Month: January 2026

By Jon Shainman

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    NORTH PALM BEACH, Florida (WPTV) — A North Palm Beach family is back home after a travel nightmare that left them stranded in the northeast for an extra two and a half days when a pipe burst on their American Airlines flight before takeoff.

Jay Youmans and his family were stuck at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, after water came rushing down the aisle of their plane due to a burst pipe. The incident, combined with snowy weather conditions, extended their trip far longer than expected.

“For me, I feel great that we’re home. Obviously, it was a long two and a half days,” Youmans said.

“Could you believe what you were seeing in that moment?” WPTV reporter Jon Shainman asked.

“No I couldn’t, I couldn’t believe it,” Youmans said about witnessing the water flooding the aircraft aisle. “If they know the pipes are freezing in the planes on the runway, that’s a pretty serious lack of aircraft management and ground maintenance.”

After a travel nightmare like that, passengers might expect a guaranteed refund, but that’s not always the case.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, “Contrary to popular belief, for domestic itineraries, airlines are not required to compensate passengers when flights are delayed or cancelled.”

Travel experts recommend being prepared for such situations.

“The first thing you should do is always have travel insurance,” said John Morgenthaler, a Hobe Sound travel agent.

Morgenthaler advises passengers to contact their travel agent first for assistance, or call the airline directly to try changing flights or finding alternative arrangements.

“Call your travel agent. They’re there to help you get through it. If not, call your airline right away. Try to change your flights, see if there’s another way to do it,” Morgenthaler said.

Youmans said the airline classified the incident as weather-related rather than mechanical, which affects compensation eligibility.

“Obviously, it was a difficult situation; there were a lot of canceled flights,” Youmans said.

He has applied online for a refund but has not yet received approval.

“I had to apply online for a refund. It hasn’t been accepted yet,” Youmans said.

“We just want to be made whole. Like I said, we just want to live our lives, get back to work,” he said.

American Airlines did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the incident.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WPTV 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.

By Liz Crawford

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — The fight to restore a slavery exhibit in Philadelphia is ramping up after it was dismantled last week. The National Park Service removed the displays following a directive by President Trump.

A few dozen people braved the bitter cold Wednesday afternoon to show their opposition to the removal of a slavery exhibit at Independence National Historical Park. The outdoor exhibit, just steps from the Liberty Bell, opened in 2010 and was meant to examine the paradox of slavery and freedom. Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived at the site, along with enslaved people.

“I believe our students should learn that we are strong enough to face our past and move forward, and removing history, especially the history of Black Americans, is an act of cowardice,” said Carmela Detoma, a schoolteacher who said she was able to attend the rally thanks to a snow day Wednesday at her school in Camden, New Jersey.

Wednesday’s demonstration was organized by Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, one of the groups that helped create the original exhibit.

Attorney Michael Coard said the group has joined the city’s lawsuit seeking to have the exhibit restored. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also joined the lawsuit.

“Black people were enslaved. Black people built this country. The stories should be told,” Coard said.

Last week, a spokesperson with the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, said it is implementing President Trump’s executive order on Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, which required federal agencies to review some materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker released a video Tuesday evening detailing the city’s stance on the removal of the exhibit.

“I want the world to know, you cannot erase our history,” Parker said. “Yes, it is flawed. Yes, it is imperfect and yes, it includes the real life, lived experiences and stories of people who endured a great deal of pain so that America could realize its promise.”

A public hearing is scheduled for Friday with a judge expected to rule on the city’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would stop any further damage to the site, preserve the displays and restore the exhibit.

Federal officials responded Wednesday to the city’s request for a preliminary injunction. Part of the court filing said, “The City cannot compel the Federal government to convey a message against its will.” It also said the displays are being kept in a secure location.

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.

WLNY

By Hannah Kliger

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, one Brooklyn program is working to combat loneliness and decades-old trauma among survivors living far from the places where their lives were forever changed.

The borough is home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel.

Marat Rivkin, 88, has only one photograph of himself with his mother from World War II. It was taken in 1941 at a Soviet train station, so he could get help finding her if they were separated.

“My mother ran in and said, ‘The war has begun.’ I didn’t know what she meant, but she was crying and told me and my grandmother to begin packing,” Rivkin told Brooklyn reporter Hannah Kliger in Russian.

Rivkin recalled childhood memories of Nazi-allied forces destroying Jewish ghettos in his hometown of Slutsk, in what was then Soviet Belarus.

“They began to bomb and my grandma threw me into poison ivy and covered me with her body. She told me, ‘If they kill me, you will survive,'” he said.

Soon after, Rivkin and his family fled, traveling nearly 1,000 miles to a village outside of Stalingrad, now known as Volgograd. Today, he is among hundreds of Holocaust survivors living in Brooklyn.

In recent years, Rivkin has formed a close bond with Olga Smirnova, a clinical social worker who visits him weekly through a home-visit program run by Maimonides Medical Center.

“She’s like a friend, a person who understands me. Things sometimes feel difficult, but she gives me advice,” Rivkin said.

Smirnova said trauma-informed therapy often looks different for survivors.

“We can use childhood experience like a resource, but for Holocaust survivors, we cannot do it because it’s a lot of traumatic experience,” she said.

