Emmett Till family member Priscilla Williams Till launches US Senate campaign

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Chris Oswalt

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    JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — Priscilla Williams Till, a cousin of Emmett Till and founder of the Emmett Till Justice for Families Foundation, announced her candidacy for the United States Senate in Mississippi’s 2026 election.

Till said she is entering the race to promote social justice and civil rights protections at the national level. On her campaign website, she described her run as an effort to address historical and ongoing inequalities and ensure marginalized communities are represented in Washington.

“I am running for United States Senator to help shape and enact laws that promote social justice and civil rights protections at a national level in Mississippi,” Till said in her announcement. “I want to ensure that the perspectives and needs of our communities are represented with the federal government contributing to a more inclusive political dialogue.”

Till highlighted her family connection to Emmett Till, whose 1955 murder in Mississippi galvanized the civil rights movement. She said her advocacy work has been shaped by that legacy and by her role leading a foundation focused on federal accountability in hate crimes and racial justice cases.

Her campaign website outlines plans to seek greater oversight committees to prosecute hate crimes and expand equitable protections.

The Mississippi Senate election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026. Party primaries are set for March 10, 2026.

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Church turns plastic bags into sleeping mats for people in need

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Joyce Ogirri

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    NEW ALBANY, Indiana (WLKY) — From discarded plastic bags to something that brings comfort and hope, a new ministry at Trinity United Methodist Church is transforming everyday trash into a lifeline for people facing homelessness and recovering from disasters.

Inside the church’s “Mission Depot,” volunteers gather every Tuesday morning to cut, stretch, and weave thousands of grocery bags into durable sleeping mats.

“To be able to offer something that brings some comfort and protection from the elements,” said volunteer Carla Roth. “We felt like it was a simple thing to do, and it could make a difference.”

Each mat takes about 1,000 plastic bags and up to 20 hours to complete, from sorting and preparing to weaving on a loom and adding a carrying strap. The group has already finished more than 50 mats.

“We’ve produced the products that’ll help keep them dry. Our mats are woven tight enough that they’re waterproof,” said volunteer Joris Kramer.

Once completed, the mats are rolled up, tied with handles, and donated. Some stay in southern Indiana, while others are shipped around the world.

“It’s magical to see their faces, to see them carrying them out of the facilities with the mats on their back. I hope they appreciate them. I know they do,” Kramer said.

For Roth, the mission is personal and ongoing.

“Until every person can have a safe place to sleep, I feel like it’s my responsibility to do what I can to change that,” she said.

If you’d like to volunteer or donate plastic grocery bags, call Trinity United Methodist Church at (812) 944-2229.

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Librarian played key role in identifying other Bear Brook victims

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Kelly O’Brien

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    CONCORD, New Hampshire (WMUR) — A woman from Connecticut previously helped identify three of the bodies found in barrels in Bear Brook State Park decades ago.

The identity of the fourth victim, Rea Rasmussen, was released over the weekend, the culmination of a decades-long investigation.

Librarian Rebekah Heath started researching the case in November 2017, when she responded to a post on an Ancestry.com board about the disappearance of Marlyse Honeychurch and her daughter, Sarah McWaters.

“I was hitting the books, doing research, trying to find individuals that were looking for their missing loved ones and trying to find individuals that matched the description of the victims,” Heath said.

In October 2018, Heath listened to a podcast about the Bear Brook investigation and remembered another posting about McWaters from 2000. She reached out, and a relative told her that Terry Rasmussen was the last person to have contact with Honeychurch.

Investigators say Terry Rasmussen killed Honeychurch and her daughters, McWaters and Marie Elizabeth Vaughn. They say he also killed Rea Rasmussen and placed their bodies in barrels that were eventually found in Bear Brook State Park.

Terry Rasmussen was eventually convicted of killing his girlfriend, Eunsoon Jun, and sentenced to prison, where he died of natural causes.

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‘THEY’RE HEROES’: Construction workers use trampoline to save boy from fire

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Katrina Markel

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    GLENWOOD, Iowa (KMTV) — Construction workers are being hailed as heroes. They were driving by a house when they noticed it was on fire. Without thinking, they entered, helped save a family and even used a trampoline to get a teenage boy out of the top floor window.

John Lewis is the general manager for Leick Construction. He was the first person in the door.

Katrina: “So, what happened, what did you see when you were driving?”

John: “I stopped there at the stop sign, I looked to my right for traffic and I seen smoke coming out of the front porch window.”

