ISABELLA O’MALLEY, BRITTANY PETERSON and DREW COSTLEY (Associated Press)

Schools in New Delhi were forced to close Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the Indian capital, with landslides and flash floods killing at least 15 people over the last three days. Farther north, the overflowing Beas River swept vehicles downstream as it flooded neighborhoods.

In Japan, torrential rain pounded the southwest, causing floods and mudslides that left two people dead and at least six others missing Monday. Local TV showed damaged houses in Fukuoka prefecture and muddy water from the swollen Yamakuni River appearing to threaten a bridge in the town of Yabakei. In Ulster County, in New York’s Hudson Valley and in Vermont, some said the flooding is the worst they’ve seen since Hurricane Irene’s devastation in 2011.

Although destructive flooding in India, Japan, China, Turkey and the United States might seem like distant events, atmospheric scientists say they have this in common: Storms are forming in a warmer atmosphere, making extreme rainfall a more frequent reality now. The additional warming that scientists predict is coming will only make it worse.

That’s because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which results in storms dumping more precipitation that can have deadly outcomes. Pollutants, especially carbon dioxide and methane, are heating up the atmosphere. Instead of allowing heat to radiate away from Earth into space, they hold onto it.

While climate change is not the cause of storms unleashing the rainfall, these storms are forming in an atmosphere that is becoming warmer and wetter.

“Sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit can hold twice as much water as 50 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Rodney Wynn, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay. “Warm air expands and cool air contracts. You can think of it as a balloon – when it’s heated the volume is going to get larger, so therefore it can hold more moisture.”

For every 1 degree Celsius, which equals 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, the atmosphere warms, it holds approximately 7% more moisture. According to NASA, the average global temperature has increased by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1880.

“When a thunderstorm develops, water vapor gets condensed into rain droplets and falls back down to the surface. So as these storms form in warmer environments that have more moisture in them, the rainfall increases,” explained Brian Soden, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami.

Along Turkey’s mountainous and scenic Black Sea coast, heavy rains swelled rivers and damaged cities with flooding and landslides. At least 15 people were killed by flooding in another mountainous region, in southwestern China.

“As the climate gets warmer we expect intense rain events to become more common, it’s a very robust prediction of climate models,” Soden added. “It’s not surprising to see these events happening, it’s what models have been predicting ever since day one.”

Gavin Schmidt, climatologist and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said the regions being hit hardest by climate change are not the ones who emit the largest amount of planet-warming pollutants.

“The bulk of the emissions have come from the industrial Western nations and the bulk of the impacts are happening in places that don’t have good infrastructure, that are less prepared for weather extremes and have no real ways to manage this,” said Schmidt.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By RIO YAMAT (Associated Press)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas police officer accused of carrying out a trio of casino heists will face trial after a jury was finalized Monday afternoon.

Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday with prosecutors for the federal government expected to paint Caleb Rogers as a gambling addict who grew increasingly desperate under a crush of debt. The trial is anticipated to last through the end of the week.

Rogers, 35, is accused of stealing nearly $165,000 in three robberies over four months at casinos off the Las Vegas Strip. In at least one of the heists, he was armed with a weapon issued by the police department, prosecutors have said.

The officer’s attorney, Richard Pocker, said the government’s evidence allegedly tying Rogers to two of the robberies is weak. He accused the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detectives of pressuring two people, including Rogers’ brother, into identifying him as the suspect in the robberies to close out the cases.

Rogers made off with more than $85,000 in the first two robberies between November 2021 and January 2022 at casinos off the Las Vegas Strip while his police colleagues spent months trying to catch the thief, investigators and prosecutors said.

In February 2022, authorities said, Rogers bagged an additional $79,000 in a third robbery at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, but security guards detained him outside following a brief struggle.

The robber’s approach was essentially the same in all three crimes, authorities said. He wore a face mask, dark clothing and black latex gloves. After cashiers handed over the money, he placed the cash inside a bag underneath his jacket. Then the suspect with the “unique gait” ran back to a “disposable vehicle,” limping “because of a problem with his leg,” according to a criminal complaint.

