Month: March 2026

KYW

By Natasha Brown, Will Kenworthy

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Nearly six decades ago, John Anderson had a realization after watching the Miss America Pageant with his daughters in the Philadelphia area.

Wearing the crown would have just been a dream for them at the time.

“My daughters had watched the Miss America Pageant,” Anderson said. “I asked them, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Both of them said, ‘I want to be Miss America.’ And I knew that was a dream that could never come true.”

So, he decided to do something about it.

The Miss Black America Pageant celebrated its 58th anniversary in 2026, and to celebrate the milestone, you have to go back to its storied beginning and its founder, Anderson.

By 1968, there had never been a Black Miss America crowned. It was the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and he says he wanted to showcase Black women in a way not yet seen on a national pageant stage.

“It elevated downtrodden citizens who were doing everything they could to have their presence recognized in America and be accepted,” Anderson said.

Anderson was already producing events in Philadelphia at the time. In 1968, he booked a hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, right across the boardwalk from where the Miss America Pageant was going to be held, and held the first-ever Miss Black America Pageant on the same night.

That was the beginning of a historic 58-year run with the pageant moving from city to city, hosting Black women from around the country every year to compete for the crown.

A young Oprah Winfrey represented Tennessee in the early 1970s and is now one of the pageant’s most famous contestants.

Aleta Anderson has taken on the role of the pageant’s executive producer from her father. She said she took her father to school for show and tell one time.

“It’s quite a weight. It’s quite a responsibility, more so than just the family business,” Aleta Anderson said, “but a program that is so important to community and race relations and provides a platform of confidence.”

A platform where beauty is just one facet of so many amazing layers of criteria.

“Without consideration of height, size, hair texture, complexion, complexity, character,” Aleta Anderson said.

Miss Black America 2026 has been crowned, adding to the list of women holding the title. The evolution of a platform that stands the test of time and has changed the face of beauty in America.

“Black women after that started looking into the mirror,” John Anderson said, “seeing how beautiful they were and accepting the fact and the understanding and realizing the facts of their beauty and it’s still going on today.”

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 Natasha Brown, Will Kenworthy

Click here for updates on this story

    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Nearly six decades ago, John Anderson had a realization after watching the Miss America Pageant with his daughters in the Philadelphia area.

Wearing the crown would have just been a dream for them at the time.

“My daughters had watched the Miss America Pageant,” Anderson said. “I asked them, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Both of them said, ‘I want to be Miss America.’ And I knew that was a dream that could never come true.”

So, he decided to do something about it.

The Miss Black America Pageant celebrated its 58th anniversary in 2026, and to celebrate the milestone, you have to go back to its storied beginning and its founder, Anderson.

By 1968, there had never been a Black Miss America crowned. It was the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and he says he wanted to showcase Black women in a way not yet seen on a national pageant stage.

“It elevated downtrodden citizens who were doing everything they could to have their presence recognized in America and be accepted,” Anderson said.

Anderson was already producing events in Philadelphia at the time. In 1968, he booked a hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, right across the boardwalk from where the Miss America Pageant was going to be held, and held the first-ever Miss Black America Pageant on the same night.

That was the beginning of a historic 58-year run with the pageant moving from city to city, hosting Black women from around the country every year to compete for the crown.

A young Oprah Winfrey represented Tennessee in the early 1970s and is now one of the pageant’s most famous contestants.

Aleta Anderson has taken on the role of the pageant’s executive producer from her father. She said she took her father to school for show and tell one time.

“It’s quite a weight. It’s quite a responsibility, more so than just the family business,” Aleta Anderson said, “but a program that is so important to community and race relations and provides a platform of confidence.”

A platform where beauty is just one facet of so many amazing layers of criteria.

“Without consideration of height, size, hair texture, complexion, complexity, character,” Aleta Anderson said.

Miss Black America 2026 has been crowned, adding to the list of women holding the title. The evolution of a platform that stands the test of time and has changed the face of beauty in America.

“Black women after that started looking into the mirror,” John Anderson said, “seeing how beautiful they were and accepting the fact and the understanding and realizing the facts of their beauty and it’s still going on today.”

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.

KYW

By Marcella Baietto

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    WILMINGTON, Delaware (KYW) — In the produce section under piñatas and by the tortillas, a live show for shoppers is becoming a regular occurrence inside Fiesta Fresh Farmers Market in New Castle, Delaware.

“The idea is to highlight independent artists from the area,” store co-owner José Luis Aguilar Garcia said. “Because it’s getting more attention online, people are excited. They’ll ask when we’re doing the next one.”

