Month: October 2025

By Lisa Crane

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    WALKER COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — A Walker County man is lucky to be alive after being attacked by a pack of stray dogs. He was severely mauled in July and is just now able to walk again.

Thomas Lowe described the harrowing experience. “This is where they took me down at,” Lowe said. “So I remember trying to keep the two black dogs off of me, and the more aggressive they got, the other dogs that was around got aggressive too. So they was all on me.”

Lowe said he was used to seeing stray dogs in his neighborhood. There were dozens of them. He felt sorry for them and often fed them with a makeshift feeder. But when the attack happened, he didn’t have food, he had his back turned about to enter his fenced yard when two of the dogs he knew were aggressive, jumped on him from behind.

“There was about four or five dogs on me at one time when I tried to kick the black ones off me because I felt a bite on my head and whatnot,” he said.

Thomas said he doesn’t know how long the attack lasted because at some point he passed out from the pain, but he knows he was dragged by those dogs at least 20 feet down the road.

“They tore my ear all up,” Lowe said. “Got my face all up, both my arms. I mean, they took chunks. I mean, big chunks. I got staples in back here and right here. And my knee, my leg. Well, my legs are not as bad as my arms. And my ear was.”

Lowe had artificial skin grafts on both his arms, and you can still see the dozens of puncture wounds on his legs. Lowe’s body is healing, but he’ll always carry the scars, not just the physical ones, but psychological scars as well.

“I have nightmares about these dogs attacking me and my fiancée. I wake up in cold sweats at nighttime because of these dogs attacking me. It’s just terrible, man,” he said.

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By Yamuna Turco

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    VERGENNES, Vermont (WPTZ) — Taylor Swift fans are getting ready for her new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ and one ice cream shop in Vergennes, VT has planned something special to celebrate.

Laura Mack is the owner of lulu, and she is a big Taylor Swift fan. She has decided to release nine special addition ice cream flavors, all inspired by previous ‘eras’, to celebrate the new album.

Lulu makes all their ice cream in-house; this allowed Mack and her team to get creative with flavors. They were inspired by albums like 1989, Red, and Evermore. Mack said she wanted to use the opportunity to connect people through ice cream, like Swift does with music.

“With her new release, I was so excited and waiting around for it to drop, so I needed something to keep that energy going. So, I decided, why not fully embrace the flavors of Taylor Swift and open it up to the community who love her, adore her, and have the same excitement that I do,” said Mack.

Staff at lulu have been hard at work transforming the shop, and regulars said they were excited for the album party the team was putting together.

The specialty flavors will launch Friday October 3, the same day as Swift’s latest album. They will be available until October 5.

Pre-orders for the nine-flavor collection closed on September 30, but Mack she was excited to welcome people in to try flavor flights and individual scoops.

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By Leah Phillips

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    EASLEY, South Carolina (WYFF) — Dozens of women participated in the first-ever “Timeless Queens of Fleetwood Beauty Pageant” on Wednesday.

The pageant, held at Fleetwood Post-Acute in Easley, was a two-day event, with the swimwear and talent portions held on Tuesday.

For the second portion, the ladies put on their best dresses, and were escorted in front of the crowd by local police and firemen.

Toni Durnil, the activity director for Fleetwood Post-Acute, was in charge of running Wednesday’s show. She knew she wanted to make the experience special for the ladies participating, which is why she got the community involved.

“Just because people have wrinkles, people might see that,” said Durnil. “That’s not how I see things, I look into their spirit, their soul.”

Participants had their hair, makeup, and nails done by students at the Upstate College of Cosmetology. Ashley Johnson, a cosmetology education specialist at the school, said Durnil reached out to ask for help with making the ladies feel pampered on the day of the pageant.

“Not only did it brighten their day, but it brightened our day. We learned so much,” said Johnson.

At the end of the show, each participant was given a specialized award, but in true pageant fashion, the first ever “Timeless Queen” was crowned, as well as runners-up.

“We always have that little child in us that wants to dress up, and to wear a crown, and to feel beautiful.”

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By Bethany Cates

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    GUILFORD COUNTY, North Carolina (WXII) — A Guilford Metro 911 operator is receiving praise after using her skills and experience to help save a woman from being sexually assaulted, all while remaining silent on the line.

The call taker allowed the caller to guide them using descriptions in conversation to pinpoint a location, what was going on, and how to get the victim out safely.

