Hollister considers removing Cesar Chavez’s name from public spaces

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Felix Cortez

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    HOLLISTER, Calif. (KSBW) — Hollister is considering removing Cesar Chavez’s name from public spaces after a New York Times report accused him of sexual assault and molestation.

Hollister Mayor Roxanne Stephens, who lives near Avenida Cesar Chavez, expressed her emotional struggle with the situation.

“For me, I have a heavy heart and it will be very difficult to pass by that sign every day. I can only imagine the sentiments of victims of sexual assault,” Stephens said.

Stephens has called for a special council meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the street and a proposed park named after Chavez should be changed.

“Whether it’s appropriate to have any structures that are part of the city honoring an individual who engaged in victimizing women and young girls. So we have to think about that,” Stephens said.

Hollister is one of the first cities to publicly debate the removal of Chavez’s name from schools, parks, and streets, following the report that accused him of sexually assaulting women and children, with the youngest alleged victim being 12 years old.

A local man, Scott Leifheit, suggested renaming the spaces for other advocates.

“If he’s being accused of something of wrongdoing, maybe they can, you know, rename it for other people who fought the cause. You know, instead of Cesar Chavez,” Leifheit said.

However, another Hollister resident, Yvonne Sanchez, urged caution.

“You know, we got to take maybe more time to look at all the facts because what he did was great. And so we can’t just say one thing takes away from that. Also,” Sanchez said.

The special council meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in Hollister. It will serve as a listening session to provide direction on the possible removal of Chavez’s name from a city street and a proposed park.

Should the city decide to proceed, it will be an action item set for a later date. Similar discussions are expected to occur in other city councils across the state.

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.

The piano doctor is making house calls across the US to keep a dying craft alive

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Caleb Barnes

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    KENTUCKY (WLEX) — A traveling piano tuner is bringing his skills to underserved communities as the number of piano tuners in the United States continues to shrink.

Tim Arbisi calls himself the piano doctor. He is self-taught and travels the country tuning pianos in areas where finding a tuner has become increasingly difficult.

“I am the piano doctor,” Arbisi said.

The field of piano tuning has seen a dramatic decline. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were roughly 12,000 piano tuners working across the country. That number has since dropped to fewer than 7,000.

“We had about 12,000 piano tuners in the United States, which is, it’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Now on this side of COVID, we have less than 7,000,” Arbisi said.

That shortage has left many pianists struggling to find someone to service their instruments. Glen, a pianist at Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Lexington, said the church’s concert piano had gone more than a decade without being tuned.

“It has been a while since we’ve had our concert piano tuned. Um, so it’s probably been over 10 years or so, and it was time for that,” Glen said.

Glen said finding a tuner locally has not been easy.

“We would have to go all the way to Ohio to, to grab someone, and then they would put you on a schedule. So what I’ve noticed is that you would have to wait,” Glen said.

Arbisi said the piano presents a unique challenge among musical instruments because players have no way to tune it themselves.

“Every musician wants their instrument to sound the best that they can, and piano is the one instrument that musicians play that they, they don’t know how to tune. Think about that. If you play a guitar or any other instrument, you know how to tune it, but with piano, piano players don’t tune pianos, they just sit down and play them,” Arbisi said.

That gap is what drives Arbisi to keep moving. He said traveling to underserved areas allows him to help a large number of musicians in a single trip.

“I realized, you know what, if I get to some of these areas that are completely underserved, well, there’s so many to do that I can walk in and, and it would be a huge, a huge windfall, and I would help so many people,” Arbisi said.

This week, Arbisi made six stops in Lexington and seven in Bowling Green before heading to his next destination.

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World’s Longest Cigar will be rolled in Ybor City Saturday as part of Tampa Cigar Week

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Sean Daly

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    YBOR CITY, Fla. (WFTS) — Odelma Matos is the Queen of Ybor City, a 4th-generation Cuban cigar roller whose image adorns every inch of wall space at La Faraona Cigar Factory and Lounge.

