#steve morehead

[boanerges20]

Ricky Graham /Bubba Shobert /Steve Morehead Photo:Bert Shepard // Du Quoin, Mile

[hbdttg]

Eddie, or something that used to be Eddie, wanders the Upside Down in the aftermath of it all.

He may not know where or who he is, but he knows he belongs. His heartbeat syncs with those of the screeching creatures that soar up above. The thrumming in his veins mirrors the pulsing of the vines that cover the ground at his feet. The hunger at his core is shared by the flower-faced beasts that roam the earth on all fours. He belongs, so he must be home.

Weeks after waking—or months, or years; time is unpredictable in this place, moving at whatever speed it so chooses, sometimes not moving at all—Eddie happens upon a gate. It's located on Morehead Street and small enough that he might have walked right past it if not for its peculiar orange glow.

Curious, Eddie digs his clawed fingers into its center, tearing through the viscous membrane until there's enough space for him to crawl through. He drags his scarred body through the tiny opening, dropping onto the other side with practiced grace. He finds himself atop what appears to be a crumbling staircase, overlooking a decrepit landscape that stretches on for miles.

Gone are the blue-gray skies, replaced with hazy red, roiling fog, and flashes of vibrant lightning. Gone is the air damp with rot, replaced with a sticky blanket of humidity and the scent of acrid smoke so thick he can taste it on his tongue.

Eddie descends the staircase, heedless of the wet squelch his shoe makes when he steps through a puddle of black, oily liquid at the bottom. Intrigued, he runs a pale hand lightly over a nearby tower of stalagmite. The place is littered with them, pointed spires made of knotted, dormant vines.

Eddie steps toward one of the larger spires, taking in the figure encased in its vines. It's a human girl, fair-haired and slight in stature, held upright against her tower by large, twisted tendrils. There's no life in her, just the stench of death and decay.

For a fleeting moment, Eddie thinks he might know her. But that's impossible. He knows only his brethren, knows only their chitters in the dark and their shrieks overhead.

He turns away from the girl, staunchly ignoring the deja vu that grips him as he walks away from her. It unsettles him, that niggling feeling he's missing something important here.

Without warning, a bell begins to toll, its ominous knell crashing through the air like thunder. The distant sound of footsteps reaches his ears next, accompanied by heavy, panting breaths and the occasional hissed curse.

Eddie conceals himself behind a partially standing wall, peering through its broken glass windows in search of his interloper. He spies a figure approaching, running through the fog in a zig zag pattern, as though trying to evade something. As the figure gets closer and Eddie can make out more of its features, he realizes it's a boy, carrying a bat embedded with nails and dressed in a brown leather jacket underneath a battered denim vest.

Denim vest?

Eddie doesn't have time to dwell on the vague sense of familiarity that flashes through him at the sight of this boy—of the vest—because the fog and miasma behind him slowly start to clear, revealing a large, gnarled creature walking calmly after him.

"Why do you run from me, Steven?" the creature says, its voice sinister and seductive, a long-stemmed rose laden with thorns. "You asked me to find you. You begged to be mine. Because you know, Steve, that only I can end your suffering."

The boy skids to a halt beside the body of the girl. He whirls around to face the creature, throwing an arm up to point at her remains. "End my suffering like you ended Chrissy's?"

Steve? Chrissy?

The creature laughs, an ugly, croaking sound that sends shivers up Eddie's spine. "She is beautiful now," it croons. "And you will be, too, once you join us."

And that confuses Eddie. Because despite his dirtied appearance, windswept hair, sweat-slicked face, and scarred neck, the boy before him is already beautiful.

"You want me?" the boy—Steve—spits as he brings both hands together, knuckles going white as he tightens them around the handle of his bat. He raises it between him and the creature, widening his stance and shifting his weight between his feet in anticipation of a fight. "Come and get me!"

As soon as the words leave his lips, the vines at his feet spring to life, shooting up and thrusting him back against a nearby spire. The force of it visibly knocks the breath out of Steve, but he was apparently expecting something like this, because he managed to bring one hand up to the level of his eye before he was fully immobilized, trapping his wrist in the hold one of the vines has against his neck.

"Poor, foolish Steve," the creature says, slowly approaching him. It huffs out a derisive laugh as it steps over the fallen nail bat, then reaches out a thrawn, leathery hand, hovering it over Steve's face, clawed fingers curling as if to grasp him, puncture him. "You cannot run from me."

Steve gasps and struggles against his binds, but goes still when something new resounds through the air—the sudden blare of an electric guitar, followed by a series of deep and distorted notes that Eddie can feel in his very bones.

Drums come crashing in, loud and unapologetic, and he revels in the sheer power of it all, letting the music wash over him and set his nerves alight.

"Try and stay very still," the creature murmurs, giving the noise no mind. "It will all be over soon."

Slowly, Steve's brows unfurrow and he actually smiles. "Yes, it will," he manages to choke out, the challenge in his voice apparent despite its compromised state, "but not in the way you think."

As if on cue, a voice rings out, rough and raspy and angry and perfect above the thunderous melody that fills the air. The words are familiar, seared in Eddie's mind like a memory. Without a doubt, he knows this song. If only he could remember how he knows it.

With the voice comes a gate, though it's unlike the one Eddie came in through. Its edges are wispy, like the fog itself cleared to make an opening, and he can see clearly through it to the other side.

The scene features three unconscious bodies. The first is Steve's, wearing a set of headphones and levitating several feet off the ground. The second is a young girl's, floating in a bathtub with a blindfold tied around her head. The third is a boy's, slumped over the side of the tub with his fingers intertwined with the girl's.

A gaggle of children are split between them, some kneeling by the tub and others standing below Steve, jumping and screaming up at him. Their faces are so familiar. Eddie wishes he could place them. But all he has to go on are the frantic pounding of his heart and the bone-deep feeling that these people, these strangers, are important.

There are older kids scattered about, too, one of which has her hands wrapped around Steve's ankle, yelling as she tries to keep him tethered. Her voice is muffled, but Eddie can make out her panicked, "That's enough, dingus, it's time to come back! They've got it from here!"

The song swells, powerful and ferocious, and Eddie feels the chords right in his very heartstrings. He looks down at his hands, watches some muscle memory react viscerally to the song's fury, watches his fingers start to curl as if itching to rest on a fretboard.

"This is for Eddie, you ugly son of a bitch!" Steve yells up at the creature. He manages to leverage a bit of space with his trapped hand, then—at the crest of an absolutely face-melting guitar solo—drops his head to take a huge, violent bite out of the vine wrapped around his neck.

Several things happen at once:

1) The creature—Vecna—rears back, affected enough by Steve's display of unhinged ferality that the vines loosen their grip on him. Steve bursts out of Vecna's hold and starts sprinting toward the gate.

2) Two figures materialize behind Vecna: the girl and the boy from the other side. He must be Will the Wise, in all his bowl-cut glory. And she must be Supergirl, if the way she blasts Vecna straight through a nearby wall is any indication.

3) Eddie fucking remembers.

He remembers Hawkins and the Upside Down. He remembers Vecna, and Chrissy, and nearly every single face on the other side of the gate.

He remembers Dustin sobbing over his dying body; he remembers Max offering up herself up as bait; he remembers Lucas turning on the basketball team to help his true friends; he remembers Erica thrusting a belt made of literal bullets into his hands; he remembers Nancy wielding a felonious shotgun into battle; he remembers Robin's knowing expression at hunt the freak. He remembers Mike Wheeler, and Jonathan Byers, and—well, not the long-haired guy next to Jonathan, but that's probably fine.

And of course, he remembers the boy who'd stripped off his yellow sweater and thrown it in Eddie's slack-jawed face, who'd worn Eddie's battle vest over his still-bleeding battle wounds, who'd walked side-by-side with Eddie in a forest full of danger and decay, who'd blushed so prettily when Eddie called him big boy, who'd held Eddie's gaze and warned him not to play hero.

Eddie remembers Steve.

Later, once they both tumble through the gate and end up on the ground in a pile of limbs, Eddie will groan low in his throat and try to untangle himself from Steve's heavy body. Steve, terrified that he might have brought something dangerous back with him, will twist on top of Eddie and nearly slam his head down into the tiled floor, stopping himself only once he realizes exactly who he has pinned under him.

Later, once the party finally stops screaming in response to Eddie's sudden appearance—to his literal resurrection—Steve will drag him into his chest and clutch desperately at his back, rocking their bodies back and forth in near-catatonic shock. Eddie will clutch him back just as tightly, drenching his shirt with hot, wet tears.

Later, after Vecna is reduced to mere dust and Eddie struggles to heal from his months of being trapped alone in an alternate dimension, he'll dial Steve's phone number in the dead of night just to hear another person's voice. Steve will talk about nothing and everything, hanging up only when he can hear Eddie's breaths slow and finally even out through the line.

Later, Steve will admit he purchased Metallica's record shortly after Eddie's supposed death, wanting to hear the song he played in the Upside Down, the legendary song he used to brand himself as bait before running off to protect Dustin and buy the rest of the party more time. Eddie will hide the pleased little thrill that rushes through him at Steve's admission by throwing an arm around him and insisting they'll make a metalhead of him yet.

Later, Eddie will bring the subject up again, curious to know how the song became Steve's Vecna song. Surely he had other options that he'd cherished for far longer than the several months he'd known Master of Puppets. Steve will quietly confess that the song made him think of Eddie, of a fiery, vibrant life snuffed out too soon. And though Steve made the mistake of not turning from the Creel house and running back to Eddie that night in the Upside Down, he knew if he'd ever have to fight for his life trapped in a Vecna mind prison, he'd do it right. He wouldn't for one second hesitate to run toward the song—to run toward Eddie.

Later, Steve will gently cup Eddie's cheek and press in, close enough that they both have to go slightly cross-eyed to keep eye contact, that they feel each other's nervous, shallow breaths in the space between them. Eddie will grapple with the slew of feelings swirling messily in his ribcage before his stubborn resolve wins out and he presses his lips against Steve's in a long overdue kiss.

Later, Steve and Eddie will fall in love. But now?

Now, Steve runs.

And Eddie, or the something that never truly stopped being Eddie, follows.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Stuck Between a Jock and a Metalhead

Summary: Nancy, on a whim, decides to visit Steve at Scoops Ahoy, which leads to her overhearing confessions from Steve that leads her to think about the decisions she's made. A few days later, she decides to come back. She finds him being hit on by the town freak. What's a girl to do? Oh, get stuck in a freezer with the both of them.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Chapter Twelve - Chapter Thirteen - Chapter Fourteen - Chapter Fifteen - Chapter Sixteen - Chapter Seventeen - Chapter Eighteen - Chapter Nineteen - Chapter Twenty - Chapter Twenty-One - Chapter Twenty-Two - Chapter Twenty-Three

@nightmareglitter

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nancy sat in the living room of her house, everyone pale as Max told them what happened. Max was being held tight by her mother but this time, Max was holding her back just as tightly. Agent Stinson was back at the house now, recounting what happened with Victor Creel but not before Eddie and Dustin had interjected with their own names for whatever was haunting them. Apparently, they had some time on their hands. Vecna, the dark wizard from Eddie's campaign, with untold powers, was cursing these people. . .was cursing them. Agent Stinson had silenced them with a look before talking again.

"Yes, Victor Creel's family was Vecna's first victims in 1959. Victor believed that his home was haunted, possessed, and even called an exorcist. Later, when his family's bodies were crushed as well as their eyes, he believed it to be the work of a demon. After inheriting some money, the Creels moved to Hawkins to start their new life, and they had one month of peace, and then it all went to hell. Dead animals, tortured, were left near their home. They all began to hallucinate. Victor had said that the demon seemed to take pleasure in tormenting them, and Victor soon began to have hallucinations of his own. He seemed to be able to sense that the demon was close and believed he was hiding in their house, that it cursed everyone in Hawkins. It took Victor's wife, Virginia, first. He tried to get the children out, and then he started to hallucinate. He was back in the war and being taunted by the demon. He was pulled out of the hallucination by the music that was playing on the radio, only to discover that his children had been taken by the demon. Henry had slipped into a coma, and a week later, he died," Agent Stinson finished.

"Jesus," Ted said.

"What does this mean?" Karen asked. "For Max."

"Keep her Walkman on her at all times, keep it playing, and you keep that asshole out of your head," Nancy told Max.

"Okay, well, she can't keep this up forever," Sue said.

"We need to find this guy and kill it," Nancy said.

"Well, we still don't know where he is or why he's waited so long to do this and why he's doing it now. Hell, we don't even know why he is doing all of this," Steve said.

"Excellent point, Stevie," Eddie said.

"Okay, where is the Creel House? Maybe we can search for clues there," Nancy said.

"According to his file, it's located on Morehead Street," Agent Stinson replied.

"Maybe Vecna's still hiding in the house," Nancy said. "So, let's check it out."

"You guys are staying here," Lily said. "We'll check it out."

"I don't work for you anymore," Nancy replied. "So, you can't bench me. We're all in this together, and I'm going to help out whether you like it or not."

"I can't really argue with you, can I?" Lily sighed. "Fine, take Stinson."

"I'm going with you," Robin and Steve said before looking at each other. "Jinx!"

"Robin!" Nora exclaimed.

"Mother!" Robin exclaimed.

"Robin!" Robert scolded has daughter.

"Eddie!" Eddie burst out, causing them to look at him. "I'm sorry, I thought we were doing something here."

