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Small Business Lifestyle

Hurricane Helenes death toll reaches 200 after Georgia and North Carolina report more fatalities [Video]

Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her normally bubbly personality. But these days shes struggling with the trauma of Hurricane Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.All I can say is that Im alive. Im not doing great. Im not doing good. But Im extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not, Vekasi said.One thing that makes her feel a little better is the fellowship of the daily town meeting at the square.Its incredible being able to meet in person, said Vekasi, who was cut off by impassible roads for days. At Wednesdays session more than 150 people gathered as local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates.In the midst of the devastating destruction left by the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, human connections are giving the survivors hope in western North Carolina. While government cargo planes brought food and water into the hardest-hit areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm, whose death toll has reached 200, were leaning on one another.Martha Sullivan, also at the town meeting, was taking careful notes so she could share the information roads reopened, progress in getting power restored, work on trying to get water flowing again with others.Sullivan, who has lived in Black Mountain for 43 years, said her children invited her to come to Charlotte after the storm, but she wants to stay in her community and look after her neighbors.Im going to stay as long as I feel like Im being useful, Sullivan said.Helping one another in the hardest-hit areasIn remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and washed-out riverbanks.Electricity is being slowly restored, as the number of homes and businesses without power dipped below 1 million for the first time since last weekend, according to poweroutage.us. Most of the outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barreling over Floridas Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.Robin Wynn lost power at her Asheville home early Friday and was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter despite water up to her knees.I didnt know where I was going, didnt know what was going to happen next. But I got out and Im alive, Wynn said on Wednesday.Now that shes back home, her neighbors have been watching out for one another. Plenty of people have come around to make sure everyone has a hot meal and water, she said.Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, normally makes home visits to members who cant physically get to church. This week, hes their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary restrictions and tossing out food that had spoiled.Beyond checking in on the essentials, he says its important to just socialize with folks in a moment like this to help them know they arent alone.He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. They dont have telephone service, even if they have a landline, a lot of that isnt working, Williamson said. “So we’re bringing them food and water, but also just bringing them a smile and a prayer with them just to give them comfort.Volunteers in Asheville gathered on Wednesday before going out to help find people who have been unreachable because of phone and internet outages. They took along boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.Even notifying relatives of people who died in the storm has been difficult.That has been our challenge, quite honestly, is no cell service, no way to reach out to next of kin, said Avril Pinder, an official in Buncombe County where at least 61 people have died. We have a confirmed body count, but we dont have identifications on everyone or next-of-kin notifications.Thursday marks the seventh day of search and rescue operations, Pinder said, adding the county doesnt have an official tally of people who are unaccounted for or missing.Were continuing to find people. We know we have pockets of people who are isolated due to landslides and bridges out, she said. So they are disconnected but not missing.Biden and Harris get a firsthand lookPresident Joe Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina, getting a firsthand look at the mess left by a storm that now has killed at least 200 people.Speaking afterwards in Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, we put politics aside.Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can,” he said.That includes a commitment from the federal government to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months. The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.Were not leaving until youre back on your feet completely, Biden said.Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia, where she said the president had approved a request to pick up the tab for similar emergency aid there for three months.Biden plans on traveling to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.Devastation from Florida to TennesseeEmployees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they werent allowed to leave in time to avoid the storms impact.Hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast mostly stayed open despite dealing with blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding. Many hospitals halted elective procedures, while only a few closed completely.In Florida, officials were turning to low-risk state prisoners to help clear the mountains of debris left behind.Department of Corrections, they do prison labor anyways. So theyre bringing them to do debris removal, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday.

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Small Business Lifestyle

Folks in North Carolina stay in touch the old-fashioned way after Helene cuts roads, power, phones [Video]

