Off-duty firefighter uses gear, garden hose to knock down house fire

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Jessica Davis

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    CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (WTKR) — A Suffolk firefighter who was off duty helped stop a house fire from spreading in a Chesapeake neighborhood, and fire investigators say his quick thinking kept the damage to a minimum.

Joshua Baker was at home when a neighbor knocked on his door to alert him to the fire.

“I went to the door and she said, hey their house is on fire, it clicked immediately, I said I have my gear in the garage,” Baker said.

Baker suited up and ran across the street to the burning home, where the family had already evacuated to the front yard.

“I just completed turned out I went full pants, threw the hood on, threw the jacket on threw the helmet on and I took off down the street,” Baker said.

The homeowner told Baker the fire was in the room above the garage. Baker entered the home without a mask and found the first floor was clear before heading upstairs.

“I went up the stairs and slowly cracked that second door and when I did you can tell it was banked down probably to about your knees,” Baker said.

Baker then fought the fire from outside, using a ladder to reach the second floor and a garden hose to extinguish the flames.

“We went to the window, the window was there. We opened the screen up and just kinda started spraying water on it. I guess we hit a good portion of it enough to knock it down,” Baker said.

According to a press release, when Chesapeake Fire Department crews arrived, they found the fire had already been extinguished and worked to clear debris and smoke from the house.

Baker said he gives credit to the Chesapeake Fire Department and the community around him.

“We’ve got a great group of people who live here in the neighborhood I think everyone got everyone’s back they just knew in that instance okay this is the problem, we have somebody who can fix that problem, or might know a little bit better avenue,” Baker said.

No one was hurt. The neighbors who live in the home have found another place to stay. Chesapeake Fire Department says the fire was accidental.

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.

New BMX track is first of its kind in the world, city says

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Tyler Hatfield

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    PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WPTV) — We learning construction is coming along for this new BMX track in Port St. Lucie. It’ll be in the new Tradition Regional Park and the city said it’ll be the first of its kind in the world.

I spoke to neighbor Lance Sparks, who’s been using the hills on the construction site as a bike ride. Sparks said the new track, can give him a new option.

“I don’t have to ride the dirt hills now,” said Sparks.

I went out on the track with Scott Samples of Port St. Lucie to look at the progress. Construction began last fall and is expected to be completed summer 2026.

The wood, the ramps and the turns on the track were all designed by a computer. The city said it’s the first track like this in the world.

“It’s the first time this has ever really been done,” said Samples. “Very unique. Really creates a very cool and for very specific type of track.”

Samples said it’ll be the first of it’s kind that is completely concrete and adaptive for anything on wheels.

“Not just BMX bikes, whether they want to skateboard, whether they want to do it on a scooter, whether they want to do it on a three wheeled recumbent bike, there’s a lot of opportunities,” said Samples.

He said the track will be open to the public.

“Something that we’re able to make more inclusive to everybody, instead of just a certain segment of the population,” said Samples.

The park will also include a learning center for young riders to learn road safety. The city said they also just received an agreement with U.S. BMX. Pending council approval, the track can host sanctioned U.S. BMX events.

“You’ll start to see people coming in from around the state, around the country, perhaps internationally, and that really helps us to grow our economy as well,” said Samples.

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Seniors keep stickball alive, feeling like kids again, a thousand miles from home

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Matt Sczesny

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    WELLINGTON, Florida (WPTV) — A group of seniors in Wellington is keeping a classic New York street game alive, swinging rubber balls and reliving childhood memories on a South Florida parking lot turned ballfield.

A closed-off parking lot at Wellington’s Village Park might as well be a side street in Brooklyn, Queens or any other place where the players of the Palm Beach Senior Stickball League grew up.

“It means more than most people would ever understand. This is our life as a kid,” Barry Davis of the Palm Beach Senior Stickball League said.

Now in its 24th year, the league features players with various skills. They get together once a week for 9-inning games that usually take about an hour to play.

Bouncing a rubber ball to a hitter with a lean stickball bat, the hitters are limited to three swings, and hits are determined by automatic boundaries, and caught balls are outs.