Mehmet Erdem, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose expertise includes hotel and casino operations, said that casino heists are hard to successfully pull off.

“The chances you get caught and are identified is very high,” he said, because of a combination of robust casino security teams with uniformed guards and plainclothes officers and advancements in security technology including facial recognition software and high-definition cameras.

Rogers was a seven-year police veteran employed by the Las Vegas metro police as an active-duty patrol officer at the time of the robberies. He remains employed but is on unpaid leave “without police powers” pending the outcome of the criminal case, a department spokesperson said.

The witness list includes casino cashiers, security guards and Josiah Rogers, who identified his brother on video captured by casino security cameras during the first two robberies. Josiah Rogers has been granted immunity from prosecution.

Caleb Rogers, who was denied bail and has been in custody on four charges since his arrest, used his brother’s car in one of the robberies and instructed him to get rid of it shortly thereafter, according to court documents.

In the third alleged robbery, Rogers parked an unregistered minivan outside the casino and entered just before 7 a.m., while employees at the casino’s sportsbook prepared to open. He wore body armor underneath his clothing and was armed with a department-issued revolver with a yellow sticker covering its serial number, according to a criminal complaint.

He climbed over the counter, shoved one of two cashiers — a woman in her 60s — who was loading cash into registers from a plastic bag containing $119,000 and yelled that he had a gun, the complaint said. As he shoveled money into a bag hidden inside his jacket, loose bills floated onto the casino floor.

A group of security guards caught up to the suspect just after he made it past the casino’s exit with about $79,000 in his jacket. He drew his weapon and asked the guards if they were “willing to be shot over this” before one of them grabbed the gun, the complaint said.

When police officers arrived, Rogers allegedly announced his department personnel number, which authorities said is “a way police officers commonly identify themselves to one another.”

A detective later asked Rogers if anything could have been done to prevent the robberies, according to the complaint.

“Nothing,” Rogers said.

After the Norfolk Tides fell 5-2 at Durham on Sunday, an annual minor league ritual commenced.

Norfolk’s players, coaches and staffers scattered, happily, for a brief midseason sabbatical.

The final out of Sunday’s game marked the beginning of what used to be the International League’s four-day All-Star break. The league, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and an overhaul of the structure of the minor leagues, hasn’t participated in the Triple-A All-Star Game since 2019, leaving its principals to their own devices for a bit.

The first-half champion Tides (55-30, 7-4 second half) have players from six countries and 14 U.S. states. A cross-section of players from both near and far revealed a variety of plans for their time off.

Infielder Robbie Glendinning, for example, is a native of Scarborough, Australia. A former star at the University of Missouri, Glendinning planned to visit his fiancée, Aubrey, and their dogs at her home in Kansas City.

A return to Australia in such a short window would be out of the question.

“Going back, I would lose a day and then I would gain a day,” said the 27-year-old Glendinning, who plans to wed in October. “I think it would be fly back, look around and fly back to the States.”

Darwinzon Hernandez, a 26-year-old left-hander from Venezuela, planned to visit his wife and children at their Stateside home in Orlando. Hernandez, who has pitched in 91 major league games with the Boston Red Sox, will return to Venezuela in the offseason.

“Four days is good because you can reset and also spend some time with the family and stuff like that,” Hernandez said through a translator. “It’s good to have that reset time with the family.”

Norfolk manager Buck Britton, similarly, planned to drive his wife and two young daughters back to their home near Sarasota, Florida. Britton’s family had been with him in Norfolk since the season began.

“I think it’s huge getting a four-day break,” Britton, a native of Texas, said. “We’re playing 150 games now at this level, going all the way through September, which is unique.

“I think it’s good for these guys to get those four days off to kind of just reset, for sure.”

For players who live relatively close by, the break allows for options.

Garrett Stallings, a 25-year-old right-hander who attended Chesapeake’s Grassfield High and the University of Tennessee, planned to visit his parents in the Northern Neck hamlet of Heathsville, where they moved a couple of years ago.

