ACC and new North Carolina coach Bill Belichick head toward season after spring full of changes

ACC and new North Carolina coach Bill Belichick head toward season after spring full of changes

By PETE IACOBELLI Associated Press

It’s on to fall camp for the Atlantic Coast Conference and new North Carolina coach Bill Belichick.

Belichick was the buzziest offseason addition for the ACC when the six-time Super Bowl championship-winning head coach agreed to take over the Tar Heels — his first time as a college head coach.

Belichick has had plenty of personnel issues to handle. Two of North Carolina’s best pass rushing threats in defensive end Beau Atkinson and linebacker Amare Campbell entered the transfer portal. But Belichick landed South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez, who threw for 2,599 yards and 18 touchdowns as a sophomore last season.

UNC hired Belichick in December in a sign of a stepped-up investment in football. The Tar Heels opened spring drills in early March and had a practice that media was permitted to observe for about 20 minutes, then closed last weekend with a public workout in Kenan Stadium. It was hard to pick up many specifics with players working out with no jersey numbers.

North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi said long before spring practices that the goal was for Belichick to create an NFL team.

“We want to play to the strengths of our players and that’s what we’ll do,” Belichick said in March. “That part takes a little while to figure that out, but nevertheless we’ll run a pro system on both sides of the ball and the kicking game. That’s where the foundation of it is.

“And all the training videos that we’ve shown them on how to do things, how to do certain techniques, how to run certain things are really from NFL players – the guys who are great at it, the guys who did it better than anybody. I think that’s still a great way to teach, because our players are seeing some of the best guys who have played do what they do.”

UNC’s opener is a Monday night affair, with the Tar Heels hosting TCU on Labor Day to open Belichick’s tenure.

Stanford shakeup

Stanford went through spring drills after coach Troy Taylor was fired in late March amid a report by ESPN he had been investigated twice since taking over before the 2023 season after allegations of inappropriate behavior.

Cardinal general manager Andrew Luck, the school’s former star quarterback, hired Frank Reich as interim coach this season to take over for Taylor. Reich and his staff have done as much listening as teaching with players still processing the abrupt changes.

“The key for us is don’t overwhelm the players,” Reich said. “Find the small pockets where we can make a significant difference.”

CFP teams

Both ACC teams that made the College Football Playoff (league champion Clemson and runner-up SMU) believe they took steps forward after losing first-round playoff games.

The Tigers and Mustangs will have two of the leading quarterbacks in the ACC and perhaps the country in Cade Klubnik of Clemson and Kevin Jennings of SMU.

Klubnik threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns in leading the Tigers to their eighth league title in 10 seasons and his second in three years. Jennings led SMU to an 8-0 regular season and engineered a fourth-quarter comeback in the title game against the Tigers before Clemson’s dramatic, walk-off, 56-yard field goal gave them a 34-31 victory.

Clemson added former Indiana head coach and Penn State defensive coordinator in Tom Allen to lead the Tigers’ defense. Swinney liked how his defense did better in the red zone spring under Allen’s direction.

“That’s an area that we have to be better at this year is red zone defense. When you win on red zone defense, you hold them to a field goal,” he said.

FSU bounce back

Florida State is looking to get back on top after a disastrous 2-10 season that followed its first ACC title in nearly a decade in 2023. Seminoles coach Mike Norvell liked the fire he saw from his group, working to blend newcomers with returnees hopeful to make a mark this season.

“You felt the players trying to make that positive impact on each other and hold themselves to that standard that’s necessary for us to continue to grow for what we all desire here this fall,” Norvell said.

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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard contributed to this report.

Decision looming for Trump administration on first PFAS drinking water limits

Decision looming for Trump administration on first PFAS drinking water limits

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press

In pain so bad he couldn’t stand, Chris Meek was rushed to the hospital with a life-threatening ruptured gallbladder. When he emerged from surgery, he learned he had kidney cancer that thankfully hadn’t yet spread.

Meek, a social studies teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina, was 47 at the time. But he remained confused for years about why, as someone seemingly not at risk, he had gotten cancer until Emily Donovan, a parent of students at his school, gave a guest talk about high levels of harmful forever chemicals known as PFAS in North Carolina’s environment. When Donovan mentioned kidney cancer, the possible cause of Meek’s diagnosis finally clicked.

