MINK League sees leadership, membership changes ahead of 2026 season

News-Press NOW on November 26, 2025

Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The MINK League’s off-season is active with tapping new leadership and introducing new teams.

Clifton Glidewell was named the league’s new commissioner and Bob Coons was named deputy commissioner.

Glidewell fills the role left by Ron Rodriguez in August and brings over 40 years of baseball experience to the position at every level.

Glidewell, a Kansas City, Missouri, native, was drafted out of New Mexico State University in the 30th round of the 2000 MLB Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After playing his career, Glidewell eventually joined the coaching ranks, working from the high school level up through junior college, NAIA and NCAA Division I. He also umpired high school, college and professional baseball.

Coons spent his previous two years as the league’s assigner. He’s umpired for the MINK for 10 years, has worked the Missouri State Show-Me Games since 2013 and was recognized as the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s Umpire of the Year in 2024.

Glidewell and Coons will take on various roles, focusing on helping the league continue to grow.

Ky Turner, president and CEO of the St. Joseph Mustangs and Chris Whitaker, general manager of the Carroll Merchants, were re-elected to their positions as league president and vice president.

Following the league’s annual winter meeting, its leadership announced the 2026 schedules will have a different look.

The MINK League will see the departure of the Sedalia Bombers and Jefferson City Renegades; however, it will gain the North Missouri Nattys of Kirksville, as well as a second team, which will be revealed soon.

The Nattys will play their home games on the full synthetic turf baseball field at Kirksville High School. The complex is about three years old, after a nearly $3 million sports project was completed in 2022.

The MINK League will also celebrate its 30th year of entertaining fans on the baseball diamond across the Midwest in 2026.

According to a news release, league officials have special announcements on the horizon with a nod to MINK history. The league said the complete regular season and postseason schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

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CMHS given custody of dogs from breeder who is charged with animal abuse

KMIZ on November 26, 2025

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County judge on Wednesday ruled that the Central Missouri Humane Society will have custody of the dogs who were allegedly abused by a local breeder.  

A lawyer for Melissa Sanders, 26, argued the animals she is accused of abusing should be returned to her.

Boone County/Columbia Animal Control argued to the judge why the animals should be turned over to the Central Missouri Humane Society to reunite the animals with their owners. Those owners will be allowed to pick them up from CMHS with proof of ownership.

Sanders, of Columbia, is charged with three counts of felony animal abuse and 15 counts of misdemeanor animal abuse after animal control, assisted by Boone County sheriff’s deputies, found 16 living but severely malnourished dogs, five “intact” dead dogs and about a dozen dog skulls on her property. Officers also found four dead dogs outside of her building. Sanders is being held in the Phelps County Jail without bond.

Sanders owns Magnum Opus German Shepherds a breeding, boarding and training facility.

Judge Kayla Jackson-Williams heard witness testimony from animal control officers who responded when Sanders property was searched on Nov. 13 along with the veterinarians that treated the animals following their rescue.

Boone County Animal Control officer Emily Rathbun described her experience from the day of the search.

“You could smell the decomposition from outside, but once you stepped inside the feces and urine had built up to the point that would burn your eyes,” Rathbun said. “The kennels inside were full of fur, feces, urine and skeletal remains. A lot of them were bent or mangled past the point of being usable anymore.”

Rathbun also said on the stand that due to the number of remains that were found through out the property, the total number of dogs that died while in Sander’s car is unknown.

Kevin Meyers, Boone County Animal Control supervisor, also took the stand with his experience.

“I had to leave and get a mask because I physically could not breathe inside that space,” Meyers said. “What looked like remains of a dog that had slothed off its matted fur. As they decompose the fur falls off, the skin and the fur melts.”

Following the judge’s ruling, many owners arrived to CMHS to be reunited with their dogs.

“My dog Romy had been with her and I later found out she was deceased,” Brianna Moore said. “However, five of my puppies were there with her, five of Romy’s puppies and thankfully they are alive and I’m getting to take them home.”

It was also revealed in court Wednesday that after one week in the humane’s society care all of the dogs rescued, except one, saw significant weight gain and improvement. One dog initially rescued from the property, named Hex, died due to the severity of its condition.

The veterinarian that cared for Hex, Jessica Thiele, said on the stand that when she first examined Hex he looked like a 4-to-5-month-old puppy due to malnourishment. Another dog that was pregnant at the time of her rescue, Eri, delivered nine puppies while in the care of the humane society.

Owners have until Dec. 5 to claim their dogs from CMHS.

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Yuma man arrested and charged with sexual conduct with a minor

KYMA on November 26, 2025

Dillon Fuhrman

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The Yuma Police Department (YPD) says a man was arrested and charged with sexual conduct with a minor.