Stallings, who joined the Tides late last month from Double-A Bowie, planned to take some friends with him to enjoy the nearby Chesapeake Bay.

“Sit by the water, maybe take the boat out a little bit,” Stallings said. “It’s nice having family close.”

Infielder Connor Norby, a former East Carolina star who makes his offseason home in Kernersville, North Carolina, planned to stay in the Durham area to visit his girlfriend before heading to Greenville to hang out with his brother, freshman left-hander Ethan, and their college coach, Cliff Godwin.

After that, Norby intended to return to Hampton Roads and relax.

“I don’t feel like going home this year,” he said. “Last year, I did. I just kind of want to just hang out here, maybe go to the beach for a day, get a massage, do something light.”

Norby’s roommate, fellow middle infielder Joey Ortiz, had similarly fluid plans. A native of Garden Grove, California, Ortiz figured that going home for such a short period made no sense. How he’d spend his break, therefore, was a bit of a mystery.

“I guess I spend so much time here that I never really think about time off,” Ortiz said in Harbor Park’s home clubhouse. “Maybe just hang out, relax, try and get the body right, get a massage.”

Stallings, who grew up going to Tides games, said he’s had to convince friends that he didn’t pull any strings to get assigned to his hometown team.

A look at Norfolk’s diverse roster, which includes players from as far as 10,000 miles away, makes Stallings realize how lucky he is.

“It kind of feels like a dream come true, just playing here,” Stallings said. “And then it kind of motivates me just a little bit more to make it to the major leagues.

“I’m just in that 1% chance that happened to make it to Triple-A, playing at a high level, and then also playing in the same park that I’d go to as a kid. So I’m taking all the extra time to sign every autograph I can (for) all the little kids out there because I was exactly in their same position. If you just keep working, their dream can come true, too.”

David Hall, [email protected]. Twitter @DavidHallVP.

By MATTHEW LEE (AP Diplomatic Writer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. intelligence assessment says Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons at the moment but has ramped up activities that could help it develop them.

The assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released Monday says Iran has moved to increase its capacity to produce an atomic bomb since 2020 but has stopped short of that so far.

The findings corresponded with previous U.S. assessments about Iran’s nuclear program, although many in Congress and elsewhere have been skeptical of those.

The Biden administration has been defending its desire to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, since it first took office. That effort has been complicated in recent months by the suspension of its chief negotiator, Rob Malley, who was placed on unpaid leave last month pending an investigation into claims he mishandled classified information.

“Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device,” according to the two-page unclassified synopsis of the report.

However, Iran is also pursuing “research and development activities that would bring it closer to producing the fissile material needed for completing a nuclear device following a decision to do so,” the report said.

In that regard, Iran continues to violate the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal regarding uranium enrichment that it agreed to with world powers, the report said. The Trump administration withdrew from that agreement in 2018.

“Iran continues to increase the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile beyond JCPOA limits,” the report said, adding that it also continues to exceed JCPOA restrictions on advanced centrifuge research and development.

These findings have been generally supported by inspections from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In addition to the nuclear findings, the U.S. intelligence report said that Iranian ballistic missile programs continue to pose a significant threat to countries around the Middle East. “Iran has emphasized improving the accuracy, lethality, and reliability of its missiles,” it said.

The first previously unreleased Prince songs in two years hit streaming services today.

Prince’s estate and NPG Records released “All A Share Together Now” and “7 (E Flat Version)” to digital service providers worldwide, although oddly enough not to Tidal, the streamer Prince personally endorsed. “All A Share Together Now” is a jazzy blues number that was recorded on Sept. 4, 2006. Here’s the audio track on YouTube:

“7 (E Flat Version)” is a radically different take on Prince’s 1992 hit “7,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Here’s the new version on YouTube:

It’s worth noting that 16 years ago today — July 7, 2007 — Prince famously played a trio of Minneapolis shows at Macy’s, Target Center and First Avenue.

