WPTF Morning News

Tal Whittle, Director of Development and Advancement with the Habitat for Humanity talks with Tony Riggsbee about what they are doing to combat affordable housing with Durham.

Rising drug cost has been a persistent issue across the nation and one state representative who plans on addressing this issue is Cynthia Ball. Here is the conversation Tony Riggsbee has with State representative Cynthia Ball.

The popularity of soccer in the triangle keeps rising, in particular that of college soccer but a couple of storied programs will have new leaders on their bench over the next couple of years. It was announced on Sunday in a statement that after 47 seasons in Chapel Hill, longtime UNC Women's Soccer Head Coach Anson Dorrance has retired. Dorrance who would 21 NCAA Championships will hold a press conference this afternoon. That news comes just weeks after Duke's longtime Women's Soccer Coach Robbie Church announced he will step down following this upcoming season. With Chris Edwards to offer perspective is Dean Linke, one of the preeminent soccer voices in North Carolina and a longtime ally of Anson Dorrance.

Sometimes its nice to start the week off with some good news and we get some of that today as the 2024 Medicare Trustees Reports showed improvement, why is that good news and what does it mean for healthcare, we get all the details from CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger.

We are less than 90 days from Election Day and the race for the White House is in full-swing with both campaigns making their pitch to the voters including pitches in our state where both tickets have made their way and will continue to make appearances in the Old North State. With Chris Edwards now to talk about some of the key issues surrounding the campaign is Tommy Pigott, RNC Strategic Communications Director.

The 2024 Olympic Games officially wrapped up with the closing ceremony and the passing of the torch to Los Angeles which will host the next summer games in 2028. Throughout the 2024 Summer Games, students from UNC's Hussman School of Journalism were in Paris to find local connections to the Olympics. With Chris Edwards to put a bow on the games and their coverage is Ashley Humphrey.

A death at Chicago airport, a tragic Brazilian plane crash, and an Alaskan airlines pilot not being able to land. All these stories and more with Chris Edwards and Jay Ratliff.

We are less than 90 days from Election Day and the race for the White House is in full-swing with both campaigns making their pitch to the voters including pitches in our state where both tickets have made their way and will continue to make appearances in the Old North State. With Chris Edwards to talk about some of the key issues surrounding the campaign is Vincent Vezza.

Triangle resident and U.S. Coast Guard Chief Boatswain’s Mate Kyle Downs, who was inspired by his youngest brother Corey’s fight against cancer, will join 126 fellow Bristol Myers Squibb colleagues in September as part of a 3,000-mile relay from Cannon Beach, OR to Long Branch, NJ that raises funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Kyle is kind of enough to talk with Chris Edwards about his journey and is in studio now.

The 2024 Summer Games are entering the home stretch and the US has racked up a over 100 medals including numerous medals in the pool. With Chris Edwards to offer perspective on his Olympic experience as well as what he saw visiting Paris this year is Raleigh native and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist from the Atlanta Games, David Fox.

The Watergate scandal officially came to an end on this day 50 years ago as President Richard Nixon officially left office to avoid impeachment and conviction by the United State Senate. With Chris Edwards to offer perspective on Watergate is a man who had a front row seat to the proceedings, former North Carolina Secretary of State, Rufus Edministen.

We continue to talk about the ever changing Presidential race with now both tickets set and less than 90 days away from election day, we have entered the home stretch of the race. With Chris Edwards now to offer perspective is Wake County Representative Allison Dahl.

We continue to trek toward Election Day and there are a number of state-wide races that will be on the ballot this fall which will provided changes to several offices on the Council of State, one of those races that will be decided in less than 90 days is North Carolina Attorney General. With Chris Edwards now to talk about the race and their candidacy for the office is North Carolina 8th District Congressman, Dan Bishop.

Jeff Brooks Duke Energy Spokesperson

WPTF Tropical Storm Debby Coverage: Bryan Hanks, Public Information Officer Lenoir County gives updates on weather conditions in Lenoir County

Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe talks with Chris Edwards about how the Sheriff's office is aiding those in need during Tropical Strom Debby

Lynn Barbee the Mayor of Carolina Beach talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

State Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler talks with Chris Edwards about what what damage Tropical Storm Debby poses for farmers and members of the Agriculture community .

Steven Mann, Director of Communications for Wilson County talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

Bryan Hanks, Public Information Officer Lenoir County talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

State Senator Val Applewhite talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how she coping during Tropical Storm Debby, and what the state plans on doing to help recover from the damage.

Virginia Gray the Mayor of Wendell talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

Mike Medlin, the Public Information Officer of the Garner Police Department talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

Former Governor Pat McCrory talks with Chris Edwards about what he is experiencing outside of Charlotte, and how they are handling the storm. As well as some insight about how the state prepares for an event like this.

Kaleb Harmon, with the Town of Zebulon talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

Andy Moore, the Mayor of Smithfield talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

Nikki Wall, from the Town of Selma talks with Chris Edwards about what they are experiencing, and how they are coping during Tropical Storm Debby.

There are several notable items from the rapidly changing President Election. With around 90 days left until election day, both tickets have been set after Vice President Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. This comes just days after the July jobs report was release that showed a slow down in the economy. With Chris Edwards now to discuss all of this is economist and Trump Campaign surrogate, Monica Crowley.

Tropical Storm Debby continues it approach toward North Carolina and with it, the potential for heavy rain with flood warnings already issued for our area. Along with those rains, come winds and with the already saturated ground power outages could be a possibility. With Chris Edwards to discuss their preparations ahead of Debby is Townley Venters, Director of Communications for NC Electric Cooperatives.

