LELAND, NC (WWAY) — We want to hear your thoughts on the latest top news topics!

Click HERE to cast your vote and let your voice be heard.

Tune in to WWAY to see how the rest of the community votes.

WASHINGTON, DC (WWAY) — The Smithsonian National Museum of American History wants copies of your trips to Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.

The museum is looking for pictures for all decades to show how the parks has changed over time.

Candid photos, posed phots, and even blurry photos are all OK and the museum wants your story behind the photos too.

Not all photos will be used due to limited space and privacy and permissions rules will be in place, but a great number are expected to be catalogued and kept for posterity.

To send your photos click here.  Don’t forget to include contact information!

 

 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Omicron variant is making an already challenging year even harder for restaurants across the Cape Fear. Even the most successful shops in Wilmington say supply shortages, staffing issues, and price increases are burning local eateries.

Molly Kurnyn, co-owner of Cheesesmith says they close the restaurant Mondays to give staff a break. Though crowds are back, prices for basic supplies like to-go containers and food have gone up 25 percent.

“Everything. Cheese, bread. All the things we use in our food,” Kurnyn said.

Supply chain shortages also pushed back the brick and mortar’s opening.

She continued, “We literally were waiting to open to get refrigerators because they’re not manufacturing them.”

Kurnyn and her husband applied to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which according to NC Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Lynn Minges quickly ran dry last year.

“During that time, we saw about 2,500 restaurants in North Carolina receive funds,” Minges said. “But essentially there were about 6,000 that were eligible, that have not yet received funding.”

Congress will consider renewing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) this February. In the meantime, Kurnyn and her husband take on multiple shifts to make up for labor shortages. They hope customers will support local businesses more and complain about cost less.

“A lot of people come in and think that it’s insane there’s a 13 dollar grilled cheese,” the business owner explained. “But we just take a number of what it costs for us to make it, add in labor, and come up with this little sliver that’s left. And that’s what we keep. And as soon as a pipe breaks or our heat breaks, or whatever, that profit margin gets chipped away.”

Without grants, she worries hundreds of local restaurants could shut down by winter’s end. According to the National Restaurant Association, replenishing the RRF could save 1.6 million jobs.

Kurnyn hopes in spite of COVID-19 and the typical slowdown that comes with winter, people will step up and help out.

“It’s time for a beer and a grilled cheese,” she grinned. “Right now.”

 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington is kicking off the new year with a huge list of programming for children and adults.  The events include Martin Luther King holiday programming for kids, homeschooling help, painting classes, readings, yoga, and the return of Jazz@cam.

Here is the complete list:

January 2022

Saturday and Sunday January 15^th and 16^th

KIDS @ CAM – I Have A Dream Peace Flag weekend

In-Person: Saturday, January 15^th or Sunday, January 16^th

Cameron Art Museum honors the life and work of civil rights activist Martin Luther King with the “I Have a Dream” Peace Flag Project. We invite the community to take inspiration from King’s iconic speech from 1963 and think deeply about our own hopes and dreams for ourselves, our city, our nation, and the world. These dreams will be written on squares of cloth, emblematic of the peace prayer flags created for centuries in Tibet. Your peace flag will be included in a community installation that will be displayed around the CAM pond. Together, these flags represent our collective desire for racial unity, community healing, and peace.

Packages for classes will be available. Please check our website for registration and participation details, or email education@cameronartmuseum.org to find out ways to involve your students!

 

Sunday, January 16

2 pm

Members: $16 Nonmembers: $20 Students: $12

USCT Public Programs Series: Mary D. Williams

Join us as musician, educator, and historian Mary D. Williams explores the legacy of the USCT through song. Williams has performed and provided her voice to the soundtrack of Blood Done Sign My Name (February 2010). She has also performed at the North Carolina State Capitol and has been featured on Dick Gordon’s The Story, as well as on National Public Radio. Williams is both a scholar and a musician, whose breathtaking voice takes listeners on a journey through time.

Tuesdays, January 18 – February 8

10am – 12pm

 

Homeschool Tuesdays

Instructor: Renato Abbate

CAM member price: $108; non-member: $120

This clay class will cover all the basic hand building techniques:  pinch, coil, and slab. Students will also discuss 3-D design elements as well as bisque and glaze firing.

Tuesdays, January 18 – February 22

10am – 1pm

 

Principles of Drawing

Instructor: Todd Carignan

CAM member price: $234; non-member price: $260

The foundation of all representational art is drawing. This class covers how to start a drawing, measuring, mark-making, arranging your subject and lighting, creating texture and depth.

Tuesday, January 18 – February 8

4pm – 5:30pm

 

Create a Story

Instructor: Carolyn Faulkner

CAM member price: $85.50; non-member: $95

Draw an outline using your favorite bird, insect, animal or whatever you choose. Even an anime character that you create! Then draw a story inside using designs and/or memories. This can be make believe or something personal you wish to express. You will then color with markers or colored pencil. Your story can be hidden, by attaching another cutout layer (such as a wing on the bird). It will be like opening a book! We will continue to explore more pieces and movement on your art as time permits.

Wednesday, January 19

9 – 10 am

 

Gentle Yoga with Steve Unger

Donation $5

Wednesday, January 19

1:30 pm

 

Public Tour

Free with admission

Wednesday, January 19

 

Capturing our Colorful Coastal Skies

Instructor: Carolyn Faulkner

CAM member price: $153; non-member: $170

Living in coastal Carolina you most likely have witnessed the variety of skies; from brilliant sunrises/sunsets to threatening thunder skies and everything in between. This course will provide you with the basic concepts of achieving some of those classic features found in our colorful skies. In this class you will learn the balance between soft and hard edges while creating beautiful multi-colored sunrises, sunsets, and storm clouds, using acrylic paints. This course will provide you with the confidence to be bold with your brush and colors as you softly blend colors to achieve that memorable look. Some key features of this course are understanding that nothing is truly white in the sky and the use of a variety of colors becomes an asset. Both sky and clouds have some of the softest edges found in nature. A balance between soft and hard edges are important to the painter to describe the volume of the clouds and their translucency.

Thursday, January 20

All Day

 

Member Preview of Confluence

Member tours at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 5:00 pm, and 7:00 pm

Friday, January 21

 

Public Opening of Confluence

11:00 am Gallery Talk with Artist Gene Felice

CAM Member $15/ NonMember $20

Thursday, January 20

10am – 4pm

 

Watercolor Fresh Market workshop

Instructor: Janice Castiglione

CAM member price: $171; non-member: $190

Spend two days painting still lives. There’s something to be said about painting from life and having it right in front of you. Each participant will be asked to bring in a fresh fruit or vegetable to add to existing backdrops. What fun! On Day Two, we will change places to work on new compositions, so bring a camera.

 

Educators Night

Thursday, January 20^th

4pm to 7pm

FREE for teachers

Spend a fun and relaxing evening at CAM with free admission during an exclusive event for educators and view our new exhibitions. Docents in the galleries will answer your questions and provide information about the exhibitions. Our Educators Night will provide information and materials about tours, workshops, and other free resources for area educators. All educators and administrators – from Pre-K to College – welcome and encouraged to attend and explore fun ways to bring art into your classroom and spark creativity in your students.

Thursdays, January 20 – February 24

6 – 9pm

 

Thursday Night Clay

Instructor: Renato Abbate

CAM member price: $225; nonmember: $250

A fun class for all skill levels. Make your own custom plates or mugs. Work on some wild sculpture. Explore how clay can work for you and gain a new appreciation for handmade pottery.

 

Gallery Talk: Antoinette Vogt

Saturday, January 22

1pm-2pm

Artist Toni Vogt will discuss the prints by Willy Cole in the Shadow We Create exhibition.  His printing process is akin to a collagraph, where found objects are used to create a printing plate.  By using ironing boards, Cole finds a new means to explore a familiar motif.

Antoinette Angela Vogt received a B.F.A. with a concentration in Drawing from the State University of New York at Purchase and a Master of Architecture from New Jersey Institute of Technology. She worked in Architecture for several years while teaching drawing at night through Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, NC. After moving to Norman, Oklahoma in 2011, she began volunteering at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art assisting in the classroom for their educational programs. Antoinette also taught drawing at a small art school in Norman before moving on to teach Drawing and Art Appreciation at Oklahoma City Community College.

