Month: February 2026

By Reeves Jackson

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    GAINESVILLE, Georgia (WXIA) — A single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy Gainesville road on Monday afternoon, striking several vehicles but leaving only minor injuries, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after noon on Browns Bridge Road near the intersection of Pearl Nix Parkway, according to police.

Newly obtained audio from inside the aircraft captured the pilot in the final moments before the plane touched down, with a message to other pilots over the common traffic advisory frequency, in case he didn’t make it.

“We’re not gonna make it. Please tell my wife, Molly, I love her … and my parents. I love them so much,” the pilot said.

Police said the Hawker Beechcraft BE-36 hit multiple vehicles as it came down in the roadway. Despite the dramatic landing, officials reported only minor injuries.

The Gainesville airport manager said there were two people on board — the pilot and one passenger. She said she later spoke briefly with the pilot, shook his hand and congratulated him on what she described as a good landing given the circumstances.

Authorities believe engine trouble may have led to the emergency landing. The incident remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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 Cameron Polom

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    ELOY, Arizona (KNXV) — Most people celebrate their 90th with cake, candles, and a comfy chair.

However, one Valley grandma is trading dessert for a parachute.

Instead of a quiet birthday dinner, she’ll be soaring over Skydive Arizona on Friday, cheered on by a huge group of friends, family and husband of 68 years.

Laura Belle Sullivan has always been open to adventure. She’s gone skydiving for her birthdays when she turned 70 and 80.

Just a few months ago, she took a mother-daughter trip through Southern California wine country on a World War 2 Motorcycle.

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 Cameron Polom

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    PHOENIX (KNXV) — Seventeen years ago, Paul “Woody” Woodward’s young son spent two grueling years battling childhood cancer. While enduring difficult treatments, he received unexpected toys and gifts from strangers that helped him smile on the toughest days.

That experience changed Woody’s life, inspiring him to start hosting toy drives year-round and personally delivering thousands of gifts to children’s hospitals, first in Iowa City, where his son was treated, and now to Phoenix Children’s hospital.

Through his nonprofit, Woody’s Toys, he has brought comfort and happiness to tens of thousands of kids facing cancer, reminding all of us how one person’s compassion can ripple outward and make our community stronger and kinder. Through his hard work, they’ve been able to donate over 55,000 toys to those in need!

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 Lillian Donahue

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    GILBERT, Arizona (KNXV) — Glenn Polyak thought he was out of options when his Stage 4 melanoma spread to his brain, until he became only the second Banner Health patient to receive an innovative new cell therapy treatment.

The Eastern Arizona man had been battling cancer for years, and doctors told him his dangerous melanoma mutation made his condition nearly untreatable.

In 2024, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy emerged. It’s the first and only FDA-approved treatment for metastatic melanoma tumors which are non-responsive to other treatments or cannot be taken out.

“There is no other treatment that can work for him,” Dr. Yazan Samhouri said. “It’s lifesaving.”

The therapy involves harvesting immune cells within the tumor, then sending them to a lab before re-injecting them back into the tumor later.

“We grow them and we activate them. The process takes around three to four weeks, and then we put them in a small bag, which is billions of cells, and we give them back to the patients intravenously,” Samhouri said. “And now they are smarter than the tumor, so they know how to go, track, back to the tumor and kill the tumor cells, which was something they could not do before.”

Polyak has been living in his RV with his wife behind the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center since October while he received the therapy.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to live long enough to be able to have the procedure done,” Polyak said. “I’m pretty much back. I really am. I don’t have the energy still, but it’s coming.”

While currently only approved for metastatic melanoma, doctors hope to expand the therapy’s use to other cancers in the future.

“We rely on the durability of this kind of therapy to cure cancers. So that’s really the hope,” Samhouri said.

The couple, who love to travel and camp, are looking forward to resuming their adventures. Polyak’s wife, Bonni, said his 100-day scan this month will determine his next steps, but they’re optimistic about the future.

“We’ll see what it looks like. But then the next day we’re out of here, we’re going camping,” Bonni Polyak said.

Glenn Polyak said his family’s support and his strong faith kept him rooted in a journey he describes as nothing short of miraculous.

“Grace of God. I am a miracle, and I believe it,” Polyak said.

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

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    BERKS COUNTY, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — When a 99-year-old World War 2 veteran befriended a college student, they would both go on a trip that they would never forget.

Together with Tyler Boland, Russell Sattazahn visited the site in Germany where he lost his hand decades ago.

Boland connected with Sattazahn through his passion project: “Keeping History Alive.” “My great grandfather was a marine in World War 2. He died before I was born. So in honor of him, I said, ‘I’m going to interview as many World War 2 vets as I can.’ I’m just inspired because they are living walking heroes,” said Boland.

These interviews are posted online, including Boland’s Youtube Channel.

After Boland discovered Sattazahn, he decided to find a way to visit the site where Sattazahn lost his right hand.

“The second one hit … and it blew my hand off. And the first thing I looked down and I said, ‘I’ll never play baseball again,’ that was my first thought,” Sattazahn recalls about his injury.

With help from community members, Boland and Sattazahn visited Uckerath, Germany together.

“Tyler was one great man. I thank him for everything. He helped me get back to Germany. There’s nobody better than him,” said Sattazahn.

“If you know someone, thank them for their service. They’ve done a lot for us. And without Russell and these other guys, I would not be here,” said Boland.

For any World War 2 veterans or their families, you can inquire about working with Boland through his online platforms.

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 Christie Ileto

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    PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — It’s a piece of Philadelphia history that powered the future. The world’s first electronic computer was born at the University of Pennsylvania.

It was a room-sized machine built for war that eventually launched the modern digital age that we know now.

It was called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, aka ENIAC.

“It was created just right across the hall 80 years ago, in 1946,” said Paul Shaffer, a historian for ENIAC.

Inside the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania sits 1/10th of what was once a room-sized computer.

At its 1946 unveiling, ENIAC was made up of 40 nine-foot-high cabinets containing 18,000 vacuum tubes, 10,000 capacitors, and 6,000 switches.

“(It’s) not like standard computers today that take instructions out of stored memory and execute them one at a time. This, instead, was programmed by patching wires together,” said Shaffer. “Before then, we do calculations. They used gears and levers; computing was so slow back in those days.”

Shaffer says it was unlike any other computing device of its time.

It was developed during World War II to address the military’s need for quick and accurate computations.

It’s the brainchild of Professor John Mauchly and graduate student John Eckert Jr., along with six female mathematicians.

“Another problem that they were working on was the trajectory of artillery shells. Not too short, because that’s where the good guys are. You don’t want that. Let’s make sure it goes over the good guys and lands on the bad guys. So it’s very important. They had guns that they could not put out into the war because they lacked the firing table. How to calculate one entry in the firing table took about 12 hours on a calculator,” said Shaffer.

Their vision to bring more firepower to U.S. troops flipped the switch on the digital age.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it really was a model of how to do computing general purpose computing,” said Dr. Vijay Kumar, the dean of engineering.

Computing and computers have evolved into much more powerful, smaller PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches.

The prototype for this ingenuity began right here in University City.

“The University of Pennsylvania is very proud to have started all this,” said Shaffer. “We’d like to think that this was the machine that started the information age, and that it all started right here in Philadelphia, right here in this building at 33rd and Walnut.”

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.