Good Vibes Only: Rising athlete inspires fellow students, teacher

KVIA on April 19, 2025

Rosemary Montañez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)–14-year-old Daniel Carmona-Pinheiro is known for his competitive spirit. The eighth grader at SSG Manuel R. Puentes Middle School continues to break barriers.

Daniel was diagnosed with autism at just two years old.

“As parents, I think we go into denial for a while. But, thankfully, my wife and my family, everybody around us supported us. And we could just focus on him and what he needs to do to be the best he can be,” Daniel’s dad, Rafael Carmona, told ABC-7.

The teenager also continues to inspire his fellow classmates and his teachers. Wanona Hendrix, a special education teacher, at Puentes Middle School, said Daniel shines bright in all aspects.

“Daniel’s title is the superstar of the classroom. Daniel is my go-to for everything. He tends to be the first one finished in the classroom. And the thing I love about Daniel is as soon as he’s done, he likes to go help,” Hendrix said.

Daniel is also a rising athlete. A few weeks ago, he competed in the annual Socorro ISD Spring Games. Daniel brought home two gold medals.

“It was awesome. You could see him, that he was very, enthusiastic and ready for it. He did his best. Yeah, he was awesome,” Carmona said.

“I was screaming right along the line as he was running because he knew how proud I was of him, and he knew that he was going to come home with the gold because he gives it his all,” Hendrix said.

To this day, Daniel continues to proudly sport his medals.

Daniel also holds an orange belt in Taekwondo. Hendrix said he has grown from the shy boy he once was. She attributes much of his growth to athletics.

“I met him as a sixth grader; he was very kind of timid and just was very unsure about his own abilities, and to just watch him blossom and grow has been fantastic. He is so positive in his own abilities now,” she said.

Hendrix said students like Daniel make the job worthwhile.

“I give my heart and soul into this job because they are what drives me. Every day I walk into this classroom, and I feel like a superstar every day,” she explained.

Hendrix also said it was special seeing Daniel gain confidence and witness his personal growth up close.

“And I tell you just what, try your best and you’ll succeed. Right? And look at you. You’re doing an amazing thing,” said Hendrix.

Daniel recently qualified for nationals in Taekwondo. He’ll be traveling to Utah in July to compete.

If you have a Good Vibes Only story idea, email news@kvia.com.

Click here to follow the original article.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Has the breezy forecast changed your Easter plans?

KVIA on April 19, 2025

abc17news

Easter Sunday in the Borderland is going to be breezy. The forecast is predicting winds from 20 to 30 mph.

Is the forecast impacting your holiday plans? Let us know by voting in the poll.

Click here to follow the original article.

Crime near vacant lot concerns El Paso property owners

KVIA on April 19, 2025

Olivia Vara

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) –Property owners near the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Nobel Street in El Paso are reporting an increase in criminal activity associated with a nearby vacant lot.

Frank Larios, a local property owner, has documented several incidents of drug use and altercations, including a dumpster fire, occurring on and near his apartment complex.

Residents and property owners have expressed concerns for their safety, particularly those who are elderly or caregivers.

Property owners plan to continue discussions with city officials to address the ongoing issues.

Larios noted that these issues have caused some tenants to abandon their leases due to safety fears.

“If anything, what you’re seeing here is there are elements within our community that will prey on the most vulnerable within the community, and it’s those elements that are attracting what is happening around the building, ” said John Martin, Deputy Director with the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, regarding the incidents occurring at the nearby vacant lot.

ABC-7 reached out to the El Paso Police Department for an update on the situation but did not hear back.

Click here to follow the original article.

Man who killed three in DUI crash in Palm Springs sentenced

KESQ on April 19, 2025

City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 54-year-old man who killed three people in a multi-vehicle wreck in Palm Springs because he was driving while intoxicated in a sandstorm was sentenced today to 11 years, eight months in state prison.   

Shawn Michael Kirkpatrick last month admitted three counts of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as DUI resulting in great bodily injury and a sentence-enhancing allegation of causing injury or death to multiple victims in a crash, under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.  

In exchange for Kirkpatrick’s admissions, prosecutors dropped a related charge and sentence-enhancements.   

During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Friday, Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.