Sunday, January 23

2 pm

 

Reading: Jason Mott, Hell of a Book, winner of the 2021 National Book Award

CAM members $10/ Nonmembers: $15

Free for students

Admission includes entry to the galleries

***2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER***

Winner of the 2021 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction

Longlisted for the 2022 Carnegie Medal Fiction, the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

One of Washington Post‘s 50 Notable Works of Fiction | One of Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Best Books of 2021 | One of Shelf Awareness’s Top Ten Fiction Titles of the Year | One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books | One of NPR.org’s “Books We Love” | EW’s “Guide to the Biggest and Buzziest Books of 2021” | One of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults | One of Entertainment Weekly‘s 15 Books you Need to Read This June | On Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” | One of The NY Post‘s Best Summer Reading books | One of GMA’s 27 Books for June | One of USA Today‘s 5 Books Not to Miss | One of Fortune‘s 21 Most Anticipated Books Coming out in the Second Half of 2021 | One of The Root‘s PageTurners: It’s Getting Hot in Here | One of Real Simple‘s Best New Books to Read in 2021 |One of The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Best of 2021

Join National Book Award Winner Jason Mott for a reading from Hell of a Book. Hell of a Book is an astounding work of fiction from a New York Times bestselling author Jason Mott, always deeply honest, at times electrically funny, that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans, and America as a whole. Jason Mott has published four novels. His first novel, The Returned, was a New York Times bestseller and was turned into a TV series that ran for two seasons. He has a BFA in Fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction have appeared in various literary journals, and his most recent novel, Hell of a Book, was named the winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, 2021.

Wednesday, January 26

9 – 10 am

 

Gentle Yoga with Steve Unger

Donation $5

Wednesday, January 26

1:30 pm

 

Public Tour

Free with admission

Thursday, January 27

10 am – 11 am

 

Art Explorers with Airlie Gardens

Thursday, January 27

10am – 1pm

 

The Power of Pastels Returns to CAM!

Instructor: Jerri Greenberg

CAM member price: $171; non-member: $190

Come along and explore the sheer joy of painting in pastels, learn to use different brands, softness, papers, and lighting to make the “ordinary EXTRAordinary”. Each week we will work from a still life setup or a model, to expand your repertoire and your comfort zones, working with this wonderful, immediate medium.

Thursday, January 27

6pm – 8:30pm

 

Art Buzz- Mixed Media Fashion Illustration

Instructor: Jennifer Gironda

CAM member price: $45; non-member: $50

Join us for a fashion sketching session featuring mixed media collage materials.  We will work from various images from fashion magazines (feel free to bring images from YOUR favorite runway looks!) and we will go over how to do a quick croquis and then add the garments using a variety of 2D collage materials.  An assortment of papers and adhesives will be available, but please feel free to bring any scrap papers, magazine pages or other materials for your looks!

Thursday, January 27

7 pm

 

Exhibitions After Dark: Gallery Talk with Zedrick Applin

Learn about Stephen Hayes’s exhibition Voices of Future’s Past from the unique perspective of community member Zedrick Applin, Program Manager, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Involvement at nCino. Join Zedrick for this interaction conversation and grab dinner and a cocktail from CAM Café before or after. Free with admission.

Fridays, January 28 – March 4

10am – 12pm

 

Interactive color

Instructor: Lois DeWitt

CAM member price: $153; non-member: $170

Interaction of Color by Josef Albers was published by Yale University in 1963. A seminal study, it provided new perspectives on color and how it is perceived visually. Through a series of visual projects using Color-aid papers, students develop new cognitive and visual skills towards seeing and analyzing the perception of color. These skills can transfer easily to other artistic skills like painting, drawing and printmaking.  Keeping close to Alber’s instruction and projects, this six-week course leads students through a series of fascinating, unique and informative color theory using Color-aid and found papers.

Saturday, January 29

11– 4pm

 

Memory Jar – Capturing Your Past through Narrative and Assemblage

Instructor: Fritzi Huber and Dina Greenberg

CAM member price: $72; non-member: $80

Why is it so difficult to throw away all the “stuff” we accumulate? Perhaps these objects carry meaning beyond simple explanation. In this five-hour workshop: (1) We’ll first use (your chosen) objects to spark a brief work of creative writing: poetry, prose, or hybrid (2) create a three-dimensional “memory jar” to capture the meaning of your treasures.

  

February 2022

Wednesday, February 2 – 23

6pm – 8pm

 

VIRTUAL- Winter Words on Paper – Telling our Stories in Memoir

Instructor: Dina Greenberg

CAM member price: $108; non-member price: $120

You, dear writer, are uniquely qualified to tell the stories of your past, present, and perhaps even an imagined future.  This creative writing workshop in memoir for adult writers is open to community participants with varying degrees of writing expertise. The workshop follows a traditional format where group members critique one another’s work with the instructor’s guidance. Literature and craft articles will also be presented for discussion. The goal is to instill respect and compassion in the critique process while helping participants improve their writing and literary analysis.

Thursdays, February 3 – March 10

4:30 – 6:30pm

 

Foundations of Drawing: Teen and Young Adult

Instructor: Antoinette Vogt

CAM member price: $148.50; non-member: $165

Learn how to draw realistically through the study of still life. Students will develop drawing skills by understanding and improving ability to see objects in space to better represent them on the page. Learn how to see and draw objects in proportion and understand perspective. Topics covered will include working with line; blind and modified contour drawing; seeing and drawing negative space (the space around objects); visual perspective (perceiving angles using sighting technique); proportion (objects in relations to one another).

Friday, February 4^th

12pm

 

‘Resilience’ Community Screening

View the award-winning documentary ‘Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope’. The film screens in our spacious reception hall from 12 PM to 1 PM, followed by an optional brief discussion with other community members. Learn about the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force. https://www.nhcbouncesback.org/

The CAM offers free screenings of ‘Resilience’ on the first Friday of each month (unless there is a holiday and then it moves to the second Friday). Feel free to grab lunch at the CAM café, or bring your own lunch!

No fee and no registration necessary.

Fridays, February 4 – 25

1pm – 3pm

 

Introduction to Ikebana

Instructor: Karen Chevrotee

CAM member price: $117; non-member: $130

IKEBANA, the Art of Japanese Flower Arranging. Originally used in Temples, simple, elegant, at once meditative. Following prescribed rules to create Beauty for your home or office with natural flowers, leaves and branches.

Friday, February 4

8-9am

 

All Levels Flow Yoga with Kim Gargiulo

Saturday & Sunday, February 5 – 6

10am – 4pm & noon – 4pm

 

Rock, Paper Stitches – Joomchi & Embroidery  – Virtual

CAM member price: $144; non-member: $160

‘Rock’ two slow-process crafts in one unique class! Day 1 will concentrate on learning an ancient Korean paper craft to create a ‘felted’ paper called joomchi. Joomchi utilizes layers of thin hanji papers that, through agitation and manipulation, create a sturdy piece that can be used alone or in other artistic endeavors. One such endeavor will be achieved on Day 2. Taking the previous day’s joomchi pieces, you’ll use simple hand stitches for mark making, to add found objects, or to stitch several joomchi together for a larger, dramatic piece of finished paper art. (This is not a paper making class.)

Thursday, February 10

7pm-8pm

 

Exhibitions After Dark: Gallery Talk with Cedric Harrison

Cedric Harrison, a Wilmington native, is the founder of both Support the Port and wilmingtoNColor. Harrison has dedicated his professional career to supporting and creating opportunities for economic growth and advancement for African Americans in the Wilmington area. He is a local historian (in his own right) and passionate about the rich history of African Americans in Wilmington, NC.

Due to his impactful efforts and work, Harrison has earned several accolades and much recognition in this space. Most recently, Harrison was a recipient of the 40 under 40 award presented by StarNews meds and Wilmington Chamber of Commerce – an award which recognizes professionals who are high performers in their field.

In 2019, Harrison was selected out of over 400 applicants to be part of the inaugural cohort of the All for NC Fellows. Since the fellowship, Harrison has seized the opportunity to continue his journey of bringing transformational change to his local community.