YPD says they received reports of a sex offense involving a 20-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl on October 31.

During the investigation, YPD says they established probable cause, and the man, identified as Derek Lucifer Moreno, was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Detention Center last Monday.

YPD says an indictment was filed in the Yuma County Superior Court Tuesday, charging Moreno with one count of sexual assault, four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Moreno is currently being held at the Yuma County Detention Center on a bond of $50,000.

Sexual conduct with a minor 25-68509Download

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Riverside County Animal Services prepares for ‘Black Saturday’ free adoption event

KESQ on November 26, 2025

Athena Jreij

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – Riverside County Animal Services is preparing for one of it’s biggest adoption events of the year, Black Saturday, giving free adoptions to all families.

All adoptions include age-appropriate vaccines, spay and neuter, microchip and ID tag engraving.

It comes as the county continues to face an overcrowding crisis at 200% overcapacity for dogs.

In 2024, over 80 animals were adopted on Black Saturday and more than 100 were in 2023.

As the county works toward a 90% live-release rate, officials say every life-saving effort counts and that many have shown progress.

“I just looked at some data just in the month of October and department-wide, we were able to get more than 400 animals out just by changing the shelter hours with a positive outcome than we had in previous months,” Kimberly Youngberg, the Assistant Director at RCDAS said.

News Channel 3 found steady improvement from May of 2025 to November, with month-to-date live-release rates increasing from 75% to 80% now.

However, a lot of work is still needed at more rural shelters like San Jacinto Animal Campus and Blythe, where a majority of euthanasias are performed.

Fostering, a key initiative to clearing kennel space, also improved from 1,761 placed pets in May to more 4,078 in November.

Youngberg says while they are still struggling to reach the 90% daily live-release rate, she’s confident the improvement will continue.

“Things are unpredictable with what comes in the door from any minute, day to day, and you know, all we can do is the best to make sure that we are doing everything on our side, to give us every possibility of reaching that 90% goal,” she said.

Black Saturday kicks off at all Riverside County animal shelters from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

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Missing WWII Soldier from Wilder, Idaho, Identified Decades Later

KIFI on November 26, 2025

Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — After nearly eighty years, an Idaho soldier is finally coming home. This June, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the body of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Charles S. Atteberry, 26, of Wilder, Idaho, who was killed during World War II.

After delivering a full briefing to Lt. Atteberry’s family, the DPAA has released the full details on Atteberry’s service and how he was identified.

Who was Lt. Attebery?

After joining the war effort, Lt. Atteberry was assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Army, on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. While there, he was captured by the forces of the Empire of Japan and held in the Philippines as a Prisoner of War until late 1944.

Japanese ‘Hell Ship’ the Enoura Maru, Courtesy DPAA

In December 1944, the Japanese military began moving POWs from Manila to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru. This vessel, and others used for transport, were infamously known by Allied prisoners as ‘Hell Ships’ due to the inhumane conditions and treatment of prisoners aboard.

Unaware that Allied POWs were among the passengers, on December 14, 1944, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru in Subic Bay. As the ship sank, historians estimate more than a thousand POWs fled into the water. Though the survivors swam toward land, they were quickly recaptured by Japanese forces.

Lt. Atteberry was then loaded onto a second Hell Ship, the Enoura Maru, bound for Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan. On Jan. 9, 1945, U.S. forces attacked the Enoura Maru while it was anchored at Takao, unknowingly killing an estimated 300 POWs.

Japanese authorities reported that Atteberry was transferred to a third ship, the Brazil Maru, headed for Moji, Japan, where he allegedly died days later. Surviving U.S. POWs reported that the casualties aboard the Brazil Maru were committed to the sea.

The Identification Challenge

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service faced major challenges identifying the bodies of lost soldiers, noting that casualty reports provided by the Japanese government to the International Red Cross contained numerous errors. Lt. Atteberry was one of five individuals marked as “discrepancies” who the American Graves Registration Service believed died aboard the Enoura Maru.

In May 1946, AGRC Search and Recovery Team #9 exhumed a mass grave on a beach at Takao, Formosa, recovering 311 bodies. Among them were remains designated as X-546A Schofield Mausoleum #1, which the AGRS believed had died aboard the Enoura Maru. Following unsuccessful attempts to identify the remains, they were declared unidentifiable and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the Punchbowl.

Decades later, the DPAA’s final analysis brought closure to the families of unidentified soldiers. Between October 2022 and July 2023, the DPAA exhumed unidentified remains from the Punchbowl, including X-546A.

Using anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence, DPAA scientists were able to identify Atteberry’s remains. In addition, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System confirmed their findings using DNA analysis.

