Hold On, Mr. Kavanaugh: A California college professor has identified herself as the author of an anonymous letter accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while the two were in high school.

It’s too early to say whether this is a real threat to his confirmation. Kavanaugh has denied it.

Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, says Kavanaugh tried to rape her during a house party in Montgomery County outside Washington back in the 1980s when she was 15 and he was 17.

The Washington Post Reports that, “While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.”

Ford said Kavanaugh was drunk. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” she told the Post. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”

She said that Kavanaugh’s friend jumped in and ended the assault.

Ford contacted the Postand tried to keep her identity secret, but it leaked out, possibly through the office of Calif. Sen. Diane Feinstein. On the advice of her lawyer, Ford in early August took a polygraph test administered by a former FBI agent. The results appear to confirm that she is telling the truth.

The Weather Report: The danger continues in the Carolinas as rainfall from tropical depression Florence continues to swell the rivers. As many as 1,000 people had to be rescued over the past several days.

The storm has “never been more dangerous than it is right now,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference. “Wherever you live in North Carolina, be alert for sudden flooding.”

The city of Wilmington was cut off by flooded roads and Fayetteville was divided in two by the flooded Cape Fear River.

All Clear: As many as 8,000 residents in three towns north of Boston were cleared yesterday to return to their homes after the local natural gas system was deemed safe.

Excessive pressure in the system caused between 60 and 80 fires, destroying homes and killing one 18-year-old man. The cause of the problem is yet to be determined.

Time Out: Time magazine, once an enormous power in the news business, has been sold by the Meredith Corp. to Marc Benioff, a co-founder of the cloud computing company Salesforce and his wife. The Wall Street Journal reports the price for the now-anorexic magazine was $190 million. In the world of instant news delivery, it’s a struggle for a weekly.

Founded in 1923 and steered by the willful Henry Luce, Time  at its peak was one of the most powerful voices in American journalism and it would probably be hard today to find a 20-year-old who ever heard of it.

The Roundup: Emergency crews in the Philippines recovered 43 bodies from the wreckage of a gold miners’ bunk house covered in a landslide triggered  by Typhoon Mangkhut. The death toll from the storm might reach 100. — The New York subway system is having a problem with people ending up on the tracks. They’ve had 621 incidents this year with drunks, people peeing, of having dropped something. Some people have even been pushed. — Buffalo bills cornerback Vontae Davis, a former first-round pick and two-time Pro Bowler, suddenly pulled himself out of the game against the Chargers yesterday. He not only left the game, he retired from football on the spot. He later said, “Reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn’t be out there anymore.”

Footwork: Eliud Kipchoge, a 33-year-old Kenyan who dominates distance running, broke the world record for the marathon in the Berlin, finishing in 2 hours 1 minute 39 seconds. That’s a minute off the previous world record, set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto. The second place runner was nearly five minutes behind.

Kipchoge has won 10 of the 11 marathons he has entered. He told reporters, “I lack words to describe this day.”

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