Cedric Harrison also had the opportunity to deliver his first TEDx talk in 2019 at the TEDx Airlie event in Wilmington, NC. His speech, Bridging the Racial Gap of Socio-Economics, provided viewers with a compelling history lesson on Wilmington in conversation with his personal experiences and journey.

Friday, February 11

8-9am

 

All Levels Flow Yoga with Kim Gargiulo

Saturday, February 12 & February 19

10 – 1pm

 

Collagraph Printmaking Workshop

Instructor: Antoinette Vogt

CAM member price: 81; non-member: $90

A two-day workshop to learn the art of collagraph printmaking using plates created by collage. In this workshop students will create printing plates by gluing elements onto the printing surface to create an image. Students are asked to gather collage supplies ahead of time and bring them to the first-class session. Collage items should not be more than 1/8″ thick and can include scraps of cardboard; textured item such as sandpaper, fabric, burlap or lace; string or twine, leaves. seeds, buttons, etc. Students will create their plates during the first session and print them during the second session.

 

Saturday, February 12

1pm – 2:30pm

CAM Members $20/ Nonmembers $25

 

Book Buzz- Women Who Misbehave

Instructor: Sayantani Dasgupta with Heather Wilson

Join author Sayantani Dasgupta for a discussion of her new novel, “Women Who Misbehave”. Dasgupta states, “Well-behaved or not, woman or not, each of our lives is made up of stories. How you tell it is where the art lies. Each of us lives through historic moments every day, and ends up with thousands of stories. Now who gets to tell stories, whose stories are valued and heard is another matter altogether.” Registration includes a glass of wine or sparkling water. Studio dinner and half-priced bottles of wine available from the CAM Cafe.

Sayantani Dasgupta has taught creative writing in the United States, India, Italy, and Mexico. She is an essayist, a short story writer, and the author of Fire Girl: Essays On India, America, & The In-Between- a finalist for the 2016 Foreword Indies Award for Essays- and the chapbook The House Of Nails: Memories Of A New Delhi Childhood. Born in Calcutta and raised in New Delhi, Sayantani received a BA in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, an MA in Medieval History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho.

Saturday, February 12

11am – 2pm

 

Woven Hand built Ceramic Basket

Instructor: Shannon Gehen

CAM member price: $50; non-member: $55

Learn how to make a woven ceramic basket, combining the tradition of basket weaving with the ease of a glazed surface for your kitchen, coffee table, or special event.

Sunday, February 13

 

WSO Sunday Concert Series

2-3pm

Thursday, February 17

 

Jazz@ CAM

6:30-8:00pm

$25 for CAM and CFJS members, $30 for non-members, $15 for students and military

The John Brown Quintet

The multi-talented John Brown brings his quintet to the CAM on February 3. The performance is part of our ongoing concert series, which begins at 6:30 PM.

A successful bassist, composer, educator and actor, John currently serves as Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University. He has a long history of performance excellence. At the age of 13, he began performing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. He was playing Principal Bass with that orchestra and performing with the Florence Symphony in South Carolina while still in high school.

John has performed in the United States and abroad with artists that include Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Elvin Jones, Nnenna Freelon, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney, Nell Carter, Lou Donaldson, Slide Hampton, Nicholas Payton, Frank Foster, Larry Coryell, Cedar Walton, Fred Wesley and Mark Whitfield.  He also has a Grammy nomination for his performance and co-writing on Nnenna Freelon’s 1996 Concord release, Shaking Free. His extensive experience includes performances at notable venues like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Blue Note, Blues Alley, and the Hollywood Bowl and at major jazz festivals like the Playboy Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Free Jazz Festival (Brazil) and Jazz e Vienne (France).

For more information on any of these events click here.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Cameron Art Musuem’s Floating Lantern Ceremony is Sunday, January 9 on the museum’s grounds.

This year it returns to an in-person event at the Reflection Pond.  It is called an expression of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude.

CAM admission lets you into all the indoor exhibitions, but the Lantern Ceremony is free.  There will be live music near the pond, hot chocolates, beverages, and light food service from the CAM Cafe.

Lantern sales are happening now for you to decorate for $12 at the CAM Museum Shop.  The ceremony is from 4 – 7pm.

Click here for more information.

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — Country music megastars Shenandoah will bring ‘The Every Road Tour’ to Brunswick Community College’s Odell Williamson Auditorium on January 15.

Led by Marty Raybon’s distinctive vocals, the group is celebrated for hits like “Two Dozen Roses,” “Church on Cumberland Road,” and the Grammy winning “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart.”  The band’s latest album includes collaborations with Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Lady A, and Brad Paisley.

The stop in Bolivia comes just days before the band returns to the Grand Ole Opry stage on January 21.

Tickets are available by clicking here.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Two people including a state highway patrol trooper were killed in a traffic crash Monday night.

The accident occurred around 8:58 p.m. in Boiling Springs near the intersection of High Shoals Church Road and Goodes Grove Church Road.

Trooper John S. Horton had pulled over a driver and both of were standing alongside the road prior to the deadly crash.

The trooper’s brother, Trooper James N. Horton, also responded to the scene to assist. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Horton collided with his brother’s patrol vehicle striking Trooper John Horton and the detained driver.

Trooper John Horton was taken to a hospital in Spartanburg, SC, where he later died from his injuries. He was a 15-year veteran assigned to Rutherford County.

The detained driver died at the scene and the highway patrol has not released that person’s identity at this time.

Trooper James Horton was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released.

“Our hearts are broken with the loss of our friend and our brother, Trooper John Horton” said Colonel Freddy L. Johnson Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol. “For all involved in this tragic event, the coming days will undoubtedly be difficult but we are committed to stand alongside with them with our thoughts, prayers and unwavering support.”

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the crash along with assistance from the NC State Highway Patrol Collision Reconstruction Unit.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday morning, the league said. He was 85.

The NFL said he died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause.

Madden gained fame in a decade-long stint as the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, making it to seven AFC title games and winning the Super Bowl following the 1976 season. He compiled a 103-32-7 regular-season record, and his .759 winning percentage is the best among NFL coaches with more than 100 games.

But it was his work after prematurely retiring as coach at age 42 that made Madden truly a household name. He educated a football nation with his use of the telestrator on broadcasts; entertained millions with his interjections of “Boom!” and “Doink!” throughout games; was an omnipresent pitchman selling restaurants, hardware stores and beer; became the face of “Madden NFL Football,” one of the most successful sports video games of all-time; and was a best-selling author.

Most of all, he was the preeminent television sports analyst for most of his three decades calling games, winning an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality, and covering 11 Super Bowls for four networks from 1979-2009.

“People always ask, are you a coach or a broadcaster or a video game guy?” he said when was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I’m a coach, always been a coach.”

He started his broadcasting career at CBS after leaving coaching in great part because of his fear of flying. He and Pat Summerall became the network’s top announcing duo. Madden then helped give Fox credibility as a major network when he moved there in 1994, and went on to call prime-time games at ABC and NBC before retiring following Pittsburgh’s thrilling 27-23 win over Arizona in the 2009 Super Bowl.

“I am not aware of anyone who has made a more meaningful impact on the National Football League than John Madden, and I know of no one who loved the game more,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement.

Burly and a little unkempt, Madden earned a place in America’s heart with a likable, unpretentious style that was refreshing in a sports world of spiraling salaries and prima donna stars. He rode from game to game in his own bus because he suffered from claustrophobia and had stopped flying. For a time, Madden gave out a “turducken” — a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey — to the outstanding player in the Thanksgiving game that he called.

“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”

When he finally retired from the broadcast booth, leaving NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” colleagues universally praised Madden’s passion for the sport, his preparation, and his ability to explain an often-complicated game in down-to-earth terms.

“No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John,” play-by-play announcer Al Michaels said at the time.

For anyone who heard Madden exclaim “Boom!” while breaking down a play, his love of the game was obvious.

“For me, TV is really an extension of coaching,” Madden wrote in “Hey, Wait a Minute! (I Wrote a Book!).”

“My knowledge of football has come from coaching. And on TV, all I’m trying to do is pass on some of that knowledge to viewers.”

Madden was raised in Daly City, California. He played on both the offensive and defensive lines for Cal Poly in 1957-58 and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the school.