“Sunnyside Queens, I was probably 10,” said John Huston about when he started playing.

At Friday’s game, the Legends defeated the Outkasts in the championship game.

“I enjoy it, makes me smile, it makes me laugh, I really, really enjoy it,” Huston, who plays for the Legends, said.

Many of the players come from neighborhoods across New York City and stopped playing after their teenage years, only to take it up now in South Florida.

“I can remember playing in Brownsville. We had a small schoolyard right behind my apartment building,” said Artie Kret.

The league plays both a summer and winter schedule in Wellington.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist. Portions have been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WPTV 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.

For the Love of Paws cat rescue destroyed by fire; 11 cats killed

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Samantha Gutierrez

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    FELLSMERE, Florida (WPTV) — An animal rescue located on the Treasure Coast is looking to rebuild after 11 cats and a tortoise died in an early-morning fire.

Ted Pankiewicz thought he was hearing a rocket launch when a loud rumble woke him up. It was actually the cottages at his Fellsmere cat rescue, For the Love of Paws, that were up in flames.

The fire started around 5:30 a.m. Monday, trapping 15 cats and one tortoise. Investigators believe it was likely caused by an electrical issue, possibly a window air conditioning unit.

“Honestly thought it was a rocket launch… but I could see that, that there was like a glow,” Pankiewicz said.

Pankiewicz and his son searched for any animals they could reach. When they found four cats trapped in an outdoor kennel, Pankiewicz ran in to get them — burning his arms in the process.

“I was thinking at that point that there wasn’t anything I could do for them because it was completely engulfed,” Pankiewicz said.

One of the cats, Socks, caught fire as she ran toward him.

“My son yelled, ‘I think I hear one of the cats,'” Pankiewicz said. “Socks came running to me. When she came running to me, she caught on fire.”

The two ripped the kennel from the wall just before the flames spread.

“We were just yanking, yanking, yanking. We were finally able to rip it, rip the bolts out of the wall, and lift the kennel up, and we were able to get them out,” Pankiewicz said.

Four cats survived. Eleven cats and the tortoise did not.

“They might not have been our cats from the beginning, but you know, they become our babies,” Pankiewicz said.

The nonprofit is now asking the community for help as it works to rebuild from the ground up.

“We don’t know where to start,” Pankiewicz said.

We spoke with Pankiewicz, who said the community can help by volunteering, donating money or donating items to their thrift store.

“Any little bit of help, you know, that we can get at this moment. You know we really need it, because we’re hurting,” Pankiewicz said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WPTV 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.

Marine Corps veteran creates space for empowerment with women-only gym

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Cyera Williams

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    CALVERT COUNTY, Maryland (WMAR) — During Women’s History Month, Marine Corps veteran Sandy Vazquez is being recognized not only for her military service but also for the way she continues to uplift women in her community.

Vazquez, owner of SWT Fitness, created the women-only gym to be more than a workout space. She says it’s a place for women to support and empower each other.

“SWT Fitness is a women’s gym,” Vazquez said. “It’s all group fitness classes, but it’s more than that. It’s a community. It’s a sisterhood.”

Vazquez joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 18, serving eight years and leaving as a sergeant. She says the experience shaped who she is today.

“I always say I wasn’t born in 1969,” Vazquez said with a laugh. “I was born in 1987 when my feet hit those yellow footprints at Parris Island.”

The Marines, she says, taught her discipline, honor, and integrity—values she still carries today.

After leaving the military, Vazquez continued her career in public service.

In 2000, she joined the Anne Arundel County Police Department, becoming the department’s first Hispanic female officer. She went on to serve for 20 years.

“I’ve spent my whole life in a man’s world,” she said. “When COVID came around, it was my opportunity to retire and say, you know what—I want a women’s gym. I want a place where we can empower each other.”

That vision became SWT Fitness, which stands for Sistas Working Together.

Over the past five years, the gym has grown to nearly 300 members, offering group fitness classes that welcome women of all ages, shapes, and fitness levels.

“The hour they spend here—this is their time,” Vazquez said. “We spread ourselves so thin as women. We take care of everyone else first, and we take care of ourselves last. Here, they can focus on themselves.”