And this Saturday at 2 p.m., Odelma will do what no one in her famous family — in fact, no one anywhere on the planet — has ever done:

Roll a 465-foot cigar, a new world record.

The previous record? 295 feet.

“This is important to me, my heritage,” she says. “This is good for Ybor City, too.”

As part of Tampa Cigar Week, a celebration of the city’s rich history, especially the strong Cuban influence, Odelma’s epic cigar will snake down several blocks of historic 7th Avenue. The event is free to attend.

In the early 1900s, Ybor City earned its nickname of “Cigar Capital of World,” by pumping out 600 million cigars a year — at the time, more than the entire country of Cuba.

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.

OBX Anglers Club casts a line for the environment

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Will Thomas

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    NAGS HEAD, N.C. (WTKR) — The sounds of good old-fashioned camaraderie — a drill cutting into plastic, equipment being assembled — could all be heard at Jim Troutman’s house on Tuesday. Gathered around a table were members of the Outer Banks Anglers Club, building devices to tackle an environmental issue in our waterways.

“The purpose of this is to collect the monofilament, the fishing line that is discarded, sometimes in gnarled knots, and keep it out of the waterways, keep it off the beaches. It does impact our wildlife, it can get wrapped around propellers, and these anglers have boats, and they don’t want that to happen. So this is a great opportunity for people to have a place to distribute it, store it,” said Debbie Swick, a member of the club.

News 3 has introduced you to Swick in the past on her efforts to ban mass balloon releases in North Carolina. She’s now teaming up with fellow members of the Anglers Club for this mission.

“To be able to utilize my membership with this wonderful club and these wonderful people that are in it to do something that positively gives back to the environment and the community, was a win, win,” said Swick.

What the club was building is called a “monofilament recovery and recycling vessel” — basically a large tube built out of PVC pipe and other plastic pieces. It’s meant to be a place for people to discard their fishing line so it does not get out into our waterways.

“If the turtles get tangled up in this line that’s been thrown overboard, it can be detrimental to them. So that’s another reason for setting these up,” said Jim Troutman, current member and past president of the club.

The Outer Banks Anglers Club is spearheading these efforts and placing 20 devices at piers and marinas around the Outer Banks. But once a device is full, the mission doesn’t stop there.

“We will collect it. We ship it back to Berkley Line in Iowa once we have a full box. They are going to turn it into either tackle boxes, or they’ll recycle it into a fishing nursery, which is similar to a coral reef, place for the little bait fish and the baby fish to hide out in the ocean. So it’s kind of a full circle thing,” said Swick.

The club is casting its line into an important environmental issue facing the area. It will start by installing the 20 devices and hopes to grow its mission from there around the Outer Banks.

“The anglers club is going to be responsible. We are going to collect it on a regular basis, make sure that they are well maintained and if need be, replaced. So we’re looking forward to being a part in a positive way,” said Swick.

The club is funding these efforts entirely out of its own budget.

“We’ve taken it out of our treasury because it’s a worthwhile endeavor and investment. It’s an investment in our beaches and the beaches for the visitors as well,” said Swick.

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.

First Colorado Springs interactive aquarium opens Friday

KRDO on March 19, 2026

Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Jungle Reef touch aquarium inside the Chapel Hills Mall opens to the public for its soft launch on Friday. It’s the first interactive aquarium to ever open in Colorado Springs, according to Jungle Reef’s Facebook.

The aquarium said customers will be able to touch and feed stingrays, explore different reptiles, see exotic fish and sharks and walk into a bird room.

The aquarium is selling early bird tickets for Friday through Sunday. If people buy their tickets ahead of time on Thursday, the aquarium said they can use the code EARLYBIRD20 to get 20% off, while supplies last.

Jungle Reef said a large portion of its fish and animals have been rehomed from tough situations. Earlier this year, the aquarium sent out a message to the community offering to rehome residents’ freshwater fish that had outgrown their tanks.