Isolated and without electricity or phone service since Hurricane Helene inflicted devastation across the Southeast nearly a week ago, residents in the mountains of western North Carolina are relying on old-fashioned ways of communicating and coping.At the town square in Black Mountain, local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates about when power might be restored. One woman took notes to pass along to her neighbors. Alongside a fencerow, a makeshift message board listed the names of people still missing. In other areas, mules delivered medical supplies to mountaintop homes. Residents collected water from creeks and cooked over camp stoves. And across the region, people were looking after each other.President Joe Biden, after surveying the area by helicopter on Wednesday, praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, we put politics aside.While government cargo planes brought food and water into the hardest-hit areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm, whose death toll has topped 180, leaned on one another not technology.I didnt know where I was going, didnt know what was going to happen next. But I got out and Im alive, said Robin Wynn, who lost power at her Asheville home early Friday and was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter despite water up to her knees.Now that shes back home, she said her neighbors have been watching out for one another. Plenty of people have come around to make sure everyone has a hot meal and water.Helping one another in the hardest-hit areasIn remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and washed-out riverbanks. Nearly a week after the storm, more than 1.1 million customers still had no power in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barreling over Floridas Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a store in Black Mountain called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her normally bubbly personality. But these days shes struggling with the trauma of Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.All I can say is that Im alive. Im not doing great. Im not doing good. But Im extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not, Vekasi said.One thing that makes her feel a little better is the fellowship of the daily town meeting at the square.Its incredible being able to meet in person, Vekasi said after Wednesdays session, where more than 150 people gathered.Martha Sullivan was taking careful notes at the meeting so she could share the information roads reopened, progress in getting power restored, work on trying to get water flowing again with others. Sullivan, who has lived in Black Mountain for 43 years, said her children invited her to come to Charlotte after the storm, but she wants to stay in her community and look after her neighbors.Im going to stay as long as I feel like Im being useful, Sullivan said.Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, normally makes home visits to members who cant physically get to church. This week, hes their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary restrictions and tossing out food that had spoiled.Beyond checking in on the essentials, he says its important to just socialize with folks in a moment like this to help them know they arent alone.He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. They dont have telephone service, even if they have a landline, a lot of that isnt working, Williamson said. So were bringing them food and water, but also just bringing them a smile and a prayer with them just to give them comfort. Volunteers in Asheville gathered on Wednesday before going out to help find people who have been unreachable because of phone and internet outages. They took along boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.Even notifying relatives of people who died in the storm has been difficult.That has been our challenge, quite honestly, is no cell service, no way to reach out to next of kin, said Avril Pinder, an official in Buncombe County where at least 61 people have died. We have a confirmed body count, but we dont have identifications on everyone or next-of-kin notifications.Biden and Harris get a firsthand lookBiden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina, getting a firsthand look at the mess left by a storm that now has killed at least 189 people, making Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center. Speaking in Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden said, Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can.That includes a commitment from the federal government to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months. The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.Were not leaving until youre back on your feet completely, Biden said.Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia, where she said the president had approved a request to pick up the tab for similar emergency aid there for three months.Biden plans on traveling to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.Devastation from Florida to TennesseeEmployees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they werent allowed to leave in time to avoid the storms impact.Hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast mostly stayed open despite dealing with blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding. Many hospitals halted elective procedures, while only a few closed completely.In Florida, officials were turning to low-risk state prisoners to help clear the mountains of debris left behind.Department of Corrections, they do prison labor anyways. So theyre bringing them to do debris removal, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday.

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Small Business Lifestyle

Jimmy Carter turns 100 [Video]