Until then, Meek said, he “had no idea what PFAS was.”

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.

In a decision with consequences for tens of millions of Americans, the Trump administration is expected to soon say whether it intends to stand by those strict standards and defend the limits against a water utility industry challenge in federal court.

PFAS in drinking water created a crisis for many communities

In North Carolina, runoff from a Chemours plant contaminated the Cape Fear River, creating a crisis for cities like Wilmington that use it for drinking water. Amid public outcry, Wilmington effectively eliminated it from tap water.

Other U.S. communities — often near military bases or industrial sites — did the same when test results were frightening and public pressure, local leadership or state law forced PFAS-laden wells offline or prompted installation of expensive filtering systems, according to Mark White, drinking water global practice leader at the engineering firm CDM Smith.

The EPA said the PFAS found in North Carolina, often called GenX chemicals, can be toxic to the kidney. While other types of PFAS may raise kidney cancer risk, little research has focused on the link between kidney cancer and GenX, according to Sue Fenton, director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment at North Carolina State University. Chemours said evidence doesn’t support arguments that GenX at low levels is a health threat. The company has sharply reduced PFAS discharges.

So far, sampling has found nearly 12% of U.S. water utilities are above the recently set EPA limits, but most aren’t above by much. Forcing this group to reduce PFAS more than doubles the rule’s health benefits but roughly triples its costs, the EPA has said.

The Biden administration’s rule set standards for two common types of PFAS at 4 parts per trillion, effectively the lowest level at which they can be reliably detected. Standards for several other PFAS chemicals were set, too, and utilities must meet those levels by 2029.

PFAS have had wide uses over the decades

Manufactured by companies like Chemours and 3M, PFAS were incredibly useful in many applications -– among them, helping clothes to withstand rain and ensuring that firefighting foam snuffed out flames. But the chemicals also accumulate in the body. As science advanced in recent years, evidence of harm at far lower levels became clearer.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has championed fossil fuels and the rollback of major clean air and water rules. His history with PFAS is more nuanced; during his time as a New York congressman, he supported legislation to regulate forever chemicals in drinking water.

“It’s an issue that touches people in a very tangible way across the political spectrum, including in Lee Zeldin’s former district,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

Zeldin has offered clues about what the EPA could do. The agency estimated the rule would cost about $1.5 billion annually and Zeldin said recently that communities struggling to afford a fix for PFAS that are just above the standard might be handled differently than wealthy places with lots of it.

“What we are going to have to be is extremely thoughtful in figuring this out,” he said.

On Monday, the EPA said it will establish an agency lead for PFAS, develop wastewater limits for PFAS manufacturers and investigate sources that pose an immediate danger to drinking water, among other actions.

EPA decision looms on whether to let the rule stay as it is

Soon, the EPA must tell a federal appeals court in Washington whether the rule should stand or be rewritten, although weakening it could be complicated because the Safe Drinking Water Act prevents new rules from being looser than previous ones. The agency could, however, encourage exemptions and deadline extensions, according to Erik Olson, an attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council supporting the current standards in the court case.

Consider Avondale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, which produces PFAS results modestly above the limits. Officials have done detailed testing and are planning to enhance water treatment. All told, lowering PFAS may cost Avondale more than $120 million, according to Kirk Beaty, the city’s public utility director.

That’s money a city like Avondale “just doesn’t have sitting in a back room somewhere,” Beaty said, adding he’ll defer to federal experts to dictate what’s acceptable.

“We’re hoping we’re a little further ahead of everybody else. If the regulation changes, well you know, we may let off the gas a little bit, we may not,” he said, adding that it is hard to justify spending extra money to do more than what’s required when the cost falls on residents.

If the government decides higher amounts of PFAS are acceptable, that could confuse people, especially in areas where the public is already concerned.

“If we enter into a gray area over what’s healthy and what’s not healthy, then utilities are at risk of being caught up in a debate for which they have no real responsibility nor expertise to decide on,” said Karine Rougé, CEO for municipal water at Veolia North America, a water operations company.