On the afternoon of Sept. 3, 2023, Kirkpatrick fatally injured 32-year-old Yovani Aguilera Tapia, along with David Losacco and Millicent Lewis, both 29.   

According to the Palm Springs Police Department, the drunken defendant was at the wheel of a vehicle going northbound on North Gene Autry Trail, just south of Interstate 10, when a dust storm stirred in the dry wash, lowering visibility along the four-lane corridor, which is not uncommon on windy days.  

Investigators said the victims, occupying one of two vehicles directly ahead of Kirkpatrick’s, slowed down as a precaution.   

The police department said in a statement the defendant “failed to decelerate, resulting in a rear-end collision that led to a subsequent impact” with the two cars.   

Lewis, Losacco and Tapia were in the vehicle that Kirkpatrick slammed into, which caused their car to rear-end the other one, police said.   

Paramedics reached the location a short time later and pronounced the victims dead at the scene. The occupant of the other vehicle, whose identity was not released, suffered moderate injuries, from which the party has since recovered. Kirkpatrick also suffered minor injuries.

The ensuing investigation led to the criminal charges and his arrest on Nov. 16, 2023.

He had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Click here to follow the original article.

West Yellowstone entrance opens

KIFI on April 18, 2025

Noah Farley

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana (KIFI) — Yellowstone National Park opened its west entrance Friday, April 18.

The north and northeast entrances at Yellowstone are open year-round. The park will continue to open through May with the east entrance opening May 2, the south entrance opening May 9, and the Dunraven Pass opening May 23.

The west entrance’s visitor’s center staff say numbers are picking up. They’re excited for even more people to come see the mountains, canyons, and geysers.

“My favorite part of working here is just seeing people from all around the world and being able to help them see one of the best places in the world,” said West Yellowstone Visitor Center Informational Specialist, Emily Thody.

Thody says she’s been visiting Yellowstone since she was six years old. She loves to help people plan out how to have the best time in the beautiful area.

The park has seen about 4 million visitors for each of the last few years. Thody says those numbers could surpass 5 million in 2025.

“Each day, in our visitor center alone, we average maybe about 1,100 – 1,200 people a day. It can be exhausting, but it’s a lot of fun in the end.”

Thody recommends visiting earlier in the day or later in the evening to avoid the big crowds. She also shared what people should not do when they visit.

“Not getting off the boardwalk. Definitely stay in designated areas that’s always preferred.”

Remember to never touch the animals and keep a good distance away from them. Stay at least 25 yards away from bison and 100 yards away from bears. They might look cute and fluffy, but they are still wild and dangerous.

Local young woman chosen to represent the U.S. at World Expo in Japan

KIFI on April 18, 2025

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)–  Samantha Carrell, of Pocatello, is one of 88 youth ambassadors from the USA chosen to represent the nation at the 2025 Osaka World Expo in Japan this summer.

The youth ambassadors were chosen in partnership with Sister Cities International, a global organization which coordinates relationships between cities across the US with their sister cities abroad.

“Each country gets to show off some of their culture, some of the cool things they’re doing in science, in the arts,” said Carrell. “Then people get to interact both with those exhibits and with each other. So it’s a really great chance for connection, for kind of meeting people from all over the world.”

The six-month-long Osaka World Expo features pavilions showcasing countries from around the world. For more information, you can visit the websites of Sister Cities International and the 2025 Osaka World Expo.

Hiker airlifted from trail near Palm Springs

KESQ on April 18, 2025

Jesus Reyes

SNOW CREEK, Calif. (KESQ) – A hiker was airlifted from a trail in the unincorporated area of Snow Creek Friday afternoon.

The hiker sustained a medical emergency on the trail., which is located west of Palm Springs.

“The patient has been hoisted via helicopter to an awaiting ground ambulance for transport to a local area hospital,” reads a post by CAL FIRE.

CAL FIRE noted that the hiker suffered minor injuries.

Click here to follow the original article.

Palm Springs restaurant owner warns of dining and dashing

KESQ on April 18, 2025

María García

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) — One restaurant in downtown Palm Springs says they had over $500 dollars stolen this past weekend. This comes during the rise of food prices for restaurant owners and trying to recover after the pandemic.