The workouts can be challenging, but Vasquez says empowerment is just as important as exercise.

“You’re going to sweat, but you’re also going to feel empowered and know that you matter here,” she said.

The discipline she learned in the Marines continues to influence how she runs her business.

“If you get knocked down, you have two choices,” she said. “You fall and stay down, or you get up and fight. That’s what I learned in the Corps—we don’t give up.”

Outside of the gym, Vazquez continues to mentor others as an ESL teacher, working with Hispanic students in Anne Arundel County. She says empowering the next generation is just as important to her as helping women find strength in the gym.

“I tell my kids they matter, they count, and they’re going to accomplish a lot of things,” she said. “And I’d love to give a shoutout to my Panthers in Anne Arundel County—you can do this.”

For Vazquez, Women’s History Month is a reminder of how far women have come—and how important it is to keep pushing forward.

“It’s important to celebrate the women who came before us,” she said. “They empower us to keep knocking down walls and keep going.”

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.

Kids would be banned from using chatbots in package of bills regulating AI in Minnesota Legislature

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Caroline Cummings

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    MINNESOTA (WCCO) — Children under 18 would no longer be able to use chatbots if a bill at the Minnesota Legislature passes this session. It’s one proposal among several targeting artificial intelligence with new regulations.

At a time when politics feels polarizing, putting guardrails around this technology is a unique issue that attracts bipartisan support. DFL Sen. Erin Maye Quade found an otherwise unlikely coauthor in GOP Sen. Eric Lucero to put age restrictions on the chatbots, among other measures.

“Tech companies have shown time and time again that they are unwilling to regulate themselves and actually provide safety for consumers, especially children,” said Maye Quade.

The chatbot bill, discussed in a Senate committee Monday, received pushback from the technology industry, which said it, if approved, would make Minnesota an outlier even as other states contemplate safety rules for children on the apps.

“The question with Senate File 1857 is not whether or not kids deserve protection, it’s whether this bill’s approach cuts them off from useful tools,” Jarrett Catlin, state AI policy advisor at TechNet, told the panel.

Among the other proposals aimed at regulating the rapidly changing industry are prohibiting health insurers from using AI to determine if a procedure is medically necessary and requiring that businesses disclose if they are using the technology to interact with customers, and give them an option to speak with a real person instead of a computer.

Another bill would block AI for surveillance pricing, halting the use of algorithms to generate varying prices for the same goods and services to different consumers.

State lawmakers a few years ago took steps to regulate deepfakes, or manipulated images, audio and video, prohibiting their use to influence the outcome of an election and making it illegal to create and distribute sexually explicit material of someone generated from AI.

Both Republicans and Democrats alike at the Minnesota State Capitol believe that in the absence of federal regulations, states must step in, even if the Trump administration is attempting to limit the patchwork of rules across the country.

“I have long said the law is not keeping up with technology, said Lucero. “Technology has been innovating since the beginning of time, and as that technology is adopted in the private sector for use and in the public sector by the government, it can create a direct threat to our individual liberties.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday ran out of time to discuss all of the tech-regulating bills on the schedule, so the discussion will revive again next week.

“I don’t hate AI. If it’s done right, the promise of AI and other technological advancements could be tremendous, but the way that consumer-facing AI has been rolled out as a five-alarm fire for our society and has devastating consequences and deadly consequences for both humans and our constitutional rights,” Maye Quade told reporters.

Limiting “reverse” search warrants

One measure, which doesn’t directly target artificial intelligence but has implications for data privacy, did get a full vetting during the panel. It would prohibit “reverse” search warrants seeking location and keyword-search data in most circumstances. These court orders seek information about anyone who was in a particular place at a specific time or visited a particular website or searched for a particular time, as opposed to search warrants targeting an individual.

Lucero and Maye Quade say such warrants run afoul of the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

“We want to make sure those time-tested principles are protected in the digital realm,” Lucero said.

But law enforcement — including the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association — pushed back, arguing that the change would hinder their ability to conduct investigations and solve crimes. Lucero noted that police officers can’t seek such data informally; they have to prove to a judge there is probable cause.