Industry group says the rule goes too far and is too costly

The American Water Works Association, an industry group, filed the court challenge to the new rule. It agrees that certain PFAS should be regulated but argues the EPA’s standards go too far, underestimate costs and are “neither feasible nor cost-effective.” There are serious consequences for residents’ water bills, it says.

The burden of complying will fall heavily on small utilities that can least afford it. Many water providers already struggle to maintain their existing infrastructure, some experts say. On top of everything else, they face new requirements to replace lead pipes. The AWWA wants the EPA to extend the PFAS and lead deadlines by two years.

There is money available to help. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $9 billion for chemicals like PFAS and utilities have won multibillion-dollar settlements against PFAS polluters that help as well.

Meek, who successfully recovered after surgery from cancer and is now 59, is planning to sue over his illness. He once didn’t second-guess using tap water. Now he reaches for bottled water.

Donovan, who introduced Meek to PFAS and helped start Clean Cape Fear, says if the government’s standards are weakened, it’ll relieve pressure on utilities to effectively treat the water.

Previously, “our local utilities could tell us publicly that the water met or exceeded all state and federal guidelines because there weren’t any,” she said.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Loss of FEMA program spells disaster for hundreds of communities and their projects

Loss of FEMA program spells disaster for hundreds of communities and their projects

By JACK BROOK Associated Press/Report for America

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The textile mills that once served as the backbone of Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, have long been shuttered, and officials believed federal money would be key to the town’s overdue revitalization. They hoped an improved stormwater drainage system and secured electrical wires — funded through a program to help communities protect against natural disasters and climate change — would safeguard investments in new businesses like a renovated historic theater to spur the largely rural economy.

Mount Pleasant was about to receive $4 million when the Federal Emergency Management Agency eliminated the program. Officials say their plans — years in the making — and those of hundreds of communities nationwide supported by the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program have been upended.

“This is a generational set of infrastructure projects that would set us up for the next hundred years and it just — poof — went away,” said Erin Burris, assistant town manager for Mount Pleasant, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Charlotte.

FEMA’s elimination this month of the BRIC program revoked upwards of $3.6 billion in funding earmarked for communities like Mount Pleasant. Though President Donald Trump has openly questioned whether to shutter FEMA completely, local officials said they were blindsided by the move to end BRIC, established during the Republican president’s first term.

Many affected communities are in Republican-dominated, disaster-prone regions. FEMA called the BRIC grants “wasteful” and “politicized” tools, but officials and residents say they were a vital use of government resources to proactively protect lives, infrastructure and economies. Money would have gone toward strengthening electrical poles to withstand hurricane-force winds in Louisiana, relocating residents in Pennsylvania’s floodplains and safeguarding water supply lines in Oklahoma’s Tornado Alley.

Disasters affect the vast majority of Americans — 95% live in a county that has had a federally declared weather disaster since 2011, said Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design, a nonprofit focused on disaster prevention.

The BRIC program told communities, “We’re going to help your community be stronger ahead of time,” she said. “Cutting one of the sole sources of funding for that need is essentially telling Americans that it’s OK that they’re suffering.”

Officials call FEMA’s program imperfect but important

Across multiple states, officials said the BRIC program was far from perfect — they were often frustrated with the wait for funding.

But in southeastern Louisiana, Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson said despite his issues with FEMA’s bureaucracy, he’s seen firsthand that money invested to fortify homes and infrastructure works.

The hurricane-ravaged state receives the highest rate of federal disaster assistance per capita, with more than $8 billion pouring in since 2011, according to Rebuild by Design. Lafourche Parish has seen more than a dozen federally declared extreme weather disasters since 2011.

Lafourche had been set to receive more than $20 million from several grants to replace wooden electrical poles with steel and take other steps to lower the soaring costs of home insurance.

Chaisson, a Republican whose parish saw 80% of voters support Trump in November, said he backs efforts to streamline federal agencies — as long as funding continues to flow for disaster prevention.

“I’m hopeful that that’s what the president’s trying to do with this,” he said. “Is there some other way to get the money so we can continue to do these projects? … No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, the programs themselves and the dollars allocated make our communities more resilient.”

Research backs him up: A 2024 study funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found every $1 invested in disaster preparation saved $13 in economic impact, damage and cleanup costs.

