Month: February 2026

By Adam Klepp, KNXV staff

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    SACATON, AZ (KNXV) — As the Colorado River negotiations continue, Arizona tribes could potentially lose a lot of water they have received for years.

The Gila River Indian Community is one of the tribes that could lose as much as 50% of the water they have been receiving each year.

The tribe has done its part to conserve every drop of water it can, from solar panels over canals to automated irrigation systems.

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 Caleb Stipkovits

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    KENNEWICK, Wash. (KAPP) — Dozens of frustrated Central Kennewick residents filled the city council chamber Tuesday night, advocating for action and transparency as a home for level three registered sex offenders is set to open in their neighborhood.

In a joint action with the Kennewick School District, the Kennewick City Council voted 5-0 to approve a resolution opposing the opening of the Less Restrictive Alternative (LRA) home after community members have been voicing concerns for over a month.

“We’re setting the stage for the whole state to understand that these are things that need to be changed statewide, and the resolution sends that message directly back to Olympia that they need to be recognizing the needs of our communities,” Kennewick Mayor Jason McShane said.

While some residents applauded city leaders for taking action, others questioned whether the resolution would actually prevent the home from opening.

“What does this joint resolution accomplish exactly, and what action does it take on this current proposed LRA?” resident Janette Romero asked during public comment.

According to Mayor McShane, the city is limited in taking further action due to state laws. The mayor added that it’s been hard for the city to get answers from state leadership on how it can legally stop the LRA home from opening.

The city has identified one potential way to fight the proposal.

“There are very few restrictions on these LRA homes for sexually violent predators,” Mayor McShane explained. “They do, however, identify certain facilities in the city as being places of concern. And they call those a risk facility. And one of those is a publicly dedicated pathway.”

The publicly dedicated pathway would be less than 400 feet away from the home’s front door, and Mayor McShane believes it could assist in residents’ fight to stop the LRA from opening.

While the need for action was atop many residents’ minds during the meeting, another issue arose in the council chamber: transparency. Several residents expressing frustration over how late they were informed about the proposed facility.

“For us, you’ve failed us. I want to know what you are going to do,” resident Tina Gregory told the council.

“You guys had a golden opportunity to give legislation a chance to help us out more,” another resident said.

The transparency concerns intensified when Councilmember John Trumbo made a surprising revelation near the end of the meeting, claiming he had learned about the proposal months earlier.

“This city councilman [I] learned about this proposed idea months ago. And I learned about it in a setting that prevented me from going public. I could not talk about it. There’s something called an executive session, I could not talk about it,” Trumbo told residents.

However, one day after the meeting, Mayor McShane disputed Trumbo’s account.

“I was quite surprised about Councilman Trumbo’s comments last night. I spoke with him this morning, Councilman Trumbo was mistaken. He was inaccurate in his depiction of that. This was not at any time discussed in an executive session. He was referring to a meeting he had in December of last year after the closing of the property had been completed,” McShane clarified.

Mayor McShane added that he first heard of the proposed LRA around the time the city and state legislators sent out a joint statement to the community about the plan. He explained that he was briefly off of the city council before taking the position of mayor, and he did not fully understand the situation until after the statement was shared.

During the meeting, one councilmember proposed hosting a community workshop to discuss the timeline of the proposed home and share additional information the city has gathered about the situation. The proposal is set to be discussed at a further date.

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 Arianne Brown

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    ST. GEORGE (KSL) — A 21-year-old Ukrainian refugee with Utah ties was killed alongside her boyfriend on Valentine’s Day, and the family is seeking to bring her body back to St. George to be laid to rest.

Kateryna “Kate” Tovmash was fatally shot alongside her boyfriend, Matthew Wade, 28, who was a soldier stationed at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), west of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The two were at Tovmash’s home in Vass, North Carolina, where she was living with her mom, stepdad and three younger siblings, according to area police. Reports also say that the two were allegedly killed by Tovmash’s ex-boyfriend, Caleb Fosnaugh, 25.

The family, including younger siblings were present during the shooting.

Family spokesperson Amberlyn Brown said Tovmash’s mother, Olena Brown, and stepfather Mycal Brown want to express gratitude to those who have supported them during this time, adding that they don’t want there to be animosity directed at the man suspected of killing their daughter.