The concept was inspired by NPR’s famous “Tiny Desk Concerts.”

At the supermarket on DuPont Highway, their version is called “Mercadito Concerts,” or market concerts.

“It was hard trying to find a place that reminds you of home, being so far from Mexico here,” Aguilar Garcia said. “We’re trying to obviously have people feel comfortable who are not from Mexico and expose them to a bit of our culture.”

Aguilar Garcia co-owns the store with his sister, who runs most of the day-to-day operations, while he also works at a Latin record label he started in 2019 that’s based in Wilmington.

Aguilar Garcia and his family are from Puebla, Mexico, and have been in the area since 2006.

Many of the musicians who record sessions at the market work with his label, like the band Ilusión.

“I feel like it’s a very vibrant atmosphere and it makes me really happy to take part in such an exciting performance, a cultural performance,” Ilusión bassist Carlos Mayo-Jiménez said. “And to be representing my roots too.”

The band was started in 2023 and also includes singer and songwriter 21-year-old Jesús Beltran Méndez, who moved to the U.S. at the age of 10.

For artists like Beltran Méndez, the recordings are more than just a soundtrack for customers or a viral clip.

“It gives us a platform to portray who we really are,” Beltran Méndez said. “There’s a lot of misconceptions about who we are. There are bad people. There are good people. We are just human.”

“Never be afraid to represent who you are and who you always will be,” Mayo-Jiménez said. “Remind yourself that you’re coming from a different area that the general majority aren’t maybe used to, maybe not accustomed to, but it’s a special background nonetheless.”

As for what’s next, the store is prepping for a live music event called The Meltdown that will feature two bands on March 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the supermarket.

The recorded sessions are open to any artists of all genres as the series continues to grow, turning a grocery run into a front row ticket to a cultural show.

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 Marcella Baietto

Click here for updates on this story

    WILMINGTON, Delaware (KYW) — In the produce section under piñatas and by the tortillas, a live show for shoppers is becoming a regular occurrence inside Fiesta Fresh Farmers Market in New Castle, Delaware.

“The idea is to highlight independent artists from the area,” store co-owner José Luis Aguilar Garcia said. “Because it’s getting more attention online, people are excited. They’ll ask when we’re doing the next one.”

The concept was inspired by NPR’s famous “Tiny Desk Concerts.”

At the supermarket on DuPont Highway, their version is called “Mercadito Concerts,” or market concerts.

“It was hard trying to find a place that reminds you of home, being so far from Mexico here,” Aguilar Garcia said. “We’re trying to obviously have people feel comfortable who are not from Mexico and expose them to a bit of our culture.”

Aguilar Garcia co-owns the store with his sister, who runs most of the day-to-day operations, while he also works at a Latin record label he started in 2019 that’s based in Wilmington.

Aguilar Garcia and his family are from Puebla, Mexico, and have been in the area since 2006.

Many of the musicians who record sessions at the market work with his label, like the band Ilusión.

“I feel like it’s a very vibrant atmosphere and it makes me really happy to take part in such an exciting performance, a cultural performance,” Ilusión bassist Carlos Mayo-Jiménez said. “And to be representing my roots too.”

The band was started in 2023 and also includes singer and songwriter 21-year-old Jesús Beltran Méndez, who moved to the U.S. at the age of 10.

For artists like Beltran Méndez, the recordings are more than just a soundtrack for customers or a viral clip.

“It gives us a platform to portray who we really are,” Beltran Méndez said. “There’s a lot of misconceptions about who we are. There are bad people. There are good people. We are just human.”

“Never be afraid to represent who you are and who you always will be,” Mayo-Jiménez said. “Remind yourself that you’re coming from a different area that the general majority aren’t maybe used to, maybe not accustomed to, but it’s a special background nonetheless.”

As for what’s next, the store is prepping for a live music event called The Meltdown that will feature two bands on March 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the supermarket.

The recorded sessions are open to any artists of all genres as the series continues to grow, turning a grocery run into a front row ticket to a cultural show.

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 Alexa Herrera, Adi Guajardo, Jennifer Bisram

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Two men, including an 83-year-old veteran of the U.S. Air Force, were injured after being pushed onto subway tracks in New York City on Sunday. Family said the grandfather has bleeding on his brain and is fighting for his life.

Police said the crime happened on the southbound F and Q platform at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

They said a man came up behind a 30-year-old man and pushed him onto the tracks. Then, the suspect moved behind the 83-year-old man and shoved him before running away. The victims were transported to a nearby hospital in stable and critical condition, respectively.