"Sorry, mombie, but I have to go. What if Steve trips on like grass or something, which I'm sure is all that's going to happen? You know how he is with the concussions," Robin said.

"He does get those a lot," Nora said and frowned. "I suppose some people do have to stay here. Although, I wish it were you two. I wish none of us were going. Hell, I wish none of this was happening!"

"Mombie! We got this," Steve said and flashed her his most charming smile.

"Oh, my babies!" Nora exclaimed as she hugged them tightly. "I know it's not possible, but sometimes it seems like I pushed you out together myself and at the same time with the way you two act. Look after each other."

"I'm going with you too," Dustin said.

"And I don't think my mom is going to let me go anywhere," Max chuckled.

"I'll stay here," Lucas said.

Suddenly, Holly came into the room with Mayhem and Tews following after. She quickly jumped into Eddie's lap while the cats did the same.

"Well, I guess I'm staying here too. Sorry, my loves," Eddie said.

"Mayhem says you're not allowed to leave," Holly said.

"Is that so?" Eddie asked in amusement.

"She said so, Teddy!" Holly exclaimed.

Karen stood up, her head held high as she gazed at her daughter. Nancy's eyes widened.

"I'm going with you too," Karen said.

"Mom!" Nancy said.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You need a parent with you all if you're going. It's time you kids stop going through this by yourselves," Karen said. "I know you're all more than capable of doing this by yourself, but that doesn't mean you should."

"Like mother, like daughter," Eddie said and Ted snorted.

"Isn't that the truth," Ted said. "I couldn't stop you two even I wanted to which I don't. Our daughter is going to do this whether we like it or not. She's going to follow through, and you're going to follow her. Please come back in one piece. Like Mike, I like to keep the complete set and in pristine condition. Shit, he's not here to hear that."

Karen squeezed her husband's arm gently. Nancy guessed over the years that she learned when to tell when her husband was worried. Karen surprised them all by kissing Ted in front of everyone and then kissed his broken nose. Nancy wondered if, after 20 years , could someone finally fall in love with their spouse? She noticed now that there was a definite twinkle in her mother's eyes whenever she looked at Ted.

"We'll be fine, Ted. You worry too much," Karen grinned, and Ted actually laughed.

Nancy was surprised. She had never seen this sort of interaction from her parents before. Mike will never believe it until he sees it. She grinned and gave Eddie a kiss before moving aside to let Steve do the same. Eddie grinned at Steve and then down at the yellow sweater that he had slipped on last night. Steve rolled his eyes and pulled it off, revealing a blue polo underneath. He handed the sweater over, and Eddie quickly slipped it on, purring happily.

"You're so cute," Steve said fondly.

Karen disappeared up the stairs and came back down with a gun. It was a 45. Nancy looked at her mother in surprise.

"What? You're not the only Wheeler who can hide guns in her bedroom," Karen said.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" Nancy asked.

"I didn't learn from anyone. I taught myself," Karen replied.

"Hey, Nance," Eddie grinned. "What did you get from Ted? . . . No, offense, Mr. Wheeler."

"None taken, son, you're only telling the truth," Ted replied, and he smiled at Karen.

Jesus, they must have found some time to have a serious discussion because there was more life in her parents' relationship than she had ever seen before. They went outside and decided to take Nancy's car. Nancy stepped back and frowned. Didn't she leave her car at the apartment?

"Oh, Ted drove it back when Steve went to pick up Mayhem while you were and Eddie were busy," Karen smirked. "We need more vehicles, just in case."

"Mom!" Nancy exclaimed. "Okay, I really wish you were getting onto me instead because I don't like this. What's gotten into you?"

Karen smiled as she slid into the driver's seat. Nancy slid in next to her while the others slid into the back. Steve waved the shotgun and the bat he pulled from his car. Nancy grinned as she glanced at him from the rear view mirror.

"I know it's going to sound sappy, but I think of this is making me realize what's truly important," she said. "And I realize now that the one who's been holding me back wasn't Ted. . .it was me. If I want to change anything about my life, it has to be me who puts that step forward, and I know Ted isn't going to stop me. I never thought to ask for what I wanted because I didn't really know. For the longest time, I thought it wasn't Ted, I always doubted myself because I thought I only married him because everyone was telling me not to. I realized that the one other person who was telling me not to love him was me. It only took me 20 years, but when I imagined him dying like those kids, I realized I really loved him. I also realized I was making myself and Ted unhappy because of my own shortcomings."

"Oh, mom, that's great. I'm really happy for you and dad," Nancy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You know, it made your dad realize some things too. Like he spent his whole life fighting other people, and he fought in the war too that after a while, he kind of stopped trying to do, well, anything. He didn't realize he's kind of been slacking at home, too. He says he wants to try more and work on this relationship, too. I told him he's done so much for this family, and he works so hard, but he still thinks he can do more. In fact, he's asked me . . .," Karen said, biting her lip.

"What?" Nancy asked.

"He wants to do a vow renewal," she said. "You know, after this."

"That's great, Karen!" Steve interjected, his eyes lighting up.

"I think Steve wants to plan it, Mrs. Wheeler," Dustin said.

"Shut up, man," Steve hissed.

"I was planning on asking you, anyway," Karen said in amusement.

"Yes!" Steve exclaimed.

"Low key, though, nothing fancy. Casual with a few family and friends," Karen said, and Steve saluted.

Nancy smiled at her mom. She realized that for the first time, she was seeing her mom really happy. Her hair wasn't up in a perfect updo. It was actually in a messy ponytail, and she wasn't wearing any makeup. Still, her clothes were bright, but they were also casual, perfect to run in. Maybe it was the fact that Karen had been trying so hard to be picture-perfect to the world that had made her miss out on so many wonderful things. There were bigger things to worry about now, and Karen didn't need to worry about those things anymore. At least, they're not the most important things to worry about anymore. Nancy and the others jumped when someone tapped on the glass. She turned around to find Lucas peering into the window, and she rolled it down.

"Oh, good, you're still here. Max said to tell you that she saw in Vecna's mind a stained glass window with a rose on it. Maybe look for that when you try to find the house," Lucas said and then handed her a bag. "Flashlights."

"That's helpful, thank you," Nancy said and waved at him.

"Good luck," Lucas said.

"You too," Nancy said.

Karen pulled out of the drive and started heading towards Morehead Street with the help of Agent Stinson's directions. As they road down Morehead, they found the house almost immediately. Not only did it look abandoned for years, but it also gave off some creepy energy, almost as if it were announcing that something bad happened here. Nancy shuddered at the sight of it as the sun sank down behind it. Shit, it was almost nighttime again. Has it really been almost two days since Chrissy Cunningham died? It certainly felt longer. She grabbed her shotgun and her flashlight as they moved toward the house. As they moved, the memory of Hopper presenting her with the shotgun popped into her head, of Hopper telling her to keep it from her parents and laughing at his guilty look that this had to be necessary. God, she missed him.

Steve stood at her side, his own bat raised as he looked at her. It almost seemed as if he knew what she was thinking. It seemed like that a lot, actually. She was glad that he was here but at the same time she wished he was safe. She was glad Eddie was back at her parents' house. She wished they were all safe, but it didn't really matter where anyone was. No one was safe. Wasn't that the illusion? No one is ever really safe. She calmed her swirling mind and moved forward. The six of them walked up the porch steps of the run-down Victorian house. The front door was all boarded up, but luckily, there was a hammer lying around. Nancy and Steve pulled the board away, revealing the stained glass window. Yeah, this was the house.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all," Steve said as they walked in, and he stood staring at the clock in the hallway.

"It's just like the clock from Max's hallucinations," Nancy muttered.

"Jeeze, he's obsessed with clocks. Is he some sort of clockmaker?" Steve asked.

"I think you cracked the case, Steve," Dustin said sarcastically.

"It's not totally far off, Dustin," Nancy grinned.

"Really?"

"You can believe in another dimension, but you can't believe that this guy is a clockmaker?" Nancy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shit, you may have a point," Dustin said.

"She may have a point? She does have a point," Robin said.

"I love it when you come to my rescue," Steve whispered in Nancy's ear. "It's so sexy."

Nancy giggled and kissed him quickly before moving to look around some more with Robin.

"They just left everything here," Nancy said.

"Including the mice!" Robin screeched as she wrapped her arms around Nancy as one ran in front of her. "Where's Mayhem when you need her?"

"Oh, Mayhem is useless with catching mice," Nancy said in amusement. "She always tries to befriend them."

"And then Eddie tries to keep them," Steve rolled his eyes.

"Your cat is failing at her job, Steve," Robin said.

"Maybe we should dock her pay," he said sarcastically and Nancy giggled.

"Roaches and spiders are the things she's good at catching. She hates them," Nancy said.

"What are we looking for here?" Karen asked Nancy.

"Any sign that this asshole is hiding here," Nancy said.

"And if he's hiding in that place that you mentioned?" Karen asked. "The Upside Down?"

"Well, then we find a way to lure him out and kill the son of a bitch," Nancy said.

"How are we going to do that without El?" She asked.

"I'm hoping that maybe we can buy El some time until she gets her powers back and comes back home," Nancy said. "I still haven't quite figured out how to do that."

"We'll figure it out together," Karen said.

"We should split up," Nancy said. "Cover more ground."

"But remain in screaming distance," Robin said. "Come on, Karen."

"I guess I'm with you," Dustin said with a grin to Agent Stinson, and she just blinked at him. "You don't say much, do you? It's okay, I'll talk enough for the both of us."

To Nancy's amusement, Agent Stinson rolled her eyes up to the ceiling before following the young boy. They left Nancy and Steve downstairs. Nancy leaned her shotgun against the wall and wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck before pulling him into a deep kiss. He kissed her back, smiling into it, as he used one arm to support her. Nancy pulled back with a smile.

"For good luck," she replied.

"We're definitely going to need it," Steve said and looked at her with soft eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Nancy picked up her shotgun, and they began moving upstairs. They remained in the same hallway, but both checked two different rooms. Nancy was moving out of one room when Steve came stumbling out of the other room, trying to brush something off of him. Nancy steadied him by placing a hand on the small of his back.

"Yeah, don't go in there," Steve said, his face ashen. "Black widows."

He was still trying to get them off, brushing the back of his neck and his head.

"Hold still," Nancy said as she tried to pull the cobwebs out of his hair.

"You're won't find the spider eggs nesting in all that hair until they hatch, and all the babies start spilling out," Robin cackled evily as she entered the hallway.

"Robin!" Karen exclaimed.

"Seriously, Robin, what is wrong with you?" Steve asked, and Robin laughed again.

Nancy glared playfully at Robin and pinched her neck.

"You know he's scared of spiders," Nancy said.

"Ow!"

"I'm not scared of them per se, I just respect them too much to not go anywhere near them," Steve scoffed, and Nancy rolled her eyes.

They continued on with the search, and the lights from their flashlights eventually led them to the attic. It made Nancy think of Joyce with the Christmas lights and how she had communicated with Will when he was the Upside Down.

"He's here," Nancy said. "And he's there."

They stood in the middle of the attic and watched as their flashlights grew brighter until finally they exploded. Suddenly, Nancy was falling into darkness. She was falling and falling until she fell all the way into Steve's empty vine covered pool.

"You know, I usually remember all the people that I kill," a deep dark voice spoke to her in the darkness of the Upside Down. "You, Nancy Wheeler, seem to have forgotten."

There was a figure leaning against the wall. Nancy moved closer, only to find Barb lying dead at the bottom of the pool. Vines were spilling out of her open mouth. She stumbled back in shock, sick to her stomach.

"Barb," she gasped, and tears prickled beneath her eyelids before letting them burst open in anger. "Her death wasn't our fault!"

"Is that you tell yourself to make it feel better?" Vecna asked.

"How were we supposed to know what was out there in the dark?!" Nancy exclaimed.

She struggled to remember what her favorite song was, but there were so many of them that she liked. It was hard to choose.

"Oh, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. . .Excuses!" Vecna snapped.

"What do you want from me?!" Nancy screamed.

"Patience. . . We have so much in common, Nancy. . . I truly do not care who I hurt to get what I want. People, they're nothing but ants to us, right?" Vecna asked.

Nancy looked for a way out and found the ladder. She jumped up and tried to climb out, but a vine wrapped around her waist. Suddenly, she was standing in front of the open gate in the Hawkins' lab.

"You wanted justice, but what you really wanted was vengeance. You wanted them to suffer the way you that you were. The one thing that's different about us. Guilt. . .it's such a trivial emotion. Why let that stand in the way of greatness? You almost set me free. . . Oh, Hawkins would have been mine, and if El hadn't come home then. . .what would have happened? Your mother, your sister. . .your brother. . .oh, I would have enjoyed toying with them. . .Together, you and I could be great together. You didn't even have any powers, but somehow, with pure determination, you brought the lab to their knees. Join me, and I can give you power," Vecna said. "You can stand beside Eddie when the time comes. You two will be my greatest creations."

"And Steve?" Nancy asked, her jaw clenched.

"Oh, I have plans for Steve. Don't you worry about that," Vecna said.

Suddenly, she could see it now, Eddie was straddling Steve’s waist in the Upside Down. Eddie's eyes were red, and wings sprung forth from his back. Blood dripped from his fangs. His clawed hands gripped Steve’s head, and with one quick motion, he snapped Steve’s neck. Nancy screamed. Eddie stood up, another version of Nancy was by his side, her own eyes red. The real Nancy turned and ran.

