Month: September 2025

By Laurie Perez

Click here for updates on this story

    California (KCAL, KCBS) — The tagline on Benihana’s website is “it’s more than a meal, it’s an experience,” and diners on Monday got a portion of both at the restaurant’s Torrance location.

A now viral video shows a worker launching a plate at a security guard after a manager asked the employee to leave. The guard, some customers and employees tackled the disgruntled employee as other diners scattered out of the way.

“I think a part of that video that really struck me the most was hearing that kid crying in the background,” customer Drew Banks said. “How unnecessary is that? It was a Monday night dinner. Families are having dinner, and that has to happen?”

The Torrance Police Department said they received calls about the fight just before 8:30 p.m. but the suspect left before they arrived.

“I’m sorry, no, you get fired for a job for whatever reason, cause or no cause, you don’t get to come back and start throwing plates at people and cause a whole scene, making people cry, no, zero sympathy,” Banks said. “I think they did the right thing on firing this guy.”

The incident prompted some to rethink their plans, including Dave Sims, who had considered celebrating his granddaughter’s birthday at Benihana on Tuesday.

“You know my granddaughter is having her eighth birthday here, she gets to pick the restaurant so she picked Benihana’s,” Sims said. “But we were thinking, wonder if we wanna go there. We don’t want someone to come back and you know retaliate.”

However, the incident didn’t appear to affect other customers, as diners continued to fill the parking lot of the Torrance location.

Benihana did not respond to CBS News Los Angeles’ request for comment.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Bo Evans

Click here for updates on this story

    Texas (KTVT) — Joe Johnson has spent decades soaring above the clouds as a commercial pilot, but no flight has ever taken him far enough from the pain of losing his son.

Now, he’s channeling that grief into a mission to help others take flight.

Flying offers peace and reflection “Flying for me is very relaxing,” Johnson said. “It’s my getaway, my safe space. I can get in the airplane and fly and think about the problems that may be at hand.”

Johnson has been flying planes since he was 17 and spent decades flying for American Airlines.

When he’s up in the air, he says he thinks about a lot of things, especially his family, including his son, Ashton.

A devastating phone call But four years ago, Johnson got a call that every parent dreads.

“On October the fourth of 2021, I was on a trip for American and I was in a layover in Atlanta,” said Johnson. “The phone call came from his girlfriend and she stated that she got a really weird phone call from one of his friends, and she thought he hurt himself or maybe hurt, and would I like for her to go by and check on him. I said, ‘Of course.'”

“The next call, she said, he was gone, and she was pretty hysterical, tore up about it. I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ She said he shot himself.”

“Some might say it was an accident, others might say it was suicide, but either way, we can’t bring him back. So it doesn’t matter what you call it, he’s gone. But that was my day, four years ago,” said Johnson.

Honoring Ashton’s legacy Johnson says he still thinks about Ashton’s ambitions, and now he wants to make sure they’re never forgotten.

“We’ve tried to take that tragedy and turn it into something good,” said Johnson.

To honor his son’s legacy, Johnson founded the Ashton Johnson CloudDancer Scholarship, which awards five $10,000 scholarships to veterans pursuing careers as commercial pilots—just like Ashton had hoped to do.

Helping others take flight “Ashton was extremely generous as a young man,” said Johnson. “This is what he wanted, this is what he would have wanted. So that’s why we do what we do.”

The scholarship helps Johnson keep his son’s memory alive while supporting others who share Ashton’s dream.

To learn more about supporting the CloudDancer Scholarship—including attending the Black Tie and Boots Gala on Oct. 4—visit clouddancerscholarship.org.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Nick Lunemann

Click here for updates on this story

    Nick Lunemann, Jeff Wagner (WCCO) — What started in a fishbowl is ending up in Twin Cities lakes, especially In Edina’s Lake Cornelia, where thousands of goldfish are being discovered and removed by groups like Nine Mile Creek Watershed District.

“They were seen to be very abundant fish species in the lake, more abundant than any other native species that was in the lake, and that was really a problem,” said Jordan Wein, with the watershed district.

Goldfish aren’t just out of place. They stir up the bottom of the lake, releasing phosphorus that fuels algae blooms and clouds the water. Once caught, they had one destination.

“Their only option was to landfill them, and so we kind of got in contact and made this partnership, permissible from the DNR through our permits,” Wein said.

Now, instead of being tossed out, the invasive fish are on the menu for bears, otters and sea lions at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.

“Black bears in the wild will have a certain amount of their diet made up of fish, so the fact that we’re getting these fish in through the DNR in a way that fits our messaging needs that promotes the things that we want to promote in a conservation standpoint, while also feeding our animals, it’s just a win-win all the way around,” said Nolan Schlichter, with the Minnesota Zoo.

With the new items on the menu, these furry friends are fish out of water.

“When animals are used to eating the frozen fish we get from our other sources, and then they’re faced with these goldfish that look very different, smell very different, it could take some time to acclimate,” Schlichter said.

The watershed district says the partnership with the Minnesota Zoo is the first of its kind in the state. They’ll evaluate how it worked this season, and if successful, it could expand to other zoos or wildlife centers in the future.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.