Madden was chosen to the all-conference team and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but a knee injury ended his hopes of a pro playing career. Instead, Madden got into coaching, first at Hancock Junior College and then as defensive coordinator at San Diego State.

Al Davis brought him to the Raiders as a linebackers coach in 1967, and Oakland went to the Super Bowl in his first year in the pros. He replaced John Rauch as head coach after the 1968 season at age 32, beginning a remarkable 10-year run.

With his demonstrative demeanor on the sideline and disheveled look, Madden was the ideal coach for the collection of castoffs and misfits that made up those Raiders teams.

“Sometimes guys were disciplinarians in things that didn’t make any difference. I was a disciplinarian in jumping offsides; I hated that,” Madden once said. “Being in bad position and missing tackles, those things. I wasn’t, ‘Your hair has to be combed.’”

The Raiders responded.

“I always thought his strong suit was his style of coaching,” quarterback Ken Stabler once said. “John just had a great knack for letting us be what we wanted to be, on the field and off the field. … How do you repay him for being that way? You win for him.”

And boy, did they ever. Many years, the only problem was the playoffs.

Madden went 12-1-1 in his first season, losing the AFL title game 17-7 to Kansas City. That pattern repeated itself during his tenure; the Raiders won the division title in seven of his first eight seasons, but went 1-6 in conference title games during that span.

Still, Madden’s Raiders played in some of the sport’s most memorable games of the 1970s, games that helped change rules in the NFL. There was the “Holy Roller” in 1978, when Stabler purposely fumbled forward before being sacked on the final play. The ball rolled and was batted to the end zone before Dave Casper recovered it for the winning touchdown against San Diego.

The most famous of those games went against the Raiders in the 1972 playoffs at Pittsburgh. With the Raiders leading 7-6 and 22 seconds left, the Steelers had a fourth-and-10 from their 40. Terry Bradshaw’s desperation pass deflected off either Oakland’s Jack Tatum or Pittsburgh’s Frenchy Fuqua to Franco Harris, who caught it at his shoe tops and ran in for a TD.

In those days, a pass that bounced off an offensive player directly to a teammate was illegal, and the debate continues to this day over which player it hit. The catch, of course, was dubbed the “Immaculate Reception.”

Oakland finally broke through with a loaded team in 1976 that had Stabler at quarterback; Fred Biletnikoff and Cliff Branch at receiver; tight end Dave Casper; Hall of Fame offensive linemen Gene Upshaw and Art Shell; and a defense that included Willie Brown, Ted Hendricks, Tatum, John Matuszak, Otis Sistrunk and George Atkinson.

The Raiders went 13-1, losing only a blowout at New England in Week 4. They paid the Patriots back with a 24-21 win in their first playoff game and got over the AFC title game hump with a 24-7 win over the hated Steelers, who were crippled by injuries.

Oakland won it all with a 32-14 Super Bowl romp against Minnesota.

“Players loved playing for him,” Shell said. “He made it fun for us in camp and fun for us in the regular season. All he asked is that we be on time and play like hell when it was time to play.”

Madden battled an ulcer the following season, when the Raiders once again lost in the AFC title game. He retired from coaching at age 42 after a 9-7 season in 1978.

Survivors include his wife, Virginia, and two sons, Joseph and Michael. John and Virginia Madden’s 62nd wedding anniversary was two days before his death.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will be closed for New Year’s Eve on Friday, December 31.

The Customer Service Centers at 235 Government Center Drive and 305 Chestnut Street will reopen for regular business at 8am Monday, January 3.

Customers may manage their accounts using the Interactive Voice-Response system by calling 910-332-6550 or online via the Customer Self-Service portal by clicking here.

To report a water or sewer emergency during the holiday, call CFPUA’s emergency hotline at 910-332-6565.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Nobody won the Powerball or Mega Millions drawings this week, so there a lot of money on the line right now.

Tonight you have a chance to win more than 378 million dollars in the Powerball drawing. It has a cash value of nearly 276 million.

If you don’t win tonight you have another chance on Friday.  The Mega Millions Jackpot stands at 187 million dollars.  It has a cash value of more than 134 million.

Your chances of winning are estimated to be about 1 in nearly 14 million.

 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The holidays can be difficult for military members, veterans, and military families.  Festive events can trigger feelings of loneliness, isolation, grief, survivor’s guilt, and sadness.  Large crowds and loud noises can bring on PTSD symptoms.

Coastal Horizons and the nonprofit Save A Vet Now (SAVN) are working to help veterans and military members get outpatient treatment services.  SAVN has a special account to cover any co-pay or self-pay costs for treatment at its Brunswick, New Hanover, or Pender outpatient locations.

Coastal Horizons offers services to promote healthier lives, stronger families and safer communities. Telemental Health Therapist and veteran Justin Gibson says “there is no need for them to ‘go it alone.’ Help is just a phone call away.”

If you need help reach out to Coastal Horizons at the following numbers:

•  New Hanover County        910-343-0145
•  Brunswick County              910-754-4515
•  Pender County                    910-259-0668

For immediate help call Mobile Crisis at 1-866-437-1821.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Saint Nicholas Foundation is spreading cheer near and far to make sure no child or elderly person is forgotten at the holidays.  The foundation gives toys and gifts to more than 500 people in six states.

Founder Nicholas Newell was born on Christmas day and is lovingly referred to as St. Nick.  The organization says it’s goal is to “Spread holiday cheer near and far.  Making sure no child or elder in need is forgotten.  Everyone makes our nice list.”

Newell says the pandemic changed how things were done the past two years but now he is “happy that we can at least bring them gifts.”  He adds that he “started this organization informally 8 years ago asking family and friends to donate so I could purchase stuffed animals for kids in hospitals. In 2018 we expanded to those in assisted living facilities.”

The foundation is accepting donations in various ways.  You can donate through Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and Corning Credit Union as well as other options.

Learn all you options by visiting here.

 

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — It’s a candy cane Christmas in Southport!  The Southport Garden Club displaying dozens of handmade candy canes in Keziah Park as part of Winterfest and to support a more beautiful and green city.

The Candy Cane Garden Party kicks off at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Keziah Park in downtown Southport.  It features candy canes decorated by local businesses, organizations, and individuals.  The event is free and includes hot chocolate and entertainment.

Other Winterfest events this week:

•  Annual Cookie Contest, December 8, 3 – 5:30pm, Community Building
• Supper with Santa’s Elves, December 8, 5-7pm, 209 Atlantic Ave., beside Southport Gym
• Christmas movie ‘Polar Express,’ December 9, dusk, Garrison Lawn
• Costumed Holiday History Tour, December 10, 3pm, 204 E. Moore St.
• Caroling with The Sea Notes, December 10, 5:30pm, Franklin Square Park Stage
• Light Up the Night Christmas Parade, December 10, 6:30pm, Howe St.
• Winter Craft Festival, December 11, 9am – 4pm, Franklin Square Park
• Winterfest Performing Arts, December 11, 9am – 4pm, Franklin Square Park
• Book Sale, December 11, 9am – noon, 727 N. Howe St.
• Santa’s Workshop, December 11, 10 – 11am, 209 Atlantic Ave., beside Southport Gym
• Southport Christmas Flotilla, December 11, 7pm, Southport Waterfront

For more information click here.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear looks to a world in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future.  It is celebrating 25 years of providing case management, transitional housing, and emergency shelter to families in need.

The 25th Anniversary Celebration Low Country Boil has a happy hour, dinner, and entertainment from comedian Orlando Jones.

Board member Karon Tunis says the event is about “educating people about Family Promise and letting them know that we have been active in the Lower Cape Fear for 25 years.”

The event is at Plaza on Princess in downtown Wilmington Tuesday, December 7, 2021, and kicks off at 6pm.

For tickets or more information click here.

 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The 2022 North Carolina Azalea Festival has a signature event before spring arrives.  The 2022 Chef’s Showcase will bring together five chefs from around the state to the Hotel Ballast in January.

The Showcase is a seated culinary adventure consisting of a 5-course meal with fine wine pairings, light entertainment, high-end silent auction items, and a luxury vacation raffle. Notable chefs from our region (and beyond!) work together to prepare the dishes.