The two recordings were previewed last month at Paisley Park’s Celebration 2023, where attendees were given the tracks on a cassette-shaped USB.

Prince was notorious for his vault filled with unheard music and the years after his 2016 death saw the release of two compilations of demos (“Piano and a Microphone 1983” and “Originals”), deluxe versions of his biggest albums (“Purple Rain,” “1999” and “Sign O’ the Times”) and the studio album “Welcome 2 America.” The latter came out in July 2021, leaving fans wondering why it took two years to hear more unreleased music.

The White Stripes’ Jack White acquired the rights to issue Prince’s unreleased 1986 album “Camille” on Third Man Records last year, but it has yet to materialize.

Approximately 4,000 sailors and Marines deployed Monday from Hampton Roads with the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group following nine months of training.

The amphibious group includes assault ship USS Bataan, transport dock USS Mesa Verde and docking landing ship USS Carter Hall, all of which are homeported in Hampton Roads. Serving aboard are Norfolk and Virginia Beach-based commands Amphibious Squadron 8, Fleet Surgical Team 8, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, Assault Craft Unit 4, Beach Master Unit 2, and California-based Tactical Air Control Squadron 12.

Joining the sailors are Marines from Camp Lejeune’s 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit was certified as “special operations capable” on Thursday. The designation of a special operations capable marine expeditionary unit (MEU(SOC)) is a first for the U.S. Marine Corps in more than a decade.

“Throughout our work-ups, the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th MEU(SOC) executed multiple advanced at-sea training exercises and fully integrated into a cohesive naval expeditionary force capable of supporting theater campaigning requirements while remaining postured, as the Nation’s Immediate Response Force, to rapidly respond to any crisis,” said Col. Dennis “Dolf” Sampson, commanding officer of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Coupled with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, the 26th MEU(SOC) is a premier crisis response force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations, to include enabling the introduction of follow-on forces and designated special operations.

“We are ready to complete any mission before us, and we are looking forward to the opportunities we will have to work alongside our allies and partners in the months ahead,” said Capt. Martin Robertson, commander of Amphibious Squadron 8. “Our sailors and marines have trained hard and are ready.”

Caitlyn Burchett, [email protected]

By The Associated Press

Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘s commanders pledged loyalty to the Russian government in a Kremlin meeting with President Vladimir Putin five days after they staged a short-lived rebellion, a senior government spokesman said Monday, the latest twist in a baffling episode that has raised questions about the power and influence both men wield.

The three-hour meeting took place June 29 and also involved not only Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine — where the mercenaries have fought alongside Russian troops — and of the revolt itself.

“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,” Peskov said.

The confirmation that Putin met face-to-face with Prigozhin, who led troops on a march to Moscow last month to demand a military leadership change, was extraordinary. Though the Russian leader branded Prigozhin a traitor as the revolt unfolded and vowed harsh punishment, the criminal case against the mercenary chief on rebellion charges was later dropped.

Prigozhin has not commented on the Kremlin meeting, and his ultimate fate remains unclear, particularly since Monday’s announcement shows much is negotiated behind closed doors. He could still face prosecution for financial wrongdoing or other charges.

Monday’s announcement came as Russia’s Defense Ministry published a video featuring military chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov — who was one of the targets of Prigozhin’s rebellion. It was the first time Gerasimov has been seen since the revolt.

The twin updates appeared to be another attempt by the Kremlin to show it’s in control after a turbulent period, and to reflect Putin’s delicate balance between condemning the biggest threat to his 23-year rule and the man behind it while not alienating a popular figure whose troops scored the biggest battlefield victory for Russia in the past year of the war.

Former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov told The Associated Press that Putin acknowledges Prigozhin’s patriotism and needs his forces on the front line, while Prigozhin needs Putin to ensure his freedom from prosecution. The two are negotiating as allies, with Prigozhin escaping punishment, Gallyamov said.