"Steve is nothing but a man, and much like Papa, he too sought greatness in others, but he is nothing. . . Nothing compared to you and Eddie," Vecna said. "Though, I suppose I wouldn't have known about Eddie if it weren't for you. If it weren't for your change of heart. In a way, the only good thing that Steve Harrington did was lead me to both of you. . .if Eddie Munson hadn't inadvertently called out to his own sister, I wouldn't have known about him. He didn't even know what he was doing."

Suddenly, she was standing in the freezer again, and it felt strange to be back here after so many months. It was even stranger to be looking down on her, Steve, and Eddie.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to leave Wayne all alone," Eddie whispered softly. "I'm sorry."

Nancy felt like someone was squeezing her heart, and she reached out to touch Eddie. She wanted to tell him it was okay. Her fingers brushed his cheek, and the image of them evaporated. She turned around to find a slimy, vine covered monster standing in the doorway. He walked closer to her, reaching out with his long clawed hand.

"Join me, Nancy," Vecna said. "There's so many things that you still need to know before we get started. There's something that you need to tell El."

His clawed hand was reaching for her, and there was nowhere to run to. Suddenly, Steve’s voice came through crystal clear. He was singing, and there was panic in his voice. He was crying too.

"I hear the drums echoing tonight, but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation. She's coming in at 12:30 flight. The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation."

Nancy smiled. Africa by Toto. Of course. He remembered. A doorway opened up behind her, and she glanced at it for a moment before turning back to Vecna. He already knew what she was thinking.

"You will be back to hear the message. It's in your nature," Vecna said. "So curious. Just like me."

For a moment, an image appeared in her mind. Four gates opening up and spreading throughout Hawkins, dividing the town. Four chimes rang put like Max's hallucinations. Four gates. Four chimes. Four victims. Nancy gasped and then glared at him.

"Go to hell," she said, flipping him off as she fell backward into the open doorway.

She let Steve’s voice guide her home. Suddenly, she was in the arms of her sobbing mother and boyfriend. Nancy burst into tears as she held onto Steve.

"Steve," she gasped.

"I'm here, baby, I'm right here," Steve said.

Then she screamed.

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you

There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do

I bless the rains down in Africa

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

Chapter Twenty-Five

[is-emily-real]

Bonfire.

Written for Lex’s Spring Spicy Six Fanworks Challenge @thefreakandthehair Thank you so much for the prompt!

He drove home in a daze. He made a beeline for the telephone, unaware of the numbers he entered until he heard her voice. “Hello?”

“Nance, um, hi.” Of all the people his brain could call on instinct, why did it have to be Nancy? “It’s Steve.”

“You don’t sound good. Is everything okay?”

“Listen, I, uh… I just came from the city council meeting.”

“What happened?”

He took in a sharp breath. “They’re not going to demolish the Creel house.”

She sighed. “I expected as much. No one’s living on Morehead anymore. It’s not a priority.”

“Some kids are going to be messing around in there and the place’s gonna collapse!” His heart pounded. 

“Unless we do something about it, it’s going to have to sit for a bit longer. Just… Take a breath, okay? I’m sure it’ll all be fine.”

“Yeah, I’m just being stupid. Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Steve.”

He hung the phone back on the hook and slid down the wall. Fuck. He wanted it to be over. He wanted all traces of the Upside Down destroyed, all of his scars washed away, all of the kids’ hurt disintegrated. He wanted Max and Eddie to live normal lives.

But that wouldn’t happen. 

Unless we do something about it. Nancy’s words floated across his head, consuming him until they practically ran through his veins. If the city wouldn’t do anything, he would. He had to. That was his specialty, wasn’t it? He’d take the lead and make the city do something about it.

Almost without thought, Steve jumped to his feet and ran to the garage. He threw a gas can and a few bottles of kerosene in the trunk of his car. Next, he rifled through the kitchen, finding a book of matches and some old rags. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, just for luck, and sped off.

He turned into the trailer park before he realized, coming to a stop in front of Eddie’s door. As he approached, he heard laughter. 

Steve yanked the door open to a scream. “Jesus, man, can’t you knock?” Eddie asked, setting a joint on the ashtray. He sat with Argyle, the latter wrapped in Jonathan’s jacket and blinking slowly at him. An easy grin disappeared from his lips.

“I need help.”

“With what?”

“I’m gonna burn the Creel house down.”

Eddie scoffed before looking him up and down. Something clicked. “You’re serious.”

Argyle shook his head. “No way, brochacho. I don’t want nothing to do with that. I’ll just hang here until Jon gets back.”

He shrugged and locked eyes with Eddie. “You can help me, or I’ll do it myself.”

He dragged a hand through his curls, huffing. “I just got cleared from a murder accusation. Like just got cleared.”

“So what’s arson?”

“What’s arson?!” Steve would have laughed at his outrage, but he knew he wouldn’t convince him unless he played it straight. “I don’t know, Steve, just setting a fucking house on fire!” Eddie began to pace. “I came this close to jail time, and now you want me to be an accomplice to arson? For the love of God, why?!”

“Because the city’s just gonna leave it standing, and I can’t let it torment Max and Lucas anymore.” Or me.

Eddie groaned. “You had to bring the kids into this.” He paused, turning it over in his head before letting out an exaggerated groan. “Son of a bitch. Fine.”

Steve grinned for the first time all night. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

——

Steve stayed quiet the whole drive, letting Eddie ramble. “Broke into a house, stole a camper, dealt.” He counted on his fingers. “Can’t forget paraphernalia and possession with intent to distribute. Those are very important to the courts... Are you okay?”

“What?”

“You’ve got a look on your face.”

“A look?”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “What are you, a parrot? Yes, a look. You haven’t made that face since the Upside Down.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Stevie.” It was almost a song, the way his nickname rolled off Eddie’s tongue. “I know you better than that. Something’s bothering you, and it’s not the kids, ‘cause you don’t have the ‘exasperated dad’ air about you.”

The grooves of the steering wheel dug into his hands as he swerved around the road closure sign and came to a stop. The words came out a little sharper than he intended. “I promise I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Alright,” Eddie sighed, shaking his head. They grabbed the gear from the trunk, portioning it out and splitting up. Steve walked carefully over the boards bridging the crack in the earth and worked his way up to the house. He pushed his way through a broken window, careful not to get caught on the glass. 

Eddie stepped through the empty door. Steve caught his eyes. “Be careful.”

Eddie gave him a mock salute. “Sir, yes sir.”

He turned, opening the kerosene. The pungent aroma flooded his nose as he began to pour it along the length of the floor. The remnants of the hardwood creaked beneath his feet, and he stalked slowly along the length of the house, wary of any weak spots in the floor.

From the sound of it, Eddie was a little more haphazard in dumping the gas on the remains of the house. That felt more like the man that saved Dustin in the Upside Down than who he saw come out of the hospital, the one that leaned in with a keen observation and sarcastic comment. He was a drama queen, sure, but Steve enjoyed the theatrics. In the calm of the Rightside Up, as Joyce had called it, it never failed to bring a smile to his face.

And if he was avoiding the way something in his chest twinged whenever Eddie smirked in his general direction, well, that was his business.

They regrouped at the door. “You ready?” he asked. 

Eddie gulped and nodded.

He struck the matches, orange light dancing across his hands for just a moment before he gently tossed them inside. When the gas began to catch, they turned tail and ran for what remained of the park across the street. 

Flames began to lick up the side of the building. They watched in silence as the dark smoke billowed into the twilight. Steve flinched at the snapping and popping of the boards, too reminiscent of Nancy’s gunshots echoing around the attic. 

His stomach twisted, breaths coming short and heavy now. He could almost feel the weight coming off his shoulders, his fears drifting away with the smoke. Max didn’t ever have to face this place. 

A little while longer and it would be gone, just a charred shell and haunting memories, locked only in their heads. It had done its damage. It wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

It couldn’t. Not anymore.

Eddie’s voice cut through his thoughts. “That’s a big fucking bonfire. We should have brought marshmallows.”

Steve’s laughter turned into sobs.

He let the tears stream down his face, years of stress bubbling to the surface all at once. Would it actually be over? Would any of them ever actually be safe?

Warm arms wrapped around him. “Stevie.” He felt his name rumble in Eddie’s chest. “Shh. You’re okay. We’re okay. You’re so strong. You are the bravest person I’ve ever known.” His voice wavered. “We’re gonna get over this, baby, I’m absolutely sure of it.”

Steve pulled back with a sniff and a giggle, hands still curled in Eddie’s shirt. A rough hand cupped his cheek, and he leaned into the touch. 

Eddie’s eyes were soft in the orange light. “Eds, I…” There was so much buzzing around his brain, so much he was certain he’d never be able to put into words, so much that scared the shit out of him and thrilled him at the same time. His heart pounded. It was time to take a chance. 

His eyes fluttered closed as he pressed their lips together. It was lightning in his veins, fizzling all over his skin as Eddie pulled him closer. They moved together, almost as one for a long, joyous moment until the rush went to his head. 

He broke the kiss, resting his forehead on Eddie’s. “It is an alright bonfire.”

The laugh that rang out was all Steve would ever need.

[visualimagemarketing]

Robert Eskridge - Takes from Steve Baker on Vimeo.

Country singer / songwriter Robert Eskridge was born on November 10, 1968, in Wilmington, Delaware. As a kid he bounced back and forth between Delaware, and Eastern Kentucky, where he graduated from Morehead State University. Eskridge started playing in the local bars and honky-tonks at the age of 16, and throughout college in various bands in the Lexington, Ky area. Key early highlights in Nashville, he took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry, had a Saturday night performance at the world-famous Ernest Tubb Record Shop, as well as the old Stock Yard and Bull Pen Lounge – where he played frequently with the George Jones Band.

As music was just starting to take off, the start of a young family re-prioritized his music career, but he still played locally with his band Southern Daze in the tri-state area. Recent Times: With two full albums released, Eskridge and Southern Daze has had good success as an Independent Country Artist:

• Buck Wild and Whiskey Crazy was an Indie World Country #1 and New Music Weekly Top 10 • Simple Things, the title track, was an Indie World Country #1, EACM #1 and New Music Weekly Top 5 • You’re My Destiny hit #1 in Canada and EACM #1 and peaked at #16 New Music Weekly Main #9 New Music Weekly Digital. • I Can’t Win for Losing You – hit #1 on the New Music Weekly charts in Nashville and held on for two weeks! #5 in Europe • Glasses UP was a Top 10 New Music Weekly, #1 in EACM (Europe) • My Girl Kicks it Country - hit the Music Row Charts as well as #1 in EACM • TAKES released to country radio on 3/20/2023

Key Nominations / Awards: - ACMA New Male Artist of the Year 2020 - New Music Weekly New Male Artist of the Year nominee 2021 - Josie Music Awards Nominee: Song, Entertainer and Male artist of the Year 2021 - 92.9 Nash FM Ky Proud Headliner - Josie Music Awards Nominee: Band / Group of the year, Entertainer and Male artist of the Year 2022 - CMA Fest artist - 2022

Southern Daze is known for their southern rock style, guitars and harmonies. With seasoned musicians that have the same passion and drive for music & entertaining, they enjoy putting on shows for their fans. The band consists of • Robert Eskridge - Nicholasville, Ky • Sam Pollock – Georgetown, Ky • Kevin Rawlings – Lexington, Ky • Kerry Elliott – Paris, Ky

People love the energy of the band and their wide range of music and the originals. Personal Life Outside of his professional and music career, Eskridge has several interests including cars, traveling, the great outdoors and skiing. He and his wife Juli have four children, Jessi Eskridge, Jerad Eskridge, Malina Gaworski and Iza Gaworski.

Website: roberteskridgecountry.com Facebook: facebook.com/roberteskridgecountry Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/7g3ILKyEHm55JyBGKrJAB6 Instagram: instagram.com/roberteskridgecountry/

Label: Bucket List Records TRT: 3:30 ISRC: TCAFP2184844 Song IPI#

Songwriters: Rob Harris / David Rivers / Todd Taylor Songwriters’ IPI#:

Publisher: Tunecore

[sugarmandotorg]

Steve Louw One-Hour Feature on WMKY (Morehead State Public Radio), 17th February 2023

WMKY (Morehead State Public Radio) will be doing a 1 hour Steve Louw feature, playing 7 tracks from the new album, Thunder And Rain and tracks from the previous album, Headlight Dreams, with commentary from Steve's bio. 

WMKY (Morehead State Public Radio) will be doing a 1 hour Steve Louw feature, playing 7 tracks from the new album, Thunder And Rain and tracks from the previous album, Headlight Dreams, with commentary from Steve’s bio.   The shows will air February 17th at 8pm Eastern and then again on February 18th at 3pm Eastern.   The station is streaming at wmky.org.  WMKY is based in Morehead KY and covers…

[squatchdetective]

Sasquatch: One man’s Opinion

I recently read an older (circa 2016) article by UK Paleontologist, Dr. Darren Naish that was a short piece that widely covered the topic in the Scientific American website.

Dr. Darren Naish, Paleontologist

I love to do point counter point on his article. Of course I am not a scientist, nor do I claim to be. I am an Investigator by trade. Now how all that moshes into the Bigfoot mystery sums up as this.

As an investigator (not a scientist) my job is to gather evidence forensically to prove to the scientist either it is worth taking a reexamination of the topic or to prove it is existence.

My job is not necessarily the scientific method of hypothesis, experiment, result and repeat to see if we get the same result. That is rather a difficult task since like us and other animals, behavior is dynamic and can be different, for the same experiment.