Lewis, along with colleagues Gabe Record and Damian Pond, rushed inside and helped a mother, grandmother and 4-year-old girl escape. Then, they experienced something that seemed like an explosion.

“But when it exploded, it blew flames out toward the back of Gabe and burned him on his back and on his arm. And got Damian on the side of the face,” said Lewis.

Next door, mechanic John Vandevoorde came out to help and saw the boy in the second story window.

“Once I saw him, I knew what was happening and he was in trouble. Big trouble,” Vandevoorde said.

The men couldn’t reach the boy upstairs.

“I looked over and seen a trampoline, so I grabbed the trampoline, pulled it out of the ground and started dragging it to the window,” said Lewis.

The young man couldn’t see through the smoke and, with flames spreading Lewis, and the others shouted for the boy to jump.

“He hit the trampoline and I caught him and got him out over here to the stop sign,” Lewis said.

The Leick Construction employees were treated for burns and are expected to recover.

“I mean, they’re heroes. This could have been a totally different outcome if they wouldn’t have stepped up and done what they did,” said Glenwood Fire Chief Matt Gray.

The family is healthy, but now without a home. One family member, Ben McGhee, told me he feels “really defeated” and is worried about finding housing.

Chief Gray says the three employees of Leick Construction will be honored at a later date.

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Pikes Peak Library District hosts final free concert of the summer

KRDO on September 10, 2025

Bradley Davis

PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) is giving us one final taste of summer. It hosts its final free concert right outside the Palmer Lake library on Friday at 6 p.m.

Denver-based Americana band “Some Sweet Day” will play for anyone who wants to come listen. A band member described the band as everything from Neil Young to Blue Grass to Beetles.

The PPLD has hosted multiple summer concert series at different libraries across the region. Friday is the final showing in the Palmer Lake Library Concert Series.

If rain threatens the concert, the PPLD will move it inside the Palmer Lake Town Hall.

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Man found dead under concrete slab identified with new DNA test, public tip

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Ashley Loose

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    DOLAN SPRINGS, Arizona (KNXV) — Mohave County Sheriff’s officials say new DNA testing and a public tip helped identify a man who was found dead beneath a concrete slab in northern Arizona.

In August 2021, a Dolan Springs resident discovered human remains underneath a concrete slab that he was breaking up on his property.

Investigators believed the body had been buried underneath the concrete for at least 10 years and that the victim, a man, had died from a gunshot wound to the head. However, officials were unable to identify him.

Over the last few years, Othram Inc., a genetic testing lab, made attempts to identify the victim, but there were “no significant leads,” officials say. MCSO says investigators posted a social media request urging anyone with information to come forward.

At the end of July, investigators received a message from a woman who said her parents lived at the property where the remains were found. She said a man named Chett Williams lived with her parents in 1998-1999 and suddenly disappeared.

“When she asked her parents about him, they said he had just gone and left. She thought it odd because all his personal belongings were left behind,” MCSO said. “She also said that shortly after his disappearance, her parents poured a slab of concrete at the location.”

The woman’s parents, identified as Alvin and Bea Hamilton, died in 2006 and 2018, respectively.

Investigators located the possible family of Williams, who confirmed that he had gone to live with Bea Hamilton in Arizona.

Earlier this week, a familial DNA sample was completed and matched, positively identifying the victim as Chester “Chett” G. Williams III.

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Death of 7-year-old Liam King sparks urgent need for awareness among children with autism and cognitive impairments

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Bethany Cates

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    WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (WLEX) — As the community continues to mourn the death of 7-year-old Liam King, advocates for children with autism and cognitive impairments say his death underscores the urgent need for prevention and awareness.

Selene Johnson, the executive director of ABC of NC, a nonprofit that provides educational services to children with autism, says, this is a painful reminder of the risks that comes with situations like Liam’s.

“It is a very real and overwhelming stressor that families who have autistic children face,” said Selene Johnson.

Johnson said she’s seen tragedies like this before, and her heart breaks each time.

“We’re very familiar with this, we’ve seen this,” said Johnson.

She says the number of kids who wander is exponential, and this is due to them not understanding the safety risk and being drawn to their interests.

“About 50 percent of parents say their children will wander, 50 percent of autistic kids, I mean, that is a lot,” said Johnson.

And a lot of the time, when it comes to searching, she says the age is not the greatest challenge.

“I think the challenge really comes from the disability, whether that is intellectual impairment of not understanding safety, or where the challenge is with speaking,” said Johnson.

