Month: February 2026

By Felix Cortez

Click here for updates on this story

    PESCADERO, Calif. (KSBW) — Researchers have confirmed the first cases of avian flu in California marine mammals, specifically elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County, prompting the cancellation of tours to the seals.

The park’s biggest attraction, the elephant seals, is now off-limits to all visitors after seven pups tested positive for the avian flu. Park rangers decided to cancel all tours and access to the elephant seals.

“During the breeding season, we have about 30,000 people who come to check out the animals,” a park docent, Tom Halderman, said.

The decision to cancel tours was made due to safety concerns.

“There’s a high likelihood that it’s unsafe for people to be out here because we have this avian influenza highly pathogenic that is a concern. And so it’s a concern with our animals, with our birds, but also with the general public. So, you know, we just can’t take the chance, period,” Halderman said.

During a virtual news conference on Wednesday, researchers confirmed the early stages of a bird flu outbreak among the large mammals at Año Nuevo.

While only seven pups have tested positive, another 30 elephant seals have been found dead, and more than two dozen are showing signs associated with avian flu.

“The neurological signs reported include tremors, whole body shaking, and convulsions and seizure activity have also been reported,” Megan Moriarty, a UCSC researcher, said.

Approximately 3,000 elephant seals descend on Ano Nuevo during the breeding season, which runs through the end of March. A similar outbreak killed more than 17,000 elephant seals two years ago in Argentina.

A team of researchers is now closely monitoring the situation, hoping the outbreak doesn’t spread.

“There are some antibodies they have just as you might have to the flu when you get the flu every year so our hope is these animals may be able to fight off the virus and it won’t have a huge mortality event,” Deborah Fauquier, a veterinary medical officer for NOAA, said.

The park remains open to visitors, but all tours to the elephant seals have been canceled through the end of next month, affecting more than 4,300 ticket holders.

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 Peyton Spellacy

Click here for updates on this story

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KOAT) — The Democratic Party of New Mexico’s headquarters was burglarized after someone smashed in the front door around 5 a.m. Feb. 19.

According to APD crime maps, it is the second break-in to happen on the block this month. An investigation remains underway, and it is still unknown whether the incident was politically motivated.

Sara Attleson, chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, said, “We don’t know if it was politically motivated. We don’t know if it was someone intentionally came in or if it was just someone at random.”

However, the party believes it was targeted.

Video from nearby businesses shows the burglar walking toward the headquarters with a bag in hand and walking a bicycle just before the break-in. APD have not made any arrests. The suspect got away with a laptop, headphones and campaign material.

Attleson said, “The team member whose laptop it belonged to, we don’t know what exactly was on that.”

She said the APD is tracking the serial numbers of the stolen items in an effort to crack the case.

Attleson added, “We have been vandalized at least two, two times before in the past.”

She also referenced vandalism at the party’s Lea County office a few months ago.

Attleson said the first thing she thought of when she heard about the burglary was the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters arson attack nearly a year ago. That suspect, Jamison Wagner, is facing up to 40 years in prison.

“That was the first thing, in all honesty, that came to my mind. Throughout the country, my fellow state chair are experiencing political vandalism and political violence,” Attleson said.

Attleson said the silver lining has been the support from fellow Democrats across the state, who have donated money and office supplies to help replace what was lost.

KOAT reached out to the APD for more information on where the investigation stands but has not yet received a response.

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 Michelle Bandur

Click here for updates on this story

    YUBA COUNTY (KCRA) — A 59-year-old security guard at the New Colgate Powerhouse in Yuba County miraculously survived after being swept away by a burst pipe earlier this month.

“God had him the whole time, and he made it through,” said his wife, Kathy.

Kathy said on Friday, Feb. 13, she couldn’t get ahold of Howard that afternoon, as he always lets her know when he’s headed home from work.

Howard works as a security guard for the New Colgate Powerhouse and was standing outside the building when he and other employees heard the rumble of the wall of water.

Kathy had a bad feeling but kept thinking he was in a bad cell service area and would be home soon.

She said Howard’s boss called, told her about the burst pipe, and said her husband was missing.

Kathy recounted the terrifying incident, explaining that Howard was missing for over three hours.

“He heard, like, rumbling, and he thought it was an earthquake. And he went out to see and he seen the wires, the power lines moving, like they do in an earthquake,” she said.

“He looked up and the gush of water was already coming.”

Kathy said Howard fell 35 feet into the Yuba River, where he was caught in the cold water, caught in churning water as if he was in a washing machine.

“He got swept to a big rock in the middle of the river. And then he prayed, ‘God save me,'” she said. “And about that time, another water shot him across to the riverbank.”

Kathy said he watched Cal Fire rescue his coworkers and tried to wave at them. She said drones couldn’t pick up his body heat because he was suffering from hypothermia.

They finally spotted him from the helicopter and saved him.

Howard nearly drowned and was unresponsive for eight minutes before medics resuscitated him. Kathy described his injuries, a collapsed lung, broken collarbone, ribs, knee, and deep cuts.

