Month: February 2026

By Peter Choi

Click here for updates on this story

    WOODLAND PARK, Colorado (KOAA) — It’s not every day you meet a gym buddy who’s 81 years old and also a world record holder. What Bonnie Sumner accomplished may surprise you, but the message she hopes others take from it is even bigger.

Sumner heads to the gym at least three times a week, sometimes four.

It’s a special place for her, where she set a world record at 81 years old. Sumner held onto a pull-up bar for just over three minutes, earning her a world record.

What began as a lighthearted conversation with her trainer at Woodland Park Fitness quickly turned serious.

“There was a picture of a man hanging from a bar in an article,” said Sumner. “I wondered what the Guinness World Record was for women my age. And then someone said, ‘Well, let’s break the record.’”

From there, training began alongside her coach, Eve Lawrence.

“The gym owner and I looked it up,” said Lawrence. “I knew at that point she could beat the record.”

Still, Sumner says the challenge wasn’t easy, but she hopes others focus on the bigger takeaway.

“The older we get, the more we need to take care of our bodies,” she said.

To many, Sumner has become an inspiration.

“Very inspiring,” said Lawrence. “I think people don’t connect age with fitness goals and new challenges.”

As for what’s next, Sumner says she’s not chasing another record.

“I think this is one and done,” said Sumner. “My goal isn’t to go for another record.”

Instead, she hopes her story encourages someone else to try, even if they think it’s too late.

“I want people to say, ‘I’ve been doing this. Maybe I’ll try that,” said Sumner.

Her message is simple, don’t set your limits, especially when it comes to age.

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 Jessica Riley

Click here for updates on this story

    WEST NEWTON, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A driver in West Newton took a wrong turn at a railroad crossing on Thursday morning, which landed them stuck on the tracks.

For Gary Johnson, it was just another normal morning. He heard the train coming before things went boom and began to shake. That sound was a box truck completely wiping out his front porch.

Somehow, no one was hurt, but after the box truck became stuck on the railroad tracks around 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning, it was hit by a CSX train and sent into Johnson’s porch.

The driver was from out of town and headed to the post office to deliver Amazon packages when his GPS led him the wrong way and onto the tracks. The truck became stuck, and the train was unable to stop in time.

“I know the driver was extremely upset and scared, and rightfully so, because if the officer had not gotten to him, he could’ve been hit by the train,” explained West Newton Mayor Mary Popovich.

For Mayor Popovich and Police Chief Dustin Sanner, this is a problem they’ve seen before, just never this severe. Their hope now is that this close call can lead to change and awareness of the crossings.

“For whatever reason, some GPS tells you there’s a street there,” Chief Sanner said. “If you’re not from town, you don’t know there’s not a street, it’s just tracks.”

“We realize there is an issue, so we need to work with PennDOT to put some signs up, and then we have to figure out how to get the mapping done correctly,” added Mayor Popovich.

Finally, Mayor Popovich took the time to remind drivers that if you’re at a railroad crossing and having an emergency or a problem, look for the blue sign. From there, call the number on the sign and give the operator the code.

However, if you have an emergency, call 911.

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 Stephanie Stahl

Click here for updates on this story

    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — A Philadelphia toddler and a dog from Los Angeles have a unique bond that came together thanks to a CHOP doctor and a story from CBS News Philadelphia.

Cameron Knowles, 3, and a dog named Panini both have the world’s smallest pacemaker.

It’s an unlikely connection that was put together by Dr. Maully Shah of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Two and a half years ago, Cameron had a heart block and was too small for a conventional pacemaker. He became the first baby at CHOP to receive a specially modified device that was placed outside his heart.

Panini, who lives with Heather Ashley Boyer in Los Angeles, has the same kind of heart block, and like Cameron, sizing for a pacemaker became an issue.

“So I found an article, your article online, that reported on baby Cameron,” Boyer told CBS News Philadelphia.

Then, when veterinarians said they couldn’t help, Boyer called CHOP.

“They’re like, ‘Oh great, what’s your patient’s date of birth and insurance info,’ and I was like, ‘Oh crap,’ and so eventually I had to fess up and say, ‘Well, my patient has four legs and a tail,'” Boyer said.