Democratic officials in states that lost money have publicly expressed outrage. Few Republicans have joined in at a national level, even though about two-thirds of the top 15 states in total FEMA funds received, spending per person and number of federally declared disasters lean heavily Republican.

An exception has been Louisiana’s senior U.S. senator, Bill Cassidy. He took to the Senate floor this month calling for BRIC’s reinstatement, saying it’s “a lifesaver and a cost-saver.”

About $185 million intended for Louisiana evaporated, and officials had to shelve dozens of applications for hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding, according to data compiled by state and federal agencies.

“This isn’t waste,” Cassidy said. “To do anything other than use that money to fund flood mitigation projects is to thwart the will of Congress.”

FEMA says more than $3.6 billion of BRIC funds will be returned to the federal Disaster Relief Fund, for disaster response and recovery, and an additional $882 million is being returned to the U.S. Treasury or reapportioned by Congress in the following fiscal year. Agency officials did not comment further for this story.

Some states fight to restore funds

Twenty-two mostly blue states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit demanding the federal government release obligated funding, including FEMA grants.

The lawsuit highlights Grants Pass in conservative southern Oregon, where FEMA has refused to release BRIC funding awarded for a $50 million water treatment facility.

Flooding could knock out the water supply for 60,000 people for months, said Jason Canady, city public works director. Funding would have been used in part to build a modernized plant on higher ground.

“If you can’t provide drinking water, hospitals, groceries, restaurants are going to have trouble. Economically, it would be devastating,” he said. “It really is the cornerstone on which the community is built.”

In Stillwater, Oklahoma, Mayor Will Joyce spent two years working with FEMA on a BRIC application to overhaul and provide backup supply for a regional water system used by 100,000 people. Its 36-mile (58-kilometer) pipeline is at risk of damage from tornadoes and flooding. If it breaks, Stillwater has less than a day’s worth of reserve drinking water.

“We can’t just hope nothing bad happens,” Joyce said. “This project is a necessity.”

Without FEMA’s support, he said, Stillwater will have to double the cost of water for residents to fund the project.

In an open letter, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr., a northeast Pennsylvania Republican, urged FEMA to revive BRIC, saying communities in his district would struggle to fund disaster adaptation work, including relocating families in flooded homes.

Bresnahan wrote that “programs like BRIC are not wasteful, but well within the purview of federal coordination of disaster relief efforts” and noted that Trump “promised not to leave the forgotten men and women of America behind.”

Some towns fear their needs will be forgotten

In Mount Pleasant, Whit Moose, the fourth-generation owner of a downtown pharmacy, said few of his neighbors seem aware that funding disappeared, though his own business would have benefited.

“It was going to be a wonderful thing,” he said. “Now we just got to start over.”

Republican voters in the town embrace efforts to downsize government, but the perception is that cuts are focused on federal bureaucracy, related waste and redundancy, or diversity, equity and inclusion spending, said Jim Quick, vice chairman of the Cabarrus County Republican Party.

“It would be a surprise for us to learn that those budget cuts would be impacting a local municipality,” Quick said. “The reality is all of us have to trim back.”

Town voters are unlikely to retract their support for Trump, he said, noting that 80% supported him in November.

Burris, the assistant town manager, worries about flooding downtown. And she points to one vulnerable utility pole she’s nicknamed Atlas — after the Greek god carrying the world on his shoulders — holding up the electricity, internet and telecommunications for the town’s 1,700 people.

“It’s a special community, and it deserves good things,” Burris said, choking up. “I don’t know what was political about Mount Pleasant — little, teeny, tiny Mount Pleasant — getting a little bit of help with some stormwater flooding.”

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

How bugs and beet juice could play roles in the race to replace artificial dyes in food

How bugs and beet juice could play roles in the race to replace artificial dyes in food

By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As pressure grows to get artificial colors out of the U.S. food supply, the shift may well start at Abby Tampow’s laboratory desk.

On an April afternoon, the scientist hovered over tiny dishes of red dye, each a slightly different ruby hue. Her task? To match the synthetic shade used for years in a commercial bottled raspberry vinaigrette — but by using only natural ingredients.