“I call it rock rash. You know how people get road rash? He has rock rash from head to toe,” she said. “He’s alive. And that’s all that really matters to me. He can be broken into all the pieces he wants to be, but he’s here.”

She said when he woke up after three days, he wanted to talk to her, but he was intubated.

He wrote her a note with a heart, expressing his love for her.

“I love you because all I told you the whole time, I love you, I love you out there. You got this,” she said.

Kathy and Howard later watched the video from LiveCopter 3, which captured the water and mudslide. Kathy said she gets the same uneasy feeling she had that day when watching it, knowing her husband was caught in that water.

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 Tim Fang

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area posted video of a rescue of a family from a burning apartment building over the weekend, in which a toddler and dog were thrown off a balcony to waiting police officers below.

According to the Milpitas Police Department, dispatchers received a call around 3:15 p.m. Saturday from residents who were trapped inside their apartment on South Park Victoria Drive.

Two officers arrived on scene in less than two minutes and found the doors to the apartments were blocked by heavy fire. As the fire grew, the officers worked on a plan to rescue the family, who were on the balcony.

Police said the officers guided the parents through the rescue, telling them to drop their 3-year-old daughter to officers waiting on the ground.

“I got her, I got her. Drop her,” one of the officers was heard saying in a video posted by police.

The video then shows the girl being caught by an officer and taken to safety. Moments later, video shows an officer catching the family dog after the pet was thrown from the balcony.

Firefighters arrived and were able to evacuate the remaining occupants of the apartment, police said. No serious injuries were reported.

“We are incredibly thankful for the calm and courage shown by the residents during such a terrifying moment, and for the seamless teamwork between our dispatchers, officers, and fire personnel,” police said in a statement Tuesday.

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 Jordan Ryan

Click here for updates on this story

    OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — An Oklahoma Department of Corrections fugitive was captured, and another person was arrested Thursday morning at an Oklahoma City motel.

Around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, law enforcement arrested the escaped fugitive and a woman at a Super 8 Motel near Southeast 44th Street and Interstate 35 in Oklahoma City.

Police told KOCO 5 that they were helping the ODOC arrest a fugitive who reportedly rented a U-Haul van during their escape. Authorities later found the van parked in the motel’s parking lot.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections identified the fugitive as Kyle Vacin, who is serving a seven-year sentence for eluding a police officer out of Tulsa County. He had walked away from the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy.

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 Mallory Anderson

Click here for updates on this story

    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — Peregrine falcons, once nearly extinct in Wisconsin, have made a remarkable recovery due to one man’s conservation efforts that began 40 years ago.

Decades ago, Greg Septon could only dream of seeing a peregrine falcon in the wild.

“When I was a kid, I used to daydream in high school about what we could do to bring them back, because they were gone. I never saw a Peregrine growing up,” Septon said.

Now, he encounters them almost daily, thanks to an unconventional idea in 1986.

“I met actually with the president of We Energies at the time, and I said: ‘I’ve got this plan. I think we can bring peregrines back. We need to get nest boxes up on all your power plants.'”

Septon, an avid bird lover and conservationist, knew captive-produced peregrine falcons released into the wild would move into the boxes if they were placed high in the sky near waterways. That’s also where you’ll find massive power plants.

“Peregrine falcons migrate and have movements up and down the lakefront, and they’ll look for a tall building or tall structure,” Septon said. “As far as they’re concerned, this is a cliff overlooking a body of water, and if there’s a nest box, and they’re happy.”

After his initial meeting, We Energies hesitantly agreed, kicking off a decades-long program that has repopulated the nearly extinct species.

When asked about the number of birds that have come out of those boxes, Septon said, “I’ve banded over 1,500, and there’s birds that I’ve not been able to band over the years, so I’d say probably 1,700 over the last 40 years.”

It’s a tremendous improvement for a population that was nearly zero in 1960.

While the birds can be counted, Septon’s impact is innumerable. On Wednesday, We Energies, the Wisconsin Humane Society, and even the governor tried their best to articulate what his work means to the state. Septon received a special plaque from the governor and now has a raptor cage named in his honor at the Humane Society’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Through it all, Septon remains humble and says he’s just glad he could save his favorite bird.

“How much does it mean to you to know you’ve had a big role in repopulating peregrine falcons?” asked 12 News reporter Mallory Anderson.

“Well, it’s not just me, it’s everybody. It’s all the corporations that have been involved,” said Septon. “Again, without corporate support and sponsoring nest boxes, they wouldn’t be here. So I just try to facilitate whatever I can, keep being involved, and hopefully keep some things on track as much as I can. Now I can take my daughter out almost any day I want and show her a Peregrine, which is pretty cool.”

Septon’s conservation efforts have been covered by WISN 12 News for years. WISN has video of him climbing a power plant ladder to check on a nest box in 2002. Septon says the evolution of technology, namely 24/7 live streams filming the boxes, has made his job much easier and less dangerous. Though he still makes physical checks on boxes multiple times a year.

The peregrine falcon mating season is starting soon in Wisconsin. Septon says the first chicks usually start hatching in late March or early April.

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.