Grand opening tickets cost $22 for adults and $17 for children before the 20% discount code.

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UPDATE: Discovery of unmarked, underground utility lines should not delay 8th Street project in Colorado Springs

KRDO on March 19, 2026

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Two recent construction projects showed how the discovery of underground, unmarked utility lines delayed progress for several months.

However, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) said that a similar discovery on the ongoing 8th Street improvements project should not delay work there.

In a release issued last week, city officials revealed that after crews recently finished drilling to locate utility lines under the street, they “discovered many previously unmarked underground utilities between Motor City Drive and the Fountain Creek bridge.”

With a water main replacement as part of the project, crews must ensure they can account for every utility line — who it belongs to, whether it is active or inactive, and what to do with it.

On Wednesday, CSU spokesperson Cassie Melvin explained that some of the unmarked lines were installed before modern record-keeping, which is not unusual.

“The newly-identified lines are now being recorded and incorporated into updated design plans,” she said. “Some revisions are being made. However, the overall project is not changing.”

The utility line situation could be why the water main replacement, originally scheduled to begin this winter, hasn’t begun yet; the start date is now planned for sometime this spring.

A similar utility line issue delayed construction of the new Voyager Parkway bridge as part of the extension of Powers Boulevard north to Interstate 25, and slowed progress on relocating utility lines for the new Coral Bluffs substation on Austin Bluffs Parkway.

Overnight on Wednesday, as scheduled, crews closed the west side of the Fountain Creek bridge on 8th Street — kicking off a monthlong phase to complete repair work and rebuild the sidewalk.

The traffic pattern has changed in the area, and all lanes will be in their final configuration at the end of that phase.

On Wednesday, a milling crew arrived to begin scraping old asphalt from the bridge, allowing repairs to continue.

Officials expect the $12 million project — covering two-thirds of a mile between Cimarron Street and Motor City Drive — to end this fall, after that stretch is repaved.

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Chevron fined $1.5M for Northern Colorado oil well blowout

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Jennifer McRae

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — Chevron has been fined $1.5 million for last year’s oil well blowout in Northern Colorado. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Commission unanimously approved the fine on Wednesday.

Colorado investigators said the improper installation of mechanical gear at a Chevron oil and gas pad in Galeton was the cause of a multi-day leak on April 7, 2025. Investigators with Colorado’s Energy Carbon Management Commission corroborated findings by Chevron’s team that blamed a faulty landing joint for the leak.

Fluids like crude oil spewed out of the well near the Weld County community.

Commissioners said it was a rare event that they don’t want to happen again, “A lot of sleepless nights on this issue on many, many people, not just those dealing with it for an administrative perspective, but those living in the vicinity.”

In addition to the fine, Chevron is required to pay for all the cleanup. There were more than 300 lots impacted, and as of this month, only 25 have been cleaned up according to the state’s standards.

After the blowout, some residents and students were evacuated for days. Others were evacuated for weeks, while a handful of residents remained displaced two months after the leak first started.

Galeton is located about 65 miles northeast of Denver.

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.

Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation offering a 3-day spring break adventure camp

KIFI on March 19, 2026

Danielle Mullenix

Idaho Falls, ID (KIFI) – With spring break just around the corner, parents in Idaho Falls who are still searching for activities to keep their kids engaged have a new option—but spots are filling quickly.

The Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a three-day Spring Break Adventure Camp for children ages 8 to 13, offering a mix of hands-on learning and physical activity throughout the week.

Each day of the camp features a different experience across the city. Campers will spend one day at the Idaho Falls Zoo, where they’ll take part in interactive animal encounters. Another day will take place at the Idaho Falls Aquatic Center, focusing on swim skills and water safety. The final day will be held at the Idaho Falls Recreation Center, featuring games and sports.

