Early this morning we got a tentative railroad deal! The Biden administration pulled in top officials to bring the railroad cvompanies and unions together. Biden says the deal will mean more money for workers, better working conditions and better health care. The deal is temporary, though. Now we go into a cooling-off period of a few weeks before the union holds a vote to, hopefully, ratify the deal. 

The defense for accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz unexpectedly rested its case, about 40 witnesses early. That set off the judge, who called the unexpected change of plan "unprofessional" and accused the public defender of "insulting me the entire trial." Now the prosecution is scrambling to prepare for its rebuttal, which the judge scheduled for the end of the month.

Detroit's auto show is underway and in-person again for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden opened the show by announcing $900 million to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure. He was also seen checking out some of the EVs such as the Cadillac Lyriq, but also getting comfy behind the wheel of a non-EV Corvette Z06 (Biden is a "car guy" who has his own ’67 Stingray). The new Ford Mustang is the only truly new model that was unveiled at the slimmed down event. 

A bizarre incident in Boston is still unfolding. Tuesday night a staff member at Northeastern University said he was injured when opening a package that exploded. But Wednesday there were reports that in the package was an anti-virtual reality screed that referenced Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and now investigators are looking into the possibility the whole thing was staged. 

Would you give away most of your fortune to save the planet? Billionaire Yvon Chouinard, the unconventional founder of the outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, would. He has put his entire company, $3 billion worth, into the hands of a trust and nonprofit organization to tackle climate change. The profits from the company — about $100 million a year — are to be used to combat the crisis and protect undeveloped land.

R. KELLY: The former R&B star managed an acquittal for trial-fixing charges on a 2008 case against him, but he was found guilty on three counts of child pornography in this latest trial in Chicago. This comes not long after a federal judge in New York sentenced him to 30 years for racketeering and sex trafficking.

BRETT FAVRE: Brett Favre is embroiled in a scandal over text messages from 2017 that appear to show the Hall of Fame quarterback involved in a scheme that's been called the largest public fraud case in the state's history. Favre allegedly was trying to raise money for a new volleyball stadium at his alma mater Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played volleyball. 

POTENTIAL “SERIAL” RETRIAL: Adnan Syed of Serial fame could be getting a chance at a retrial. Baltimore prosecutors have reportedly dug up evidence that calls into question his role in the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999 and are now asking a judge to vacate the conviction.  Americans have watched the case closely since the investigative podcast Serial exploded onto the scene in 2014. 

AFTERPAY: New York Fashion Week is underway and its official partner Afterpay is working to make sure everyday people have access to one of NYC's most exclusive events. The fintech firm partnered with five designers to create their own NFTs to coincide with their spring/summer ’23 collections. Kim Shui crowdsourced models, photographers and designers, and turned one of her designs into an NFT, allowing its nearly 800 contributors to own a piece of the garment.

STYLING AT CHEDDAR: Our very own lifestyle expert and style guru Kate Sands has some of the hottest trends from NYFW ’22 and great tips to make sure your style is on point as we head into the autumn months.

Internal documents from Meta obtained by the Wall Street Journal show that while Instagram users are spending 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels, it pales in comparison to the 197.8 million hours TikTok users are racking up. But Instagram wants to be TikTok, especially because of the lucrative potential of social commerce. Cheddar News’ Michelle Castillo takes a closer look at how going viral can lead to sales.

Here are a few of the entertainment headlines we've been keeping an eye on over the last 24 hours: HBO's House of the Dragon is soaring. The Game of Thrones spinoff saw a 5% increase in viewership for Episode 4 compared with Episode 3. Paramount Global could be dumping Showtime's streaming platform, and Batman: The Audio Adventure is back for a second season on HBO Max.

The Strong National Museum of Play is asking the masses to vote on which classic toys they think should enter the National Toy Hall of Fame. The top three choices will join the ranks of such iconic toys as Lego, Monopoly and Rubik’s Cube. This year's nominees include Bingo, Nerf toys and the humble Piñata. Vote here!

The “Clear Craze” was everywhere in the 1990s, and that included translucent technology like video game controllers, iMacs, all the way to Tamagotchis. But how did this design come to dominate a decade?