Welcome to Mustang Cafe: MACU looking to rebuild enrollment

Rescuers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, other states and counties were racing against the clock as the sun was about to set Thursday in North Port, to help families stranded in their own homes surrounded by streets that had turned into canals. The city was one of many in Florida where rescues were underway as Hurricane Ian continued churning northward toward Georgia and the Carolinas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday evening there had been 700 confirmed rescues across the state in the wake of the storm. “Some of the damage was almost indescribable,” he said.

Leaders of College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, thought it was odd when the Southern Baptist Convention recently sent queries about the congregation's LGBTQ-affirming ministry. The church itself had voted to leave the conservative denomination 23 years ago. But it was still on the SBC rolls until last week. That's when the convention's Executive Committee voted to cut ties because of the congregation's “affirmation ... of homosexual behavior.” The Rev. Michael Usey of College Park said the congregation was ousted for the right reason. Said Usey, “It’s good when people reject you because they understand clearly who you are."

Experts say the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling overturning Roe v. Wade appears to be sending more teens to their doctors in search of birth control, including long-acting reversible forms like intrauterine devices and implants. Waits for appointments are growing in some areas, Planned Parenthood is getting a flood of questions and doctors report demand even among teens who aren’t sexually active. Some patients are especially fearful because some of the new abortion laws don’t include exceptions for sexual assault. Dr. Peggy Stager said dedicated spots for insertion of the Nexplanon implant are consistently filled at her Ohio practice and requests for contraceptive refills have increased 30% to 40% since the Court's June ruling.

Four people have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for their roles in absentee ballot fraud in rural North Carolina during the 2016 and 2018 elections. These convictions Monday stemmed from an investigation that in part resulted in a do-over congressional election. The defendants were associated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County whom authorities called the ringleader of the ballot scheme. Dowless died this year before his case went to trial. The State Board of Elections has ordered a new election for the 2018 9th Congressional District because of all the fraud allegations. Cases against six other defendants are pending.

The Biden administration is proposing a new permitting program for wind energy turbines, power lines and other projects that kill bald and golden eagles. The move comes amid growing concern among scientists that a rapid expansion of renewable energy in the U.S. West that's now underway could harm golden eagle populations now teetering on decline. The Fish and Wildlife Service program announced Thursday is meant to encourage companies to work with officials to minimize the harm to golden and bald eagles. There are about 350,000 bald eagles but only 40,000 golden eagles, which need much larger areas to survive and are more inclined to have trouble with humans.

Rescuers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, other states and counties were racing against the clock as the sun was about to set Thursday in North Port, to help families stranded in their own homes surrounded by streets that had turned into canals. The city was one of many in Florida where rescues were underway as Hurricane Ian continued churning northward toward Georgia and the Carolinas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday evening there had been 700 confirmed rescues across the state in the wake of the storm. “Some of the damage was almost indescribable,” he said.

Cars are left abandoned where they stalled on the road into Fort Myers Beach when Hurricane Ian's storm surge flooded their engines and their drivers couldn’t continue. Broken trees, boat trailers and other debris litter the path. It’s even worse in the seaside tourist town, much of which was flattened by the fierce winds and powerful storm surge generated by the Category 4 hurricane. The barrier islands along the southwest Florida coast are famed for their seashells, fishing and laid-back lifestyle. They took major hits from Ian when it came ashore Wednesday and residents tried to salvage what they could Thursday.

Hurricane Ian has regained some strength after exiting Florida and taking aim at South Carolina. The National Hurricane Center said the storm spent only a few hours as a weakened tropical storm over Florida before it spun up into a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean. Rescue crews were wading through water and using boats to rescue Florida residents stranded in the wake of Hurricane Ian. The Orange County fire department posted photos of crews in a flooded neighborhood in the Orlando area. At least one person in Florida was confirmed dead on the state's eastern coast. Forecasters have issued a hurricane warning for coastal South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina ahead of another landfall Friday.

BALTIMORE (AP) — The family of a young woman who was killed in 1999 will appeal a Baltimore judge’s recent order overturning the conviction of Adnan Syed, the man imprisoned for decades for Hae Min Lee's death, according to an attorney for the family.

Two space telescopes have captured this week's asteroid strike, the first planetary defense test of its kind. NASA on Thursday released pictures of the dramatic event taken by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes. Telescopes on all seven continents also watched as NASA's Dart spacecraft slammed into the harmless space rock in hopes of altering its orbit. All these pictures will help scientists learn more about the little asteroid Dimorphos, which took the punch and ended up with a sizable crater. NASA and SpaceX, meanwhile, are studying the feasibility of sending a private mission to Hubble to raise the aging telescope's orbit and extend its life.