“With this red, it needs a little more orange,” Tampow said, mixing a slurry of purplish black carrot juice with a bit of beta-carotene, an orange-red color made from algae.

Tampow is part of the team at Sensient Technologies Corp., one of the world’s largest dyemakers, that is rushing to help the salad dressing manufacturer — along with thousands of other American businesses — meet demands to overhaul colors used to brighten products from cereals to sports drinks.

As U.S. health officials push to get artificial colors out of the nation’s food supply, Sensient Technologies Corp., one of the world’s largest dyemakers, has seen a surge in businesses rushing to convert their products. (AP Video: Mary Conlon, Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

“Most of our customers have decided that this is finally the time when they’re going to make that switch to a natural color,” said Dave Gebhardt, Sensient’s senior technical director. He joined a recent tour of the Sensient Colors factory in a north St. Louis neighborhood.

Last week, U.S. health officials announced plans to persuade food companies to voluntarily eliminate petroleum-based artificial dyes by the end of 2026.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called them “poisonous compounds” that endanger children’s health and development, citing limited evidence of potential health risks.

The federal push follows a flurry of state laws and a January decision to ban the artificial dye known as Red 3 — found in cakes, candies and some medications — because of cancer risks in lab animals. Social media influencers and ordinary consumers have ramped up calls for artificial colors to be removed from foods.

A change to natural colors may not be fast

The Food and Drug Administration allows about three dozen color additives, including eight remaining synthetic dyes. But making the change from the petroleum-based dyes to colors derived from vegetables, fruits, flowers and even insects won’t be easy, fast or cheap, said Monica Giusti, an Ohio State University food color expert.

“Study after study has shown that if all companies were to remove synthetic colors from their formulations, the supply of the natural alternatives would not be enough,” Giusti said. “We are not really ready.”

It can take six months to a year to convert a single product from a synthetic dye to a natural one. And it could require three to four years to build up the supply of botanical products necessary for an industrywide shift, Sensient officials said.

“It’s not like there’s 150 million pounds of beet juice sitting around waiting on the off chance the whole market may convert,” said Paul Manning, the company’s chief executive. “Tens of millions of pounds of these products need to be grown, pulled out of the ground, extracted.”

To make natural dyes, Sensient works with farmers and producers around the world to harvest the raw materials, which typically arrive at the plant as bulk concentrates. They’re processed and blended into liquids, granules or powders and then sent to food companies to be added to final products.

Natural dyes are harder to make and use than artificial colors. They are less consistent in color, less stable and subject to changes related to acidity, heat and light, Manning said. Blue is especially difficult. There aren’t many natural sources of the color and those that exist can be hard to maintain during processing.

Also, a natural color costs about 10 times more to make than the synthetic version, Manning estimated.

“How do you get that same vividness, that same performance, that same level of safety in that product as you would in a synthetic product?” he said. “There’s a lot of complexity associated with that.”

The insects that could make ‘Barbie pink’ naturally

Companies have long used the Red 3 synthetic dye to create what Sensient officials describe as “the Barbie pink.”

To create that color with a natural source might require the use of cochineal, an insect about the size of a peppercorn.

The female insects release a vibrant red pigment, carminic acid, in their bodies and eggs. The bugs live only on prickly pear cactuses in Peru and elsewhere. About 70,000 cochineal insects are needed to produce 1 kilogram, about 2.2 pounds, of dye.

“It’s interesting how the most exotic colors are found in the most exotic places,” said Norb Nobrega, who travels the world scouting new hues for Sensient.

Artificial dyes are used widely in U.S. foods. About 1 in 5 food products in the U.S. contains added colors, whether natural or synthetic, Manning estimated. Many contain multiple colors.

FDA requires a sample of each batch of synthetic colors to be submitted for testing and certification. Color additives derived from plant, animal or mineral sources are exempt, but have been evaluated by the agency.

Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children.

The FDA says that the approved dyes are safe when used according to regulations and that “most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives.”

But critics note that added colors are a key component of ultraprocessed foods, which account for more than 70% of the U.S. diet and have been associated with a host of chronic health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

“I am all for getting artificial food dyes out of the food supply,” said Marion Nestle, a food policy expert. “They are strictly cosmetic, have no health or safety purpose, are markers of ultraprocessed foods and may be harmful to some children.”

