DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — With the price of gas, groceries and housing continuing to climb, many who live in Durham say there’s not much left over to put away at the end of the month.

Samuel Fisher was filling up his daughter’s car at a Durham gas station when he admitted he’s had to get creative to stretch his budget. “We haven’t saved. We’re not rich,” he said. “We were saving a few hundred dollars here and there.”

Fisher said he’s now driving his daughter’s smaller car while she’s on vacation because it’s cheaper to fill up than his SUV. “It costs me 90 dollars to fill up,” he said with a laugh. “She’s not here, so I’m going to drive her car. Save some money.”

For others, cutting back has become a daily routine. Anne McConville said everything she was wearing came from a thrift store. “Black jumpsuit, black top and this necklace that was only three dollars,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

McConville said shopping secondhand helps her afford the basics. “Every time I go shopping, I spend 100 dollars. For me. I just buy produce.”

A new federal report shows Americans are saving less overall. The U.S. personal savings rate fell to 2.6 percent in April, a sign that rising costs for essentials are squeezing household budgets.

Arkell Barnes, a Triangle-based financial advisor for the past 30 years, said even small amounts of savings matter. “I always recommend people put something away no matter what. Pay yourself first,” he said.

Barnes said finding small ways to cut costs can help families build a cushion. “Refinancing, taking meals to work instead of going out, watching your subscriptions,” he said.

It’s advice 79-year-old Jerry McClain is already following. Pushing a cart of groceries to his car, he said he’s scaled back his spending. “I’m older, so I don’t do as much,” McClain said. “I don’t go out as much. I don’t eat out as much.”

Barnes said more people are also picking up side jobs to bring in extra income. It’s something he believes could help boost savings in the long run.

WASHINGTON (WBTV) – A student from North Carolina finished fourth in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night.

Thirteen-year-old Kushi Gottimukkala made it to the 15th round of the May 28 spelling bee in Washington, D.C. before she misspelled the word “cara sposa.” She spelled it “carra spoza.”

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, cara sposa is an Italian word that means “dear wife.”

Gottimukkala is a seventh-grader at Carnage G&T Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. She was one of a handful of students to have been sponsored by the Carolina Panthers.

This year’s bee was not her first time participating in the national spelling competition. She finished 41st in the 2025 event.

Outside of spelling, Gottimukkala is active in Science Olympiad, MathCounts and a dance group. She enjoys reading and has an interest in history books and documentaries.

Fourteen-year-old Shrey Parikh from California won Thursday’s spelling bee after a “spell-off” decided the champion.

Also Read: 14-year-old battles nerves, dominates spell-off to win National Spelling Bee

A shooting last week outside a Raleigh courthouse is reviving a push for laws that would allow a court to confiscate firearms from people who are believed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Twenty-two states have laws allowing extreme risk protection orders, known as “red- flag” laws, which allow courts to temporarily restrict firearm access for people considered dangerous.

The laws generally allow a judge to make that determination and order a gun owner to surrender firearms and permits. It would also allow an appeals process.

Authorities say Gwendolyn White retrieved a handgun from her vehicle before shooting two lawyers outside a Wake County courthouse on Friday. Authorities said they later recovered multiple firearms from her home, including rifles. White has been charged in the shootings. 

Attempts to reach White and her current legal representative have been unsuccessful. 

Seth Blum, a lawyer who previously represented White, told WRAL that she called the police on her neighbors dozens of times. “Every time the police came out, they would investigate,” Blum said. “And Ms. White had this fixed belief that her neighbors were poisoning her through her air conditioning system, which there’s no evidence at all that that was true.”

Police alleged that White previously threatened a hospital and Blum described her as having an “untreated mental illness.”

“This case shows why this should be law,” said Wiley Nickel, a Democrat who is running unopposed for Wake County district attorney, referring to red-flag laws.

Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey, has introduced red-flag legislation since 2018, but the bills have not advanced in the Republican-led General Assembly.

“From just the news reports I’ve heard, I agree that this might have helped,” Morey said, referring to the White case. She said under her proposal, a judge could have been asked to temporarily remove firearms if concerns were raised about mental illness and access to guns.

Spokespeople for Senate leader Phil Berger did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall said Thursday: “This legislation is going nowhere” and criticized Democrats, including Morey, who voted against legislation last year that ramps up monitoring of alleged criminals with mental health problems, among other reforms.  Morey didn’t immediately provide a response to Hall’s comment.

Republicans and gun rights groups oppose the proposal, arguing it violates due process protections by allowing firearms to be removed based on allegations — before an actual criminal conviction. They also argue the focus should be on keeping repeat violent offenders and people in crisis off the streets, rather than restricting access to guns through civil court orders.

Paul Valone, president of gun-rights advocacy group Grass Roots North Carolina, said existing laws surrounding involuntary commitment and criminal enforcement should be used more aggressively instead of creating a new firearm restriction process. 

“They leave violent offenders on the streets, while confiscating firearms from lawful gun owners, in ex-parte hearings that defendants might not even know are occurring, much less get a chance to defend themselves in court,” Valone said.

Eighty-seven percent of respondents to a 2022 WRAL News poll supported red-flag laws.

Gov. Josh Stein has also supported similar restrictions. After a 2024 mass shooting in Southport, Stein said North Carolina needed a stronger response to “profoundly troubled” people and called for adoption of a red-flag law.

At the federal level, the debate intensified after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students dead. 

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., helped negotiate the bipartisan federal gun safety law signed by former President Joe Biden that encouraged states to adopt crisis intervention and red-flag programs.