Author: Gesi Lloyd

A True Value hardware store that served Franklin, Tennessee for more than five decades is preparing to close its doors on April 1, marking the end of a community institution that outlasted recessions, housing booms, and decades of shifting retail trends before finally running out of road. Harpeth True Value Home Center, an independently owned affiliate of the True Value cooperative, will shut down permanently after owner Mike Outlaw determined that neither a sale nor a path forward was possible. He spent months reaching out to potential buyers, exhausted every option available to him, and ultimately concluded that closing was…

Phoenix recorded a high of 106 degrees on March 21, breaking a record it had only just set the day before and stretching one of the most extreme early-season heat events in the city’s recorded history into its fourth consecutive day of unprecedented temperatures. The reading came from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, according to the National Weather Service. The overnight low that morning also broke records, dropping no lower than 70 degrees, which surpassed the previous warm-low mark of 67 degrees set in 2004 and marked the earliest 70-degree low Phoenix has ever recorded. A week of records in…

Spring break arrived this year with a complication that has nothing to do with the weather. Across the country, airport security lines are stretching past two hours at major hubs, checkpoints are closing for lack of staff, and the Transportation Security Administration officers still showing up are doing so without a paycheck. The partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security began February 14. TSA’s roughly 50,000 front-line officers are classified as essential workers, which means they are required to keep screening passengers whether or not Congress has funded their salaries. More than 400 have now decided that arrangement…

This was not a clean win. It was not a dominant win. For long stretches it was not even a good win in the making. But the Los Angeles Lakers walked out of Orlando on Saturday night with a 105-104 victory, a nine-game winning streak, and one of the more memorable finishes the NBA has produced this season. LeBron James played his 1,612th regular-season game, becoming the league’s all-time leader in appearances and surpassing Robert Parish’s mark that had stood since 1997. The Lakers improved to 46-25 and tightened their grip on third place in the Western Conference. And Luke…

Before Saint Louis played a single minute of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, its mascot jumped through a folding table at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The stunt was a deliberate nod to Bills Mafia, the famously passionate fan base of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, who have made table-jumping a signature pregame ritual. The video spread quickly across social media. Then the Billikens went out and made the moment feel earned. Saint Louis dismantled eighth-seeded Georgia 102-77 on Thursday, leading by as many as 40 points in a performance that set three program records for an NCAA Tournament game. The Billikens scored…

A wave of social media posts advertising so-called teen takeovers at Virginia shopping centers and an amusement park this spring break weekend sent law enforcement agencies scrambling and prompted at least one major venue to change its entry rules before opening day. Kings Dominion, which launched its 2026 season Today in Hanover County, enacted a temporary chaperone policy requiring all guests 17 and younger to be accompanied by a parent, guardian or chaperone who is at least 21. The policy runs through April 5 and applies every day the park is open. Kings Dominion tightens rules as opening day arrives…

Lizzo is back, and she brought company. The 37-year-old singer released her new single ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ on Friday along with a music video that is as emotionally layered as the song itself, marking the beginning of what she describes as a new musical chapter. The video, which she first previewed when she performed the song as a musical guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in April 2025, features Lizzo alongside an alter ego she calls Lizzy. One version of herself appears in the present day, blonde bob and all, while the other represents her past. The two share…

Iowa State had just set a program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game. The scoreboard read 108-74 over Tennessee State, the Cyclones were through to the second round, and the locker room should have felt like a celebration. Instead, the moment was defined by a walking boot and a pair of crutches. Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State’s second-leading scorer and one of the more complete forwards in the country, sprained his left ankle less than two minutes into the first-round game Friday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. He did not return. X-rays taken at the arena came back…

The Detroit Pistons are going back to the playoffs, and they got there the hard way. Without their best player and playing the second night of a back-to-back, Detroit dismantled a shorthanded Golden State Warriors team, 115-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night to become the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a postseason berth this season. It is the first time the Pistons have reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2009. The last time they achieved the feat, the NBA was a different league, and Detroit was a fading contender rather than a rising one. Duren carries…

Hawaii has not seen flooding like this in more than 20 years. Across Oahu, floodwaters have damaged homes, closed roads, shuttered schools and overwhelmed emergency services. Damage estimates have already surpassed $1 billion, and the figure is still climbing. With more rain in the forecast through the weekend, conditions on the island’s North Shore and surrounding communities remain dangerous and fluid. More than 230 people have been rescued since the flooding began. Search-and-rescue operations were still underway Friday night. Flooding forces evacuations across Oahu Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi confirmed that dozens of homes were damaged Friday, though a full damage…