RALEIGH, N. C. (AP) — When Sophie Sunday told her schoolmates she was taking off halfway through the school day, they couldn’t wait to find out why. “`I’m going to loop tobacco at the fair,’” the seventh grader told them. “And they’re, like, `What?’ They don’t have a clue. ”To be fair, most people don’t. At 12, Sophie was the youngest contestant in the North Carolina State Fair’s annual tobacco stringing contest, which pays homage to a way of life that was already her...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bill Clinton famously said he could feel voters’ pain over the economy. But these days, when it comes to questions about high prices, President Donald Trump insists that the pain is his. “They hit me with affordability, and that’s the first time I ever heard the word used,” he complained in Nebraska earlier this month. The White House leaves Vice President JD Vance to use a softer touch. Last month in Texas, he admitted “there are people out there who by...

NEW YORK (AP) — SpaceX reported a bigger quarterly profit than expected Tuesday as its satellite communications and artificial intelligence businesses boomed. The company, run by Elon Musk, posted a profit for the three months through September of $4. 4 billion, or 35 cents per share, reversing a year-ago loss and easily topping Wall Street's expectations. Revenue soared to $14. 6 billion, up 161%. On a conference call with analysts, Musk suggested a merger with his electric car company be a...