My job is to document, gather evidence and present a good case. Most of the evidence is either direct evidence (in the form of testimony), subjective evidence and circumstantial evidence. Physical evidence would be things such as DNA, hair samples (which would defy classification), undisputed photographic evidence (which with CGI today, even if the real thing would be argued for decades). Track evidence which can be forensically determined (which also is a point of dispute amongst folks).

So lets look at some of the things Naish has stated.

“I do not think that the data we have at the moment – this includes tracks, hairs, vocalizations, photos, and the innumerable eyewitness accounts – provides support for the notion that Bigfoot is real, and have come to the conclusion that it is a sociocultural phenomenon: that people are seeing all manner of different things, combining it with ideas, memes and preconceptions they hold in their minds, and interpreting them as encounters with a monstrous, human-like biped.”

Counterpoint: I agree that the data at the moment does not provides scientific support, however the sheer number of eyewitness reports defies that.  The old adage of “preconceptions” does not hold water to the folks that have encounters that, do not one iota, believe in the existence of such a creature until they have a sighting. Some are left traumatized, and haunted by what the have seen because it defies their belief system. And while this blanket statement may hold true for some it is not applicable to all. The article later goes on to state that long time Sasquatch researcher Rene Dahinden never found tracks (or had a sighting), can lend credence that Naish’s statement is in error. Certainly, Dahinden had a preconceived notion, as did Green, and Byrne, yet neither of those veteran researchers had laid eyes on a creature.

“…while writing this article (and others) is that there’s scarcely any Bigfoot imagery online which is marked for re-use: everything is protected by copyright and unavailable for free use by others. Make of that what you will.”

Counterpoint: Well, we are in the internet age. Everything in places is subject to copyright. There are pictures of all sorts of animals on the internet that are copyrighted. Does that mean they are faked or not real?

“Bigfoots purportedly make noises, and a standard part of modern Bigfoot lore is that people might be able to ‘call in’ or even communicate with Bigfoots by making wails, screams, roars or howls, or by hitting trees or rocks to make far-carrying percussive whacks, these sounds resembling the noises that are attributed to the creature. What’s notable is that these vocalizations are phenomenally diverse: the ‘Ohio howls’, ‘Samurai chatter’, the whoops, whistles, growls and howls attributed to this animal well exceed what we’d expect for a single animal species that communicates over long distances, and there’s nothing approaching homogeneity of the sort present across known primate species… The conclusion must be that the noises have diverse origins, by which I mean that they are mostly sounds made by known animal species, including cattle, coyotes (and their hybrids) and humans.”

Counterpoint: Dr. Naish may be a paleontologist, but not a primatologist whom will tell you, whistles, growls, howls and whoops are all part of primate communication. However in fairness, there is a diverseness to many vocalizations some of which I am certain are misidentifications, and I truly do not consider them much other than anecdotal evidence. They will not prove a Sasquatch exists unless there is direct or physical evidence proving they are the ones making the sounds, tree knocks, etc. But in an investigation, these are important to make correlations amongst other investigators (researchers). The conclusion must be, more research and good investigation is required, not an assumption, because there is no more proof than Dr. Naish’s conclusion than a conclusion that a Sasquatch caused it.

          The Sierra Sounds recordings, Ron Morehead

  “Indeed, some of the most incredible of these sounds – if you’ve never heard the ‘Sierra sounds’ or ‘Samurai chatter’ recorded by Ron Morehead, well, you’re in for a treat – sound nothing at all like the others that have been reported and recorded, and have only been heard exclusively in one small area…And, yes, I think that many of the more incredible Bigfoot sounds – ‘Samurai chatter’ and other speech-like utterances among them – were generated by people.”

Counterpoint: In one of more recent posts was mistaken for defending the Sierra Sounds. That was not necessarily my intention. But in the last comment by Dr. Naish, it is an opinion, as are all of the above statements. Has Dr. Naish taken the Morehead – Berry recordings to an acoustical engineer to analyze the audio? Certainly not mentioned in his statement, making this a layman’s opinion as his field of expertise is Paleontology (which is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene Epoch). His area of expertise is not acoustics, nor primatology nor anthropology, all of which Dr. Naish’s “conclusions” are based upon. However stuff of the “Sasquatch Ontario” ilk definitely are human and hoaxed.

Summary

  I respect Dr. Naish, for being a scientist, and he has a bit of an open mind to the topic, but all of what you have heard by him is opinion, some of which is spin by the scientific community to brush away the phenomena which we have heard over the last two decades.

Remember the older excuse of there not being enough food source in the forest, until it was mentioned that a black bear needs 21,000 calories a day for a month prior to hibernation?

I have the ability to read and learn of things that cross over into other realms of expertise. So why is his opinion more weighted than any other laymen who have read upon topics? I am sure his intentions are well meant, but many times scientists are turned into talking heads, basing their statements on opinions rather than research.

Many of heard me speak about Dr. Phillip Stevens and Biologist Curt Kogut talk of some of the ridiculous “talking head” statements said on my MonsterQuest episode. This is is vary similar, but with more fairness and a gentle touch.

“There is no evidence that North America could support a large primate”

                                                                          — Dr. Phillip Stevens on MonsterQuest

                “Homo-sapiens are large primates, and so were the aboriginal native Americans!”

                                                                                           —- Steve Kulls

“If these things were out there, people would be seeing them”

                                                         —Curt Kogut Biologist, NYS ENCON

“WTF???”

                                                             —- Steve Kulls

This week on Squatchdetective Radio (4/22/18)

Chris and I are pleased to have on as our guest, Suzanne Ferencak, the main subject of a Bigfoot documentary named “The Back 80.” Also we’ll have on Alan Megargle, Jesse Morgan of Twisted Tree Productions, the duo behind “The Back 80!”

  Click on photo to order DVD

“In the heart of mid-America, among the forests and streams, something terrifying lurks. During the summer of 2013, a woman’s world is turned upside down after seeing a creature cross the road in front of her one afternoon. She soon realizes that she is not alone on her own property and struggles to separate the truth from her own obsession. After some digging, she finds others in town who have similar stories to tell. Her quest for answers takes her to the only place these creatures could live…the abandoned, gated woods of the back eighty.” – http://www.theback80.com

Listen Live Sundays 9PM EST:

Podcasts available on:

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[boanerges20]

Steve Morehead Photo: Bert Shepard

[dwightturner]

Steve Inskeep is inducted into the Morehead State University Hall of Fame. Steve does an amazing job as host of Morning Edition on National Public Radio (NPR). We attended MSU at the same time. In addition to being super talented, Steve is also an awesome person. #npr #morningaddition #steveinskeep #nationalpublicradio #moreheadstateuniversity (at Morehead State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/B30C0-BJnHg/?igshid=fzfo24vqfqze

[junker-town]

You can make a dang good NFL all-star team from non-FBS alums

Some NFL legends have taken the path from unheralded recruit to small-school prospect to big-league stardom.

Being a five-star recruit won’t guarantee you a spot in the NFL, but it certainly makes it a little easier to get there. Playing for a powerhouse Power 5 program can turn you into a household name and inundate scouts with plenty of opportunities to study your game. A blue-chip pedigree can also help teams overlook a lackluster college career in hopes of banking on the unknown quantity of untapped potential.

But NFL rosters don’t solely consist of can’t-miss high school stars. Some of the league’s best players were under-appreciated teenagers who never earned the adoration of scouts or collegiate assistant coaches. There are several standouts who played their college ball in front of small or disinterested crowds before overcoming the odds and earning a spot in the pros. In fact, you could probably put together a pretty good all-star team filled with them.

Let’s do that. Let’s say you had to make a team of all the best NFL players who were enrolled from non-FBS colleges from 1978 onward — the year the NCAA split Division I into I-A and I-AA distinctions that would later become the FBS and FCS, respectively. How would it look? How many Hall of Famers would you find?

It turns out, a whole bunch. I padded out the depth chart with a handful of backups for the especially solid positions — settling with 22 players wasn’t an option thanks to the level of talent the NCAA’s lower levels have pumped into the league.

Here’s that slightly unbalanced but totally stacked roster of non-FBS programs.

QB: Kurt Warner, Northern Iowa Phil Simms, Morehead State

Warner’s Hall of Fame career was built on his ability to revive both the Rams and Cardinals en route to Super Bowl appearances at each stop. That journey began in Cedar Falls, Iowa, as a single-year starter for Northern Iowa, weaved through various low-level feeder leagues like the NFL Europe and Arena Football League, and eventually landed in St. Louis as a lottery ticket backup. This crooked path to greatness put him ahead of a host of other celebrated names among the least-lauded high school passers.

Simms gets tabbed for backup duty after a pair of NFL championships in a Giants career that seems downright quaint when stacked up against the high-powered offenses of the 2010s. Only seven times had passers ever thrown for 4,000+ yards in a season when he pulled off that feat (along with Neil Lomax and Dan Marino) in 1984. As of 2019, it’s been done 175 times.

Check out the list of also-rans:

Ken Anderson, Augustana

Steve McNair, Alcorn State

Tony Romo, Eastern Illinois

Rich Gannon, Delaware

Joe Flacco, Delaware (after starting at Pittsburgh)

Ron Jaworski, Youngstown State

Ken O’Brien, Cal-Davis

And that doesn’t even count 2019 starters like Jimmy Garoppolo or Carson Wentz. Good QBs can come from anywhere.

WR: Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State Terrell Owens, Tennessee-Chattanooga Andre Reed, Kutztown

Rice is the greatest NFL player to come out of the now-FCS, then I-AA after the 1978 split. One of the few receivers even in his orbit statistically is Owens, who managed to be a longtime game-changer both on and off the field. Reed, the third Hall of Famer in the bunch, was a force in the early 90s and part of the Bills’ fearsome offensive Cerberus alongside Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas.

There are even a couple of stellar backups available. Jackson State’s Jimmy Smith had nine seasons in which he had more than 1,000 receiving yards, but he was largely underrated as he toiled away for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Alcorn State’s Donald Driver rose up from the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft to account for more than 10,000 receiving yards for the Packers.

RB: Terrell Davis, Long Beach State (kinda) Brian Westbrook, Villanova David Johnson, Northern Iowa

Tailback is one of the thinner positions culled from these ranks, but if we cheat a little we can still find a Hall of Fame veteran. Davis started his college career at Long Beach State, then wound up at Georgia after the school discontinued its football program. Otherwise, you’re looking at the ultra-versatile Westbrook to hold down the top spot on the depth chart.

Behind him is a useful receiving threat who can also churn out yardage on the ground, though Johnson’s spot on the team is dependent on proving he’s more than just a one-season wonder after failing to follow up on his breakout 2016 in Arizona.

FB: Larry Centers, Stephen F. Austin

Centers, who played from 1990 to 2003, was ahead of his time as a pass-catching dynamo out of the backfield who could also pick up blitzes in a pinch. If he came to the NFL two decades later, he’d be a perennial Pro Bowler. Instead, he only went three times, which is still pretty good.

TE: Shannon Sharpe, Savannah State Ben Coates, Livingstone

Two of the top pass catchers of the 90s each make the team, just in case we end up throwing a lot of 22-formation sets into the mix.

Sharpe, who spends his days in retirement waking up early to battle a purposefully contrarian Vandy grad, was the decade’s most dominant tight end — an athletic specimen who stretched defenses and chipped blockers despite suboptimal size. Coates was often the best thing about a woeful Patriots’ offense, serving as Drew Bledsoe’s No. 1 target in a pass-happy offense.

OL: Nate Newton, G/T, Florida A&M Matt Birk, C, Harvard Tom Newberry, G/C, UW-La Crosse Jahri Evans, T, Bloomsburg Larry Allen, G, Sonoma State Adam Timmerman, G, South Dakota State Tunch Ilkin, G/C/T, Indiana State

Protecting Warner and clearing a path for Westbrook is a heady brew of Hall of Famers and sturdy pros who range from the FCS to Division III. The headliner is Allen, who made six All-Pro teams while anchoring the Cowboys’ offensive line for 12 seasons and was athletic enough at 325 pounds to stop pick-sixes in progress. Behind him are a combination of players who can hold down multiple positions at an all-star level.

DE: Howie Long, Villanova Richard Dent, Tennessee State Michael Strahan, Texas Southern Jared Allen, Idaho State

There’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to smaller-school pass rushers. I went four deep and still had to exclude Mark Gastineau (attended East Central University after Arizona State) and Lyle Alzado, whose alma mater — Yankton College — no longer exists.

Instead, you’ve got three Hall of Famers and Allen, who will likely join them once he’s eligible. Between them they’ve got 499 career sacks and the chops to completely terrorize opposing quarterbacks.

DT: John Randle, Texas A&M-Kingsville Clyde Simmons, Western Carolina Pat Williams, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

That pass-rushing punch only gets stronger with Randle leading things on the inside; the undersized tackle had nine seasons with 10+ sacks in his Hall of Fame career. He’s bolstered by an out-of-position Simmons, who moved inside late in his career but is best known for a 19-sack breakout season as an Eagles defensive end back in 1992.

If it’s thickness you crave, you can throw Williams into the lineup; the 317-pounder was a blocker-absorbing vacuum up front in 14 years as a pro.

LB: Karl Mecklenburg, Augustana Sam Mills, Montclair State London Fletcher, John Carroll Greg Lloyd, Fort Valley State

MORE BEEF. This lineup provides two run-stopping tackling machines in the middle and some extra power at the edge in Mecklenburg and Lloyd. The outside guys combined for more than 120 sacks, while Mills and Fletcher have nearly 3,300 career tackles between them.

