HOW ’BOUT THEM APPLES?

Hurricane Sam still swirling over Atlantic with Category 4 winds

MIAMI – Hurricane Sam strengthened again to a powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday, centered well offshore in the Atlantic Ocean but still capable of sending dangerous swells and rip currents later this week to the Bahamas, Bermuda and eventually the northeastern U.S. coast.

Sam is located about 610 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and is traveling northwest at 9 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.

Its maximum sustained winds rose again to 130 mph, making it a Category 4 hurricane. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, and forecasters expected it to remain a major hurricane through late this week as it turns northward on a track that would keep its center well offshore.

JACQUELINE DORMER/AP Business owner Steven Harding places Cortland apples on a grading machine for polishing at Harding’s Farm Market in Orwigsburg, Pa., on Monday. The machine uses natural bristles to buff the naturally occurring wax on the apples as they move across the machine giving them their shine.