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Millions expected to travel for Thanksgiving; what's open and closed; 60th anniversary of the JFK assassination | Hot off the Wire podcast

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  • 2 min to read

On this version of Hot off the Wire:

Millions of people are expected to hit airports and highways in record numbers over the Thanksgiving holiday. AAA forecasts that 55.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home with roads likely to be the most clogged on Wednesday.

The holiday season is here, which means spending time with family on Thanksgiving and also, for millions of people, hunting for the best deals on Black Friday. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November each year, which takes place this week. A lot of national retailers are keeping the doors closed on Thursday to give employees time with families and to recharge for the holidays ahead. That includes some of the biggest chains like Walmart and Target, which plan to re-open stores on Friday.

Holiday meals may be changing for millions of Americans struggling with obesity and taking a new generation of weight-loss drugs. Experts and consumers say the drugs are shifting dining habits and social norms around food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving, Passover and Christmas. Some users welcome greater control over what they eat during the holidays. Others may lose their appetites entirely, doctors say, risking what one researcher called “the reward of having a beautiful meal.”

Thanksgiving may be a time for Americans to come together, but opinion is divided over what’s on the crowded dinner table. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research looks at the country's Thanksgiving tastes. Americans mostly agree on the deliciousness of pumpkin pie. And turkey rules. But we’re split over the eternal turkey question of dark meat versus white meat. And don’t even ask if marshmallows belong on sweet potatoes — it could cause a ruckus. The least favorite dishes? About two in 10 American celebrators said cranberries or cranberry sauce are their least favorite part of the feast. As for the cooking, women are much more likely than men to say they'll do all or most of it.

As the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John. F. Kennedy is marked, the last surviving witnesses remember the day as part of a new National Geographic series "JFK: One Day in America."

HINSDALE, N.H. (AP) — For years, Geoffrey Holt was known as a mobile home park groundskeeper in a small New Hampshire town. Now, he's being remembered as a millionaire who gave his fortune to the community. Holt died in June at age 82. His 4,200 fellow residents in the town of Hinsdale recently learned he left nearly $4 million to benefit the following areas: education, health, recreation and culture. Holt was a modest man with few needs, but also a savvy investor who read financial publications. The Connecticut River town that has the nation's oldest continually operating post office plans to use the money frugally, as he did.

 


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