“The message they want most portrayed in any of this is just to spread love,” Amberlyn Brown told KSL. “They’re very sad at the decision Caleb (allegedly) chose to make. They did have a relationship where they did know him, and they cared for him.

“Kate was known by everybody as loving, outgoing and ambitious,” she continued. “She loved her siblings more than anything. She loved children. She wanted to travel and she just had dreams as most young girls do. She had just turned 21.”

The family originally moved to the U.S. in 2023 as refugees to escape the war in Ukraine. The family first settled in St. George following Kate’s graduation from high school in Ukraine, Brown said. Following her parents’ divorce, Tovmash moved to North Carolina with her siblings, mother and stepfather two years ago. It was while out there that she met and dated Fosnsaugh, an Ohio resident, and then connected with Matthew Wade, who lived in North Carolina.

“Mycal and Olena would like everyone to know that although it can be hard not to throw hate out there, and as angry as something like this can make somebody, that they’re of the Christian faith,” Amberlyn Brown said. “They know they’ll see Kate again, and as hard as it may seem, the one request that they have, is that people don’t let hate and anger surround this situation. … They believe in forgiveness and that part of them finding peace is forgiving Caleb for what he’s done. They also want to share their love and condolences for Matthew’s family.”

Amberlyn said that at this time, the family is making plans for a funeral in North Carolina and has a goal of bringing her body to St. George to be laid to rest and have a service for her in Utah.

Brown said they have set up a GoFundMe* for the family to help with expenses related to their daughter’s death.

Tovmash’s stepfather told KSL the fundraiser was “set up by the community and has already been passed to Olena, who is the executor of Kate’s estate.”

“They came here originally to escape the war in Ukraine, and they found a lot of people that really cared for them in Utah,” Brown said. “Their overall hope is to bring Kate back to where she first came, which would be St. George. The family is hoping to eventually come to Utah, so our goal is to get the funds raised to be able to transport her body back here. Any other funds will be used for funeral expenses.

“The family believes that Kate is still with them in spirit, and they want to just carry on her legend of happiness and family and love.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. ­­­KSL 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 Kevin Ozebek and Jason F. Burks

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    LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Los Angeles is known around the world for being the home of Hollywood and having some of the world’s best beaches, but it also has a much darker side.

There’s a notorious hub for human trafficking just south of Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Criminal activity often happens in the shadows. Hidden so as not to draw the attention of passers-by, police or nosy neighbors.

On a stretch of the Figueroa Corridor, however, very little is hidden from view.

A four-mile section of Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles, from Gage Avenue to Imperial Highway, is well known for rampant prostitution.

On nearly every corner, women in revealing outfits approach cars, day and night, out in the open, offering sex for a price.

This area has become known as “the Blade.”

Law enforcement officers, nonprofit advocates and survivors say it’s one of the most dangerous hubs for human trafficking in the state.

It’s fueled by a constant stream of customers and a lack of law enforcement resources to stop it.

“It is a huge, huge issue, and everybody should be extremely concerned,” said Liz Armendariz, an LAPD officer and vice investigator for LAPD’s 77th Division. “I just think, man, that is somebody’s kid, and it’s heartbreaking.”

Vice units from the 77th patrol this section of Figueroa Street. We spent two nights with investigators, who showed us how they stop women from selling sex and perform age checks.

If the person they stop is underage, she is brought back to the station, interviewed and turned over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. If the woman is over the age of 18, she is often released.

“There are men out there that have a taste for females and juveniles, and they know that they can find it. The pimp starts noticing, ‘Hey, they want underage-looking people.’ They’re going to start recruiting underage people. The thing is that they’re much easier to manipulate mentally because a lot of times they come from broken homes,” said Navarro.

“Our goal these days is not to arrest them. Our goal is to get them resources and the help they need to get out of their lifestyle,” he added.

Police tell us the pimps expect women working “the Blade” to earn hundreds of dollars a night.

“That’s going to change girl to girl,” Sgt. Navarro said. “It’s going to be $600 to $800 to $1,200 a night.”

We learned from our time out on “the Blade” and by talking to women who survived trafficking that the violence out there is extreme.

That violence comes from the pimps, the sex buyers and the other girls and women working out there.

What happens to the underage girls the LAPD finds out there, and does the LAPD have the resources to get in front of this problem?

Those are just some of the issues we’ll be tackling in our primetime 7 On Your Side Investigates special.

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.