Lt. Atteberry’s name is currently etched on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. The DPAA says a rosette will now be placed next to his name, indicating that he has been accounted for. Lt. Atteberry will be interred in Parma, Idaho, on a date to be determined.

Of the casualties aboard the Enoura Maru, 904 POWs remain unaccounted for. Of them, 5 are Idahoans. For more information on the Enoura Maru Project aiming to identify unaccounted for U.S. soldiers involved in the attack, click HERE.

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2,500 MILES: Austin man walks from Texas to Oregon for mental health, on track to reach Bend this weekend

KTVZ on November 26, 2025

Jillian Fortner

(update: adding video, comments from Alex Bradley)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – An Austin man walking more than 2,500 miles to honor his best friend and support others facing mental health struggles is nearing the end of his journey in Oregon. 

Jillian Fortner sat down with Bradley to talk about his journey and the inspiration behind it.

Bradley said he felt compelled to act after the 2021 suicide of his best friend, AJ, a loss he describes as the driving force behind his mission.

“I always told myself I was going to see those last steps,” Bradley said. “I was going to find a way – come hell or high water – to get there, whether it was flying, driving, or, walking.”

He began his journey in Austin, documenting each step as he walked through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California before reaching Oregon.

He is set to arrive in Bend on Sunday.

“There’s going to be a big green van in the town,” Bradley said. “We’re really quick to respond if you guys, if anybody wants to go on a walk.”

He now finds himself in the final leg of his trip, with plans to finish in early December in Oregon City, the same place AJ took his last steps.

​The walk has tested Bradley’s limits, both physically and emotionally. 

“I didn’t even know I could walk 88 days, 89 days. But we’re here doing it,” he said. 

He averages about 50,000 to 60,000 steps a day, traveling with a van, a small crew and support from people he meets along the way.

Along his route, many people stop to share their own stories with him.

“You carry those people’s names with people’s family members, those people’s stories,” Bradley said. “So many people are fighting much harder battles, and I get to see and witness it from just driving this big thing across the country and walking beside it.”

The holidays can be an especially difficult time for those struggling with mental health. Bradley hopes his journey encourages people to reach out, talk about their pain and seek support when they need it.

He says simple moments can make the biggest difference.

“Everybody just needs a walk, somebody to talk to and a chance to look at a beautiful landscape for just a little bit,” Bradley said.

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Account information potentially compromised in cyberattack on Atchison County alert system

News-Press NOW on November 26, 2025

Cameron Montemayor

ATCHISON, Kan. (News-Press NOW) — Email addresses, phone numbers and more information may have been compromised in a recent cyberattack on a public alert used system used by Atchison County and numerous communities nationwide.

The OnSolve CodeRed public notification system remains down nationwide following a targeted cybersecurity incident according to an update from Atchison County Emergency Management.

The outage continues to prevent Atchison County from sending alerts through CodeRed until a vendor migrates the county to a new notification platform.

“This includes weather updates from the National Weather Service sent through CodeRed. We are still waiting on OnSolve to complete this transition. Once the transition is finished, a test notification will be sent to all users,” a statement from Atchison County Emergency Management said.

OnSolve has also notified the agency that contact information from CodeRed user accounts may have been compromised, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and CodeRed account passwords.

At this time, there is no evidence the information has been misused or published online, but there is potential for it to be leaked.

As a precaution, the agency recommends changing passwords if the same one has been used for multiple accounts.

“Be alert for phishing attempts — especially during the holiday season. Avoid suspicious emails, links, or attachments.”

Atchison County can still issue life-safety alerts through IPAWS during this outage.

Those with additional questions or concerns are encouraged to contact OnSolve CodeRED support at: crsupport@crisis24.com

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Plumbers gear up for surge in service calls after Thanksgiving feasts

KESQ on November 26, 2025

Luis Avila

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – With Thanksgiving just hours away, local plumbers are preparing for a surge in service calls. They say the day after the holiday — often dubbed “Brown Friday” — is their busiest of the year.

Jeff May, CEO of Southwest Plumbing, explained that heavy cooking and extra guests put significant pressure on kitchen sinks, garbage disposals, and bathrooms. According to data, service calls typically jump 50 percent above a normal Friday.

“We gear up — specifically, we’re going to have up to seven techs that are going to be working over the Thanksgiving holiday because we can anticipate, it happens every year, there is a high influx of emergency calls.”

Jeff May, Southwest Plumbing CEO

Plumbers recommend keeping grease, oils, and food scraps out of the sink and giving bathrooms a break whenever possible to help avoid emergency calls.

Plumbers stress a little preparation goes a long way.