Increasing costs for necessities like labor and food leave many independent restaurants, like Wilma and Frieda’s struggling to make ends meet. Food prices are up 28% since 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We’ve had the pandemic for a few years. Restaurants are trying to recover and get back and running,” said Kelly McFall, owner of Wilma and Frieda.

Mcfall believes these dine-and-dashes are caused by Coachella festival-goers and warns other restaurants to stay cautious. “We knew they were Coachella people because of the wristband, it’s frustrating because prices have gone up so much. We’ve had the pandemic for two years. Restaurants are trying to recover and get back online,” said McFall.

For other restaurants in the area, like JimmyB’s, the restaurant owner Jimmy Bellino has experienced dining and dashing in the past.

“We watch it pretty closely, but dining and dashing is a common thing for those professionals out there and we get them, we really try hard, but it’s happened more frequently with Coachella,” said Bellino.

Owner Kelly McFall hopes people will understand the struggles restaurants face and that they won’t face the same problem this weekend. 

Click here to follow the original article.

City of Bend outlines summer 2025 street preservation plans

KTVZ on April 18, 2025

Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The City of Bend’s 2025 street preservation plans were confirmed this month when City Council approved paving, chipseal and slurry seal contracts.

The City of Bend says it is preparing to do about $4.85 million worth of street preservation contract work this year that will improve approximately 67 lane miles in Bend. This includes about 16 miles of paving, 28 miles of chipseal, and 23 miles of slurry treatments. The attached map shows which roads will get treated this summer.

This work is supported by the Transportation Fee.

The City’s “Keep Good Roads Good” philosophy means we maintain and preserve streets with the most cost-effective treatment for the road condition — the right treatment at the right time. Maintenance treatments for the 2025 construction season include:

Paving – Old asphalt is ground out and replaced or a new layer of asphalt is paved on top of existing roadway. This process can take a couple of days.

Chip seals – Asphalt emulsion and rock are applied to the road. Rolling, short-term closures.

Slurry seal – A treatment typically for low-volume residential streets. One-day closures.

The City of Bend monitors the condition of roads to determine maintenance plans. This allows for the right treatment to be applied at the right to save costs and extend the life of a road.  The worst roads need full reconstruction, which is exponentially more expensive than regular maintenance. Full roadway reconstruction is not an efficient use of maintenance funds and is more likely to be paid for as part of a larger transportation construction project.

“The street preservation contracts are part of our continued maintenance efforts to extend the life of our transportation infrastructure with the most cost-effective treatments and available resources,” said Transportation and Mobility Department Director David Abbas. “We have more than 900 lane miles of roads to maintain, and the cost of maintaining streets has increased considerably in recent years. Our operations and maintenance revenues, such as Transportation Fees, will need to keep pace with cost and inflation increases in the future to improve our pavement conditions.”

To learn more about Bend’s street preservation practices, visit bendoregon.gov/streetpreservation.

To subscribe to weekly emails to plan your best route around road work and construction, visit bendoregon.gov/traffic for the weekly road and traffic report.

2025 StreetPreservation MapDownload

Click here to follow the original article.

Construction begins Monday at Anderson and Holmes intersection

KIFI on April 18, 2025

Seth Ratliff

The following is a press release from the City of Idaho Falls:

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Contractors will be in the intersection of Anderson and Holmes Avenue beginning Monday April 21 as they work on a waterline improvement project. 

During this phase of work, contractors will be working to improve a fire suppression line to support nearby businesses. While every effort is made to minimize impacts on drivers, the location of work sometimes necessitates impacts on lanes. 

Businesses in the area will remain accessible during construction.

During construction, detours will be in place as traffic shifts around the work zone. Traffic lane shifts on Anderson and North Boulevard will vary throughout the construction as work progresses. 

Please reduce speeds, obey posted traffic control signage, and watch for construction crews throughout the work zone.

The Anderson Waterline project involved the installation of a new waterline in the Ronald Avenue right-of-way to connect existing waterlines in Boge Avenue and North Holmes Avenue, as well as replace the existing waterlines in Anderson Street and North Boulevard.  

For additional information about this project or any other planned construction project in Idaho Falls, click HERE to view the 2025 interactive construction map.