And if you don’t like those guys, you could always sub in Bart Scott, Jessie Tuggle, Charles Haley, Mike Merriweather, Bryan Cox, or Jeremiah Trotter.

CB: Everson Walls, Grambling State Albert Lewis, Grambling State Aeneas Williams, Southern Darrell Green, Texas A&M-Kingsville

Cornerback is stocked with players who were very good for very long, including a pair of Eddie Robinson-coached bookends in Walls and Lewis, who have eight Pro Bowl selections together. They’re stuck in a rotational role behind Williams and Green, however — two Hall of Famers who played for a combined 34 seasons.

S: Eugene Robinson, Colgate Tyrone Braxton, North Dakota State Rodney Harrison, Western Illinois

There’s a lot of range and some big hits from our center fielders in this lineup. Robinson gave the league 16 solid years. Braxton was a versatile defensive back who could line up at either corner or safety and played a major role as Denver crashed through to glory in the late 90s. Harrison brought the lumber over a borderline Hall of Fame career with the Chargers and Patriots.

K: Adam Vinatieri, South Dakota State

Still going at age 46. Few kickers are surefire Hall of Famers, but Vinatieri’s one of them. He’s kicked 582 field goals so far in his career — most in league history and 141 more than the next closest active kicker. His 56 postseason field goals are the most the NFL’s ever seen by a double-digit margin.

P: Sean Landeta, Towson

A pretty good punter! Landeta stuck in the NFL for 21 seasons and was a three-time first team All-Pro. Like Simms, he won two Super Bowl rings with the Giants.

What if we had to make a starting 22 based on only active players? I’ve got some ideas there, too.

QB: Carson Wentz, North Dakota State

RB: David Johnson, Northern Iowa Jerick McKinnon, Georgia Southern Tarik Cohen, North Carolina A&T

FB: Kyle Juszczyk, Harvard

WR: Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington Adam Thielen, Minnesota State Tyrell Williams, Western Oregon

TE: Delanie Walker, Central Missouri State Dallas Goedert, South Dakota State

OL: Terron Armstead, Arkansas-Pine Bluff J.C. Tretter, Cornell Julie’n Davenport, Bucknell Ryan Jensen, Colorado State-Pueblo Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, McGill (Canada) and, for depth, free agents Jermon Bushrod from Towson and Brandon Fusco from Slippery Rock

DE: Akiem Hicks, Regina (playing a bit out of position) Matt Judon, Grand Valley State Derek Rivers, Youngstown State

DT: Damon Harrison, William Penn Javon Hargrave, South Carolina State Brandon Williams, Missouri Southern

LB: Darius Leonard, South Carolina State Patrick Onwuasor, Portland State Samson Ebukam, Eastern Washington Todd Davis, Sacramento State

CB: Malcolm Butler, West Alabama Trumaine Johnson, Montana Josh Norman, Coastal Carolina Robert Alford, SE Louisiana

S: Jeff Heath, Saginaw Valley State Antoine Bethea, Howard

K: Adam Vinatieri, South Dakota State

P: Jordan Berry, Eastern Kentucky

You can find elite players from the NCAA’s smaller schools at every position in the league. Most of them can even be picked up on Day 3 of the NFL Draft or later. If you’re looking for underdogs just waiting for the opportunity to make good on Sundays, you can start looking toward the gridiron’s non-FBS programs on Saturdays first.

[blakesramos-blog]

how to draw denver broncos logo

E gonna have a bowl Nas. It fresh pitch and hoping to get some seam movement, looks a good pitch and doesn spin too much in the second innings. Two changes for us. 4. Steve Pikiell, Rutgers. In his time at UM, Manuel also has seen Rutgers' impressive growth under Pikiell. "If you could tell me where the foul is, let me know. I watched them. I don't know. He did appear at an Coach Outlet Online event in Collegeville late last month, entitled "Honoring John Legacy, in which he became the first member inducted into the St. John University J Club Hall of Honor. The ceremony was also meant to help establish the John Gagliardi Football Legacy Fund, which will raise funds to enhance the school football program, Usually winning teams have that. Visits Houghton (13 4 1) on Thursday, while Marquette travels to Sault Ste. Marie for a tournament this weekend, facing Port Huron Northern (6 7 1) on Friday and Grosse Pointe South (4 8 2) on Saturday, Watching the video of the conversation taught me a couple things. First, I really have very little idea what I look like performing the important tasks of my life talk with me wife. Second, video can really help me get a better idea of what I am really doing. The Mariners are Coach Outlet Sale 4 0 to start the season, while the Aces are winless in their first three. Barron says they been working on their power play this week. Far five on five we been very good, and our penalty kill has been extremely good. Ana Ivanovic As a teenager in war torn Yugoslavia, Ana Ivanovic practiced in the early morning to avoid bomb raids. When all the courts were destroyed, she used an abandoned swimming pool. "Tennis was definitely a distraction from the war and all of the bad things that were going on in the country at the time, she says. Friday will mark the 30th meeting between the programs since UK became a varsity sport in 1974 75. Kentucky leads the all time series with Morehead 25 4, including a 17 1 advantage when playing in Lexington. UK has won the last eight meetings, including a 96 60 victory last season in Morehead. Friendly Links: New England Patriots Jersey | Cheap Real Yeezys

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A Greenhouse Large Enough to Feed the Eastern Seaboard

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Proximity to big markets is crucial for the fresh produce business.

So when AppHarvest, a two-year-old start-up, was looking for a site for a greenhouse, it picked a 366-acre field in Rowan County just outside Morehead, a university town in eastern Kentucky.

The greenhouse, the largest in the United States, will be just a day’s drive from almost 70 percent of American consumers, including those who love fresh tomatoes.

Next summer, when AppHarvest begins production at its $97 million building, 285 employees will start shipping 45 million pounds of fresh produce annually, primarily tomatoes, to grocery stores from Atlanta to New York, and as far west as Chicago and St. Louis.

For the greenhouse to be cost-effective, size was as important as location. The 60-acre, 2.76-million-square-foot building will be big enough to lower costs on materials, production and distribution.

“I asked the engineers, ‘How big can we possibly be to operate efficiently and effectively?’” said Jonathan Webb, AppHarvest’s 34-year-old founder and chief executive. “We have to compete with produce coming from 2,000 miles away.”

The mammoth project will use Dutch greenhouse technology, which focuses on sustainable crop production, to meet the rising demand for American-grown tomatoes. The greenhouse uses digital monitoring, sun and LED lighting, recycled rainwater and nonchemical growing practices. It also responds to a host of cultural concerns about food safety, freshness, environmental quality and energy consumption.

Other food growers have the same idea. AppHarvest is part of a wave of new greenhouse construction changing vegetable production in the eastern United States.

Kentucky Fresh Harvest is building a 30-acre, $13.5 million greenhouse near Stanford, about 100 miles southeast of Morehead, to grow cherry tomatoes. Mucci Farms, a Canadian company, just opened the first of three large greenhouses for tomato production on a 75-acre farm in Huron, Ohio. Mastronardi Produce, another Canadian grower, last year finished a 20-acre greenhouse for vegetables in Wapakoneta, Ohio. The company owns six others in the United States.

AppHarvest is intent on meeting the rising demand for fresh tomatoes in a market increasingly supplied by imports from Mexico and Canada. The two countries account for more than half of the $3 billion American fresh tomato market.

But production in the United States is declining, according to the Department of Agriculture. Land devoted to fresh tomato production in Florida, a major producer, has fallen to around 30,000 acres, down from 39,400 acres at the start of the century, according to the agency. Similar reductions have occurred in California, North Carolina and other states.

Mr. Webb, the son of a Kentucky machinery dealer who was raised in nearby Lexington, said he always planned to build something big in Kentucky. Years of research, and the state’s abundance of land and water, drew him to agriculture.

This colossal plot in Morehead is only the first step in Mr. Webb’s ambitious plan. The next is to be so successful that other greenhouse growers follow AppHarvest to the state.

His hope, he said, is to rejuvenate the state’s economy, devastated by the collapse of the coal industry, with a “sustainable produce hub” that would turn Kentucky into “the agtech capital” of the United States. Mr. Webb also plans to build huge AppHarvest greenhouses in other eastern Kentucky communities.

That goal is achievable. Greenhouses provide a controlled environment that allows vegetables to be grown year-round. Tomatoes grown in greenhouses accounted for 32 percent of the domestic supply in 2017, the latest year for accurate figures, according to a report published in March by the Agriculture Department. The same year, Kentucky farmers grew tomatoes in 1.1 million square feet of greenhouses on more than 300 farms.

“It’s not going to be just AppHarvest,” Mr. Webb said. “The whole region will be lit up with vibrancy and excitement. The same thing you see in New York and San Francisco.”

The greenhouse was designed and built by Dalsem, a family-owned company founded in the Netherlands in 1932 that has supplied greenhouses for vegetable and flower production in 52 countries. The agreement to build AppHarvest’s facility, the largest greenhouse Dalsem ever manufactured, prompted top Dutch government officials to attend the signing ceremony earlier this year.

In July, AppHarvest signed a $15 million contract with Philips, the Dutch electronics company, for the LED system that will provide optimal lighting conditions for maximum plant growth. At night, AppHarvest’s 366-acre field, surrounded by Rowan County’s dark, forested landscape, will glow like a bright glass city. The company is negotiating with the Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative to supply the greenhouse with solar power.

The greenhouse will also use advanced cultivation practices. All of its irrigation water — 360,000 gallons a day — will be supplied by rain collected from the greenhouse roof that drains into a 10-acre pond capable of storing almost 46 million gallons, or a three-month supply in case of drought, the company said. All of the water will be recycled, with no discharge into streams or groundwater. AppHarvest will add nutrients straight to the roots of plants raised in charcoal beds.

The company will control pests and diseases with nonchemical, biological methods. For instance, two species of tiny wasps, Encarsia formosa and Eretmocerus eremicus, will be introduced to control white flies, a nemesis of greenhouse production.

Mr. Webb’s vision, and his skill in selling it, attracted robust support from the state, venture capitalists, vegetable marketers and Dutch greenhouse and electronics manufacturers.

In May, Mr. Webb persuaded the managers of Equilibrium Capital’s Controlled Environment Foods Fund to invest nearly $100 million to build the greenhouse. He raised millions more from the ValueAct Spring Fund and from the venture capital firm Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund to finance the company’s engineering, administration, staff and start-up operations. Rise of the Rest, a $150 million fund established in 2017 by Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and chairman of Revolution, typically invests $100,000 to $1 million in local start-ups through pitch competitions, according to its website.

“We just believed no matter what obstacles came up with AppHarvest, this is the guy who could get it done,” said J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and managing partner of Rise of the Rest. “You want to invest in people who won’t run away at the first sign of trouble.”

Kentucky invested $1.9 million in a new road and other infrastructure. “That area used to be tobacco,” said Ryan Quarles, commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture. “It’s an area now that’s eager for new technology. We like his vision.”

Sahred From Source link Real Estate

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Sasquatch: One man’s Opinion

Sasquatch: One man’s Opinion

I recently read an older (circa 2016) article by UK Paleontologist, Dr. Darren Naish that was a short piece that widely covered the topic in the Scientific American website.

Dr. Darren Naish, Paleontologist

I love to do point counter point on his article. Of course I am not a scientist, nor do I claim to be. I am an Investigator by trade. Now how all that moshes into the Bigfoot mystery  sum as…

[investmart007]

RALEIGH, N.C. | The Latest: Pence cancels Georgia visit because of Florence

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/raleigh-n-c-the-latest-pence-cancels-georgia-visit-because-of-florence/169633/

RALEIGH, N.C. | The Latest: Pence cancels Georgia visit because of Florence

RALEIGH, N.C.  — The Latest on Hurricane Florence (all times local): 8:40 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence has canceled his planned trip to Georgia on Thursday because of the updated track of Hurricane Florence. The vice president’s office says Pence will remain in Washington to monitor the federal response to the hurricane.

Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency after new storm forecasts showed a more southerly threat to residents.

Pence had been scheduled to hold a campaign event for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp and stop by an American Red Cross disaster field supply center in Atlanta and address employees at the Delta TechOps facility.

President Donald Trump has canceled campaign events in Missouri and Mississippi this week because of the impending hurricane. ___ 8:40 p.m. A South Carolina city in the projected path of Hurricane Florence has put a curfew into place for residents who remain.

The Myrtle Beach Chamber announced on Twitter Wednesday that the city had declared a curfew from 10 p.m. Wednesday through 6 a.m. Thursday. Officials say other coastal communities including Surfside Beach have implemented similar curfews.

Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered the evacuation of much of South Carolina’s coast as the state waits for the storm projected to come ashore in the Carolinas later this week. ___ 8 p.m. Forecasters say Hurricane Florence has slightly weakened but remains a potentially catastrophic Category 3 storm as it continues toward North and South Carolina.

The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday evening that the storm is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to the Carolinas as it approaches the coast Thursday and Friday.

As of 8 p.m., the storm was centered 335 miles (540 kilometers) southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph). Its maximum sustained winds have dropped slightly to 115 mph (185 kph). ___ 8 p.m. President Donald Trump spent Wednesday monitoring federal preparations for Hurricane Florence’s expected landfall in the Southeast.

The White House says Trump spoke with Sens. Lindsay Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina to convey that the full support of the federal government stands ready to assist their states.

