Month: November 2025

By Matt Reed

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    HANSON, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Students at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School walked out of class Monday morning in protest after a massive budget deficit led to layoffs.

The district laid off five teachers, two long-term substitutes, 11 paraprofessionals and five non-union workers on Friday.

“We are not doing this for ourselves but for our future students,” senior Ella Leach said.

Last month, the district revealed a $1.4 million shortfall in this year’s budget.

The Whitman-Hanson Teachers Union has issued a vote of no confidence in Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak.

“The responsibility ultimately lies with me. Looking back how we got here, it is clear that I didn’t maintain a close enough watch over our payroll in fiscal year 25,” Szymaniak said.

The district said it is hopeful that some positions may be restored in the future.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

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By Jenna DeAngelis

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    NEW YORK, NY (WCBS) — Coral from the sea is being used in knee surgeries in Manhattan.

The innovative, new procedure using natural coral is being used to help those suffering from knee osteoarthritis who may not need a total knee replacement.

“Hearing that this was an option … felt like a miracle” Tanya Iacono, 47, has been an athlete all her life. Her passion for competitive powerlifting started in 2019, and took her to nationals back in June. It was a tough journey to get there.

“I finished fourth in my weight and age class,” Iacono said. “So that’s pretty cool.”

While training, she experienced extreme discomfort in her knee, excessive swelling, and mixed advice from doctors.

“I was basically told by some to just not move,” Iacono said. “For somebody that’s really active, you know, that can be really crushing.”

She was also told she would need a knee replacement.

Then she learned of the new, innovative procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

“Hearing that this was an option really, truly felt like a miracle,” Iacono said.

Iacono spoke with CBS News New York ahead of her procedure, which uses a tiny cartilage repair implant called Cartiheal Agili-C. It’s made from coral, from the sea.

Treatment useful for early arthritis, doctors say “Coral, at baseline, is over 90% identical to bone, to be honest. The same chemical building blocks, is almost the same structure. So it’s already very similar, and then the body fully integrates that and makes it your own,” Dr. Andreas Gomoll of the Hospital for Special Surgery said.

Gomoll and Dr. Sabrina Strickland said it offers a less invasive option for patients who may not need or be ready for knee replacement.

“There are some patients who have, for example, a very long, skinny cartilage defect, which really hurts,” Strickland said. “And for that type of defect, we didn’t really have any great options before.”

“If you are at a stage where everything is destroyed in your knee, essentially, a new replacement is still by far the best option. This is really for the person with what we call early arthritis,” Gomoll said.

CBS News New York was invited into the operating room to observe the procedure. The first step is to remove the damaged cartilage, which had detached from the bone. Doctors said that can leave what they call a “pothole,” which can eventually lead to arthritis.

“Cartilage – it doesn’t heal on its own. So this is a way to help the body heal and reform cartilage,” Gomoll said.

The next step is to create a hole in the bone in order to insert the small implants.

“Much, much less pain” The procedure takes about a half an hour.

“[Iacono]’s nowhere near ready to have a knee replacement, and so by putting these coral plugs in, it stimulates the body the grow over the coral cartilage, which hopefully gives her a knee that’s going to last a whole lot longer,” Strickland said. “Much, much less pain. Much smaller incision. I would say most patients at six weeks look pretty good.”

The surgeons were part of the clinical trial which got Cartiheal FDA approval in 2022. They have done nearly 80 of the procedures outside of the clinical trial, and follow their patients closely.

Heidi Jones had the surgery a year and a half ago.

“I’m box jumping. I’m running. I’m squatting. I just did a 12,000-foot mountain. I’m just elated to have had it done and to be resuming everything I wanted to do on the other side,” Jones said.

Iacono can’t wait to get back to the gym, but says her main motivation is her son.

“I think any parent of a special needs child is always looking for ways to be indestructible, because you have to around for your kid as long as possible,” she said.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

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By Ethan Carlson

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    DENVER (KMGH) — A traveling exhibition of giant animal structures made from more than 1.5 million Lego bricks is on view at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, offering hands-on activities and science-focused education opportunities for families and visitors of all ages.

Brick Planet, created by Lego artist Sean Kenney, brings sculptures depicting animals from across the animal kingdom made up of thousands of Lego bricks.

“You get a chance to explore all these different biomes, and see lots of different larger-than life sculptures of animals that you might not be able to see in real life,” Bridget Chalifour, a genomic scientist and curator of Brick Planet, said. “You get to see yourself as a Lego artist, and you get to maybe go home and be inspired to try to create some of these things using what you already have at home.”

The museum added local and scientific touches to the traveling show, which makes its second stop in Denver after opening at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. Each sculpture is accompanied by informational panels listing the number of bricks and hours required to build them. Kenney’s time building the collection would total about seven years, when converted to a 40-hour work week, according to Chalifour.

The exhibit emphasizes relationships in nature through a theme of symbiosis. Several displays show animals interacting with each other, with nearby panels explaining how those animals interact in the wild. Sections of the exhibit explore humanity’s connection to the natural world, including models of the Empire State Building and Times Square.

Brick planet invites visitors to participate. Each section features interactive stations where guests can build mosaics, play matching games, and try their hand at Lego art.

“It’s more than just looking at a sculpture you get to be part of the exhibit as well,” Chalifour said. “Interactivity is a really great way for people to learn concepts. They’re both fun, but you’re learning science and you’re making new discoveries by interacting with some of these supplemental activities that we have.”

Brick Planet runs through May 3 and is included in regular museum admission.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

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.