News

Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win once again?

National News September 23, 2026

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. Last year’s winner, Chunk — known officially as Bear 32 — is hungry for a repeat. Chunk’s weight in 2025 was estimated at 1,200 pounds, which gave him a narrow victory. This year he’s back and facing corpulent competition like Gully — ...

Nation and world at a glance for Sept. 23

Thomas bill would require payment for power outages

Local News September 22, 2026

State Rep. David Thomas, who represents parts of Trumbull County, introduced a bill to require electric utility companies to pay customers for repeated and/or prolonged power outages. Thomas, R-Jefferson, is sponsoring the bill with state Rep. Trisan Rader, D-Cleveland. With the Ohio House not meeting again until after the Nov. 3 election, Thomas said he didn’t expect the bill to pass this year. But Thomas said he and Rader would introduce it again next year, which would give it until Dec. 31, 2028, to be approved by the state Legislature. The Ohio Power Outage Relief Act would ...

Taylor Swift will become the most awarded artist in MTV VMAs history

National News September 22, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift will once again break records. At the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, she will receive the inaugural Artist Director Honors, becoming the most awarded artist in VMA history. Currently, Swift is tied with Beyonce for the title of most-awarded musician in VMA history. They have 30 each. (Eminem is the male artist with the most VMAs, with 15.) The new award, which according to the VMAs is meant to recognize artists “whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling,” will bring ...

Ohio’s unemployment rate falls to 3.3% in August

Business September 22, 2026

Staff report Ohio’s unemployment rate was 3.3% in August 2026, down from 3.4% in July 2026. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 2,100 over the month from a revised 5,686,600 in July to 5,688,700 in August. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services issued its findings last week. Figures have been seasonally adjusted. The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in August was 195,000, down from 200,000 in July 2026. The number of unemployed has decreased by 66,000 in the past 12 months from 261,000. The August unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 1.1 ...

Sound of Music museum opens where the von Trapp story met Hollywood

International News September 22, 2026

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — An Austrian museum is alive with “The Sound of Music,” a first-ever venue devoted to the classic 1965 singalong movie starring Julie Andrews. The Sound of Music Salzburg museum, situated in an Austrian city famed for music and perhaps best known as the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, opened Sunday. The attendees included Elisabeth von Trapp, granddaughter of Georg and Agathe von Trapp, whose family story inspired the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical and Hollywood blockbuster. She continues to give guided tours of movie sites in Salzburg today. “It is ...