Prigozhin “emerged victorious from this rebellion,” Gallyamov said in a Zoom interview from Tel Aviv. “He has shown himself to be the master of the situation.”

Adding to the unusual nature of the meeting was that until very recently, Putin had denied any link between the state and Prigozhin’s forces. Mercenaries are illegal in Russia, but Wagner troops have fought for Russian interests around the globe and played a vital role in the capture of Bakhmut in the war’s longest and bloodiest battle. Putin has confirmed that Prigozhin’s companies operated under government contracts.

Throughout the war, Prigozhin has criticized decisions made by Russia’s top military brass, leading to tensions with the Kremlin that culminated in the June 24 mutiny.

The rebellion severely weakened Putin’s authority, even though Prigozhin claimed the uprising was not aimed at the president but at removing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov. Prigozhin called off his mutiny after a deal was brokered for him to go to Belarus.

Mark Galeotti, an author who heads the consulting firm Mayak Intelligence, said the delicate dance with Prigozhin is “a further compromise on Putin’s part and reflects his unwillingness to take tough and ruthless personnel decisions.”

“He is willing to see Ukrainians bombed by the dozen, but not confront any of the figures in his own circle,” Galeotti wrote in The Spectator.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, predicted that some Russian observers would be stunned by the turn of events.

“When you look from the point of view of Russian elite, it’s ridiculous,” she told the AP. “It’s just so unbelievable and just so shocking.”

Days after the revolt, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Prigozhin was in Belarus. But last week the president said the mercenary chief was in Russia while his troops remained in their camps.

Peskov said that during the June 29 meeting, Putin offered an “assessment” of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine and “of the events of June 24.” The president also “listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them options for further employment and further use in combat,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

A total of 35 people took part in the meeting, Peskov said. Putin has given options to Prigozhin’s fighters: fight as part of the regular Russian army, retire from service or join Prigozhin in Belarus.

A NATO summit later this week in Lithuania is looking at how to crank up the pressure on Moscow after 16 months of war.

In other developments, a Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine killed four adults as people gathered to receive humanitarian aid, the governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said Monday, branding the attack “a war crime.”

Three women and a man, all in their 40s, died in the strike Sunday in the town of Orikhiv, Gov. Yuriy Malashko said.

A guided aerial bomb caused an explosion at the school, Malashko said, without providing evidence. Eleven other people were wounded in the attack, he said.

Overall, Russia fired on 10 settlements in the province over the course of a day, he said.

Moscow denies it targets civilian locations. Russia has been accused numerous times of doing so and committing other war crimes since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Investigations are also underway in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, located in The Hague, is helping with those probes.

Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive to regain occupied land, and on Monday, the deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, reported progress.

She said the country’s fighters had reclaimed 10.2 square kilometers (3.9 square miles) of territory in the south and four square kilometers (1.5 square miles) in the east in the past week. The gains, she said on Telegram, included the commanding heights of Bakhmut, where Prigozhin’s forces declared control of the city in May. None of the claims could be independently verified.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Virginia Beach police are investigating after a 4-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet Friday night.

Officers responded to the 5100 block of Dandy Court in the Ebbetts Plaza apartment complex at about 10:45 p.m. following a report of a shooting. They found a residence with multiple bullet holes but no victims, according to police.

A short time later, police received a report of a 4-year-old girl with a gunshot wound in the same housing development. The child had apparently been struck by a bullet that traveled through the apartment where the initial shooting occurred, police said.

The child was in the parking lot with her father when she was struck, according to a police spokesperson. She was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.

A police spokesperson said the bullet traveled more than 400 feet before striking the child. It’s unclear what material and how many layers the bullet passed through.

The investigation is ongoing.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]

Choose the right tools

The right gear can make or break your cookout experience. A quality grill is the centerpiece, but it shouldn’t be the only piece of equipment on your list. Barbecue-specific gadgets, food storage tools, and outdoor furniture and shelters go a long way toward the finest outdoor grilling session imaginable.

Grill types

There are several types of barbecue grills out there. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. When looking for the right grill, some basic guidelines can point you in the right direction.