Earlier Wednesday Trump warned people in the path of the storm to heed the advice of state and local officials. He says: “protection of life is the absolute highest priority.”

Trump is also boasting about the state of federal preparedness. He says: “They’re all ready and we’re getting tremendous accolades from politicians and the people.” ___ 8 p.m. Many who live in Virginia Beach began to take major storms more seriously after the remnants of Hurricane Matthew deluged the region in 2016. Homes that never flooded before were inundated.

Thirty-three-year-old Brady Osborne has not forgotten the 16 inches of rain that poured into his garage and the flooding the hurt home values in his neighborhood. He said he had used a canoe to reach dry land to pick up groceries.

He shoveled sand into sandbags on Wednesday to fortify his home. He says “Matthew taught us.” ___ 8 p.m. The forecast for Hurricane Florence’s wrath was only improving Wednesday for coastal Virginia, which is more than 200 miles north of where the storm is expected to strike. But many who live in this low-lying and flood-prone region weren’t taking any chances.

Je’Nein Ferrell is a 44-year-old adjunct professor at Norfolk State University. She shoveled sand into sandbags Wednesday with images of Houston following Hurricane Harvey in her head.

Ferrell was among throngs of people who took the city of Virginia Beach up on its offer of free sand for sandbagging. More than 100 people had cycled through in two hours, circling around sand piles as they were dumped from a truck.

Ferrell planned to secure some areas around her mother’s Virginia Beach town home. She said she would then consider whether she would leave Norfolk, where she lives.

She added that the weather has become increasingly unpredictable with climate change.

She says, “We can’t base our present on our past.” ___ 7:10 p.m. South Carolina is planning to end the reversal of some interstate lanes that were switched to help move people away from the state’s coast as Hurricane Florence approaches.

Department of Public Safety Director Leroy Smith told reporters that, starting Thursday at 6 p.m., officers will close Interstate 26 lanes that had been switched from eastbound to westbound to move people away from the Charleston area toward the center of the state.

Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday ordered much of the state’s coast evacuated and reversed eastbound lanes to help people leave. Smith says officers will begin closing down the reversed lanes and gradually switch traffic back to its regular patterns.

Many officers are on the road during lane reversals, manning each exit and ensuring drivers don’t drive around barricades. The change allows agencies like Smith’s to pull back their officers when tropical storm-force winds are expected to arrive in the state. ___ 7:10 p.m. West Virginia agencies are mobilizing to respond to problems arising from Hurricane Florence.

The governor’s office says in a news release the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center Wednesday.

The statement says 50 National Guard members are prepared to assist in locations across the state. Nearly 70 tractor-trailer loads of supplies have arrived at the Guard’s 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg.

In June 2016, a series of thunderstorms pelted a wide swath of West Virginia. Nine inches of rain fell in 36 hours in some areas, leaving 23 dead statewide and destroying thousands of homes, businesses and infrastructure.

The National Weather Service forecast says up to 4 inches of rain is possible in parts of the state through next week. ___ 6:15 p.m. President Donald Trump is urging those living in the path of Hurricane Florence to comply with all evacuation orders and emergency instructions.

Speaking Wednesday at the White House, Trump said “protection of life is the absolute highest priority.”

He warned that Florence could be “one of the biggest ever to hit the East Coast.”

The storm is still a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph (195 kph) as it approaches the North and South Carolina coasts.

Trump says his administration has been in “close contact” with the state and local governments soon to be impacted by the massive storm.

The National Weather Service is predicting that the hurricane will blow ashore as early as Friday afternoon along the North Carolina-South Carolina line, then push its rainy way westward, with a potential for catastrophic inland flooding.

(This item has been edited to clarify that forecasters are saying that the storm could reach land as early as Friday afternoon). ___ 6:15 p.m.

Virginia officials are urging residents under a mandatory evacuation order not to return home, despite forecast changes showing Hurricane Florence’s path largely missing the state.

Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday that the storm’s path is still unpredictable and residents who were ordered to evacuate beginning Tuesday should continue to stay away. The evacuation order applies to about 245,000 people in low-lying coastal areas.

Northam said emergency management officials are still concerned about storm surges, high winds and potential flooding.

Officials said 59 local shelters and two state-managed shelters are either open or about to open across Virginia. ___ 6:15 p.m. A spokeswoman for Love’s Travel Stops says demand for gasoline has doubled at many of the company’s truck-stop locations in the path of Hurricane Florence.

At least 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia have been warned to evacuate, and others are hunkering down. Tracking service GasBuddy says that has led to a run on gas stations that left about 5 percent of all service stations in North Carolina out of gasoline by Wednesday.

Love’s spokeswoman Kyla Turner says the company brought in drivers from other areas and increased deliveries to keep its locations stocked. She says it had not run out at any of its 27 locations in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. ___ 6:15 p.m. North Carolina’s top agriculture leader says farmers have made progress harvesting before Hurricane Florence arrives, thanks in part to loosened transportation rules before the storm. But he says several crops are still in the field and could be threatened by high winds and flooding.

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said Wednesday at a news conference that more than half of the state’s tobacco crop has been harvested, along with three-quarters of the corn in eastern North Carolina fields. But he says the sweet potato and peanut harvests are just getting started and all of the cotton crop is still in the field.

North Carolina is the nation’s leading sweet potato producer.

Troxler says livestock is being moved to higher ground or sent to market earlier. ___ 6 p.m. Officials in the Carolinas are closing down ports as Hurricane Florence approaches their coastlines.

North Carolina officials said Wednesday that they were closing the Ports of Wilmington and Morehead City to commercial truck traffic on Wednesday. Both facilities will be closed to traffic of any kind starting Thursday.

South Carolina State Ports Authority spokeswoman Erin Dhand says the Port of Charleston is closing to container traffic Thursday and may re-open on Sunday, depending on the storm’s track and overall conditions. ___ 6 p.m. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says at least 50 shelters are open across the state as up to 1 million residents have been asked to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence.

Cooper spoke at a news conference with emergency management officials Wednesday. He announced that officials were opening a large shelter at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem at 6 p.m. Wednesday with a capacity of at least 1,000.

The governor issued an evacuation order for the state’s barrier islands, and local officials have issued some evacuation orders inland as well. Altogether, Cooper says between 750,000 to 1 million residents have been asked to leave their homes.

He warned that the coast will “feel the wrath” of Florence starting Thursday morning but said all parts of North Carolina will see some impact. He’s urging people not to wait to evacuate or get prepared. ___ 6 p.m. A law firm is suing three coastal Virginia sheriffs over the decision not to evacuate their local jails as Hurricane Florence approaches.

Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys filed the lawsuit Wednesday against Norfolk Sheriff Joe Baron, Chesapeake Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan and Portsmouth Sheriff Michael Moore.

The lawsuit says the sheriffs are refusing to evacuate nearly 2,500 inmates housed in their local jails, which are located in low-lying areas for which the state’s governor has issued an evacuation order. It says the inmates are being placed in “dire straits.”

Col. Marvin Waters, undersheriff of the Portsmouth office, said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because the department hadn’t been notified of it. But he said the jail is well equipped to withstand the storm, with food reserves, generators and medical care on site.

A spokesman for the Norfolk office declined comment, and a spokesman for the Chesapeake office couldn’t immediately be reached. ___ 5:40 p.m. Yet another storm has formed in the Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that Subtropical Storm Joyce has formed in the north Atlantic, but is not currently a threat to land.

Joyce is centered about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) southwest of the Azores and is moving southwest at 6 mph (9 kph).

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) with winds of 40 mph (65 kph) extending outward up to 115 miles (185 kms) from the center.

A true tropical storm draws heat energy from the ocean and has a warm core, with its highest winds around the center. A subtropical storm shares some characteristics but has a cooler core, draws energy from the atmosphere and has less-concentrated winds. ___ 4:30 p.m. The National Weather Service says more than 10 million residents in three states are under a storm watch or warning because of Hurricane Florence. There are 5.25 million people under hurricane warnings and watches and another 4.89 million under tropical storm watches and warnings.

Hurricane Warnings are in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to Duck, North Carolina. A hurricane watch stretches from Edisto Beach, South Carolina to the South Santee River.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from Duck, North Carolina, to the North Carolina/Virginia border, with a watch in effect from there to the Chesapeake Bay south of New Point Comfort. ___ 4:20 p.m. Duke Energy says damage from Hurricane Florence could cut off electricity to three-quarters of its 4 million customers in the Carolinas, and the outages could last for weeks.

The country’s No. 2 power company said Wednesday that it’s anticipating 1 million to 3 million homes and businesses could lose power for lengthy periods, depending on the storm’s track.

Duke Energy North Carolina President David Fountain said Florence is so massive and its potential for damage so extensive that people could be without power for a very long time. Fountain says most storms are an inconvenience, “but Hurricane Florence will be a life-changing event for many people here in the Carolinas.”

The company says it’s already is shifting thousands of power workers from its Midwest and Florida regions and getting added workers from as far away as Texas. ___ 4:20 p.m. North Carolina election officials already delayed in assembling fall ballots due to litigation now are bracing for any additional delays spurred by Hurricane Florence.

State elections Executive Director Kim Strach has urged county election boards to prepare for possible flooding by ensuring all voting equipment and files are protected.

She also reminded them that printed ballots need to go out to military and absentee voters by Sept. 22. Ballots took longer to finalize this year because of legal battles over ballot wording. Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in October 2016, unleashing

flooding that damaged both early-voting and Election Day polling places. A court delayed voter-registration deadlines to give more time to people displaced by the storm.

North Carolina voters will cast ballots this fall for Congress, the legislature, judgeships and six constitutional referendums. ___ 4:20 p.m. About two dozen Kentucky firefighters are heading to North Carolina to help rescue people in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

Swift-water search-and-rescue teams from Louisville and Jefferson County left Frankfort shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday. They will stay in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Hurricane Florence makes landfall. After that, they will be deployed to rescue people from anticipated flooding.

Kentucky Emergency Management Director Mike Dossett says the state is intentionally deploying firefighters from western Kentucky counties. That’s because the remnants of Hurricane Florence are expected to dump up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain in eastern Kentucky next week, which will likely cause flash flooding. Dossett said the state will be prepared if the storm comes to Kentucky. ___ 3:30 p.m. An official from South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources says officials are concerned about the potential for widespread flooding after Hurricane Florence’s arrival, particularly in the northeastern part of the state.

The Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin, which starts near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and flows across the state, culminates in South Carolina’s Winyah Bay, a coastal estuary near Georgetown. Alvin Taylor said Wednesday that the area of concern includes the town of Nichols, a small community that experienced devastating flooding following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. ___ 3:30 p.m. Two major home-supply chains have activated emergency response centers this week to track Hurricane Florence and get supplies to stores before and after the storm.

A Home Depot spokeswoman says the company sent about 750 trucks to areas affected by the hurricane, and a Lowe’s spokeswoman said it sent more than 1,000. The supplies include generators, trash bags and bottled water.

The companies say they plan to open their stores as soon as possible after the storm, and both are posting updates on store closures on their sites. ___ 3:30 p.m. Home hardware stores are bursting with business as residents in Southern states that could be affected by Hurricane Florence are trying to protect their property.

Ace Hardware managers Tom Roberts and Harold Cook said Wednesday that employees were wrapping up five of the busiest days they have ever seen in their store in the tiny village of Calabash, North Carolina.

Roberts says the store sold hundreds of gas cans and ran out of generators, but still had bottled water, sand bags and other items. But he says now it’s time for the employees themselves to get their own homes ready.

They also need to rest up, Roberts says, because the stores are “going to be just as busy with cleanup once this thing is gone.” ___ 3:30 p.m. North Carolina builders will let tower cranes on construction sites rotate freely in the wind when Hurricane Florence arrives, a move designed to prevent them from being toppled or damaged by heavy wind.

Crews started preparing cranes on office building construction sites in Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham earlier this week. Before hurricane-force winds arrive, they’ll disengage the brakes that normally hold a crane’s boom in place, a practice called “weathervaning.”

North Carolina-based Heede Construction president Dennis Kenna says a 300-foot (90-meter) tall crane can withstand wind speeds of more than 100 mph (160 kph). Shorter cranes can withstand much higher speeds. Most of Heede’s 30 cranes in North Carolina are less than 300 feet tall.

Two cranes collapsed in Miami last year when strong winds from Hurricane Irma struck the city. It’s unclear how fast the winds that brought down the cranes were, but gusts over 90 mph (145 kph) were reported at Miami International Airport.

Florence is expected to bring tropical storm-force winds to North Carolina’s inland cities later this week. ___ 3 p.m. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says more than 300,000 people have already evacuated the state’s coasts ahead of Hurricane Florence.

McMaster told reporters Wednesday that the storm could bring more rain to the state than 1989’s devastating Hurricane Hugo. McMaster has ordered much of the state’s coastline evacuated, reversing some lanes of a major interstate to direct all traffic inland. Forecasters warned as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) could fall in some portions of the state through at least Monday.

The head of the state’s National Guard also says the federal government has positioned aid ships off South Carolina’s coast and they’ll be ready to assist after the storm moves through. ___ 3 p.m. Two of the nation’s largest motor speedways have opened their vast campgrounds to Southerners escaping Hurricane Florence, part of a patchwork of shelters across the region serving as a last refuge for storm evacuees.

But gas shortages and jammed freeways loomed for evacuees seeking safety in far-away shelters, campgrounds and hotels. In North Carolina, 1 in 10 gas stations in Wilmington and Raleigh-Durham had no gas by midday Wednesday.

At Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, personal belongings were spread across an open field where the first few evacuees arrived Wednesday.

Melody Rawson left her first-floor apartment in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, arriving at the Georgia speedway with two dogs and a cockatoo, and a couple of coolers holding some sandwich meat. Bristol Motor Speedway, near the Tennessee-Virginia line, also opened its campgrounds to evacuees. ___ 2:40 p.m. Portions of the Georgia coast face a growing threat of strong winds as Hurricane Florence nears the Southeast coast, but officials there aren’t calling for evacuations.

Dennis Jones is director of the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency that includes Savannah. Jones told a news conference Wednesday there’s a “moderate” chance sustained tropical storm winds could reach the area as soon as Thursday evening. He said some storm impacts could last through the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center predicts the Category 3 hurricane will strike the Carolinas later this week. But forecasters say there’s a chance the storm could turn to the southwest.

Jones said there’s currently no need for evacuations in the Savannah area, but that could change if the forecast worsens. He said there’s a low risk of flooding and storm surge risks are “very low.” (This item has been edited to correct the storm strength to category 3, not category 4). ___ 2:25 p.m. Hurricane Florence has gotten a little bit weaker but it remains a very large and dangerous storm.

At 2 p.m., the storm was centered 435 miles (700 kilometers) southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving at 16 mph (26 kph).

It’s a potentially catastrophic Category 3 storm with 125 mph (205 kph) maximum sustained winds.

Some fluctuations in strength are expected through Thursday morning. Florence will weaken once it stops drawing energy from warm ocean waters, but it’s still expected to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday as an extremely dangerous major hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center says a buoy about 100 miles northeast of Florence’s eye has clocked hurricane-force wind gusts and sustained winds of 53 mph (85 kph).

Florence is the most dangerous of three tropical systems in the Atlantic. Forecasters also were tracking two other disturbances. ___ 2:15 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence plans to thank American Red Cross employees and volunteers in Atlanta as they prepare for Hurricane Florence.

Pence’s office said in a news release Wednesday that Pence would visit the Delta Air Lines TechOps facility in Atlanta on Thursday, and would later stop by the American Red Cross Disaster Field Supply Center to thank the staff and volunteers.

The TechOps facility provides aviation maintenance to Delta and services its fleet. ___ 2 p.m. As motorists try to get away from the path of Hurricane Florence they are learning that some service stations are running out of gasoline.

Patrick DeHaan is an analyst for GasBuddy, a service that tracks gasoline prices and outages.

DeHaan says there is plenty of gasoline in the region, but getting it from distribution terminals to stations is a challenge.

He says the situation is exacerbated because “everyone wants it at the same time.”

By midday Wednesday, 5 percent of stations in North Carolina were out, including 10 percent of those in Wilmington and Raleigh-Durham. In South Carolina, 2 percent of stations had run out and in Virginia, 1 percent.

DeHaan says truck stops and major chains with bigger supply systems are more likely to have gas than small stations. ___ 2 p.m. Some airports in the Carolinas are shutting down as Hurricane Florence approaches, and American Airlines says it’s canceling 565 flights through the weekend.

American said Wednesday that it has stopped flying at Greenville, Jacksonville and New Bern, North Carolina, and would shut down Wednesday night in Wilmington and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina.

American plans to stop flights in Columbia, South Carolina, and Hampton-Newport News, Virginia, on Thursday evening.

Most of the closures will run through Sunday, with a few lifting after Saturday.

American says it’s seeing no impact at its big hub in Charlotte, North Carolina, and expects only scattered cancellations through Saturday at Raleigh-Durham. ___ 2 p.m. Forecasters say the U.S. coast won’t see waves generated by Hurricane Florence that are anywhere near as high as the 83-foot (25-meter) giant that was possibly picked up on a satellite.

Chris Landsea is chief of tropical analysis and the forecast branch at the National Hurricane Center. He says that when waves and the hurricane move in a straight and similar line, it’s possible to get a wave as big as the image conveyed by the satellite Wednesday. Storms this strong usually generate waves of 40 feet to 50 feet (12 to 15 meters).

But Landsea say the waves won’t be anywhere in the same ballpark when they reach shore because they get smaller as the water gets shallower.

He also says that there is a chance that radar misinterpreted rain as an 83-foot wave.

Florence is such a huge storm that 12-foot (4-meter) seas extend for 345 miles (555 miles) from the storm’s eye. ___ 1:15 p.m. Mississippi is sending National Guard members and search-and-rescue workers to areas affected by Hurricane Florence.

Two swift-water rescue teams including local firefighters from 22 communities have gone to Virginia to help with rescue operations in case of flooding.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Greg Michel says Virginia is paying for the deployments under an interstate emergency-assistance compact. The Mississippi Office for Homeland Security says teams arrived Wednesday in the Virginia towns of Dublin and Pulaski.

Soldiers based in Meridian, Mississippi, will provide airlift support for relief after the storm using two CH-47 Chinook helicopters. Members of the Mississippi Air National Guard are deploying to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida to help with relief planning and coordination.

More than 60 people are participating in the deployments. ___ 1:15 p.m. A program that provides health care benefits to military families and retirees is making it easier to get care during evacuations related to Hurricane Florence.

The Defense Health Agency announced in a new release on Wednesday that it is waiving referral requirements for TRICARE beneficiaries under mandatory evacuation orders in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. TRICARE says this means beneficiaries from 40 counties in those states may see a provider in any location without a referral from their primary care provider.

The waiver is in effect until Sept. 21. TRICARE says it has about 1.5 million beneficiaries in the Carolinas and Virginia. ___ 12:55 p.m. Georgia’s governor has declared a state of emergency for all 159 counties as forecasters now say Hurricane Florence could take a southwest turn.

In a news release Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal says the state “is mobilizing all available resources to ensure public safety ahead of Hurricane Florence.”

Deal’s declaration Wednesday covers comes as the National Weather Service’s storm forecast shows a chance that Florence’s track might turn toward the southwest as it approaches the Carolinas later this week.

No storm watches or warnings are in effect for Georgia. But forecasters say there’s an increased chance for tropical storm winds to reach Savannah.

Deal’s emergency declaration cited potential “changes in the storm’s trajectory” as well as an influx of evacuees coming to Georgia from the Carolinas. The order eases regulations on trucks hauling gasoline and relief supplies into Georgia. ___ 12:40 p.m. Airlines are starting to cancel more flights as Hurricane Florence approaches the Southeast coast.

At midday Wednesday, tracking service FlightAware said more than 400 U.S. flights scheduled for Thursday had been canceled, most of them in the Southeast.

In Wilmington, North Carolina, four-fifths of Thursday’s departures have been scrapped. Anywhere from about one-third to more than half of departures have been canceled in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

The numbers are sure to rise as airlines begin cutting flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Airlines typically wait until about 24 hours before takeoff before canceling a flight.

Delta Air Lines says it’s adding about 1,000 seats on flights to and from the Southeast for people trying to flee the storm. ___ 12:40 p.m. Virginia has opened two state-managed shelters to assist people evacuating ahead of Hurricane Florence.

The shelters at Christopher Newport University in Newport News and at The College of William & Mary Williamsburg opened Wednesday morning.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s office said in a statement that they are open to Virginians or residents of other states who have nowhere else to go. No identification or proof of residency is needed to seek shelter.

The facilities will provide only basic services, so anyone reporting to one is encouraged to bring supplies including a personal emergency kit, medications and medical equipment.

The statement says 24 localities across the state are opening local shelters as well. Cities and counties have been distributing information about those sites through their websites and social media pages.

Virginia is under a state of emergency as Florence approaches, and Northam has issued a mandatory evacuation order for around 245,000 people in the state’s lowest-lying coastal areas. ___ 12:40 p.m. Residents of South Carolina who thought they were going to be safe from Hurricane Florence are now rushing to prepare after a slight change in the forecast.

Current forecast models have the hurricane shifting south. Previously, North Carolina was forecast to be more at risk.

Chris Pennington was boarding up the windows of his Myrtle Beach house late Wednesday morning after noticing that the latest forecast has Florence coming inland nearly over his home.

Pennington says he is still leaning toward staying put, but that he’ll keep a really close eye on the weather and leave by Thursday afternoon if necessary.

He says one reason for staying is that his wife would be available to help if needed at the local animal hospital where she works. ___ 12:15 p.m. President Donald Trump is urging those in the path of Hurricane Florence to act now to “get out of its way.”

Trump is telling residents, “Don’t play games with it. It’s a big one.” The president made his comments in a videotaped message from the Rose Garden that he tweeted out on Wednesday morning. Trump says the federal government and first responders stand ready to assist, but even so, “bad things can happen when you’re talking about a storm this size.”

Trump is telling people in the Carolinas and Virginia: “it’s heading your way. … Be ready and God be with you.” ___ 12:15 a.m. The steady shift South that forecasters are expecting for Hurricane Florence has areas once thought to be in the clear worried. In Beaufort County, South Carolina, Emergency Management Division Commander Neil Baxley told residents Wednesday that they need to prepare for the worst — just in case.

Baxley says a direct hit from Florence could bring worse flooding than the state’s great flood of 2015 after 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell on parts of the county. The flooding closed several bridges and isolated big parts of the marshy, low lying county.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced evacuations of Beaufort County on Monday, but then rescinded them the next day when forecasts appeared to be sending the storm into North Carolina. ___ 12:15 a.m. Forecasters say conditions are still good for already powerful Hurricane Florence to strengthen a little as it moves over very warm waters.

Senior National Hurricane Center specialist Stacy Stewart says as the Category 4 Florence slows down and moves into shallower waters close to shore, the cooler sea temperatures and increasing contact with land will help reduce its strength.

But in a forecast discussion on the center’s website Wednesday, Stewart stressed the weaker winds will not diminish hazards from the storm.

Stewart says the impacts of the storm will cover a wide area “regardless of exactly where the center of Florence moves.” ___ 11:20 a.m. Federal regulators are reviewing preparations for nuclear plants in the Carolinas as Hurricane Florence approaches the coast.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said it’s sending additional inspectors to plants in North and South Carolina and is activating its regional incident response center in Atlanta, to provide around-the-clock staff support during the storm.

The NRC says Duke Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant south of Wilmington, North Carolina, could face hurricane-force winds, major storm surges and heavy rain.

Duke says it has a procedure to begin shutting down plants at least two hours before the arrival of hurricane-force winds. Duke also operates three nuclear plants in South Carolina, though none are on the coast. ___ 11:20 a.m. U.S. Coast Guard crews in Charleston, South Carolina, are making final preparations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence.

Capt. John Reed says the Coast Guard is asking people to heed evacuation orders and leave coastal areas. The Coast Guard says mariners shouldn’t go out to sea in recreational boats and should use 911 and not social media to report life-threatening distress. Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered people in coastal areas including Charleston to evacuate the area ahead of the Category 4 storm.

Reed says the Coast Guard will work with local officials as soon as it’s safe to assess waterways and help anyone in distress. ___ 11:20 a.m. The mayor of a town outside Charleston, South Carolina, is telling people to “take control of your destiny” and leave town now before Hurricane Florence arrives.

Will Haynie is mayor of the Town of Mount Pleasant, just to the east of Charleston, South Carolina. He urged residents on Wednesday to get out of the path of the massive and powerful Category 4 storm, the likes of which he said the area hasn’t seen since 1989’s Hugo. Haynie says local buses in the Charleston area will pick residents up and get them to shelters until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Haynie says residents “can take control of your destiny by getting of the way of this dangerous storm.” ___ 11:20 a.m. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is urging residents in evacuation zones to move to safety, saying the effects of Hurricane Florence are “only hours away.”

Cooper spoke at a news conference Wednesday morning with other emergency management officials. The governor said there’s still time for coastal residents to evacuate if their home is at risk and time for others to finish preparing for the storm.

Cooper says “disaster is at the doorstep, and it’s coming in.” The governor added that “a lot of people that might normally stay through a hurricane have recognized that this one is different.” Shelters began opening Tuesday and more will open Wednesday. Cooper says state flood plain experts have been modeling the storm’s projected impacts and found that from the storm surge alone, tens of thousands of structures are expected to be flooded.

The governor also announced he had activated more National Guard soldiers. Emergency management officials said 3,000 would be on active duty by Wednesday evening, with more on standby. ___ 11:20 a.m. The mayor of a South Carolina city in the projected path of Hurricane Florence says residents need to leave the area as soon as possible.

Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN on Wednesday that seeing the storm’s newly projected path toward her city was like “waking up to a sucker punch.”

To the city’s roughly 32,000 residents, Bethune says Myrtle Beach “is not a place where you want to be” when the storm arrives.

Myrtle Beach is one of the state’s tourism centers. It is among coastal areas under mandatory evacuation orders by Gov. Henry McMaster. Bethune says she’s particularly worried about projected storm surge from the storm, which has slowed down and could linger along South Carolina’s coast, dumping inches (centimeters) of rain. ___ 11:20 a.m. Dozens of airmen are assembling at a New York Air National Guard base on Long Island to prepare for deployment to Southern states in the path of Hurricane Florence.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that 50 members of the 106th Rescue Wing based at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach are preparing to travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. He says elements of the unit will depart as early as Wednesday afternoon to offer assistance along coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The New York Army National Guard is ready to deploy four helicopters to help storm response efforts. The aircraft are based at the Army Aviation Support Facility at Rochester International Airport. ___ 11:05 a.m. Forecasters say Hurricane Florence is generating enormous waves, as high as 83 feet (25 meters) as it makes its way toward the East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center says the waves were measured by satellite.