The NYPD released photos of the suspect Monday, asking the public for help identifying him. Officials said a person of interest was in custody Tuesday morning.

The older victim has been identified as Richard Williams, an Air Force veteran. His granddaughter, Samantha Loria, was in tears on Monday as she spoke to CBS News New York exclusively. She said Williams has always been the light of her life.

“The hardest part is I can’t have a conversation, or hug him again,” Loria said. “Any time I visit him, we walk around. We would go to Manhattan. He would always say hi to everyone, ask how they’re dong. It doesn’t hurt anything to be kind.”

Williams is now fighting for his life. Loria said he suffered multiple fractures and has bleeding on the brain after hitting his head on the tracks.

“Thank God there’s wasn’t a train coming,” Loria said.

Loria said her grandfather takes ultimate pride in the family he built, which includes three daughters and two grandkids. He also mastered the art of flying high and fighting hard, serving in the Air Force and beating cancer.

“He survived a fire, cancer recently, and all he wanted to do is walk. He loves to walk,” Loria said.

The Williams family is now praying their hero is able to open his eyes again.

“He was a very selfless man. He would give anyone the last shirt on his back,” Loria said.

The younger victim, Jhon Rodriguez, told CBS News New York that he captured video of the suspect who pushed him and Williams down to the tracks.

Rodriguez said Williams hit his head, started bleeding, and lost consciousness. Panicked and injured, himself, Rodriguez said he picked Williams up off the tracks and with the help of another man they both made it onto the platform before the next train arrived.

“I felt really scared. I was trembling. I felt disoriented,” Rodriguez said, speaking in Spanish.

Rodriguez said he’s in a lot of pain and can’t work due to his injuries.

“They should have more security at train stations,” Rodriguez said.

He added he now hopes police can track down and arrest the suspect and keep him jailed.

CBS News New York cameras captured images Monday of police putting up posters of Williams’ alleged subway pusher, at the Upper East Side subway platform.

“If they can do that to someone that’s 83 years old, anyone could be a target,” subway rider Gary Graham said.

The NYPD said there have been nine subway push incidents so far this year, compared to 19 all of last year and a total of 26 in 2024.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips on the Crime Stoppers website or on X @NYPDTips.

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 Jesse Zanger

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    CLARK, New Jersey (WCBS) — A dog missing for two years has been reunited with its Texas family after being found in New Jersey.

The missing dog, named Koko, was found wandering around in Clark.

Officers tracked down Koko’s family after reading the chip in the dog. Police reached out to the owners in the Lone Star state, who were shocked to hear the dog had been found. The family said they’d fly to New Jersey to be reunited with their dog, but it would take a few days.

Clark Police took care of the dog at the station in the interim, instead of putting it in a shelter. They fed, bathed, and walked the dog, and gave it toys.

“As a dog lover amongst many other dog lovers, we were not going to make that puppy wait in a shelter or pound,” Clark Police Dir. Patrick Grady said. “Koko was living her best life inside the dispatch room the last three days and hopefully it will get even better being reunited with her family again.”

The family arrived over the weekend for their reunion with Koko.

There’s no word on how Koko ended up so far from home.

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 John Dias

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    LONG ISLAND, New York (WCBS) — A tiny home on Long Island is getting a lot of attention after hitting the market this month for almost $330,000.

It has no bedroom.

The house at 84 Wyona Avenue in Selden is a studio cottage that is 446 square feet. It’s about 10 feet wide and 37 feet long, equipped with a small kitchen, dining room, living space and bathroom.

Licensed Associate Broker Denise Beckman has been in the real estate market for 40 years and said she’s never seen a single-family house like this.

“There’s a lot of shows out there that focus on tiny houses, and there’s not a lot of them on Long Island. I think it’s a little bit of an anomaly,” she said.

Although it is small, there could be room to expand. The home has a basement, and it could potentially be converted into a bedroom with the right permits and safety upgrades.

With home prices still high across the region, this may not be a bad option for those looking for any way to get into the market.

“People are making it work, even with those small homes that are there right now, zero bedrooms, one bedrooms, they’re looking at the possibilities,” said real estate expert Mike McLean.

The median home price in Suffolk County is around $700,000, according to data from the Long Island Board of Realtors. This tiny home is about half that, and annual taxes for it are about $3,700 a year.

“For that frustrated buyer, they will go anywhere as long as they’re room for them to expand,” McLean said.

While it may be small in size, this tiny home could be a big opportunity for some buyers to finally own on Long Island.

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.