The cautionary tale of Trix cereal

Color is powerful driver of consumer behavior and changes can backfire, Giusti noted. In 2016, food giant General Mills removed artificial dyes from Trix cereal after requests from consumers, switching to natural sources including turmeric, strawberries and radishes.

But the cereal lost its neon colors, resulting in more muted hues — and a consumer backlash. Trix fans said they missed the bright colors and familiar taste of the cereal. In 2017, the company switched back.

“When it’s a product you already love, that you’re used to consuming, and it changes slightly, then it may not really be the same experience,” Giusti said. “Announcing a regulatory change is one step, but then the implementation is another thing.”

Kennedy, the health secretary, said U.S. officials have an “understanding” with food companies to phase out artificial colors. Industry officials told The Associated Press that there is no formal agreement.

However, several companies have said they plan to accelerate a shift to natural colors in some of their products.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said most of its products are already free of artificial colors, and that its Lays and Tostitos brands will phase them out by the end of this year. He said the company plans to phase out artificial colors — or at least offer consumers a natural alternative — over the next few years.

Representatives for General Mills said they’re “committed to continuing the conversation” with the administration. WK Kellogg officials said they are reformulating cereals used in the nation’s school lunch programs to eliminate the artificial dyes and will halt any new products containing them starting next January.

Sensient officials wouldn’t confirm which companies are seeking help making the switch, but they said they’re ready for the surge.

“Now that there’s a date, there’s the timeline,” Manning said. “It certainly requires action.”

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Dee-Ann Durbin contributed reporting from Detroit.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Remembering lives lost: Workers Memorial Day ceremony held in Raleigh

Remembering lives lost: Workers Memorial Day ceremony held in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – More than 100 North Carolinians who died last year while on the job were honored Monday during Workers Memorial Day events in Raleigh.

Workers Memorial Day is observed annually across the country to recognize those who have died or been injured on the job and to recommit efforts to improving workplace safety. In North Carolina, both advocates and officials emphasized the importance of ongoing safety measures and regulatory enforcement.

Commissioner of Labor Luke Farley addressed the occasion through an online video message, emphasizing the human impact behind each name honored during the memorial.

“Behind every name, is a life, a story, a family that’s been changed forever. And at the [N.C.] Department of Labor, we’re working every day to build a culture of safety across our state,” said Farley.

The North Carolina Department of Labor oversees workplace safety enforcement across a wide range of industries statewide. Farley stressed the agency was focused on making job sites safer.

“We’re holding bad actors accountable, while partnering with employers to build strong, effective safety programs that protect every worker,” added Farley. “Our vision is simple, to make North Carolina the safest place to work in the country,” said Farley.

During the memorial ceremony in Raleigh, a bell was rung 177 times, once for each worker who died in North Carolina in 2023, according to the most recent available data. The bell-ringing ceremony served as a solemn reminder of the ongoing need to prioritize safety in workplaces across the state.

The observance not only paid tribute to fallen workers but also served as a platform for worker advocates to raise concerns about how proposed federal budget cuts could impact workplace safety. At a rally held in downtown Raleigh, MaryBe Millian, President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, outlined specific cuts she believes could threaten worker protections.

“Gutting the national institute for occupational safety and health known as NIOSH, eliminating 34 offices of the Mine Health and Safety Administration, and eliminating 11 offices of the occupational safety and health administration,” said Millian.

A shooting at a small North Carolina college leaves 1 dead, 6 wounded

A shooting at a small North Carolina college leaves 1 dead, 6 wounded

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A shooting at a small college in eastern North Carolina left one person dead and six others wounded and prompted a campus lockdown early Sunday, the university said.

The shooting occurred in the center of Elizabeth City State University’s campus following Yard Fest, the final event of the historically Black university’s weeklong Viking Fest celebration, the school said in a statement.

A 24-year-old man who was not a student was pronounced dead. His identity wasn’t immediately released pending notification of his family, the statement says.

Four people sustained gunshot wounds, including three students, while two other students were injured during the commotion. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. All the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment, the statement says.

A call to campus police was referred to a university spokesperson, who didn’t immediately return a telephone message.