“It’s always wisdom to prepare ahead of time and now number one, the folks are just coming back into town and number two, gearing up for the holidays.”

Jeff May, Southwest Plumbing CEO

In addition to avoiding grease and oils, plumbers advise against putting fibrous vegetables or starchy foods in the garbage disposal.

For more information, click here.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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CVRM provides Thanksgiving meals for those in need

KESQ on November 26, 2025

Daniella Lake

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – The Coachella Valley Rescue Mission is hosting its annual thanksgiving meal service today and Thanksgiving day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Organizers say they expect to serve up to 5,000 meals each day.

Chef Erin Lombardo has been serving up meals at the mission for over a decade.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else because people are lonely. People need love and this is how they all come together,” she says.

Now, her grandson, CJ, is helping out in the kitchen.

“Knowing that they’re fed and that I’m helping them being fed means a lot to me,” he says.

CJ has been volunteering since he was just nine years old. CJ, along with staff at the mission, say they hope their thanksgiving meals can bring a smile to people’s faces.

“We really want to give them that family feeling, that warmth and that comfort that they would have if they were with their family,” says cssistant chef Andrew Newton.

The rescue mission is located at 47470 Van Buren St, Indio, CA 92201.

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Signature gathering company denies Missouri AG’s claims of illegal activity

KMIZ on November 26, 2025

Haley Swaino

EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used to research background for this story.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A company paying people to get signatures on a petition to overturn a new Missouri congressional map has denied it employs illegal immigrants, a claim made this week by the state’s attorney general.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has launched an immigration-focused investigation into Advanced Micro Targeting, Inc., a signature-gathering firm from Texas.

Hanaway, in a news release Tuesday, accused the company of using undocumented workers to gather petition signatures to reverse the GOP’s gerrymandering efforts.

The release states that Advanced Micro Targeting is the signature-gathering contractor for many petition efforts in the state, including the anti-gerrymandering campaign associated with the group People Not Politicians.

“Election integrity is a core priority of this office,” Hanaway said in a statement. “Missourians, not unregulated labor hired by out-of-state interests, should determine our elections.”

Hanaway issued a civil investigative demand, a subpoena-like order, requiring Advanced Micro Targeting to provide documents related to its hiring practices and worker verification of Missouri clients. The issue has also been referred to federal immigration authorities, Hanaway said.

The Attorney General’s Office said preliminary information suggests the firm may have violated state laws against hiring or transporting unauthorized workers. They are also investigating whether the company provided misleading information to clients, which would violate the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

“Missouri’s laws are clear: no business may employ or transport individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States,” Hanaway, a Republican, said in a statement. “My Office will not allow dark-money groups to violate Missouri laws and hijack the will of voters.”

AMT rejects that notion.

“The allegations are not true,” Billy Rogers, AMT president and founder. “Everyone who works for AMT is a W2 employee, and every AMT employee is verified through the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system. AMT does not employ undocumented immigrants.”

The battle over the signature drive has spread to Missourians’ phones this week.

Some Missourians received a text message warning that out-of-state interests may be “trying to trick people into signing petitions” on Black Friday.

A text message some Missourians received on Nov. 25, 2025.

The Missouri Republican Party issued a statement after the text message was sent out, saying it is in support of Hanaway’s investigation.

“Unfortunately, there are always malicious actors who wish to take advantage of Missourians’ generosity during the holiday season,” the Missouri GOP said in a statement. “There are serious questions about the tactics these groups are using to collect signatures.”

The Missouri GOP issued a statement in support of Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s investigation into illegal aliens gathering signatures on Tuesday.

State Rep. John Martin (R-Centralia) urged Missourians not to sign such petitions.

“This weekend signature gatherers will be out among the shoppers and DECLINE TO SIGN,” Martin wrote in a Facebook post Monday. “The Left and all of their money continue to use Missouri’s low-threshold petition system to push their radical agenda and stop Trump’s agenda.”

People Not Politicians called the message a “scam.”

“Desperate politicians are at it again trying to scam Missourians,” the group wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday. “They are afraid of our power, but we know that we will win!”

Hanaway has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the referendum on the state’s new congressional map from appearing on the November 2026 ballot.

The map, signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe on Sept. 28, is expected to remove a Missouri Democrat from the U.S. House of Representatives. Dubbed “Missouri First,” the map is part of a broader Republican effort to strengthen the party’s hold in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Hanaway contends that the U.S. Constitution grants the Missouri legislature exclusive authority over redistricting, and the referendum undermines this power.

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins approved the petition for circulation by People Not Politicians after initially rejecting the forms submitted last month. However, Hoskins noted that signatures gathered earlier are no longer valid, a claim disputed by People Not Politicians.

Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the new congressional district map.

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