Already the longest-lived of the 45 men to serve as U.S. president, Jimmy Carter has reached the century mark.The 39th president, who remains under home hospice care, turned 100 on Tuesday, celebrating in the same south Georgia town where he was born in 1924.Here are some notable markers for Carter, the nation and the world over his long life.Booms most everywhere but not PlainsCarter has seen the U.S. population nearly triple. The U.S. has about 330 million residents; there were about 114 million in 1924 and 220 million when Carter was inaugurated in 1977. The global population has more than quadrupled, from 1.9 billion to more than 8.1 billion. It already had more than doubled to 4.36 billion by the time he became president.That boom has not reached Plains, where Carter has lived more than 80 of his 100 years. His wife Rosalynn, who died in 2023 at age 96, also was born in Plains.Their town comprised fewer than 500 people in the 1920s and has about 700 today; much of the local economy revolves around its most famous residents.When James Earl Carter Jr. was born, life expectancy for American males was 58. It’s now 75.TV, radio and presidential mapsNBC first debuted a red-and-blue electoral map in the 1976 election between then-President Gerald Ford, a Republican, and Carter, the Democratic challenger. But NBC’s John Chancellor made Carter’s states red and Ford’s blue. Some other early versions of color electoral maps used yellow and blue because red was associated with Soviet and Chinese communism.It wasn’t until the 1990s that networks settled on blue for Democratic-won states and red for GOP-won states. “Red state and blue state did not become a permanent part of the American political lexicon until after the disputed 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush.Carter was 14 when Franklin D. Roosevelt made the first presidential television appearance. Warren Harding became the first radio president two years before Carter’s birth.Attention shoppersThere was no Amazon Prime in 1924, but you could order a build-it-yourself house from a catalog. Sears Roebuck Gladstones three-bedroom model went for $2,025, which was slightly less than the average workers annual income.Walmart didnt exist, but local general stores served the same purpose. Ballpark prices: loaf of bread, 9 cents; gallon of milk, 54 cents; gallon of gas, 11 cents.Inflation helped drive Carter from office, as it has dogged President Joe Biden. The average gallon in 1980, Carters last full year in office, was about $3.25 when adjusted for inflation. That’s just 3 cents more than AAA’s current national average.From suffragettes to Kamala HarrisThe 19th Amendment that extended voting rights to women almost exclusively white women at the time was ratified in 1920, four years before Carter’s birth. The Voting Rights Act that widened the franchise to Black Americans passed in 1965 as Carter was preparing his first bid for Georgia governor.Now, Carter is poised to cast a mail ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris. She would become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to reach the Oval Office. Grandson Jason Carter said the former president is holding on in part because he is excited about the chance to see Harris make history.Immigration, isolationism and America FirstFor all the shifts in U.S. politics, some things stay the same. Or at least come back around.Carter was born in an era of isolationism, protectionism and white Christian nationalism all elements of the right in the ongoing Donald Trump era. In 2024, Trump is promising the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, while tightening legal immigration. He has said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.Five months before Carter was born, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924. The law created the U.S. Border Patrol and sharply curtailed immigration, limiting admission mostly to migrants from western Europe. Asians were banned entirely. Congress described its purpose plainly: preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity. The Ku Klux Klan followed in 1925 and 1926 with marches on Washington promoting white supremacy.Trump also has called for sweeping tariffs on foreign imports, part of his America First agenda. In 1922, Congress enacted tariffs intended to help U.S. manufacturers. After stock market losses in 1929, lawmakers added the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs, ostensibly to help American farmers. The Great Depression followed anyway. In the 1930s, as Carter became politically aware, the political right that countered FDR was driven in part by a movement that opposed international engagement. Those conservatives’ slogan: America First.America’s and Carter’s pastimeCarter is the Atlanta Braves’ most famous fan. Jason Carter says the former president still enjoys watching his favorite baseball team.In the 1990s, when the Braves were annual features in the October playoffs, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were often spotted in the owner’s box with media mogul Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, then Turner’s wife. The Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee between Carter’s failed run for governor in 1966 and his victory four years later. Then-Gov. Carter was sitting in the first row of Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium on April 9, 1974, when Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth’s career record.When Carter was born, the Braves were still in Boston, their original city. Ruth had just completed his fifth season for the New York Yankees. He had hit 284 home runs to that point (still 430 short of his career total) and the original Yankee Stadium The House that Ruth Built” had been open less than 18 months.Booze, Billy and Billy BeerProhibition had been in effect for four years when Carter was born and wouldnt be lifted until he was 9. The Carters were never prodigious drinkers. They served only wine at state dinners and other White House functions, though it’s a common misconception that they did so because of their Baptist mores. It was more because Carter has always been frugal: He didn’t want taxpayers or the residence account (his and Rosalynn’s personal money) to cover more expensive hard liquor.Carters younger brother Billy, who owned a Plains gas station and died in 1988, had different tastes. He marketed his own brand, Billy Beer, once Carter became president. News sources reported that Billy Carter snagged a $50,000 annual licensing fee from one brewer. That’s about $215,000 today. The presidents annual salary at the time was $200,000 it’s now $400,000.The debt: More Carter frugalityThe Times Square debt clock didnt debut until Carter was in his early 60s and out of the White House. But for anyone counting the $35 trillion debt, Carter doesnt merit much mention. The man who would wash Ziploc bags to reuse them added less than $300 billion to the national debt, which stood below $1 trillion when he left office.Other presidentsCarter has lived through 40% of U.S. history since the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and more than a third of all U.S. administrations since George Washington took office in 1789 nine before Carter was president, his own and seven since.When Carter took office, just two presidents, John Adams and Herbert Hoover, had lived to be 90. Since then, Ford, Ronald Reagan, Carter and George H.W. Bush all reached at least 93.

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Small Business Lifestyle

Jimmy Carter is about to reach the century mark [Video]