Johnson says it’s important to have proactive measures in place, such as wearing identification bracelets, practicing call-and-response, in addition to knowing how to respond if approached by someone they don’t know.

“Even if you noticed within two minutes that they wandered off, if they’re out of your sight, you call their name and they’re nonspeaking, you now have all of this space, and you don’t know where to go,” said Johnson.

Johnson says it only takes a second for a life to forever change.

“The most vigilant caregiver in the world cannot be 100 percent of the time. A child can wander off in just a few seconds even,” said Johnson.

She says with new technology at our fingertips, she encourages families to see what’s out there and seek out resources according to your child’s needs.

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Local cartoonist connects town through comics

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Madison Myers

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    MCGREGOR, Texas (KXXV) — For years longtime Central Texas artist Jon Brown dreamed of becoming a published cartoonist.

Now—thanks to “The McGregor Mirror”—that dream is finally a reality.

“It’s the way to learn to appreciate art, start off with cartoons,” said local artist Jon Brown.

“The McGregor Mirror” is giving Brown the chance to show off his art all while engaging with our community.

“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like cartoons, everybody likes cartoons,” said Brown.

Each week, Brown shares a brand-new cartoon with readers—but there’s a catch:

Each comic is printed without a caption.

Then, it’s up to our community to get creative.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist. I wanted to draw my own cartoon strip and publish it in the paper but I never felt like I was witty enough,” said Brown.

So neighbors send in their funniest captions.

The winner gets printed the next week—alongside Brown’s illustration.

A way to spark laughter and bring our community together.

“A comic in the paper was intriguing to me and the opportunity to help Jon fulfill one of his dreams was certainly a draw for me,” said owner of “The McGregor Mirror” James Lenamon.

And while Brown may be living out a lifelong dream, he hopes his art offers something more for those who see it.

“There is still joy in the world, as divided as we get there is still happiness and love,” said Brown.

Each week’s winning caption also wins a free ice cream cone from Dairy Queen!

For more information on how you can enter your own captions, you can reach out to Jon Brown at J.hansdrough.brown@gmail.com

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Family of man attacked by bear says injuries “ultimately not survivable”

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Patrick Clark

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    LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — The family of a Franklin County man who was attacked by a bear said in a statement “his injuries are extensive and ultimately not survivable.” That’s according to a statement from the family of Vernon Patton.

On Wednesday, Patton, 72, was spreading gravel with his tractor when a 70-pound juvenile black bear attacked him.

Patton was first sent to the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville before he was moved to UAMS.

The bear that attacked an Arkansas man has tested negative for both rabies and distemper, according to Keith Stephens, spokesperson for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Family’s statement “Our beloved father, grandfather, husband and hero, Vernon Patton, was seriously injured in a bear attack while he was doing what he loved, working on his land with his family. Vernon is currently being cared for in the ICU in Little Rock. While he remains in stable condition, his injuries are extensive and ultimately not survivable.

This has been an extraordinarily difficult time for our family, and we are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support we have received. We ask that people show compassion and consideration as we focus on being together as a family for as long as we still can.

We also want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the medical teams who are providing exceptional care and to everyone who has offered their prayers and kindness.

At this time, we ask for privacy as we navigate this painful journey together as a family.”

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Air quality test finds acrylonitrile at higher-than-normal levels in this Arkansas city

CNN Newsource on September 10, 2025

By Adam Roberts

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    TONTITOWN, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment (E&E) has asked the Arkansas Health Department (ADH) to conduct an assessment of Tontitown.

A contractor conducted a study of the city’s air quality in May.

The study found levels of acrylonitrile at levels above the regular background ambient air across the U.S.

The study suggests the acrylonitrile isn’t coming from the landfill, but from another source.

The E&E asked the ADH to study the potential impacts of the compound in Tontitown.

The National Library of Medicine’s entry on acrylonitrile reads:

“Acrylonitrile is a colorless, liquid, man-made chemical with a sharp, onion- or garlic-like odor. It can be dissolved in water and evaporates quickly. Acrylonitrile is used to make other chemicals such as plastics, synthetic rubber, and acrylic fibers. A mixture of acrylonitrile and carbon tetrachloride was used as a pesticide in the past; however, all pesticide uses have stopped.”

It also states that prolonged exposure to the vapors or skin contact is harmful.

It found 35 other compounds in the air. It was determined that none were exclusively from the Eco-Vista landfill, but two likely had contributions from the landfill. Those were benzene and ethylbenzene.

Acrylonitrile was the only one found at elevated levels.

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