When Boyer reached out to Shah, she sent a photo of Panini.

“Once you see that picture, there is no turning back, right? I’m all in,” Shah said.

There were massive regulatory hurdles, but Shah and Boyer kept pushing. Three months ago, Panini got the special pacemaker at Cornell Veterinary Hospital.

“She’s been doing amazing,” Boyer said. “She’s very active now.”

Boyer was back on the East Coast for Panini’s check-up and visiting her parents as Shah arranged for everyone to meet.

“It’s so great to see that they’re connected by such a small device,” Shakiara Pressley, Cameron’s mother, said.

Both Cameron and Panini are thriving now, with their identical tiny pacemakers, defying the odds

“This is why you have to believe in the goodness of people, even in the hardest of times, right?” Shah said.

Panini is a Chiweenie, which is a mix between a chihuahua and a dachshund. Panini the Chiweenie has 6,600 followers on Instagram.

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.

WCBS

By Lisa Rozner

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Jewish parents at a Brooklyn Heights middle school are raising concerns about alleged bias after the school’s principal decided not to invite a Holocaust survivor to speak to students.

Back in December, Middle School 447 Principal Arin Rusch declined a request to invite Sami Steigmann to speak to students, causing a controversy. In a surprising move, the Department of Education reversed Rusch’s decision and invited Steigmann to speak at the school on Thursday, which he accepted.

Still, some are calling for the principal’s removal.

In a Nov. 18 email to a parent, Rusch said Steigmann’s presentation wasn’t right for the school “given his messages around Israel and Palestine.”

In video obtained by CBS News New York from a virtual PTA meeting on Dec. 9, Rusch said she would arrange for students to visit museums that teach about the Holocaust and defended her decision about Steigmann.

“When I reviewed the speaker’s website … I found the slides to be political in nature,” she said. “DOE’s policy is that students should learn in a politically neutral environment.”

A 2021 DOE policy states, in part, “School buildings are not public forums for purposes of community or political expression.”

Back on Dec. 4, Steigmann told CBS News New York he had never spoken with Rusch.

“What I tell people that invite me, I said, look, I would like to say A, B, C, OK? Is it against your company’s or your school’s policy?” he said at the time.

A DOE spokesperson told CBS News New York, in part, “Our top priority is ensuring their students feel safe and get the high-quality education they deserve …We are not able to comment on the outcomes of investigations of every reported incident. We have handled them and continue to handle them as they arise.”

Rusch did not respond to CBS News New York’s multiple requests for an interview.

Some parents who spoke to CBS News New York say this is the latest in a pattern of instances of alleged antisemitism.

At the Dec. 9 PTA meeting, parent Ramon Maislen asked how the school is making decisions on political neutrality, citing a seventh grade art assignment from the fall that referenced keffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian pride.

In 2024, the group New York United in Fighting Antisemitism asked the mayor to ban keffiyehs, writing, “This symbol is prominently displayed at protests where chants, slogans and signs openly call for the death of Israel and Jews.”

“So why is something that is being taught as current events, which is also political, acceptable, but the story of a Holocaust survivor is not acceptable because it’s too political?” Maislen told CBS News New York.

He added, “I think at the end of the day, most of the people that are protesting with keffiyehs aren’t, you know, hating Jews or anything like that, but certainly there is a minority of people that are actively anti-Jewish, and if you’re going to teach kids, just teach them the whole breadth of what’s going on.”

Maislen said this isn’t the first time he has felt like the principal has been “dismissive” of his concerns. He said he previously emailed her about a performance of “Apocalypse Defiance Circus” by the Bread and Puppet Theater that students attended in December 2022.

In one scene, performers say, “U.S. taxpayers currently pay $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel … We are breaking through the dam, but we must keeping pushing until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.”

Maislen shared Rusch’s response, which read, in part, “I was able to check in with several teachers who were on the trip … None of the adults I spoke to found the tone to be anti-Semitic … They didn’t interpret this as criticism towards Jews or Judaism (and I didn’t get the sense that the show presented Israel as a Jewish state so much as a country that is well funded by the U.S.).”

Several other parents who spoke to CBS News New York did not want to reveal their identities for fear of retaliation.