Jay Henthorne, police chief in Richfield and president of the association, said the measure would make it “significantly harder” to identify suspects in serious crimes.

“The bill could result in fewer crimes being solved. In many modern investigations, digital evidence is the only available evidence,” Henthorne told the committee. “Crimes today often occur without witnesses and without physical evidence. Removing access to location data may mean fewer suspects identified in fewer cases, cleared.”

The bill is up for consideration as part of a broader public safety package at the end of session.

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.

A man’s battle with life-changing alpha gal syndrome and his push for awareness

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Molly Demrow

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    KENTUCKY (WLEX) — Michael Sizemore thought he was having a normal weekend. He was outside building a chicken coop for his wife and three kids when he discovered a tick bite behind his knee.

“It was on a Saturday,” Sizemore said. “And I come to work Monday morning and go to work and then my leg itched right behind my knee. So I reached down and I was like, God, that itches, and I felt a welp. And I was like, what’s that? I pulled it up, there’s a tick.”

At first, he wasn’t concerned.

“I kept it and I made a joke and I was like, well, I was like, he may kill me, but I’ll kill him first,” Sizemore said.

But weeks later, his condition took a serious turn.

“Four weeks later, I’m sicker than a dog. I mean, I’m just, I can’t explain what was going on with me. I had terrible reflux and chills, no appetite. My heart rate was getting up to like 180 beats a minute,” Sizemore said.

A cardiologist at Baptist Health eventually identified the cause.

“He ran a tick panel and two days later, they called me on a Saturday and he said, or his assistant, she said, you have alpha gal syndrome. And I was like, you’re kidding? She said no,” Sizemore said.

Alpha gal syndrome is linked to certain tick bites and can trigger serious allergic reactions to mammal products.

“A lone star tick or a deer tick would feed on a mammal, and then when it bites another host, a human, it injects that molecule into the bloodstream of the host. So the immune system recognizes that and attacks it,” Sizemore said.

Ticks are most active in wooded areas and tall grass. Something as small as a single bite can trigger the condition, leaving people allergic to foods many eat every day.

For Sizemore, that reality has reshaped his daily routine.

“I can’t eat at any restaurants. I have to meal prep everything. I mean, me and my wife, every Saturday and Sunday, we meal prep everything for my week,” Sizemore said.

Now, Sizemore is pushing for better food labeling to help others living with the condition.

“Me and thousands of others would really appreciate it stuck on the label that it’s alpha gal friendly, you know, cause there’s, you know, vegan and dairy-free, soy-free. We have all that, gluten-free. We have all that. But it’d be really nice to have alpha gal friendly somewhere on there too,” Sizemore said.

For now, Sizemore says he is learning to live with alpha gal syndrome and holding out hope that a cure will one day be found.

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.

Mother, daughter reject millions as data center land dispute continues

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Drew Amman

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    MAYSVILLE, Kentucky (WLEX) — A mother and daughter in Mason County are rejecting multimillion-dollar offers for their land as a proposed data center project continues to move forward, and they say they’re not budging.

Ida Huddleston has been offered $60,000 an acre for her 71-acre property to make way for the project; she has turned down the offer multiple times.

“What they’ve proposed and carried on it’s not a business deal, it’s a mind harassment,” Huddleston said.

Her message to the developers remains the same.

“I said I don’t want your money, I don’t need your money, but I do feel sorry for everybody around us,” she said. “They’re gonna be affected by it.”

Her daughter, Delsia Bare, has also declined to sell. Bare turned down a $48,000-an-acre offer for her 463-acre property.

Adding to their frustration is the fact that the Fortune 100 company behind the project has not been publicly identified.

“When they will not reveal who they are that’s a major player in what you’re going to do with the rest of your life if you are stuck here or even if you are leaving here,” Bare said.

LEX 18 has been following this story since last spring. In December, LEX 18 reported on Andy Grosser and his father, Timothy, who rejected nearly $8 million for their farm at the same proposed data center site.

