicles laden with their belongings, but hundreds of thousands more remain. The conflict has already decimated much of the Gaza Strip and roiled the Middle East for nearly two years, and the new operation likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach. The military wouldn’t offer a timeline for the offensive, but Israeli media suggested it could take months. The military says it aims to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure.”… Continue Reading

Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor, director and indie patriarch, dies at 89

Robert Redford, Oscar-winning actor, director and indie patriarch, dies at 89

Robert Redford has died at 89. The Hollywood golden boy who became an Oscar-winning director, liberal activist and godfather for independent cinema died in Utah on Tuesday. His publicist didn’t immediately provide a cause of death. After rising to stardom in the 1960s, Redford was one of the biggest stars of the ’70s with such films as “The Candidate,” “All the President’s Men” and “The Way We Were.” Redford played the wily outlaw opposite Paul Newman in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” a box-office smash from which Redford’s Sundance Institute and festival got its name.… Continue Reading

Wall Street ticks toward another record as Tesla vrooms higher

Wall Street ticks toward another record as Tesla vrooms higher

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking toward another record. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% Monday and was on track to top its latest all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 31 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9%. Tesla jumped after Elon Musk bought stock worth roughly $1 billion in it, potentially signaling his faith in the electric vehicle company. The week’s main event will arrive Wednesday, when traders expect the Federal Reserve to announce its first cut to interest rates of the year. Perhaps more important will be whether it hints more cuts are coming, as Wall Street also expects.… Continue Reading

QB Young showed fight Panthers want to see despite failing to complete comeback against Cards

QB Young showed fight Panthers want to see despite failing to complete comeback against Cards

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Dave Canales benched Bryce Young two games into the 2024 season for ineffectiveness following a flurry of turnovers resulting in Carolina losing its first two games by a combined margin of 73-13. More than six quarters into this season it looked as if Canales might be answering similar questions about Young’s future. The Panthers fell behind 27-3 to the Arizona Cardinals and appeared on the verge of getting blown out for the second straight week. Young had two turnovers on the first two drives, one that was returned for a touchdown. And then something clicked. Young got going in the second half against Arizona, rallying the Panthers to 27-22 with three second-half touchdown passes.… Continue Reading

Appeals court rules felony offenders can’t be prosecuted for voting unlawfully by mistake

Appeals court rules felony offenders can’t be prosecuted for voting unlawfully by mistake

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a North Carolina law making it a crime for felony offenders to vote before completing their punishments without knowing they were breaking the law is unconstitutional. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial judge’s decision, pointing out that the law has disproportionately affected Black ex-defendants. The General Assembly changed the law so that starting in January 2024 it required intent to break the law for it to be a crime. But the law had not changed for pre-2024 voting and became the lawsuit’s focus. The unanimous appeals court ruling could be appealed.… Continue Reading

Vance hosts Kirk’s radio show and says he’ll honor his friend by being a better husband and father

Vance hosts Kirk’s radio show and says he’ll honor his friend by being a better husband and father

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance says he’ll honor Charlie Kirk by being a better husband and father. Vance commented Monday while hosting the radio program once hosted by Kirk. The founder of the Turning Point USA political organization was fatally shot last week during an outdoor appearance on a Utah college campus. Vance talked about visiting with Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and said she told him that her husband had never raised his voice to her and had never been cross or mean-spirited to her. Vance said he couldn’t say the same about his own behavior toward his wife, Usha Vance.… Continue Reading

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