Month: January 2026

By Dorissa White

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    TONGANOXIE, Kansas (KMBC) — A fire on Friday afternoon destroyed the beloved Flashbacks diner in Tonganoxie, Kansas, as well as the home of its owners, Tuna and Debbie Conrad. The Tonganoxie community is now rallying support.

For years, the diner served as more than just a place to eat; it was a gathering spot, a community hub, and for many, a second home. Tuna Conrad expressed the deep connection they have with the community, saying, “And Tonganoxie, you know. But we’re going to miss them. And I know they’re going to miss us, but we’re not leaving Tonganoxie.”

The Conrads described Flashbacks as their prized possession, and the loss has been deeply felt by those who dined there.

“We’re blessed, we’re really blessed, truly, truly blessed,” they said.

Debbie Conrad shared her gratitude for the overwhelming support from the town and local business owners, saying, “It’s just overwhelming, the gratitude that we have for this town and even the business owners that have reached out to us. You know, you get up every day, you love what you do, but you don’t realize the impact that you have.”

The fire not only destroyed the diner but also the Conrads’ home, making the loss both personal and devastating.

The couple is also known for their generosity, having started a scholarship fund for local high school students to help them attend college. In response to the tragedy, a GoFundMe has been created to assist the owners, and an account has been set up at First State Bank for those wishing to contribute to the Flashbacks account.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 Aaron Cantrell

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    NASHVILLE (WTVF) — What began as a frightening robbery for one woman and a close call for another has led to an unexpected bond, forged through faith and coincidence.

Rita Tinnin and Sherry Tinnin Johnson said they met because of a crime — one that left Rita without her car and nearly made Sherry a victim as well.

Last Friday, Rita was working on Chestnut Street when she said that a man walked inside while holding a rock.

“He has this rock in his hand, and I looked at him and was like, ‘Can help you?’ And he kept walking pretty fast towards me,” Rita said.

Rita told police the man demanded her car keys and threatened her life.

“He lifted the rock over my head to hit me, and I thought, ‘Oh God, this is it,’” she said.

As she scrambled to find her keys, something else fell from her purse — a keychain given to her by her grandson.

“My little grandson’s cross he just gave me last week fell in my purse and told me I was going to love it, and I didn’t know how much I was going to love it,” Rita said.

The suspect drove off in Rita’s Nissan Rogue.

About 30 minutes later, police said the same suspect attempted to steal another Nissan Rogue at a gas station near Clarksville Pike and Old Hickory Boulevard. That’s where Sherry said she came face-to-face with the man when he tried to steal her Nissan Rogue.

“I said, ‘You get out of my car right now, and you’re not stealing it!’” Sherry recalled.

A witness blocked the suspect’s path, forcing him to flee on foot. Sherry said the man later returned to retrieve a backpack, giving her a chance to snap a photo. She posted the image online — and that’s how the two women connected.

As they talked, they realized they shared more than the same suspect.

“She knew my brother and lives in the same neighborhood as my nephew, and of course, she has the same last name as my maiden name, but we’re no kin,” Sherry said.

The connection led the two to worship together on Sunday at Rita’s home church.

“The odds of him coming from my work to not even two blocks from my church — I was going to meet a new friend,” Rita said.

Rita’s car has not been recovered, but she said something meaningful came from the ordeal.

“Really, it left me for a minute. I was omg I got a new person to church, and God has blessed us through a bad situation that has turned out to be a blessing,” she said.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said they are still searching for the suspect. Rita’s case has been assigned to a robbery detective, and the investigation remains ongoing.

This story was reported on air by journalist Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Aaron and WTVF verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy

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

KDKA

By Meghan Schiller

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh area woman says she never expected the outpouring of support when she shared the details of her traumatic experience on social media.

Stray voltage from a nearby streetlight shocked her and her dog Denim, leaving him immobile.

“I want to raise awareness around this situation that apparently happens in Pittsburgh because it shouldn’t,” said Montana Mitchell.

For the first time, Mitchell is reliving what she can’t stop replaying in her mind. A post-run cool-down walk on Smallman Street with her dog Denim ended in panic.

“I wear his leash around my waist, and so it was a small buzz I felt around my waist, so I thought the shock was coming from me at first, so I ripped out my AirPods and took off my Apple Watch.”

But that didn’t help, and Mitchell watched her beloved chocolate lab scream out, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth right next to a streetlight on the sidewalk near 11th and Smallman streets.

“He had been thrown to his side, his legs were pushed out, and it looked like he was being tased,” said Mitchell. “When I realized he was being shocked, I didn’t know where it was coming from, so I didn’t know what to pull him away from. He’s also 85 pounds.”

Now she wonders if his size or her quick thinking saved him.

“I kind of had this split-second thought of, ‘OK, I got to get in there.’ So, I leaned over and started taking off his harness and his collars. That’s when I really felt the jolts of the shock. It went up and down my arms, through my chest, and down my spine.”

Miraculously, both Mitchell and her pup survived.

City officials confirmed Monday that something had previously struck the bottom of the streetlight, shifting the wires and causing a pinch in the wiring that energized the pole.

This happened almost two years to the day after Bob Robinson-Dassel’s dog Nikki died from electrocution after walking over a metal plate beneath a streetlight on the Murray Avenue Bridge, also energized by faulty wiring.

At the time, the City of Pittsburgh and former Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration hired a consulting company that recommended a city-wide check of its streetlights and electrical wiring.

Mayor Corey O’Connor’s administration told KDKA-TV that never happened.

