5 things you need to know this weekend
1. Dust off your jerseys. It's the first full weekend of college football
Hail, alma mater! College football is back. Unfortunately, the schedule isn’t so welcoming for the first weekend. Just one matchup of ranked opponents is on the schedule when No. 3 Alabama plays No. 20 Wisconsin on Saturday in Arlington, Texas. Among the plethora of mismatches involving Top 25 teams, there are a few other intriguing matchups. Also Saturday, No. 11 Notre Dame hosts Texas, and No. 16 Arizona State faces Texas A&M in Houston. Monday, No. 1 Ohio State travels to Virginia Tech, which gave the defending champion Buckeyes their only loss last season. Here's the full TV schedule. Here's a full look at Week 1 games. And here's how to listen to our weekly football podcast.
2. Gas prices hit new low in time for weekend travels
Cheap gasoline should provide Americans a far smoother ride this Labor Day weekend. Average regular unleaded will cost the least for the Labor Day break since 2004, AAA says. The national average was $2.44 a gallon Thursday, down 9 cents over the past week and $1 below the year-ago price. Credit the lower costs to stock markets hitting major bumps and an increased gas supply. AAA expects this weekend to be the busiest Labor Day weekend for motorists since 2008, with 30.4 million travelers hitting the road, up 1.1% from a year ago.
3. Burn, baby, burn: Desert inferno as Burning Man ends
The Burning Man festival comes to a fiery culmination this weekend in two ritual "burns." Saturday, the Man, a large wooden effigy that gives the festival its name, will be set to flame. The Temple will be torched a day later. The burns are the pinnacle of the week-long art and community festival, which draws more than 70,000 to an area in the Nevada desert known as the playa. Burning Man is the world's largest "Leave No Trace" event, which means the desert — and the ashes of the Man — returns to dust until next year's Burning Man.
Is Burning Man bad for the environment? 'Of course it is'
4. Kentucky clerk supporters rally at the jail
Supporters of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis will rally Saturday outside the Carter County jail where she is held. Davis was held in contempt of court Thursday for defying a Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages. Davis refused to issue marriage licenses at her Rowan County office, citing her religious beliefs. Davis' husband, Joe, said she was in good spirits and is prepared to remain in jail for months. "She won't resign, I promise you," he said. "Until something gives, she'll be there." Facing similar consequences, her deputy clerks issued marriage licenses at the office Friday.
5. Guatemala votes for a new president. Again.
Guatemala's Alejandro Maldonado may have one of the world's shortest presidential terms. He was sworn in Thursday after Otto Perez Molina resigned the office amid a corruption scandal, but the country is scheduled to hold national elections Sunday to pick a new president, vice president and members of congress. Maldonado, a conservative lawyer and former Constitutional Court judge, was the country's vice president for four months. He replaced Roxana Baldetti who resigned in May amid the same scandal that ousted the president.
The weekend essentials:
Listen to the top news stories this weekend:
Did you pay attention this week? Let our news news quiz be the judge of that.
Which movies are worth your popcorn? Here's what's new new in theaters this weekend.
Need a break? Try playing some of our games.
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