• Gas: The ubiquitous gas grill delivers the most convenient barbecue experience possible. Lighting and cleanup are about as easy as they come. Plus, it’s easy to find a large enough model for your entire group without spending a fortune. Experts and owners alike praise Weber and Napoleon for making some of the best gas grills on the planet. Both companies also make some great charcoal models.
• Kettle: These are some of the most iconic grills in American history. At their most basic, kettle grills are basically metal buckets for burning charcoal with a metal grille perched on top. They’re most effective in the hands of experienced barbecue chefs. It takes know-how and a certain touch to reach and maintain the perfect temperature. They can also be especially cost-effective due to their simplicity. Char-Broil makes some of the most famous and effective kettle grills, though they’re also responsible for other great styles.
• Barrel: Barrel grills are traditionally made from a 55-gallon drum sliced in half vertically. They represent the biggest and beefiest option and can feed an army. The best require a big investment, but a quality barrel grill should last for years. Dyna-Glo makes some of the most dependable ones.
• Kamado: If you only plan to cook for small groups and are willing to invest in a top-quality option that will last for years, consider a kamado grill. These versatile grills retain heat better than most other cooking apparatus. They allow for high-heat searing or all-day slow cooking. They’re not usually ideal for large cookouts because kamado grills get expensive as the size goes up.
• Dual-fuel: Dual-fuel grills are somewhat of a niche product. They’re for the demanding barbecue enthusiast who insists on complete control of every part of the meal. The two types of fuel in the name are typically charcoal and propane. This lets you give some foods a high-heat sear with grill marks, while others slow-cook over coals to absorb all the aromatics of charcoal.
• Pellet: These aren’t traditional barbecue grills. Rather, they’re partly automated smokers that use electricity to light wood pellets on fire and smoke what they’re loaded up with. While the smoking process is different from traditional backyard grilling, it can be satisfying when done right. Traeger, the company that invented the original pellet grill, makes some of the best.
• Portable: Not every cookout takes place at your home. If you’re heading to a friend’s house, state park, or tailgate party, you might want to take along a portable grill. They come in many varieties, including electric, gas, and charcoal. They rarely have the capacity of freestanding grills, an understandable tradeoff for portability. While small, they’re perfect for grilling out at a campsite.

Grilling tools

You can’t cook with your bare hands — at least, not safely or effectively. The right set of tools makes a huge difference in how easy your grilling experience ends up. Luckily, you can find a great deal of comprehensive grilling tool sets. You can also research your favorite grill tongs, spatulas, and grilling gloves to make everything as simple and safe as possible.

One way to ensure you have a great cookout is to prep every possible bit of food in advance. There’s no easier way to lose focus and mess something up than trying to juggle too many tasks at once. Keeping a good set of food storage containers handy helps keep your prep work organized and clean.

Once your food is cooked, you still have to finish prepping and serving it. If you’ve slow-cooked a beautiful pork butt for pulled pork, for example, a pair of barbecue claws can help you shred it.

It’s best practice to use disposable gloves when performing this all-important task. Not only is it more sanitary for diners, but pulled pork and shredded beef are awfully hot when they come off the grill or out of the oven. They’re greasy, too, and you don’t want to scrape pork fat out from underneath your fingernails for the rest of the week.

Smoking meats

Smoking meat isn’t for everybody. It requires considerable preparation, patience, and trust in the laws of thermodynamics. Not to mention you need to wake up at or before dawn.

It’s recommended you get some experience with a smoker before hosting a large cookout and relying on your brisket to come out tender and on time. A pellet grill is the easiest way to smoke meat, fish, and vegetables. To get the feel for what you’re doing, though, a manual smoker is the way to go. In addition to their gas and barrel grills, Dyna-Glo’s smokers have a good reputation for a reason. Similarly, Smoke Hollow makes many top-quality models that use either propane or electric heating elements. This can take much of the guesswork out of the process.