Tropical Storm Debby will have major impacts across the state and one of the biggest impacts will be the the risk of flooding across the state. With Chris Edwards to give us some perspective on the insurance aspect of this storm is North Carolina Insurance Commissioner, Mike Causey.

Tropical Storm Debby will have impacts on our state in a number of ways including our farmers who have already faced a number of challenges this summer from extreme heat, a lengthy drought and now tons of rain including a potential record amount of rain. With Chris Edwards to talk about the impact of this storm as well as how to help handle some of the challenges a storm in general presents is Robeson County Representative Jarrod Lowery.

Tropical Storm Debby is making its way toward North Carolina and we should star to see impacts from the storm late tonight and all day Thursday. Many of our communities have already started their preparation for the storm and in our Talk of the Town Segment today we talk about what one of our municipalities is doing ahead of the arrival of Debby. With Chris Edwards, Bill Crabtree, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Town of Wake Forest.

Tropical Storm Debby continues it approach toward North Carolina and with it, the potential for heavy rain with flood warnings already issued for our area. Along with those rains, come winds and with the already saturated ground power outages could be a possibility. With Chris Edwards to discuss their preparations ahead of Debby is Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy Spokesperson.

Tropical Storm Debby continues to make its way up the east coast heading toward our area brining heavy rain and perhaps some wind. Chris Edwards speaks with from Nick Petro, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service, about the upcoming storm.

The Democratic National Convention is less than two weeks away and Vice President Harris has officially won her parties nomination for the Presidency securing enough delegates to win the nomination - that was announced in a press release just before midnight last night. With Chris Edwards to talk about all of this as well as the lead up to the convention is DNC Delegate Devin Freeman.

A group of UNC Students from the Hussman School of Journalism are in Paris reporting on the 33rd Summer Games and finding North Carolina connects to the games. Those games continue and with Chris Edwards to recap what we have seen so far and to preview what is coming up is one of those students from UNC, Ashley Humphrey.

The advertising for this political season is starting to get into full-swing, with ads on both sides of the Presidential race but closer to home several ads recently have gone back and forth in the race for Governor between Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. With Chris Edwards now to offer some perspective on these ads and the race is Michele Woodhouse, host of the Michele Woodhouse Show on WPTF.

Tropical Storm Debby makes its way up the east coast bringing wind and heavy rain that will impact our area in the coming days. But Debby has already left an impact across the southeast including the state of Florida and parts of South Carolina. With Chris Edwards to give us some perspective on what Debby has done to their area is Kristine Bellino co-host of Jacksonville's Morning News and a North Carolina News Network Contributor.

The July Jobs report is here and a lot of Americans are worried about the numbers. Thankfully, Chris Edwards and Jill Schlesinger go over all the information and what it means for the future of the economy on the WPTF Morning Show!

The Harris campaign will hold a virtual press conference later today to launch North Carolina Republicans for Harris. According to a press release from the Harris camp, this grassroots organizing coalition will continue to try and reach millions of Republican voters and energize those who feel marginalized by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. That release goes on to say that, Team Harris is looking to tell Republican voters, including the over 250,000 voters who voted for Nikki Haley in the primary, that they have a home in their campaign. With Chris Edwards is one of the members of North Carolina Republicans for Harris, Former State Supreme Court Justice, Bob Orr.

A number of key races on the ballot this November both from the national level where the Presidential Election is getting a lot of attention and changing rapidly to races in our state where several offices on the council of state will change leaders. Joining Chris Edwards now is Hal Weatherman who is the Republican nominee seeking the post of Lt. Governor in North Carolina.

Crowdstrike has some words for Delta, delays due to tropical storms, and more. Jay Ratliff and Chis Edwards bring you all you need to know about what's currently going on in aviation news.

Earlier this week, lawmakers in the General Assembly spoke with leaders with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association about the potential for Name, Image and Likeness for high school athletes. With Chris Edwards to discuss this as well as how sports betting is doing in our state and other topics is State Representative Jason Saine.

A new national poll finds that a majority of likely voters overwhelmingly support policies that regulate health insurance middlemen companies known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), requiring them to provide more value and help lower drug costs. This comes on the heels of the latest Congressional hearing about PBMs and a damaging report from the Federal Trade Commission. With Chris Edwards to discuss is Mark Blum, Executive Director of America's Agenda: Health Care for All.

A number of key races on the ballot this November both from the national level where the Presidential Election is getting a lot of attention and changing rapidly to races in our state where several offices on the council of state will change leaders. Joining Chris Edwards is North Carolina State Senator and Lt. Governor Candidate Rachel Hunt.

There are a number of items of note that have made news both on the national and local level from a political standpoint. With Chris Edwards to discuss some of these items, legislation that he has introduced as well as the race for State Attorney General is North Carolina 14th District Congressman, Jeff Jackson.

There are a lot of items making news around Jones Street from the short session of the General Assembly with several action items that have gotten a lot of attention. Chris Edwards gets some perspective now from State House Democratic Leader Robert Reives who joins us now.

Several North Carolina parents rallied on Wednesday calling on Republican legislators to fully fund scholarships for children to attend private and religious institutions. This comes after lawmakers were not able to work out an agreement earlier this year to meet the demand of the program. With Chris Edwards to talk more about this is one of the rally organizer's Rachel Lee Brady.

A group of UNC Students from the Hussman School of Journalism are in Paris reporting on the 33rd Summer Games and finding North Carolina connects to the games. Those games continue today and with Chris Edwards to recap what we have seen so far and to preview what is coming up is one of those students from UNC, Ashley Humphrey.

Farmer's in North Carolina have faced a challenging summer from extreme heat to a lengthy drought, last week heavy rain for several days and now, a potential tropic system that could impact our state in the coming days. With Chris Edwards to discuss all of this and more is Bob Etheridge.