Milton intensifies ahead of landfall; Mega Millions tickets will climb to $5

Milton has strengthened into a major hurricane on a path toward Florida not even two weeks after Hurricane Helene swamped the state's coastline. Milton is expected to hit the densely populated Tampa metro area, which has about 3.3 million people. Traffic was thick on Interstate 75 heading north Monday as evacuees fled in advance of the Milton.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black registered voters have an overwhelmingly positive view of Vice President Kamala Harris. That's according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 7 in 10 Black voters have a somewhat or very favorable view of Harris, with few differences between Black men and women voters on how they view the Democratic candidate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to a Biden administration regulation on ghost guns, the difficult-to-trace weapons with an exponentially increased link to crime in recent years. Tuesday's case is centered on gun kits that are sold online and can be assembled into a functioning weapon in less than 30 minutes. 

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two pioneers of artificial intelligence have won the Nobel Prize in physics. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton were awarded the prize Tuesday for discoveries and inventions that formed the building blocks of machine learning. 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The cost of a Mega Millions lottery ticket will soon more than double, but officials said they’re confident players won’t mind paying more after changes that will lead to larger prizes and more frequent winners. Lottery officials announced Monday that it will cost $5 to play Mega Millions beginning in April. That is up from the current $2 per ticket. 

In other news:

• Harris calls Trump 'incredibly irresponsible' for spreading misinformation about Helene response.
• FEMA administrator continues pushback against false claims as Helene death toll hits 230.
• Hurricane Milton is the latest blow in a bizarre hurricane season.
• Home insurers argue for a 42% average rate hike in North Carolina.
• Trump says migrants who have committed murder have introduced 'a lot of bad genes in our country'.
• Intelligence officials say US adversaries are targeting congressional races with disinformation.
• Federal judge orders Google to open its Android app store to competition.
• President Biden has marked the Hamas attack's first anniversary with a solemn ceremony.
• US spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7.
• Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from singer R. Kelly, convicted of child sex crimes.
• Supreme Court lets stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban.
• Another top aide to New York City mayor resigns amid federal probe.
• Chicago mayor names new school board after entire panel resigns amid a fight over district control.
• Georgia Supreme Court halts ruling striking down state's near-ban on abortions as the state appeals.
• Michigan gun owner gets more than 3 years in prison for accidental death of grandson.
• American Water, the largest water utility in US, is targeted by a cyberattack.
• A spacecraft is on its way to a harmless asteroid slammed by NASA in a previous save-the-Earth test.
• Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother and a Grammy-winning singer, dies at 91.
• Road teams win in baseball's playoff games, Mahomes leads Chiefs to a victory, Jets' Rodgers has an ankle sprain, a win for college athletes, and an NFL player faces charges in Massachusetts.
• NCAA's $2.78 billion settlement with colleges to allow athlete payments gets preliminary approval.
• Middle East latest Israeli military says it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut strike.
• Five Russian climbers die in a fall on the world’s seventh-highest peak.
• A Pakistani separatist group claims bombing that killed 2 Chinese near Karachi airport.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Hot Off The Wire is a collection of news, sports and entertainment reports. The program is produced by Lee Enterprises with audio provided by The Associated Press.