Alternatively, you can add mild smoke flavor to anything you grill with a simple smoker box. It’s nothing more than a metal compartment for holding wood chips while you grill and keeping them from burning up right away. Technically, you can turn any grill into a smoker using one of these. Many older grills aren’t built to retain the smoke effectively, though, and cleaning dense soot from a gas grill can be a nightmare.

To grill foods smaller than steak or burgers, such as chicken wings, shrimp, or your favorite vegetables, pick up a metal grilling basket. These let you manage tasty, bite-size pieces without letting them fall through the grill. They still deliver the direct heat needed for a delicious level of char.

FAQ

Is gas or charcoal better to cook with?

A. There’s no right answer when it comes to outdoor grilling. Propane and natural gas burn more efficiently. This makes cleanup and maintenance easier. It’s also simpler to maintain consistent temperatures with a good gas grill. So, if you don’t have a ton of experience with charcoal, a gas grill might be your best bet.

If you’re willing to practice and gain experience with charcoal, it can have a profound effect on the food you grill. Juices and seasonings drip from your meat and vegetables onto blazing hot coals. The resulting vapors give subtle and complex flavors that gas grills can’t replicate.

And if you want the best of both worlds, you can always opt for a dual-fuel grill.

What kind of furniture is best for a cookout?

A. It partly depends on the weather. If you’re in a high-humidity area with lots of heat and bugs, consider a rugged party tent, ideally with mosquito netting. If heavy winds won’t be an issue, you can get by with a lighter-duty camping canopy.

Everyone will need somewhere to sit and eat. Anyone outfitting their backyard or patio for summer gatherings should consider an outdoor dining table. Those putting together a portable or pop-up cookout are better served by one or more durable outdoor folding tables.

When it comes to the grill itself, a few key pieces of equipment can protect it during and after the event. A solid grill gazebo keeps the cook and their tools out of the elements. A dependable grill light can be helpful to the cooking experience after dark. Finally, once your grill is clean and cool, a rugged grill cover protects it from the elements until you’re ready to fire it up again.

How do you make the best homemade burgers?

A. Grind and season the meat yourself. Start with a decent cut of chuck roast and put it through a quality meat grinder. Season it properly because the spices you use require a combination of heat, moisture, oil, and time to fully develop. Consider a premium premade spice blend, but don’t be afraid to experiment with your own recipe.

Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper are the most common spices found in burgers. You can also get exotic if you like. Ingredients such as cumin, hot smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and even ground breakfast sausage can have guests begging for your secret recipe.

Best grills for a cookout

Kamado Joe Joe II Charcoal Grill

This has features such as half-rack cooking and a cast-iron shell.

Available at Amazon

Napoleon Prestige Pro Gas Grill

This grill has a staggering max heat output of 90,000 Btu and a large cooking area.

Available at Amazon

Traeger Ironwood 885 Wood Pellet Grill And Smoker

This grill has several smart home features.

Available at Amazon

Weber Summit E-470 Propane Grill

This is more than a grill. It’s also a rotisserie and smoker.

Available at Amazon

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Barren shelves are greeting customers at a local hemp shop in Virginia Beach.

“Right now the shop is super empty,” said Savana Griffith, owner of The Hemp Spectrum. “We have about five vendors left on our shelves.”

Griffith used to stock a wide range of items, including teas, salves, oils and edibles. But she said many of the products her store sells became illegal earlier this month when a new state law tightening regulations on the hemp industry took effect.

“We’re looking really hard for new compliant products to bring in,” she said, adding she also opened a distribution center in North Carolina. “We will see how our customers respond.”

The new regulations created stricter rules for labels and packaging, and required cannabis products to contain at least a 25-to-1 ratio of CBD, or cannabidiol, to THC (the component in cannabis that can produce a high). It also established civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each day a violation occurs.

The new law was intended to end the so-called wild west days of the state’s fledgling hemp industry. Some cannabis consumers, manufacturers and shop owners, however, argue it’s only creating confusion for everyone involved. Now, some say the state’s recently stalled budget negotiations are making matters worse.