The data center would be located at Big Pond Pike in Mason County. Tyler McHugh, economic development director for the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority, pointed out to LEX 18 in October that the project would create 400 full-time positions along with more than 1,500 construction jobs.

“As far as jobs would go, they would become if not our largest employer, definitely top three,” McHugh said.

Bare is skeptical of those projections.

“My guess is you won’t have over 50 and they won’t even be here at this building when it’s said and done,” Bare said.

As for what comes next, Huddleston’s position is clear.

“I’m staying put,” she said.

Mason County Fiscal Court is still reviewing the project. A data center regulation ordinance recently passed changed the residential setback from 500 to 750 feet.

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.

Man dies after being shot by officer while trying to elude Chicago police

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Todd Feurer, Darius Johnson, Jeramie Bizzle, Jermont Terry

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating after a man was shot and killed while trying to elude Chicago police officers on Monday afternoon in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Police, in an update on Monday night, said just after 5:30 p.m., officers attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a vehicle in the 800 block of North Homan Avenue that was wanted in connection with a shooting on the nearby Eisenhower Expressway earlier in the day. Police said the vehicle, a white Mercedes, fled from police, and a pursuit was initiated.

The Mercedes hit a woman in the street and continued to flee before it came to a stop after crashing into a Chicago Transit Authority bus in traffic, police said. The car continued going back and forth, ramming the bus and hitting an unmarked squad car.

Video from the scene showed CPD officers trying to get the Mercedes driver out of the car. One of the officers is seen trying to break the tinted windows as the driver tries getting around officers and the CTA bus. Then, shots were fired by one of the officers.

“It seems like it came from one person. It didn’t seem like multiple people shooting,” said resident Savaughn Dillon Sr.

He was walking home near Chicago and Homan when he first spotted officers following the Mercedes with their lights and sirens activated.

“Everywhere, anywhere, just trying to get to this person, I don’t know what, you know what I’m saying, they wanted him for,” Dillion said.

The view from CBS Skywatch showed the massive police presence on the West Side, and even state police responded.

Police said officers immediately rendered aid to the suspect, and a firearm was recovered from the car. They have not said if the driver fired that weapon.

The suspect was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with multiple gunshots to the upper body and was pronounced dead.

Two officers were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. The woman who was hit by the suspect’s car suffered an injury to the lower body and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.

“It make me really want to move. It’s just, I’m speechless, really, it’s heartbreaking,” Dillon said.

The specifics surrounding the incident, including the comprehensive use of force, are being investigated by COPA with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department.

The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for a minimum period of 30 days.

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Colorado mountain town mystery surrounds arson and death investigation near trailhead

CNN Newsource on March 10, 2026

By Spencer Wilson

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    SUMMIT COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — Investigators are trying to determine what caused a deadly vehicle explosion at a popular hiking trailhead in Colorado.

Summit County deputies responded around 7 a.m. Friday to reports of an explosion and a vehicle fire at the Straight Creek Trailhead near the Dillon Valley neighborhood. When first responders arrived, they found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames with a man inside. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office is working with several agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and local fire departments to determine what happened.

Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons said bringing in specialists is standard in cases like this.

“Anytime there is an explosion and a tragic death, there will be a significant investigation,” FitzSimons said in a statement. “We have brought together a team of experts to determine exactly what happened.”

Investigators said the incident appears to be isolated and there is no ongoing threat to the public outside the immediate scene.

Multiple neighbors called 9-1-1 after hearing the explosion. “I totally thought it was an avy bomb,” Jess Koepl, who lives nearby, explained. “It had just snowed, and Loveland Pass is pretty close.”

Koepl was walking his dog when he heard a boom and saw the smoke. As he got closer to the trailhead, Koepl said he saw the vehicle burning and heard additional pops. Koepl said he did not have his phone with him at the time, so he turned around to get help. By the time he was heading back, emergency crews were already arriving.

“I guess I’m a little freaked out by it,” Koepl said. “I really have no idea what happened, so I’m just kind of waiting for something to come out.”

Investigators spent hours examining the scene and removing debris scattered around the parking area.

The identity of the man who died has not yet been released. The Summit County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause and manner of death.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the sheriff’s office.

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.