The chefs this year are:

•  Sheri Castle, host of The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle, on PBS North Carolina
• Tiesha Lewis, the 2021 North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association Chef Showdown Pastry Chef of the Year
• Saif Rahman, the 2021 North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association Chef Showdown Chef of the Year
• Nathan Sims, Hotel Ballast Executive Chef
• Fabio Capparelli, Bluewater Grill Executive Chef

The event is Saturday, January 29, 2022, from 1 – 4pm at The Hotel Ballast in downtown Wilmington.

For more information and tickets click here.

(CBS) — After months of speculation and predictions, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were married as they celebrated their wedding with hundreds of guests Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

A representative for Swift confirmed in a statement provided to CBS News that the two were married in a ceremony officiated by comedian Adam Sandler. He was described by the representative as a “friend” of the couple.

The couple had no bridesmaids or groomsmen. Swift’s brother, Austin Swift, served as her “Man of Honor,” the representative said, while Kelce’s brother, retired NFL offensive lineman Jason Kelce, served as Kelce’s best man.

According to Swift’s representative, her wedding dress was created by Christian Dior Haute Couture.

A jumbotron outside Madison Square Garden lit up with the words, “JUST&T MARRIED!” following the news. The Empire State Building also announced on social media that it had lit up in “something blue” in celebration of the wedding.

The couple welcomed around 1,000 guests at Madison Square Garden to celebrate their marriage, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the security planning. It was not immediately clear if the wedding ceremony occurred at Madison Square Garden, or at some point before.

Large black SUVs were seen starting to arrive at the famous venue shortly after 3 p.m. ET, pulling into white tents set up outside. The plans included a cocktail hour, ceremony and then a reception, with the celebration expected to stretch into the early hours Saturday, the sources told CBS News.

A large crowd of onlookers and fans lined the streets near the arena, holding signs of support and hoping to catch a glimpse of those attending the wedding. Some of the guests spotted arriving included actors Hugh Grant, Jason Sudeikis and Ethan Hawke, soccer star Abby Wambach, sports broadcaster Joe Buck, musician Benson Boone, NFL star Cooper Kupp, and Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

A rehearsal dinner was held at MSG Thursday, with about 100 family and friends on the guest list. Some of Swift’s friends, including Lena Dunham and her childhood friend, Abigail Anderson Berard, were spotted arriving for the dinner, USA Today Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West told “CBS Mornings” Friday.

Both private security and the New York City Police Department were in place at Madison Square Garden. There are 135 officers assigned around the venue Friday, law enforcement sources said.

Streets directly around MSG were closed, and there were police barricades blocking pedestrians from camping out on the sidewalks nearby.

The event featured musical entertainment, and crews built a massive set inside the arena for the occasion.

“This is going to be an absolute, spectacular blowout,” People magazine editor-in-chief Charlotte Triggs told “CBS Mornings.” “According to a source, it doesn’t look at all the same inside. They’ve completely transformed it.”

Details from inside the venue were hard to come by. But reporters had been watching for days as a parade of 18-wheelers delivered and unloaded supplies, mostly under wraps.

It was safe to assume the famed basketball arena and concert venue was decked out for a one-of-a-kind celebration, celebrity event planners told CBS News, with one comparing the process to producing a “blockbuster movie.”

West predicted there would be a bucolic garden theme. Watching as things were unloaded, West said he saw a bar stretcher labeled “trees.”

“So I’m picturing kind of like a forest or a garden,” he said.

Triggs said Swift’s familiarity with Madison Square Garden made it an appealing option for the couple.

“I think for most people, this seems like the weirdest choice in the world, but for her, this is spot-on. It has total security. Also keep in mind, she’s very familiar with it. She performed there multiple times,” Triggs said.

The extravagant affair came three years after Kelce attended one of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Kansas City — and called her out on his podcast after he didn’t get to meet her.

(ABC) — Ukraine has mounted another large drone attack against Russia overnight, launching hundreds of drones and once again targeting oil infrastructure and military sites near St. Petersburg.

Videos online appear to show large smoke plumes rising from an oil facility in St. Petersburg’s port. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had successfully hit oil infrastructure in the port as well as military targets around the Kronstadt naval base.

Russia’s defense ministry said nearly 500 long-range drones were involved in the attack. Moscow’s mayor said 200 targeted the capital.

Ukraine is now successfully hitting oil refineries and infrastructure, as well as defense industry facilities, deep inside Russia on an almost daily basis, as its long-range drone campaign grows.

Many Russian regions are suffering fuel shortages as a result, with people filming themselves waiting in long lines at gas stations.

The Ukrainian drone strikes are bringing the war home to Russians not previously seen.

At the same time, Russia’s troubles of the battlefield have appeared to mount. An increasingly effective campaign by Ukraine using medium-range drones is targeting Russia’s logistics and seeking to cut off supply lines into occupied Crimea.

Authorities in Crimea have declared a state of emergency over fuel shortages and imposed curfews amid power outages caused by Ukrainian strikes.

Russian president Vladimir Putin overnight made a rare appearance in a uniform and making a visit to a supposed military position, in an effort to signal he has the war under close control.

Meanwhile, Russia’s military on Saturday claimed to have seized the city of Kostiantynivka, a key defensive hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

While Russia has been advancing into the city, there are reasons to doubt it has actually fully captured it yet. Russia has repeatedly falsely claimed to be in control of cities when that is far from the case.

The fall of Kostiantynivka would be Moscow’s first significant battlefield success this year and Russian officials are already hailing it as proof the war is still going Russia’s way despite signs it is turning in Kyiv’s favor. But for now it’s premature to say the city has fallen.

While Kostiantynivka’s fall would be significant, it would be unlikely to allow Russia to rapidly advance further towards capturing all of Donbas, that Putin has set as his priority.

Russia is barely advancing, and may have lost more territory overall than it gained in May, according to Konrad Muzyka, a Polish military analyst and director of Rochan Consulting.

The Russian gains are also coming at enormous cost. Russia’s forces are taking tens of thousands of casualties, according to independent analysts and Western intelligence assessment.

A report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) this week assessed Russia’s military has now suffered around 1.4 million casualties, including as many as 450,000 deaths.

Ukraine has suffered between 525,000 to 625,000 casualties, the CSIS report found.

(CBS) — The peaceful pine forests of Camden, South Carolina, have spent centuries hiding a secret as old as America itself. In August 1780, British and American soldiers clashed there, leading to a terrible defeat for the Continental army.

Battlefield archaeologists Jim Legg and Steve Smith have been studying the site for decades, but recently, they made a shocking discovery: The sandy soil was home to several sets of remains buried in shallow graves. Metal buttons suggested the men had been Continental soldiers, but there was no other identification. Remains were given numbers instead of names.

About 2,000 Continental soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, and some men never returned home. Their families could only guess at their fates. But Legg and Smith’s discovery, paired with an explosion in DNA technology, is changing what’s possible.

A set of remains, previously known only as 9B, has been identified as John Pumphrey, a young man from Maryland who enlisted in the Continental Army’s 7th Maryland Regiment as young as 13.

Allison Peacock, a genetic genealogist who uses DNA and family trees to identify remains, said researchers used “three different types of DNA” and biographical data to make the identification. Identifying the remains at last puts “goosebumps on her arms,” she said.

The Pumphrey family has deep Maryland roots, historic records show. The family owned sawmills and real estate, but court records show the estate was lost in a dispute after John Pumphrey’s father died. A need for money may have led to the teen’s decision to enlist, Peacock said.

“I’m sure he just was building a new life for himself,” Peacock said.

Pumphrey likely marched more than a thousand miles with the regiment. The unit fought in battles with then-Gen. George Washington in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The Pumphrey family still exists today. The DNA that helped identify Pumphrey’s remains came from three women: Pam Donahue, Karen Pumphrey Etchison, and Nancy Pumphrey White. Donahue said she is proud to know her fourth-great-uncle fought for the United States.

“To find out that we do have a young man that sacrificed his life for the development of our country, it’s amazing, absolutely amazing,” she said.

In late June, members of the extended Pumphrey family came together to hear his story and say his name for the first time in centuries. His remains are interred in South Carolina, where he and the other soldiers were discovered, but the tombstone, once marked “Unknown,” will soon have his name carved on it.