“The university is deeply saddened by this senseless act,” the university said in an earlier statement.

The lockdown was later lifted, and the university increased patrols across campus as a precaution. Access to the center of campus remained restricted later Sunday.

The university has 2,300 students and is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Norfolk, Virginia.

Devils struggle on power play again, penalty-kill gives up 4th goal in Game 4 loss to Hurricanes

Devils struggle on power play again, penalty-kill gives up 4th goal in Game 4 loss to Hurricanes

By VIN A. CHERWOO AP Sports Writer

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Devils had the top special teams units in the NHL this season. Things haven’t worked out so well in the playoffs, and they are now one loss away from elimination.

The Devils were third on the power play at a franchise-record 28.2% during the regular season, but went 0 for 2 in their 5-2 loss in Game 4 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday that dropped them to a 3-1 deficit in the first-round series.

New Jersey is now 0 for 12 with the man advantage against Carolina, which had the NHL’s top penalty kill at 83.6%. The Devils remained the only playoff team without a power-play goal.

“It has to be a difference-maker, especially in the playoffs,” forward Nico Hischier said. “It’s just not clicking right now, but I think we got to get a little looser and not holding our sticks too much. We know we have a good power play, we’ve showed it all year, so just got to loosen up a bit, change our mindset. … We have to find a way to get one. I feel if we get one, then it’ll come.”

The Devils have managed just 14 shots on goal during their 12 advantages against a stifling Hurricanes penalty kill.

“They’ve had some good looks, but our goaltending always has been our best penalty-killer,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “We’ve just done a good job of pressuring at the right times with sticks and being on the same page. Win some draws early, getting them down the ice and making them work 200 feet to get any zone time.

“It’s been good for the PK, but we got a tall task ahead of us still.”

On the flip side, the Devils’ second-ranked penalty-kill (82.7%) went 2 for 3 and gave up its fourth goal on 13 chances against a Hurricanes team that was 25th on the power play at 18.7%.

“Special teams is a very important thing in the playoffs, and we got to be better,” forward Timo Meier said. “That’s it.”

The Devils got their first power play of Game 4 when Carolina’s Sean Walker was sent off for tripping with 3:57 left in the first period and the Hurricanes leading 2-0. The Devils managed just a long shot by Meier that Frederik Andersen turned aside.

The Hurricanes went on a power play with 31 seconds left in the first on an interference penalty on Dougie Hamilton. They took advantage when Seth Jarvis’ shot from the right circle deflected off Andrei Svechnikov’s stick and past Markstrom 42 seconds into the second to push the lead to 3-0.

The Devils’ next chance came when the Hurricanes’ Dmitry Orlov was whistled for hooking with 6:01 left in the second. New Jersey, trailing 3-2, again had only one shot during the power play, when Jesper Bratt got a pass in front but couldn’t get a handle on the puck and Pyotr Kochetkov smothered it.

Carolina got another power play with 2:44 left in the second when Jonas Siegenthaler was sent off for interference, but was held to one shot during the advantage.

Hamilton was whistled for high-sticking 52 seconds into the third, and Markstrom had three saves during the Hurricanes’ advantage.

High-Profile sports events score big for Raleigh economy

High-Profile sports events score big for Raleigh economy

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) — It’s been a busy (and profitable) spring for sports in Raleigh.

From March Madness to NHL playoff hockey, Raleigh has seen a flurry of major sports events this spring, bringing packed venues and millions in economic impact. Fans flocked to the Lenovo Center to watch NCAA Tournament games featuring powerhouse programs Duke and UConn.

Over at Reynolds Coliseum, the N.C. State women’s team hosted early-round games, keeping the local buzz alive. With the Carolina Hurricanes who just played their first two Stanley Cup playoffs games in town, the momentum shows no signs of stopping. Scott Dupree with the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance says it was a tremendous success having big-profile teams in the Raleigh area.

“I’m certain the numbers will show in terms of economic impact, in terms of the branding and the exposure for Lenovo Center and for the city and for the region,” said Dupree. “Of course all concessions were sold out. The games were fantastic, and it could not have gone better from my perspective.”