The United Jewish Teachers organization is now calling for the principal’s removal, saying in a Dec. 14 email to the district’s superintendent that it believes Rusch is not accepting responsibility for what it calls her “bias against Israel.”

Members of New York City’s Bipartisan Jewish Caucus will be at Steigmann’s presentation on Thursday.

CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner called Rusch’s office multiple times and emailed her requesting responses to the specific concerns raised by parents and the United Jewish Teachers. Rozner has not heard back.

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 Lisa Rozner

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Jewish parents at a Brooklyn Heights middle school are raising concerns about alleged bias after the school’s principal decided not to invite a Holocaust survivor to speak to students.

Back in December, Middle School 447 Principal Arin Rusch declined a request to invite Sami Steigmann to speak to students, causing a controversy. In a surprising move, the Department of Education reversed Rusch’s decision and invited Steigmann to speak at the school on Thursday, which he accepted.

Still, some are calling for the principal’s removal.

In a Nov. 18 email to a parent, Rusch said Steigmann’s presentation wasn’t right for the school “given his messages around Israel and Palestine.”

In video obtained by CBS News New York from a virtual PTA meeting on Dec. 9, Rusch said she would arrange for students to visit museums that teach about the Holocaust and defended her decision about Steigmann.

“When I reviewed the speaker’s website … I found the slides to be political in nature,” she said. “DOE’s policy is that students should learn in a politically neutral environment.”

A 2021 DOE policy states, in part, “School buildings are not public forums for purposes of community or political expression.”

Back on Dec. 4, Steigmann told CBS News New York he had never spoken with Rusch.

“What I tell people that invite me, I said, look, I would like to say A, B, C, OK? Is it against your company’s or your school’s policy?” he said at the time.

A DOE spokesperson told CBS News New York, in part, “Our top priority is ensuring their students feel safe and get the high-quality education they deserve …We are not able to comment on the outcomes of investigations of every reported incident. We have handled them and continue to handle them as they arise.”

Rusch did not respond to CBS News New York’s multiple requests for an interview.

Some parents who spoke to CBS News New York say this is the latest in a pattern of instances of alleged antisemitism.

At the Dec. 9 PTA meeting, parent Ramon Maislen asked how the school is making decisions on political neutrality, citing a seventh grade art assignment from the fall that referenced keffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian pride.

In 2024, the group New York United in Fighting Antisemitism asked the mayor to ban keffiyehs, writing, “This symbol is prominently displayed at protests where chants, slogans and signs openly call for the death of Israel and Jews.”

“So why is something that is being taught as current events, which is also political, acceptable, but the story of a Holocaust survivor is not acceptable because it’s too political?” Maislen told CBS News New York.

He added, “I think at the end of the day, most of the people that are protesting with keffiyehs aren’t, you know, hating Jews or anything like that, but certainly there is a minority of people that are actively anti-Jewish, and if you’re going to teach kids, just teach them the whole breadth of what’s going on.”

Maislen said this isn’t the first time he has felt like the principal has been “dismissive” of his concerns. He said he previously emailed her about a performance of “Apocalypse Defiance Circus” by the Bread and Puppet Theater that students attended in December 2022.

In one scene, performers say, “U.S. taxpayers currently pay $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel … We are breaking through the dam, but we must keeping pushing until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.”

Maislen shared Rusch’s response, which read, in part, “I was able to check in with several teachers who were on the trip … None of the adults I spoke to found the tone to be anti-Semitic … They didn’t interpret this as criticism towards Jews or Judaism (and I didn’t get the sense that the show presented Israel as a Jewish state so much as a country that is well funded by the U.S.).”

Several other parents who spoke to CBS News New York did not want to reveal their identities for fear of retaliation.

The United Jewish Teachers organization is now calling for the principal’s removal, saying in a Dec. 14 email to the district’s superintendent that it believes Rusch is not accepting responsibility for what it calls her “bias against Israel.”

Members of New York City’s Bipartisan Jewish Caucus will be at Steigmann’s presentation on Thursday.

CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner called Rusch’s office multiple times and emailed her requesting responses to the specific concerns raised by parents and the United Jewish Teachers. Rozner has not heard back.

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.