This all happened Sept. 7 around 5:30 a.m. Guilford County Metro 911 received a call that they knew required immediate assistance.

“I looked at the call, and I thought OMG, this is awful, and I said, ‘We need to get people there quick,'” said Alexis Johnson, Emergency Communication Specialist Master.

Johnson dispatches first responders to scenes.

Within seconds of being on the phone with the operator, the caller stated, “Why you got a gun pointed at me?”

Johnson said that at that point, the operator did not speak but instead collected information.

“So she starts taking the call, from what I understood, the female wasn’t speaking to her, it was more an open line, and she could hear everything,” said Johnson.

Johnson said while the operator was taking in the details, she was reading the notes to see who she could dispatch to the location.

“I happened to look at the map, and I saw that Guilford County Sheriff’s Office had some units that were actually going to be a little bit closer,” said Johnson.

Johnson and the team said that they were able to use RapidSOS, which is a tool that helps to narrow down the exact location of where the victim was.

Senior Shift Supervisor Kellie Zimmerman said the location is often the most important detail they need to be able to send help.

“If they are not able to speak freely, it is always great if they can try to give us some context clues, what’s going on, try to say things out loud,” said Zimmerman.

Zimmerman said the operator who took this call averages about 18,000 calls a year, and she is immensely proud of her dedication to serving the community.

“I just want to give credit to my call taker who handled this,” said Zimmerman. “She is solely a call taker, which is the foundation of 911. We could not do our job without solid call takers.”

Officers arrived within minutes and made an arrest before a sexual assault could occur.

WXII is working to learn more about the suspect in this case.

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By Carson Zorn, Samantha Romero

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    PORT CHARLOTTE, Florida (WBBH) — A woman was arrested Monday after being accused of stealing a motorized Publix shopping cart and driving it down Airport Road in Punta Gorda.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a Publix store located on Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda around 10:12 a.m.

Deputies say they talked to the store manager, who told them that a woman had come to the store, stolen a motorized shopping cart and was seen driving it south on Tamiami Trail from Airport Road.

Deputies tracked the woman, identified as Robin Zick, 42, of Punta Gorda, to a Circle K gas station on South Tamiami Trail, almost a mile from the Publix.

Deputies met with Zick, who was still sitting on the cart, and confirmed that the cart, valued at $2,500, was stolen from the Publix.

Emergency medical services then arrived on the scene due to a phone call that Zick had made prior to deputies speaking with her, the CCSO said.

Deputies questioned Zick, who told them that she had taken the motorized shopping cart to go to a medical appointment she had. She told deputies she planned on driving the cart to her appointment and then bringing it back to the Publix.

Zick was then transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

After being released from the hospital, deputies arrested Zick.

Zick faces charges of grand theft.

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By Stephanie Stahl

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a disease that strikes mainly women, but doctors say people need to understand it can also happen to men.

Juan Namnun, the baseball coach at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, is also a breast cancer patient.

“Shock, it’s hard to put in words when you hear, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, there’s no easy way, you have cancer,'” he said. “I knew very little about it; it never crossed my mind.”

The 47-year-old Delran, New Jersey, father of three ended up having a double mastectomy.

“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do emotionally and physically,” he said.

Namnun said months of physical therapy were torture as simple activities were painful.

“Open refrigerator doors, I couldn’t because they took so much muscle mass out, steering wheel, holding umbrella, things of that nature, so life has been a huge challenge, but I’m on my way back,” Namnun said.

Namnun is in a rare group of about 2,800 men who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, just 1% of all cases.

“I think most men are relatively unaware that they can get breast cancer,” Dr. Lori Timmerman, of Virtua Health, said.

Timmerman, a breast cancer surgeon, said men like Namnun need to check themselves because there are no screening guidelines.

“So, usually it’s a change to your breast tissue, either thickening of the nipple, a nodule in your breast tissue or in your chest area, and it’s something that’s there and then doesn’t go away,” Timmerman said.

Namnun is now taking chemotherapy drugs and is relieved to be back at the ballpark.

Namnun is also working on raising awareness about male breast cancer with a special baseball event to help crush cancer.

Namnun and his wife, Lena, are the founders of the Philadelphia Public League Coaches vs. Cancer Baseball Fest.

It’s a one-day event to help “crush” cancer.

The event attracts about 200 people annually and has raised $25,000 for the American Cancer Society. This year, Juan Namnun invited Timmerman to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the tournament.

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