(ABC) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to participate in Washington, D.C.’s July Fourth celebrations with a rally and speech before fireworks on Saturday — during what’s expected to be sweltering heat in the nation’s capital.

The “Salute to America 250 Celebration & Fireworks” celebration begins in Washington, D.C., at 7 p.m. Saturday — when temperatures are set to feel as high as 107 degrees, according to the forecast.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t be deterred by the heat.

“It’s going to be approximately 107 degrees out, and I’m going to go, and I’m going to make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything,” he said.

Viewers can watch Trump’s speech live on ABC News’ website. Exact details about Trump’s planned speech have not yet been released.

The president is slated to speak around 9:45 p.m., according to the schedule posted by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership launched by the White House in December. Freedom 250 is separate from America250, the congressionally established commission overseeing the broader national commemoration.

Officials say they are preparing for the extreme heat and for the thousands of guests that are scheduled to attend.

Attendees will not be permitted to bring coolers into the primary secured viewing area, but officials said hydration will be available inside. Medical response plans include first-aid tents, additional ambulances, bicycle teams and multiagency response teams.

Officials said the secured viewing area for the fireworks on the Washington Monument grounds has a capacity of approximately 150,000 people and is expected to fill early.

The event, billed as the largest display ever held over the National Mall, will feature 850,000 pyrotechnic effects and fireworks, event organizers said. The fireworks are expected to begin between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. and last approximately 35 minutes, launching from 10 sites around the National Monument, Freedom 250 and D.C. officials said.

In previous years, the fireworks began around 9 p.m.

“This firework display will light up the skies over our capital as a tribute to them, and a reminder to every American watching that our greatest chapters are still ahead. It’s a moment to come together, look up, and feel proud of who we are and where we’re going,” Freedom 250 CEO Keith Krach said in a statement.

The celebration will also include several military flyovers. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is expected to close beginning at noon on July Fourth to accommodate the aerial demonstrations.

“The Fourth of July Airshow, over Washington, D.C., our Great Capital, will be the biggest, by far, in the History of the United States of America. Hundreds of Planes, of different types, sizes, and speeds, will be on display,” Trump said in a social media post last week.

(CBS) — Three children died on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin after a boat capsized during a severe storm Friday.

The Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency said a privately owned recreational boat with six adults and four children onboard was out on the water when a sudden and severe storm moved into the area, creating dangerous conditions. The boat tried to navigate to safety as the weather got worse, but was overwhelmed by severe wind and waves, took on water, capsized and eventually sank.

First responders were called to the scene and were able to rescue the six adults and one child. The boaters told them three children were still missing in the water.

Police said after an “intensive search” the three children were found and pulled from the water. Despite lifesaving measures administered at the scene and continued by EMTs as they were taken to local medical facilities, all three children were pronounced dead.

Officials said all four children on board the boat were wearing life jackets when it capsized.

A source that spoke to CBS News Chicago said the three victims are believed to all be under the age of 13.

The deaths are under investigation by the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Both agencies EMT extended their condolences to the friends and families of the children.

The circumstances surrounding the capsizing remain under investigation. The victims have not been identified pending family notification, police said.

“This incident serves as a reminder of how quickly severe weather can develop on area waterways,” police said in a statement. “We strongly urge all boaters to closely monitor weather forecasts, remain vigilant of changing atmospheric conditions, and seek safe harbor immediately when threatening weather approaches.”

No further information has been released.

WILLARD, N.C. (WWAY) — A family-owned farm in rural Pender County is launching what it says is the first Water Park on the Farm Festival as part of its 4th of July celebration.

The event is scheduled for Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. at Tate Farm by the Pond, located at 5514 N.C. Highway 11 in Willard.

According to the farm, the festival will feature water attractions and family activities as part of an effort to bring visitors to one of southeastern North Carolina’s most rural communities. Organizers expect families from across the region, including Pender, New Hanover, Duplin, Brunswick, Onslow, Sampson, Bladen and Columbus counties.

The farm has also hosted free community food distributions featuring vegetables grown on the property and has supported local summer camps and other community events.

“This farm has always been about serving people before profits,” said Dr. Jimmy T. Tate, general manager of Tate Farm by the Pond. “Whether we’re giving away fresh vegetables to families in need, helping support summer camps for children, or creating unforgettable experiences like our first-ever Water Park on the Farm Festival, our mission is simple—to bring hope, joy, and opportunity to rural communities. We believe every family deserves a place where they can come together, make memories, and experience the best of small-town America.”

The festival is intended to celebrate Independence Day while highlighting the role local farms can play in supporting rural communities through community outreach and family events.

The event runs from noon until 9 p.m. Saturday at Tate Farm by the Pond in Willard.

(ABC) — There will be unprecedented levels of security around the country for the United States’ 250th birthday celebrations over the weekend, according to a top FBI official, and the government will have the latest technology at its disposal including being able to take over drones and a radiation-detecting aircraft.

FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia told ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that it’s an “all hands on deck” situation.

“We have several of our resources, the vast majority of our resources right now dedicated in one shape or another to protecting our citizens and our visitors who have come here to enjoy themselves,” Raia said.

“Whether it’s at a FIFA match, whether it’s at America 250, or whether it’s at one of these other great celebrations around the country.”

In Washington, D.C., authorities are raising the celebrations on the National Mall and surrounding areas to the highest security level. Officials have said they are not currently tracking any credible threats. There are nearly 19 miles of anti-scale fencing, 3.5 miles of road closures, 3 miles of the Potomac River are closed, and thousands of federal agents and nearly all of the Metropolitan Police Department officers will be working in sweltering temperatures.

For the first time, the annual Fourth of July fireworks display on the National Mall will be designated a “National Special Security Event,” with security levels on par with presidential inaugurations. People entering the National Mall grounds will have to pass through TSA-like screening, said Tara McLeese, the Secret Service Special Agent in charge of the Washington field office.

In years past “you could just walk up and put a lawn chair and a blanket out. That will be different this year,” she said. “You won’t be able to just show up. There will be specific places, designated places to go through security before you can get on the Mall.”

In the air, teams from the National Nuclear Security Administration will be scanning for any hazardous material in Washington.

“We are flying missions to make sure that there are no radiological threats. But this is just the part that you see — we also have a lot of people with radiation detectors and backpacks that are traversing the Mall and maintaining that constant presence,” Brandon Williams, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration told ABC News. “The truth is we’ve been there in the background for decades on all of these kinds of major events.”

The FBI is concerned about drones not only for the 250th celebrations, but also for the ongoing FIFA World Cup, according to Raia.

“We have technology now that we’re able to take control of those drones and either send them back to their pilot, which is good for us — now we figure out who the pilot is, we can interview that person, get investigative leads, see if there’s something more to it — or we can send that to a what we call a designated safe zone,” he said.

Independence Day celebrations come in the most challenging threat environment since 9/11, with the ongoing terror threat, a rise in political violence and continuing fears about lone-wolf offenders, according to Raia.

“In this job, people ask me all the time, ‘What keeps you up at night?’ and that lone offender threat that we just talked about, … that is the one that keeps me up at night and that is the one that we are going to be working feverishly as an agency. We will continue to work every angle,” he said. “Analytics, intelligence, enforcement, everything to make sure that our Americans are protected not only during 250, celebration of FIFA, but every day across the country.”

(ABC) — Two people are dead and at least one more is injured after a shooting broke out between two parties at Fairlane Town Center mall in Dearborn, Michigan, on Friday, police said.

“It appears this was not a random act of violence. this was between two parties that knew each other here at the mall. A fight began that escalated in gunfire,” Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin told reporters Friday.

Police responded to a report of a shooting just before 1:30 p.m. local time to find three gunshot victims, according to police.

Two of those shot have now died — one at the mall and the other at a hospital, Shahin said.

“The loss of life is tragic,” Shahin said.

A number of people are being interviewed by police at the station, Shahin said.

“These kinds of acts of violence are completely unacceptable,” the police chief added.

Those involved in the incident are “no older than my kids at home,” and are in their late teens to early 20s, Shahin told reporters.

The weapons used were handguns and it appears they were brought into the mall, according to police.

Police do not yet know what the motive for the shooting is, the chief said. No one is in custody at the moment.

