Category Archives: WPTF News

Withers had 16 points, 11 rebounds in North Carolina’s 81-66 win over Virginia

Withers had 16 points, 11 rebounds in North Carolina’s 81-66 win over Virginia

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Jae’Lyn Withers scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Ian Jackson also scored 16 points and North Carolina defeated Virginia 81-66 on Saturday. Withers was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers in posting his second double-double this season and Jackson added three more 3s. Ven-Allen Lubin scored 14 points, RJ Davis 12 and Drake Powell 11 for the Tar Heels (17-11, 10-6 ACC), who made 9 of 16 from the arc and outrebounded the Cavaliers 35-21. Isaac McKneely scored 17 points and became the 52nd Cavalier to reach 1,000 career points. Dai Dai Ames added 12 for Virginia (13-14, 6-10).… Continue Reading

Pope Francis is in critical condition after a long respiratory crisis, requiring oxygen at high flow

Pope Francis is in critical condition after a long respiratory crisis, requiring oxygen at high flow

ROME (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Francis is in critical condition after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen. Francis has been hospitalized for a week with a complex lung infection. The Vatican said on Saturday that Francis also received blood transfusions after tests showed low blood platelets, which are needed for clotting. The statement said that the “Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved.”… Continue Reading

USDA scholarship for students at North Carolina A&T suspended

USDA scholarship for students at North Carolina A&T suspended

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal scholarship aimed at boosting students from underserved and rural areas attending historically Black colleges and universities has been put on hold. The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the 1890 Scholars Program, which provided recipients with full tuition and fees for students studying agriculture, food or natural resource sciences at one of 19 universities, known as the 1890 land grant institutions. It’s not clear exactly when the program was suspended, but some members of Congress first issued statements criticizing the suspension of the program on Thursday. A message seeking more detail was left Saturday with the Department of Agriculture.… Continue Reading

North Carolina’s insurance commissioner is out of the hospital after heart surgery

North Carolina’s insurance commissioner is out of the hospital after heart surgery

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey is out of the hospital 10 days after undergoing heart surgery. The Republican underwent what his department called “elective” surgery to “correct a congenital heart defect.” Causey told a Greensboro newspaper that he had developed an aneurysm. The 74-year-old was released Thursday. Causey said the surgery wasn’t disclosed beforehand in part because he didn’t want to alarm anybody ahead of time unnecessarily. He said the defect was discovered in late 2023. Further examination showed he had developed an aneurysm. Causey was first elected commissioner in 2016. He won a third four-year term this past November.… Continue Reading

Trump loyalist Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite deep Democratic doubts

Trump loyalist Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite deep Democratic doubts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has narrowly voted to confirm Kash Patel as as President Donald Trump’s FBI director. The vote Thursday puts the Trump loyalist atop the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency despite Democrats’ doubts about his qualifications and concerns he’ll do Trump’s bidding and go after the Republican president’s adversaries. Patel has fiercely criticized an agency that’s now gripped by turmoil. Trump’s Justice Department has forced out a group of senior FBI officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.… Continue Reading

Robot umpires are getting their first MLB test during spring training

Robot umpires are getting their first MLB test during spring training

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System, which potentially as early as 2026 could be used to aid MLB home plate umpires, but not replace them. Starting in 2024, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season.… Continue Reading

Snowy roads lead to hundreds of Virginia and North Carolina crashes as Arctic air brings record cold

Snowy roads lead to hundreds of Virginia and North Carolina crashes as Arctic air brings record cold

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Snowy roads led to hundreds of crashes throughout Virginia and North Carolina, including a series of crashes on an interstate highway involving more than 50 vehicles. Officials continued to ask people to avoid travel on Thursday to allow crews to work on the roads. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says it responded to nearly 1,200 collisions statewide on Wednesday. Virginia State Police reported early Thursday that there had been nearly 500 crashes statewide since the storm began, including at least 45 involving injuries. An Arctic air mass is bringing widespread, record-breaking cold to the central United States and forecasters expected some locations to experience their coldest temperatures on record this late in the season.… Continue Reading

Sen. Mitch McConnell won’t seek reelection in 2026, ending long tenure as Republican power broker

Sen. Mitch McConnell won’t seek reelection in 2026, ending long tenure as Republican power broker

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Mitch McConnell has announced he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a decadeslong tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce populism of President Donald Trump. The Kentucky Republican chose his 83rd birthday on Thursday to share his decision to retire when his current term ends in January 2027. McConnell is the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. McConnell helped forge a conservative Supreme Court and steered the Senate through tax cuts and presidential impeachment trials. McConnell informed The Associated Press of his decision before he addressed colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor.… Continue Reading

RJ Davis scores 21 to help North Carolina beat NC State 97-73

RJ Davis scores 21 to help North Carolina beat NC State 97-73

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 21 points, Seth Davis added 15 on 6-of-9 shooting and North Carolina never trailed as the Tar Heels beat in-state rival N.C. State 97-73. Ven-Allen Lubin scored 13 points and Ian Jackson 12 for North Carolina. Drake Powell made a layup that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good just over four minutes into the game and spark a 10-0 run that made it 16-6 about three minutes later. UNC shot 57% from the field, outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-21 and led by double digits for the final 33 minutes. Jayden Taylor led N.C. State with 19 points and Dontrez Styles added 18 on 7-of-10 shooting.… Continue Reading

Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler, former Georgia senator, to lead Small Business Administration

Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler, former Georgia senator, to lead Small Business Administration

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate has confirmed Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia businesswoman and former senator, to lead the Small Business Administration. The Senate approved Loeffler on a 52-46 vote Wednesday. At SBA, Loeffler will oversee an entity responsible for helping businesses satisfy debts, payroll and other expenses during times of disaster. Loeffler co-chaired Trump’s second inaugural committee and served in the Senate during the last year of his first term. During her brief stint on Capitol Hill, the former WNBA owner and executive was the Senate’s wealthiest member. She is married to Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, the publicly traded firm that owns the New York Stock Exchange.… Continue Reading

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