The visits focus on loneliness and emotional distress, issues that many survivors say have intensified amid the war in Ukraine and rising antisemitism in the United States.

Rivkin is one of dozens enrolled in the program, which is led by Dr. Abraham Taub, Chair of Psychiatry at Maimonides.

“This program actually is super meaningful to me. I am the grandson of four Holocaust survivors,” Taub said.

As time continues to pass, Taub says, long-suppressed trauma can resurface.

“As people age, their defense mechanisms sometimes get a little bit weaker. And so things that they’ve been suppressing, or possibly even repressing, for decades, it’s more challenging for them to do that,” he said.

Several years ago, the program shifted its focus to better serve Russian-speaking survivors from the former Soviet Union. Many did not experience concentration camps but were forced to flee villages and towns as Nazi forces advanced, destroying homes and killing millions.

Rivkin later spent decades as a Soviet dissident before immigrating to the United States in hopes of building a new life. Now widowed, with grown children and grandchildren, he said the visits provide a rare sense of understanding and connection.

“I will ask now ask every family to be more in touch with Holocaust survivors,” Smirnova said. “Just call and say ‘hi’ because this is the generation who is waiting that somebody will call them.”

The program’s organizers say those small moments of contact can make a profound difference for survivors whose past continues to shape their present.

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 Hannah Kliger

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, one Brooklyn program is working to combat loneliness and decades-old trauma among survivors living far from the places where their lives were forever changed.

The borough is home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel.

Marat Rivkin, 88, has only one photograph of himself with his mother from World War II. It was taken in 1941 at a Soviet train station, so he could get help finding her if they were separated.

“My mother ran in and said, ‘The war has begun.’ I didn’t know what she meant, but she was crying and told me and my grandmother to begin packing,” Rivkin told Brooklyn reporter Hannah Kliger in Russian.

Rivkin recalled childhood memories of Nazi-allied forces destroying Jewish ghettos in his hometown of Slutsk, in what was then Soviet Belarus.

“They began to bomb and my grandma threw me into poison ivy and covered me with her body. She told me, ‘If they kill me, you will survive,'” he said.

Soon after, Rivkin and his family fled, traveling nearly 1,000 miles to a village outside of Stalingrad, now known as Volgograd. Today, he is among hundreds of Holocaust survivors living in Brooklyn.

In recent years, Rivkin has formed a close bond with Olga Smirnova, a clinical social worker who visits him weekly through a home-visit program run by Maimonides Medical Center.

“She’s like a friend, a person who understands me. Things sometimes feel difficult, but she gives me advice,” Rivkin said.

Smirnova said trauma-informed therapy often looks different for survivors.

“We can use childhood experience like a resource, but for Holocaust survivors, we cannot do it because it’s a lot of traumatic experience,” she said.

The visits focus on loneliness and emotional distress, issues that many survivors say have intensified amid the war in Ukraine and rising antisemitism in the United States.

Rivkin is one of dozens enrolled in the program, which is led by Dr. Abraham Taub, Chair of Psychiatry at Maimonides.

“This program actually is super meaningful to me. I am the grandson of four Holocaust survivors,” Taub said.

As time continues to pass, Taub says, long-suppressed trauma can resurface.

“As people age, their defense mechanisms sometimes get a little bit weaker. And so things that they’ve been suppressing, or possibly even repressing, for decades, it’s more challenging for them to do that,” he said.

Several years ago, the program shifted its focus to better serve Russian-speaking survivors from the former Soviet Union. Many did not experience concentration camps but were forced to flee villages and towns as Nazi forces advanced, destroying homes and killing millions.

Rivkin later spent decades as a Soviet dissident before immigrating to the United States in hopes of building a new life. Now widowed, with grown children and grandchildren, he said the visits provide a rare sense of understanding and connection.

“I will ask now ask every family to be more in touch with Holocaust survivors,” Smirnova said. “Just call and say ‘hi’ because this is the generation who is waiting that somebody will call them.”

The program’s organizers say those small moments of contact can make a profound difference for survivors whose past continues to shape their present.

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 Sergio Candido

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    LAUDERHILL, Florida (WFOR) — A Fort Lauderdale man and U.S. Postal Service employee was arrested Wednesday on three counts of aggravated animal cruelty after investigators say he repeatedly pepper-sprayed three dogs through a fence while delivering mail in Lauderhill, police said.

Lauderhill police said the incident happened Jan. 2 in the 1600 block of Northwest 51st Avenue, where the dogs were inside a fenced yard. According to investigators, video provided by the dogs’ owner showed a man approaching the fence and spraying the animals multiple times with what was later identified as pepper spray.

Detectives identified the suspect as Sian Andre Spencer, 47, who police said was delivering mail at the time of the incident and has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for about five years. Authorities said the dogs were barking at the fence before they were sprayed.

Police said the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were notified and assisted with the investigation. Spencer’s employment status is pending an internal review, according to police.

The dogs were later evaluated by a veterinarian. Medical staff said pepper spray exposure can cause temporary pain, irritation and discomfort in animals and may lead to eye injuries if not treated. The dogs were treated and continue to be monitored, police said.

Spencer was taken into custody without incident on Wednesday and transported to the Broward County Main Jail, police said.

Lauderhill police said anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the department at 954-497-4700 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

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.