“This is an active and ongoing investigation. We are asking residents and visitors to avoid the area while officers secure the scene and investigators conduct their work,” the Dearborn Police Department said in a statement earlier Friday.

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY)–Thousands packed Carolina Beach Friday night to celebrate the Fourth of July with a spectacular fireworks display over the Atlantic Ocean.

Hundreds of residents and visitors gathered along Carolina Beach Friday evening to celebrate Independence Day, filling the shoreline as fireworks lit up the night sky.

While spectators enjoyed the annual display, local officials said a significant amount of planning goes into making sure the event is both entertaining and safe.

Carolina Beach Fire Chief Alan Griffin said the town partners with a licensed professional fireworks company, secures all required permits, and establishes safety perimeters to keep spectators a safe distance from the launch site.

“We shoot them from the beach, we make a perimeter to get everyone back, and it makes it for a real good show,” Griffin said.

With extreme heat and dry conditions across the area, Griffin encouraged residents to leave fireworks to trained professionals rather than setting them off at home.

“Not knowing where they are going to land and where they are going to go, leave it to the professionals. That’s what we do,” he said.

While fireworks crews prepared for the show, firefighters also helped visitors cope with the sweltering temperatures by assisting people dealing with the heat.

Meanwhile, lifeguards kept a close watch on the ocean as large crowds flocked to the beach.

“Our rescue numbers are way up there,” said Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue Captain Shawn Kelly.

Kelly said ocean rescue crews have responded to more than 150 rescues over the past three days. With even larger crowds expected throughout the holiday weekend, he said staffing has been increased across the beach.

“In preparation for the holiday, I’m overstaffed. Almost every tower will be double staffed. I’ve got extra personnel up and down the beach strand,” Kelly said.

Red flags were flying Friday, warning swimmers of dangerous surf conditions and strong currents. Combined with the extreme heat, Kelly said beachgoers should remain alert to the risks of both water emergencies and heat-related illnesses.

“We have all sorts of hydration things like Gatorade, Liquid I.V., lots of ice water, and several water jugs up and down the beach strand,” he said.

Kelly encourages visitors to stay hydrated, , know their swimming abilities, and pay attention to beach warning flags before entering the water.

Despite the hazards, he said Carolina Beach remains one of the best places to celebrate the Fourth of July.

“Carolina Beach is one of the best places you can be in all of America to celebrate the Fourth of July,” Kelly said.

Carolina Beach officials are also reminding residents and visitors that any firework that leaves the ground is illegal under North Carolina law. Violators can face a fine as well as a Class 2 misdemeanor charge.

NEW YORK CITY (WWAY) — Music superstar Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce are officially husband and wife.

A representative for Swift said the couple wed in a ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler in New York City.

Swift’s brother, Austin, served as her “man of honor,” while Jason Kelce, served as Travis’ best man. They were the only members of the wedding party, according to the rep.

Both the bride and groom wore custom looks by Dior, with the bride wearing a haute couture gown designed by Jonathan Anderson.

No official wedding photos have been released by the couple, who held a two-day wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden said to include more than 1,000 guests.

Celebrity guests included actors Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke and Jason Sudeikis, who were photographed arriving at MSG late Friday afternoon in black-tie attire.

On Thursday evening, Swift and Kelce held a smaller gathering at the arena for around 100 people with a strict no-phones policy.

Representatives for Swift or Kelce have not confirmed further details about both events.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) — As temperatures climb into the 90s this Fourth of July holiday weekend, veterinarians are reminding pet owners that extreme heat can pose serious dangers for dogs.

Experts say hot pavement is one of the biggest risks. When the air temperature reaches 90 degrees, asphalt can heat up to 140 to 150 degrees — hot enough to burn a dog’s paw pads within seconds. Veterinarians say those injuries are extremely painful and can take weeks to heal.

Heat stroke is another major concern, especially because dogs cannot regulate their body temperature the same way humans can.

Dr. Ali Travis of River Road Animal Hospital in Southport said pet owners should watch for early signs of heat exhaustion before the condition becomes life-threatening.

“First signs of them overheating can be really subtle. Like, you’re out playing with them and all of a sudden they’re moving a lot slower, they’re panting, they’re actually going to pull their lips back even more to try and get more of that surface area so they can cool off more, so they’ll look like they’re smiling or grimacing. Their tongue’s going to hang out more; they might start getting some really thick drool, if you see any of that get inside,” said Travis.

Travis said if a dog becomes unable to stand, it should be treated as a medical emergency.

She recommends moving the animal into a cooler environment immediately, using a fan, applying cool water between the toes and inside the ears, and, if necessary, submerging the dog in cool water up to its chest while seeking veterinary care.

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — While tens of thousands of people are expected to visit Southport this holiday weekend for the North Carolina Fourth of July Festival, Independence Day took on an even greater meaning Friday for 44 people who officially became United States citizens.

Surrounded by family and friends, the new citizens took the Oath of Allegiance during the festival’s annual naturalization ceremony, marking the final step in the citizenship process.

The ceremony included patriotic music, the presentation of the colors, guest speakers, and the oath of allegiance. The new citizens represented countries including Ecuador, Brazil, Australia and India.

Among them was Swathi Dodda, who was born in India and celebrated the milestone alongside her family. The ceremony came just four months after her husband also became a U.S. citizen.

“Was a long, long journey it was here. We came here twenty years back. We came on visas. So, we happily, I mean, we were thinking whether we could settle here or not because our kids were born here, like I said. So, we wanted to stay back here so that we can give them better opportunities. And also, we can get better jobs as well,” said Dodda.

During the ceremony, Naturalization Ceremony Committee Chair Tom Rabon Jr. encouraged the new citizens to embrace what it means to be an American.

“The word American, A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N, always remember the last 4 letters in the word American, I CAN,” said Rabon Jr.

Dodda’s husband, Ravi Kumar Boddavarapu, watched from the audience with their family as she took the oath. Having completed the same journey himself just four months earlier, he said the family is focused on celebrating the occasion.

“Just to really enjoy this feeling, and then there’s no such kind of immediate steps or anything. This itself is a lot of freedom, and we are going to rejoice, and we will explore all the different possibilities,” said Boddavarapu.

The naturalization ceremony has become a longstanding tradition of the North Carolina Fourth of July Festival, which continues throughout the holiday weekend. Festival organizers expect one of the year’s largest crowds for Saturday’s parade and fireworks celebration.

On today’s episode of the Carolina Beat, host Tiffany Cripps speaks with Hugh Fosbury about the upcoming 4th of July Festival at Southport.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A 54-year-old Leland man has been charged with multiple felony counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor following an investigation by the Leland Police Department.

According to arrest documents, William Bartley Smith was arrested on a warrant issued July 2, 2026, in Brunswick County. The alleged offenses are listed as occurring on or about March 22, 2026.

Court records allege that Smith used the messaging application Telegram to distribute and receive child sexual abuse material with an individual identified by the username “HUMPHREYS.”

The arrest warrant includes six felony counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. According to the charging documents:

• Counts 1 and 2 allege Smith distributed visual depictions of child sexual abuse to another Telegram user.
• Counts 3 through 6 allege Smith knowingly received or solicited child sexual abuse material from the same Telegram user.

The charging documents describe the files as videos and images depicting minors engaged in sexual activity.

No additional information about Smith’s court appearance, bond, or legal representation was immediately available from the charging documents.

On today’s episode of the Carolina Beat, host Katie Sasser speaks with Mindy Lewis to talk about Indulgences Spa of Leland.

(CBS NEWS) — Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade has been canceled due to extreme heat in the weather forecast, organizers told vendors and participants early Friday morning.

The parade was set to take place Friday in Old City.

Temperatures are set to exceed 100 degrees and feel even hotter due to humidity as the region enters Day 5 of a heat wave. On Thursday, July 2, the city tied its record high temperature of 103 degrees.

Organizers told vendors their first responsibility was the safety of the participants and guests. The production company running the parade was reaching out to participants individually to inform them of the cancellation.

One representative told CBS News Philadelphia organizers tried to find a solution that would allow the event to be held safely, but heat-related incidents, including Thursday’s Union Pacific Big Boy event in Berks County, contributed to the decision to cancel.