Already the longest-lived of the 45 men to serve as U.S. president, Jimmy Carter is about to reach the century mark. The 39th president, who remains under home hospice care, will turn 100 on Tuesday, Oct. 1, celebrating in the same south Georgia town where he was born in 1924. Video above: President Jimmy Carter in 1977Here are some notable markers for Carter, the nation and the world over his long life. Carter has seen the U.S. population nearly triple. The U.S. has about 330 million residents; there were about 114 million in 1924 and 220 million when Carter was inaugurated in 1977. The global population has more than quadrupled, from 1.9 billion to more than 8.1 billion. It already had more than doubled to 4.36 billion by the time he became president.That boom has not reached Plains, where Carter has lived more than 80 of his 100 years. His wife Rosalynn, who died in 2023 at age 96, also was born in Plains. Their town comprised fewer than 500 people in the 1920s and has about 700 today; much of the local economy revolves around its most famous residents.When James Earl Carter Jr. was born, life expectancy for American males was 58. It’s now 75. NBC first debuted a red-and-blue electoral map in the 1976 election between then-President Gerald Ford, a Republican, and Carter, the Democratic challenger. But NBC’s John Chancellor made Carter’s states red and Ford’s blue. Some other early versions of color electoral maps used yellow and blue because red was associated with Soviet and Chinese communism. It wasn’t until the 1990s that networks settled on blue for Democratic-won states and red for GOP-won states. “Red state” and “blue state” did not become a permanent part of the American political lexicon until after the disputed 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Carter was 14 when Franklin D. Roosevelt made the first presidential television appearance. Warren Harding became the first radio president two years before Carter’s birth. There was no Amazon Prime in 1924, but you could order a build-it-yourself house from a catalog. Sears Roebuck Gladstone’s three-bedroom model went for $2,025, which was slightly less than the average worker’s annual income.Walmart didn’t exist, but local general stores served the same purpose. Ballpark prices: loaf of bread, 9 cents; gallon of milk, 54 cents; gallon of gas, 11 cents. Inflation helped drive Carter from office, as it has dogged President Joe Biden. The average gallon in 1980, Carter’s last full year in office, was about $3.25 when adjusted for inflation. That’s just 3 cents more than AAA’s current national average. The 19th Amendment that extended voting rights to women almost exclusively white women at the time was ratified in 1920, four years before Carter’s birth. The Voting Rights Act that widened the franchise to Black Americans passed in 1965 as Carter was preparing his first bid for Georgia governor. Now, Carter is poised to cast a mail ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris. She would become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to reach the Oval Office. Grandson Jason Carter said the former president is holding on in part because he is excited about the chance to see Harris make history. For all the shifts in U.S. politics, some things stay the same. Or at least come back around. Carter was born in an era of isolationism, protectionism and white Christian nationalism all elements of the right in the ongoing Donald Trump era. In 2024, Trump is promising the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, while tightening legal immigration. He has said immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Five months before Carter was born, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924. The law created the U.S. Border Patrol and sharply curtailed immigration, limiting admission mostly to migrants from western Europe. Asians were banned entirely. Congress described its purpose plainly: “preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity.” The Ku Klux Klan followed in 1925 and 1926 with marches on Washington promoting white supremacy. Trump also has called for sweeping tariffs on foreign imports, part of his “America First” agenda. In 1922, Congress enacted tariffs intended to help U.S. manufacturers. After stock market losses in 1929, lawmakers added the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs, ostensibly to help American farmers. The Great Depression followed anyway. In the 1930s, as Carter became politically aware, the political right that countered FDR was driven in part by a movement that opposed international engagement. Those conservatives’ slogan: “America First.” Carter is the Atlanta Braves’ most famous fan. Jason Carter says the former president still enjoys watching his favorite baseball team. In the 1990s, when the Braves were annual features in the October playoffs, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were often spotted in the owner’s box with media mogul Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, then Turner’s wife. The Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee between Carter’s failed run for governor in 1966 and his victory four years later. Then-Gov. Carter was sitting in the first row of Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium on April 9, 1974, when Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth’s career record. When Carter was born, the Braves were still in Boston, their original city. Ruth had just completed his fifth season for the New York Yankees. He had hit 284 home runs to that point (still 430 short of his career total) and the original Yankee Stadium “The House that Ruth Built” had been open less than 18 months. Prohibition had been in effect for four years when Carter was born and wouldn’t be lifted until he was 9. The Carters were never prodigious drinkers. They served only wine at state dinners and other White House functions, though it’s a common misconception that they did so because of their Baptist mores. It was more because Carter has always been frugal: He didn’t want taxpayers or the residence account (his and Rosalynn’s personal money) to cover more expensive hard liquor. Carter’s younger brother Billy, who owned a Plains gas station and died in 1988, had different tastes. He marketed his own brand, Billy Beer, once Carter became president. News sources reported that Billy Carter snagged a $50,000 annual licensing fee from one brewer. That’s about $215,000 today. The president’s annual salary at the time was $200,000 it’s now $400,000. The Times Square debt clock didn’t debut until Carter was in his early 60s and out of the White House. But for anyone counting the $35 trillion debt, Carter doesn’t merit much mention. The man who would wash Ziploc bags to reuse them added less than $300 billion to the national debt, which stood below $1 trillion when he left office. Carter has lived through 40% of U.S. history since the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and more than a third of all U.S. administrations since George Washington took office in 1789 nine before Carter was president, his own and seven since. When Carter took office, just one president, John Adams, had lived to be 90. Since then, Ford, Ronald Reagan, Carter and George H.W. Bush all reached at least 93.