The huge waves are being produced because currents are trapped by very strong winds moving in the same direction the storm’s motion. The center’s Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch is tweeting about the phenomenon.

The center of the storm is about 485 miles (785 kilometers) out to sea, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 175 miles (280 kilometers). ___ 11 a.m. Forecasters say Hurricane Florence is expected to steadily slow down as it makes its way toward the East Coast.

At 11 a.m., the storm was centered 485 miles (785 kilometers) southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving at 15 mph (24 kph).

It’s a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm with 130 mph (215 kph) maximum sustained winds.

Some strengthening is forecast through Wednesday night, drawing energy from the warm water. Its winds could approach Category 5 strength, which means winds of 157 mph (253 kph) or higher.

Florence is the most dangerous of three tropical systems in the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Isaac was expected to pass south of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba. Hurricane Helene was expected to weaken over the eastern Atlantic. Forecasters also were tracking two other disturbances. ___ 10:45 a.m. Forecasters said Wednesday that Florence’s wind field is expanding, making it a large, stable hurricane with a clearly defined eye at its center.

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham warns that a slight shift in Florence’s forecast track does not mean that some communities north of the storm are now in the clear.

The “cone of error” in the forecast track only predicts where the storm’s center might go, and even on its edges, winds can push a powerful storm surge into shore dozens of miles from where Florence’s eyewall strikes land.

As Graham says, “just because you have a landfall to your south doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods, because the winds are huge around this system.” ___ 10:30 a.m. The Homeland Security Department is pushing back against a Democratic U.S. senator’s claim that the Trump administration transferred nearly $10 million from the government’s disaster relief agency to immigration enforcement.

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said the administration was taking money from FEMA’s “response and recovery” to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at a time when Hurricane Florence is bearing down on the Southeast U.S. coast.

But DHS officials said the money was transferred from unspent operational accounts for training, office supplies and headquarters costs. That funding cannot be spent on disaster response, they said. FEMA’s annual budget is about $15 billion.

Merkley provided no evidence for his suggestion that the money came from hurricane response funds. ___ 9:30 a.m. Jeff Byard of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says it is imperative locals heed the evacuation warnings.

He says the time to flee Hurricane Florence is now. Landfall was expected sometime late Thursday and FEMA officials said Wednesday was the last day for people to get out safely.

“Today’s the day,” he said. “It’s time for our citizens to be a part of the team. Heed those warnings and evacuate if you’re in one of the zones.”

Byard told a news conference at FEMA headquarters in Washington that the agency has all the resources it needs to react to the natural disaster. ___ 8:55 a.m.

The mayor of a South Carolina city in the path of powerful Hurricane Florence is warning citizens to get out or stay “at your own peril.” Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg told CNN on Wednesday that the nearly 135,000 residents of his historic coastal city should leave now before the storm arrives later in the week.

Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered evacuations in counties along the state’s coast, including Charleston. All lanes of Interstate 26 are westbound to allow more people to leave the coast and head inland toward the state capital of Columbia.

Tecklenburg said his flood-prone city is preparing for “copious rain” by clearing out the city’s drainage system and getting boats and portable pumps ready. Many areas in the low-lying city flood with routine rain storms, causing street closures and detours. ___ 8:30 a.m. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Florence “will likely be the storm of a lifetime for portions of the Carolina coast.” That’s saying a lot, given the impacts from Hurricanes Diana, Hugo, Fran, Bonnie, Floyd, and Matthew.

Forecasters in Wilmington, North Carolina, are emphasizing the potential for what they’re calling “unbelievable damage from wind, storm surge, and inland flooding.”

With predicted rainfall measured in feet not inches, forecasters say people living along creeks and rivers in the Carolinas should move to higher ground well ahead of the storm’s arrival.

By Associated Press

[kansascityhappenings]

Joe’s Weather Blog: A multi part storm in Florence (TUE-9/11)

Hurricane Florence continues to move towards the Carolinas…and the data hasn’t wavered much over the past 5 days or so…it’s been somewhat amazingly consistent (except the GFS model) and that’s why you’re hearing more confident forecasts and have for the last few days. There are still obvious landfall issues and while many focus purely on that part of Florence, in reality, it’s a small part of what waits for that part of the country. For example…many remember the devastating flooding in the Houston area from Harvey…but landfall on that terrible hurricane was actually much farther south…north of Corpus Christi…it was the stalling part of the storm and the looping back into the Gulf that created the devastating floods that were the main component of the storm.

Florence has now become the biggest news story of the day and you’re hearing a lot about preparations…over 1 million being evacuated, perhaps more. Storm surge…wind…tornadoes…coastal erosion, and what may be the biggest issue..inland flooding…are all likely unless something different happens in a substantial way compared to the data available.

Models this morning are showing the tell tale signs of either a slowing hurricane or a hurricane that tries to do loop de loops (sp) as the storm comes inland…this is a result of a collapse of steering. Also sometimes as hurricanes come ashore the frictional effects of land can slow the storm down…especially when there is not a lot of push to the storm to begin with.

More of Florence in a minute.

Back home into KC though…status quo…nice weather with warmer temperatures through the weekend…highs may nudge close to 90° in some spots, especially downtown KC. No rain is expected till early next week and I’m not confident we’ll get that much from that although we should see a nice cold front come through the region.

Forecast:

Today: Sunny and seasonable with higher into the lower 80s

Tonight: Clear and pleasant with lows near 60°

Wednesday: Sunny with highs 80-85°

Thursday: Sunny with highs in the mid 80s

Discussion:

Obviously let’s get more into Florence.

When hurricanes intensify rapidly, like what happened yesterday, in many cases they peak out and actually weaken a bit. This is because the core of the storm undergoes a restructuring. This is called an ERC or Eyewall Replacement Cycle. This occurred last night. What happens is that the eye of the storm falls apart as a new eye surrounds it and eventually replaces it. Instead of a nice clear center of a hurricane on the satellite pictures…the eye gets more disorganized and isn’t circular anymore. As this process occurs the winds around the core of the storm tend to weaken.

This happened as well…the morning update has Florence “down” to 130 MPH…

Interestingly though…as this process occurs the wind field of the hurricane actually expands…so the hurricane actually becomes bigger in size. Winds expand away from the core of the storm…the waves increase farther away from the center as a result…and in the end you have a bigger hurricane in size at least.

When the cycle completes…assuming the atmosphere is still favorable and the Ocean is still warm (that’s the gas for the hurricane engine) the storm can get stronger again from a wind perspective and model data this morning shows this potential today and tomorrow.

As the day moves along and you watch the images looping above…note the eye of the hurricane…IF it starts to clear out again…that will be a sign that the storm is strengthening from a core standpoint. There is recon data this morning that is showing perhaps a new strengthening process is beginning

[#tweetForScientists] Flight-level winds came in quite strong on the latest recon pass through the eastern eyewall, peaking at 143 kt. The outer eyewall is already well-defined, and the inner one nearly fully eroded. pic.twitter.com/v0EzKY0thD

— Levi Cowan (@TropicalTidbits) September 11, 2018

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What happens at flight level (close to 10,000 feet or so I think) isn’t necessarily what happens on the surface…but it can be an eventual indicator down the road.

Messaging of the storm though hasn’t changed really. Again while the landfall point may change the results will be about the same.

The winds from Florence will really start increasing later Wednesday into Thursday morning.

All the graphics above will be updating throughout the day and night so the most current information will be on the blog.

When many talk about hurricanes…the winds are always the 1st item of conversation…how strong are the winds? That seems to be the measure of hurricanes…which gets you half way down the road really when it comes to landfall. In the end though, as I showed you yesterday…flooding is almost the bigger issue and with Florence that will likely be the main thing again.

From a wind standpoint…lots of damage will take place near and to the right of the core’s landfall along the coastal areas.

The chart above, via the EURO model shows the cumulative wind swath of the storm into the weekend.

Look carefully below…the EURO model portrays the strongest wind gusts in the Carolinas. I saw a 120 MPH gust and odds are there are stronger winds somewhere near the core. These would be the strongest winds later Thursday as the storm comes ashore

From the NWS in NC…

Based on the current track of #Florence, devastating wind gusts well over 100 mph are possible across coastal sections of southern ENC. Florence will be a major hurricane at landfall, it is urgent that you make proper preparations and follow all evacuation orders. #ncwx pic.twitter.com/G3o8ujd6LH

— NWS Newport/Morehead (@NWSMoreheadCity) September 11, 2018

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Then data suggests that the storm will stall. Flooding is going to be the main problem then.

The map above is VERY subject to change…and the axis of heaviest rains/flooding will be changing I think over the next couple of days as we try to figure out where the stall occurs and what happens from there.

As you might expect…while we may think that the Carolinas are used to this…it’s not that often that this strong a hurricane hits.

This is located at the Wrightsville Beach Museum. #Hazel literally is heads above the rest! pic.twitter.com/MMlWU1Ake3

— Met. Eclipse (@TARCweather) September 10, 2018

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Note the height of the water from 1954 and Hurricane Hazel…another 5 FEET higher than the devastating floods/water levels from the other storms at Wrightsville Beach.

Three hurricane have hit the Carolinas at Category Four strength since 1851… looks like Florence will make number four later this week. pic.twitter.com/x3z1qa8rPe

— James Spann (@spann) September 10, 2018

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Are folks in NC prepared…well yes and no…

There are five nuclear power plants & almost 1,000 chemical & plastics manufacturing plants in North Carolina. Over 230k homes face storm surge risk but only one county has >50% insured for flood. The poverty rate is 15%. These numbers scare me most about #HurricaneFlorence.

— Scott Knowles (@USofDisaster) September 11, 2018

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A LOT of people don’t have the proper insurance…so that aspect isn’t encouraging. Flood insurance is VERY expensive and many simply can’t afford it.

Then there is the aspect of new people moving there…and this is a BIG issue as well. The last major (110+ MPH winds) hurricane to hit the Carolinas was HUGO back in 1989…that’s almost 30 years ago! Many haven’t gone through a hurricane like that before.

NO major hurricanes in the Carolinas since 1989 (Hugo)#GIS MAP= % INCREASE IN POPULATION BY COUNTY from 1990 to 2010 (@uscensusbureau)

RED/PURPLE Counties = 100% + population growth, many w/ NO hurricane experience

PLEASE follow #HurricaneFlorence guidance from authorities pic.twitter.com/9bpQjSEmxd

— Ryan Miller (@RyanMiller_WX) September 11, 2018

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For example…in Wilmington, NC…in the mid 80s there were about 45,000 people living there…since then the population has more than doubled to close to 120,000. A LOT of folks don’t have a memory of a storm to fall back on…and say to themselves “we want no part of that again”. You can really appreciate this by looking towards the coastal areas especially…and this is since the year 2000!

Worth mentioning the continued population & exposure growth in the potential path of #Florence. Many spots show robust change since 2000.

Such rapid changes means many new residents have yet to experience hurricane conditions and/or severe inland flooding. pic.twitter.com/gdLmHZDhjr

— Steve Bowen (@SteveBowenWx) September 10, 2018

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Since Hugo…it’s even more apparent courtesy @SteveBowenwx

                  The land use has changed as well over the decades. I sent this tweet out yesterday showing the changes since the mid 80s in Wilmington, NC.

One of the many aspects about hurricane destruction along our coastlines over the years are how buildings are built and also how development has occurred through the years. For example… @CityofWilm 1984 (left) and 2016 (right). @NWSWilmingtonNC JL #Florence pic.twitter.com/zYorUoWmj8

— Fox 4 Weather KC (@fox4wx) September 10, 2018

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Zoom in area of Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. While we don't know exactly where or if #Florence will make landfall, we do know that development and societal growth in this region has rapidly amplified over the last 78 years. #ExpandingBullsEye pic.twitter.com/wI6li0A93y

— Stephen M. Strader (@StephenMStrader) September 10, 2018

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So there are many aspects to this eventual disaster at play right now. From storm surge (more on that tomorrow) to wind damage along the coastal areas…to flooding…and other items to consider with this storm.

It is an impressive storm!

Sunrise on Hurricane Florence.

Gorgeous 30-second imagery. pic.twitter.com/W6QKSSJSKQ

— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) September 11, 2018

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There is some consternation within the weather community about the seemingly poor forecasts coming out of the GFS model. It remains to be seen what eventually happens with Florence but in most cases the GFS model has been ignored by most seasoned forecasters because is some strange solutions. The GFS model is likely to be replaced to start 2019 by a model called the FV3…which has been more consistent and seemingly more realistic with it’s portrayal of intensity etc with this storm. One meteorologist took a deeper dive into WHY the GFS model may be performing poorly with it’s forecast. I even learned something and it all comes down to microphysics.

1) Let's reason out why the #GFS tracks #Florence NE of the #ECWMF even now 3 days till verification? Look at the upper-level cirrus canopy b/c cloud-radiative feedback is important.

The #GFS has a thicker & more expansive cirrus plume NW of #Florence. What is its significance? pic.twitter.com/MPu8h0iJAi

— Philippe Papin (@pppapin) September 11, 2018

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OK I need to stop here…if you can find a more through and comprehensive blog about this storm…let me know I need to check it out!

Our feature photo comes from Tammi Camlin…

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2018/09/11/joes-weather-blog-a-multi-part-storm-in-florence-tue-9-11/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/joes-weather-blog-a-multi-part-storm-in-florence-tue-9-11/