This spring’s success is the latest in a long pattern of major events at the Lenovo Center, which hosts more than 150 events and over 1.5 million guests annually. Dupree emphasized that Raleigh’s efforts in presenting the NCAA Tournament received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

“We got, I can assure you, A+ grades across the board for the way N.C. State and the city of Raleigh and all the partners rolled out the red carpet for the NCAA,” said Dupree.

This excitement has continued into the NHL postseason, as the Carolina Hurricanes opened the Stanley Cup Playoffs with two home games. Dupree says that the Hurricanes selling out during the playoffs would be financially viable for the city of Raleigh

“A typical sold out home playoff game at Lenovo Center was something in the range of two-to-three million dollars per game. Of course all the canes games now are going to be sold out. As you know, one playoff series is roughly two weeks, four series is about eight weeks, so hopefully the canes will be doing a series of two-week playoff stints and hopefully there will be a lot of home games here,” said Dupree.

Lenovo Center has continually offered Raleigh, the Triangle, and the southeast an abundance of sports, major concert tours, and events year after year. Dupree says it’s amazing for him to think back to the status of the canes around 10 years ago.

“It’s just incredible to me how successful they are and what a model franchise the canes have become on the ice and off the ice in terms of winning and in terms of business. They’ve just been pressing all the right buttons. In a way, everything they touch turns to gold,”

With fans filling arenas and millions flowing into the local economy, Raleigh’s spring sports season has proven to be a powerful driver of both energy and revenue.

A massive explosion at an Iranian port linked to missile fuel shipment kills 18, injures some 800

A massive explosion at an Iranian port linked to missile fuel shipment kills 18, injures some 800

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 18 people and injuring around 800 others.

Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the raging fire through the night into Sunday morning at the Shahid Rajaei port. The explosion occurred just as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

No one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response.”

State media offered the casualty figures. But there were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, causing other containers to reportedly explode.

Security firm says port received chemical for missile fuel

The port took in a shipment of the missile fuel chemical in March, the private security firm Ambrey said. The fuel is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China by two vessels to Iran first reported in January by the Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.

Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel.

Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being involved in the blast — like in the Beirut explosion.

“Get back get back! Tell the gas (truck) to go!” a man in one video shouted just before the blast. “Tell him to go, it’s going to blow up! Oh God, this is blowing up! Everybody evacuate! Get back! Get back!”

On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without elaborating.

An aerial shot released by Iranian media after the blast showed fires burning at multiple locations in the port, with authorities later warning about air pollution from chemicals such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air. Schools and offices in Bandar Abbas will be closed Sunday as well.

Port a major destination for Iranian cargo

Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran. Israeli officials didn’t respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday’s explosion.

Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers, or miles, away from the epicenter of the explosion. State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.

Hasanzadeh, the provincial disaster management official, earlier told state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State television also reported that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were offered.

The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences for those affected in the blast.

Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about 1,050 kilometers (650 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.

Devil Dogs

Devil Dogs

Devil Dogs

Photo by Getty Images

Devil Dogs Recipe from Good Grief Cook

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 8 minutes

Serving size: 20 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup milk, room temperature

Ermine Butter Cream Filling

  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

  1. Heat oven 425F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
  2. In large bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder and salt; whisk it to blend and set aside.
  3. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add ⅓ of dry ingredients alternating with half the milk beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl as needed.
  4. Spoon batter into a zippered plastic bag; seal bag. Snip off a ½-inch piece of one corner.
  5. Pipe batter into 3-inch logs about 1½ to 2-inches wide and 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
  6. Bake 8 minutes. Cool.
  7. Turn half the cakes over and pipe or spread flat sides with cream filling.
  8. Cover with remaining cakes, flat side down.
  9. For the filling: In a small saucepan over medium-low heat whisk flour, milk and salt until blended and no lumps remain.  Cook mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it thickens, pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball. This will take at least 5 minutes of hard stirring with the wooden spoon until the dough leaves a skin in the pan and is not sticky. 
  10. Transfer dough to a bowl. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar; stir it in until it looks smooth and dough has loosened up. It will appear more liquid.
  11. In another bowl, beat butter and shortening until blended. Add vanilla and beat well. Gradually add sugar mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until mixture is smooth, thick and fluffy.

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