“Most of this stuff is tied to the budget,” said Jason Blanchette, president of the Virginia Cannabis Association. “It’s kind of a mess, quite frankly.”

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was tasked with enforcing the new laws and assisting businesses with the transition. The legislation’s fiscal impact statement states the agency would subsequently need more staff, including a program manager, two registration analysts, three compliance officers and eight inspectors, as well as funds for laboratory testing.

Although the bill was already signed into law, the $2.2 million in funding needed to support the agency must be approved in the state’s budget plan. An additional $632,000 is also needed to fund five new positions in the Office of the Attorney General. Leaders of two legislative finance committees have been debating a series of budget amendments this year — but the talks were repeatedly delayed and recently stalled out due to disagreements over tax cuts.

Blanchette explained this makes it harder for those who are trying to comply with the new regulations.

“There are manufacturers who are well within the law and have provided everything VDACS needs for product approval to be able to sell wholesale to retailers, but VDACS has not approved any of them,” he said, adding the agency appears to be overburdened without the additional support.

Barbara Biddle, owner of District Hemp Botanicals in Leesburg, said she’s among those trying to keep up with the changing hemp landscape. She said she already removed a good number of products but still has additional questions.

“We outsource some of our products from out of state and every state has different regulations as it pertains to labels, production and certifications,” she said.

She reached out to VDACS for guidance but said it appears the agency is dealing with a learning curve as well.

“The holdup with the budget has made things more confusing,” she said. “They are trying to be as helpful as possible, as nice as possible, but it hasn’t been easy.”

Mike Wallace, a spokesperson for VDACS, said Friday the agency has no comment on the budget negotiations. But he said the department has a web page with information about the new legislation and has also distributed a memo to over 14,500 establishments involved with edible hemp products.

“Since that time, VDACS staff have and continue to respond to electronic and verbal inquiries regarding the new legislation,” he wrote in an email.

Not all business owners feel as demoralized by the new regulations. Rita Woods, owner of Hemp House Wellness in Virginia Beach, said the new rules forced her to think outside the box and pushed her to expand her business by opening a mobile shop outside of state lines in North Carolina.

“This industry is not for the weak of heart; you have to be able to pivot on a dime,” she said. “There is no point in being upset. You just have to innovate and that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about.”

Biddle said she is not opposed to new regulations but wishes legislators had spoken with more business owners — and consumers.

“It just seems like this was slapped together without much thought,” she said. “We’ve had customers call us crying. There are certainly people who rely on these products and they are just left unsure about what will happen or how we will continue to serve them.”

Allyson MacLeod is among those who are alarmed.

The 25-year-old Virginia Beach resident said she has complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic nerve disease that causes the body to feel an extreme burning sensation.

MacLeod said she spent years in intense constant pain as doctors struggled to find a solution. It was ultimately cannabis products with THC, she said, that made the pain manageable.

“It was like my body could relax for the first time in years,” said MacLeod, who shops at various cannabis stores across Hampton Roads, including The Hemp Spectrum.

MacLeod has a medical cannabis card and doesn’t expect to lose access to the products that help her. But she said any signs of a crackdown on cannabis leave her scared. Her doctors didn’t allow her to try cannabis products for years, which she believes was due to the stigma around it.

“It took a long time for that stigma to start going away and now it feels like its coming back,” she said. “It’s making me nervous to think about what the years to come are going to bring.”

Until this year, Virginia had appeared poised to welcome the cannabis industry.

Hemp and cannabis-related businesses proliferated across the state after a federal bill in 2018 legalized the regulated production of hemp and the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2020.

But the situation took a turn in 2023, with the General Assembly seeking stricter regulations. During a Virginia Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council meeting last week, Joseph Guthrie, commissioner of VDACS, stated that Gov. Glenn Youngkin has no plans to legalize the sale of adult use marijuana.

“I wouldn’t expect that during his administration,” he said, according to The Daily Progress.

Katie King, [email protected]