“As much as this decision pains everyone inside our organization, we simply cannot host an event of this size and scale under these dangerous heat conditions,” Wawa Welcome America President and CEO Michael DelBene said in a statement. “Todd Marcocci and Under the Sun Productions, along with all the parade groups, have been working tirelessly to design something truly historic, and having to cancel it at the last minute is heartbreaking for all of us. While large-scale celebrations and community events may be our mission, our first responsibility will always be to the safety and security of our staff, our guests, and our event participants.”

Participants got the news in an email at 1 a.m. Wawa Welcome America’s official social media pages shared the news around 7:20 a.m.

Visit Philadelphia will hold free pop-up performances throughout the city’s historic district to keep the celebration alive for visitors from noon to 2:30 p.m.

The plan includes having performers at the Betsy Ross House, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Independence Visitor Center, City Tavern, Franklin Square, Carpenters’ Hall and behind Independence Hall.

Now that the parade is canceled, SEPTA has called off the planned bus detours around the parade route.

This extreme heat has threatened temperature records and had a major impact on the Philadelphia region’s observances of America’s 250th anniversary.

Friday night’s Pops on Independence concert featuring Idina Menzel is still on, but has been pushed back to 8 p.m.

On Monday, organizers said the route would be cut down to about 1 mile to reduce risks in the heat.

Thursday night, the Wawa Welcome America Salute to Service concert featuring Queen Latifah was canceled due to the heat. A 10 p.m. independence-themed drone show went on as scheduled.

CBS News Philadelphia is tracking other events delayed by the heat here.

(CBS NEWS) — Sixteen children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in wretched conditions with human waste all around, confined to just one room over much of the past four years, authorities said Wednesday.

Some of the children discovered Tuesday were unable to speak and one — an 18-year-old who was developmentally disabled — could not even write her name, investigators said.

“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” said Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain. “Just a disgusting scene.”

The children’s parents and two grandparents were charged with felony child endangerment, a prosecutor said.

Authorities found the children while carrying out a search warrant in an unrelated investigation, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said Wednesday at a news conference.

Officials said it seemed as if no one outside the family knew about the children, who weren’t enrolled in school.

“We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there,” said Wilson, who was nearly at a loss for words in describing what officials found in the tiny village of Hamden that sits in one of Ohio’s poorest counties.

“It’s the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America,” he said.

The sheriff said it appears the children spent most of their time in a room that was roughly 12 feet by 12 feet. He didn’t disclose how the kids were kept inside the home, but said authorities didn’t find any cages in the house.

The children ranged in age from 1 1/2 years to 18 years old and included both boys and girls, officials said. Seven were transported to hospitals in Columbus and two were flown by helicopter. One was in critical condition on Tuesday while some of the others were admitted for care, Wilson said.

“They looked like almost feral animals,” Wilson said. “It was terrible.”

The children were in temporary custody of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Vinton County prosecuting attorney William Archer said the four adults were charged with second-degree felony child endangering because it involves “serious physical harm.”

Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders appeared in court Wednesday where a judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf and set bond at $300,000 for each. They have not yet been assigned lawyers.

Steve Irwin, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, would not say whether all of the children are siblings or how they were related.

The house where the children were found sits on a road tucked away alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains through Hamden. The closest neighbors are separated by trees and thick brush, but the house is easily visible from the road.

An open door revealed bits of trash inside while a wooden deck and the backyard were filled with discarded tires, a high chair and other debris.

Investigators said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades and that it looks like they avoided setting up medical and government records.

“These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,” Wilson said.

Investigators were reviewing whether the family was reported to any children’s services agencies in the past.

Neighbor Joseph Stewart, 60, said he saw “no kids at all” since the family moved in three houses down and that he could clearly see the house and yard when passing by.

“It’s a sad situation,” he said. Stewart has lived on the street for six years and called it “a quiet neighborhood.”

On Wednesday, the home’s doors and windows stood open to the sweltering heat. A tangle of discarded children’s items — two busted bicycles, a plastic play table, a beach pail and two infant carriers — stood in a pile in the yard.

Hamden has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 60 miles southeast of Columbus.

The discovery of the children is reminiscent of past horrific cases of family abuse.

In 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children at their home in California, starving them and providing only a minimal education.

They were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The couple were arrested in 2018 after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the home and called 911.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — The Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization (OIBSTPO) has begun installing wildlife-safe streetlights on the east end of Ocean Isle Beach in an effort to better protect nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings.

SUNSET BEACH, NC (WWAY) — The Town of Sunset Beach says its Catchment 7 drainage improvement project is in the final stages, with most major construction work now complete.

The Catchment 7 project is designed to improve stormwater drainage and reduce flooding concerns in the area.

Town officials met with the project’s contractor and engineer on July 2 for a final walkthrough and to review the remaining punch list before the project wraps up.

According to the town, all underground piping and catch basins have been installed, final paving has been completed at the intersections of 6th Street and Canal Drive and 6th Street and Main Street, and the bike path has been fully repaired.

Crews have also installed new drainage flumes at 4th Street and Main Street and near 305 East Main Street to improve water flow and reduce standing water around catch basins.

Over the coming weeks, contractors will begin grading and seeding disturbed areas, replace 57 granite rocks along driveway rights-of-way, and remove construction debris from Majestic Oak Park.

The town also plans to regrade portions of 4th and 5th streets to improve drainage and will begin removing cones and barricades from Town Park next week.

Officials said the only major task remaining is the final cleaning of the project’s pipes and catch basins. While no completion date has been announced for that work, the town said updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL (AP NEWS) — A three-armed spacecraft rocketed into orbit Friday to rescue a NASA telescope that’s in danger of crashing back to Earth.

Northrop Grumman launched Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. The Pegasus rocket blasted off from the belly of a modified airplane, putting Link on course to reach and capture NASA’s Swift Observatory in about a month.

Launched in 2004, Swift is sinking faster than ever because of recent solar storms. NASA is paying $30 million for Katalyst to capture the telescope and boost its orbit so it can continue tracking some of the biggest explosions in the universe, like gamma ray bursts and exploding stars.

If all goes well, Swift could be back scanning the cosmos by September. Observations are currently on hold to preserve the telescope’s orbit as long as possible.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could be a candidate for a similar salvage operation in a few years. It’s also slipping in altitude because of increased atmospheric drag caused by the sun’s outbursts.

The 1.6-ton (1.4-metric ton) Swift currently is circling 224 miles (360 kilometers) above Earth. Katalyst aims to raise the telescope’s altitude by 150 miles (240 kilometers), back to where it all began. Link’s thrusters will fire to boost Swift slowly, so there’s no heavy jostling.

Katalyst threw the mission together in just nine months. NASA insisted on a rush job because the telescope will be too low to recover by the fall. Without a boost, it’s predicted to plunge to its demise in October.

Bad weather and technical issues caused a series of last-minute launch delays.

“This is a high-risk, high-reward mission,” Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee Lee said ahead of liftoff. “The biggest danger was always we don’t launch anything and we let Swift burn up in the atmosphere. So we were always trying to avoid that risk, and our team has done that.”

(ABC NEWS) — A man was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Walmart in Florida following a dispute over a parking space, according to authorities.

The woman who pulled the trigger is claiming self-defense, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting.

The incident occurred midday Tuesday in North Lauderdale and was captured on cellphone and dashcam video obtained by ABC News.

“The preliminary investigation revealed an adult female and the victim were involved in a verbal altercation over a parking space in the Walmart parking lot prior to the shooting,” the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“According to investigators, the shooter, the adult female, remained on scene, cooperated with detectives and she told them the shooting was in self-defense,” the statement continued.

Dashcam footage of the incident shows the woman get out of a vehicle in a parking space before being approached by the man, identified by the sheriff’s office as 62-year-old Bart Diguglielmo. The woman appears to be pointing a handgun at Diguglielmo with one hand and holding a cellphone in the other as they move around the parking lot.

Diguglielmo is seen initially walking away from the woman before walking back toward her. She can be heard saying “walk away” before the sound of the gunfire rings out, according to the cellphone footage of the incident.

Following the shooting, Diguglielmo is seen sitting and at times lying on the ground for several minutes before a law enforcement officer arrives and appears to apprehend the woman.

Diguglielmo was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities have not released the name of the woman. It is unclear if she was taken into custody following the shooting.