“Once I learned that this wasn’t the first time this had happened, that’s really what compelled me to speak out publicly,” Mitchell said. “Otherwise, if it were a true freak accident, I would have kept it between family and friends.”

Mitchell told KDKA-TV that she is meeting with attorneys and plans to make a decision by the end of the week.

The city told KDKA-TV that it will now continue to complete the suggested city-wide inventory of all of the city’s streetlights to prevent this from happening again.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 Meghan Schiller

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh area woman says she never expected the outpouring of support when she shared the details of her traumatic experience on social media.

Stray voltage from a nearby streetlight shocked her and her dog Denim, leaving him immobile.

“I want to raise awareness around this situation that apparently happens in Pittsburgh because it shouldn’t,” said Montana Mitchell.

For the first time, Mitchell is reliving what she can’t stop replaying in her mind. A post-run cool-down walk on Smallman Street with her dog Denim ended in panic.

“I wear his leash around my waist, and so it was a small buzz I felt around my waist, so I thought the shock was coming from me at first, so I ripped out my AirPods and took off my Apple Watch.”

But that didn’t help, and Mitchell watched her beloved chocolate lab scream out, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth right next to a streetlight on the sidewalk near 11th and Smallman streets.

“He had been thrown to his side, his legs were pushed out, and it looked like he was being tased,” said Mitchell. “When I realized he was being shocked, I didn’t know where it was coming from, so I didn’t know what to pull him away from. He’s also 85 pounds.”

Now she wonders if his size or her quick thinking saved him.

“I kind of had this split-second thought of, ‘OK, I got to get in there.’ So, I leaned over and started taking off his harness and his collars. That’s when I really felt the jolts of the shock. It went up and down my arms, through my chest, and down my spine.”

Miraculously, both Mitchell and her pup survived.

City officials confirmed Monday that something had previously struck the bottom of the streetlight, shifting the wires and causing a pinch in the wiring that energized the pole.

This happened almost two years to the day after Bob Robinson-Dassel’s dog Nikki died from electrocution after walking over a metal plate beneath a streetlight on the Murray Avenue Bridge, also energized by faulty wiring.

At the time, the City of Pittsburgh and former Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration hired a consulting company that recommended a city-wide check of its streetlights and electrical wiring.

Mayor Corey O’Connor’s administration told KDKA-TV that never happened.

“Once I learned that this wasn’t the first time this had happened, that’s really what compelled me to speak out publicly,” Mitchell said. “Otherwise, if it were a true freak accident, I would have kept it between family and friends.”

Mitchell told KDKA-TV that she is meeting with attorneys and plans to make a decision by the end of the week.

The city told KDKA-TV that it will now continue to complete the suggested city-wide inventory of all of the city’s streetlights to prevent this from happening again.

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

KDKA

By Andy Sheehan

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Twin boys have been seen selling lemonade for long hours several times a week, often in cold weather, on street corners throughout Pittsburgh and the suburbs for months.

Hundreds of people have posted concerns on the social media platform Reddit, saying the twins are being exploited and demanding action. The police have been called, and complaints have been filed with the Office of Children, Youth and Families. KDKA Lead Investigator Andy Sheehan looked into the concerns about the so-called lemonade twins.

The boys sell lemonade day after day, hour after hour, around the Pittsburgh area. While they appear to be working alone, KDKA Investigates observed a woman, believed to be their mother Sahira Mohammad, sitting within eyesight in a car nearby. Customers say the twins ask for $20 a cup but accept as little as $2 or $3.

It’s not clear where the money goes or whether it’s a business or a charity. They have an Instagram page that says they serve lemonade for peace. Mohammad told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this summer that the lemonade sales “instill a sense of confidence, independence and discipline in her boys, as well as the value of entrepreneurship.”

However, many of the hundreds of people posting their concerns on Reddit say they believe the twins are being exploited, documenting multiple times they’ve been out in sub-freezing temperatures and during school hours. They say they’ve called the police, ChildLine and have asked CYF to intercede.

“We’re really grateful to the community reporting when they have concerns, whether it’s about these children or any other children that we see, and, of course, we’re taking action on those reports of abuse,” said Erin Dalton, director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.

Dalton said she is prohibited from discussing any investigation, but said complaints of this nature automatically initiate a process: a screening that can lead to an investigation, a finding within 60 days and possible action.

“I cannot report on where we are on any of these referrals, but those are processes that are underway for any referral that comes in,” Dalton said.

KDKA’s Andy Sheehan asked, “In this case, are these legitimate concerns?”

“We take every complaint and every concern about child abuse and neglect seriously, and we investigate those that we feel are merited,” Dalton said.

But a determination of abuse or neglect may not be so clear in this case.

If this is a family business, child welfare experts say that it may be little different from kids doing daily chores on a family farm. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has responded to several complaints but has found no evidence to charge the woman criminally. The police bureau issued a statement saying, in part:

“Officers have looked into the matter and so far they have found that the none of their sales have occurred during school hours or they occurred during days off from school. The children are also under supervision by a parent. At this time there is nothing to suggest any criminality with respect to their venture.”

Two days after Christmas, KDKA Investigates found the twins packing up their stand on the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues in Squirrel Hill. The mother left her car to collect them, and KDKA Investigates asked her to comment.

KDKA’s Andy Sheehan asked, “People are concerned about your kids.”

Mohammad said, “Can you please get the camera out my face?”

KDKA’s Andy Sheehan responded: “People are concerned about the state of your kids.”

“Can you please get away from me and my children, please. Thank you,” Mohammad said.

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