Basically, the positive anymore does not simply have the meaning of nowadays, but rather means simply quite the opposite of negative anymore. The negative anymore implies that what is described by the sentence used to be the case, and asserts that it no longer is, the positive anymore implies or asserts that what is described used to NOT be the case, and asserts that it is now.
Kindle and Sag (1975) provide a slightly more technical explanation. Consider the following:
(1) Anymore, we eat a lot of fish.
According to Kindle and Sag (1975):
The usual hypothesis advanced about
the grammars of those, primarily
Mid-west, speakers who say sentences
like [(1)] is that they have
restructured anymore into a
free-wheeling lexical item with the
meaning of 'nowadays'. [...] This
explanation has recently been shown to
be unsatisfactory by Labov (1972), who
observes that all English speakers
balk at items like [(3)] and [(4)].
(Kindle and Sag 1975:89)
(3) When would like to live, 1920 or
anymore?
(4) When was the best beer brewed? ...
Anymore.
Kindle and Sag continue, quoting Labov (1972):
'In Standard English a sentence of
the form: 'I don't do Y anymore'
presupposes that 'X used to do Y'. In
these 'positive' anymore dialects a
complex semantic change has taken
place creating a new lexical item
anymore-2, which occurs only in positive sentences. Positive sentences
of the form: 'X does Y anymore' assert
that 'X didn't used to do Y.' Positive
anymore speakers still have the old anymore in negative sentences, i.e. as a polarity alternant of still.'
(Labov 1972, cited by Kindle and Sag 1975:89-90)
References
Kindle, D. and I. Sag. (1975). Some more on anymore. In R. W. Fasold and R. W. Shuy (eds.), Analyzing variation in language: Papers from the Second Colloquium on New Ways of Analyzing Variation. Washington, D.C. Georgetown University Press, 89-111.
Labov, W. (1972). Where do grammars stop? In R. Shuy (ed.), *Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1972. Washington, D.C. Georgetown University Press.
The /ɔ/ as described by Wikipedia is an unelisioned "aw" sound, as in the pure Latin vowel "o" for those singers out there. The /ʌ/ sound, as found in the word "plus", is an open-backed "uh". Close off the back of the throat by dropping the soft palate, bringing the jaw back and/or raising the back of the tongue and you have what most Americans would call a "schwa" (/ə/) as in the second syllable of "special".
In most American English dialects/accents, the mouth is held in a more open, relaxed position while speaking than for most British accents. This can tend to make "aw" sound more like more like "ah", and "ah" like an open short "a" as in "bat". Similarly, the opening of the lips leads to closing off the back of the throat to provide nuances between vowels, which can make "uh" sound like "ugh", "oo" sound like "eu", etc. Vocal coaches tear their hair out over this natural accent, especially in the deep South and Texas, where the "twang" pollutes the "pure" Latin vowels normally desired for singing in almost any language.
However, I doubt you will find an English dialect where a particular vowel shape is never heard. First of all, there will always be a word in the language that even a heavily-accented speaker will pronounce using the shape you're looking for. It may be misplaced, but it'll be there.
Second, there are degrees of vowel modification from what we would consider "neutral" American English to "accented", no matter the accent, so you will always find a person who speaks with just the right level of accent to use the vowel shape you're looking for at least some of the time. Urban residents tend to accent less than suburban and rural in my experience, and higher education, which normally involves a mingling of people from many locations nationwide, also tends to reduce accenting. Watching national broadcast TV also tends to reduce accenting, as most actors have their natural accents trained, coached, and/or beaten out of them while on camera.
Best Answer
Right - American English favors "toward," and UK standard tends to add an 's.'
This also applies to "forward," "backward," etc. These are explained in more detail by Fowler, Merriam-Websters Dictionary of English Usage, et al.