Organizers say the camp is designed to blend education with fun, while also giving kids a chance to stay active and social during their time off from school. Aquatic Center Supervisor Ashely Johnson says the collaboration between facilities makes this a unique opportunity for participants.

“We are looking forward to this brand-new program, because it’s entirely new and it’s a collaboration throughout the city,” Johnson says. “Everybody will get a little taste of everything that parks and recs have to offer.”

The camp runs March 24 through March 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. However, space is limited—only a handful of slots remain out of 30 slots.

The cost is $157 for city residents and $172 for non-residents, with a small discount available for zoo members.

Registration must be completed either online or in person, and organizers encourage families to sign up as soon as possible before the remaining spots are filled.

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Atlanta women drive U-Haul from Orlando back home after flight canceled, rental cars booked up

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Chase Houle

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    ATLANTA (WXIA) — Vancey Jackson and Desiah Goodson decided to take a last-minute trip to Disney over the weekend. But when it was time to return home on Monday, their travel plans quickly unraveled.

“I look at her, she looks at me, I said, ‘Look, you want to get a U-Haul?” and she was like, ‘I was thinking the same thing,'” said Jackson.

Jackson says their flight from Orlando back home to Atlanta got canceled.

“We’re calling around, calling around. And I’m like, “Okay, flights aren’t being rebooked because everybody is staying the night in the airport. It’s just crazy, like, there’s no flights going in, there’s no flights going out. It’s crazy. Like, oh my gosh,” recalled Jackson.

With no flights available and no rental cars left, the pair came up with a different plan: rent a U-Haul box truck and drive back to Atlanta.

They loaded their two suitcases into the cargo area and hit the road.

They said the drive took about 6.5 hours.

“I’ve never drove in a U-Haul before, but when I tell you, she did amazing. I was kind of nervous, like, ‘uhhhh okay,’ but she did really good I swear. She pushed it up the highway. I was so proud of her,” said Goodson.

In total, they say the trip cost them less than $600 — a price they say was well worth it to get home.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to get stuck. I needed to come home to do my clients. I stand on being there for my clients, being on time, and showing up, so we’re like, you know what, we’re going to get home no matter what,” explained Goodson, who is a hair stylist.

11Alive’s Chase Houle reached out to U-Haul to ask whether more people are turning to their trucks as rental car options run out, but did not receive 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.

Philadelphia youth wheelchair basketball team prepares for third straight championship run

CNN Newsource on March 19, 2026

By Krystle Rich

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    Philadelphia (KYW) — Katie’s Komets, a Philadelphia youth co-ed wheelchair basketball team, will compete for a national championship for the third straight year.

The Komets will be heading to West Monroe, Louisiana, this weekend for the National Wheelchair Association’s championship tournament.

“It felt like you could do anything if you set your mind to it,” Tyler Sussman, a member of Katie’s Komets junior prep team, said.

The Komets’ varsity team (ages 13-19) finished the regular season with an impressive 19-1 record en route to the championship series. The junior prep squad (ages 6-13) went a perfect 14-0.

“It’s been a long time coming. We have a lot of veterans on both teams that put in a lot of time and a lot of effort, and we have some new kids that joined the program that just infused more energy, more talent. And it all came together in this beautiful moment,” Katie’s Komets prep coach Erin Glaser said.

“We’re all friends on the team, so we all play good together … so it makes it a more successful season,” Katie’s Komets junior prep and varsity member Aaron Butler said.

“In past years, it’s always been like there’s one main person that’s running the whole thing, but this season it’s been everyone working together,” Katie’s Komets varsity member Ciarlo Liples said.

Determination, toughness and skills come second to the team’s camaraderie propelling their success.

“I feel accepted, and I’m just really happy to be expressing the emotions that I have. It helps me relieve stress,” Katie’s Komets varsity player Yair Bunilla said.

The Komets have championship aspirations and thank their environment of inclusivity and discipline for a brand new purpose.

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.