Month: April 2026

By Paula Wethington

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    Michigan (WWJ) — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources sparked attention and questions after it reported that a walleye weighed in at 15 pounds during recent fish egg collection efforts.

The fisheries staff had been working on the Muskegon River, with 97 pairs of walleye spawned on March 31 and an additional 60 pairs on April 2.

The DNR included this note: “the largest fish collected weighed in at an impressive 15 lbs!”

The DNR recreational stocking efforts include lake trout, brown trout, walleye and other species at locations across the state. The Metro Detroit fish stocking locations include walleye placed in Pontiac Lake and rainbow trout in the Clinton River.

The fish are weighed prior to egg collection, and that’s how the 15-pound walleye was verified, the DNR said.

The largest walleye recorded in Michigan weighed 17.19 pounds, and was caught in 1951 in Pine River in Manistee County, the DNR reports.

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 Jermont Terry

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — A commute downtown to work for one woman left her fuming and fighting off her attacker after getting assaulted on a CTA train on Tuesday morning.

A trip to the police station wasn’t on Chiquita Brown’s plan, but she walked into the 1st District to file a complaint.

“I believe I was sexually assaulted on the Red Line this morning,” she said.

Brown hopped on the “L” at 63rd Street, and by the time she got to the 35th Street station, she couldn’t believe what had occurred.

“It was crowded this morning, so I was standing up, and a guy passed me and groped my behind,” she said.

Brown said the man didn’t just touch her backside, saying the offender touched her between her legs from behind.

She said she was violated on the crowded CTA train, and her defense instincts kicked in.

“I lost it,” she said. “I started hitting him, and I said, ‘ You don’t touch me, why are you putting your hands on me?'”

She was in the first train next to the conductor, who radioed the police, but when the doors opened, the man ran off. The assault left brown furious.

The conductor described the offender as a Black male with a tan jacket, blue jeans, and short dreads.

This incident comes as the Federal Transit Administration has called for CTA to revamp its safety plan or risk losing funding. The CTA last month said it plans to increase policing hours by 75%, but Brown said she didn’t see a single officer.

“Whatever their tactic is, we need results. So you can threaten to hold back money, but at the end of the day, we need results. I feel like they do need to go back to the drawing board,” Brown said.

More than 400,000 people ride the CTA trains weekly, and for those like Brown who depend on the transit system to get to work, they wait for a resolution.

She’s not happy the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Illinois’ law barring concealed carry of guns on public transit

“They denied the appeal to bring your firearms on the train because we may need to have it because people will think twice,” Brown said.

Officers met Brown at the Clark/Lake Station when the train arrived, but as of Tuesday night, no arrests were made.

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By Pete Caggiano

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — A new storm system approaches and brings a flood risk through Friday.

Tonight, expect cloudy skies with temperatures in the upper 60 degrees. Rain is expected for Maui County and the Big Island.

On Wednesday, mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain is forecast, mainly in the afternoon and evening. Some rains will be heavier. Winds will be from the south/east at 5 to 10 mph. High temperatures will be in the upper 70 degrees to near 80 degrees.

A Flood Watch goes into effect from 6 a.m. on Wednesday through Friday at 6 p.m.

Weather Alert Days are in effect from Wednesday to Friday due to the flood risk. Gusty Kona winds will also develop on Thursday and Friday. Expect winds gusts over 40 mph in some downslope spots as winds shift from the southeast to south from Thursday through Friday. Computer models indicate possible rainfall totals of 5 to 12 inches.

A Winter Storm Advisory is in effect for the summits of the Big Island.

Surf heights will increase: north-facing shores 6 to 10 feet, west-facing shores 5 to 7 feet, south-facing shores 6 to 10 feet, and east-facing shores 1 to 3 feet. High Surf Advisories possible for the south shores.

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By Gracie Palmer

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Black bears naturally thrive in heavily forested environments with dense vegetation and access to water. But as construction expands into those areas, their habitats are being disrupted and, in many cases, reduced.

“Their habitat kind of needs to be a wide range of different elements and complexities, which our mountains provide,” WNC Nature Center’s Animal Wellness Coordinator Chesley Hollander said of bears.

As more roads and homes are built, bears are increasingly pushed closer to humans.

“We are unfortunately their biggest predators, and that’s because we are driving around in their habitats, we’re developing in their homes and trees,” Hollander added.

At the same time, North Carolina’s black bear population has grown significantly — more than quadrupling over the past two decades to an estimated 20,000 bears statewide. With shrinking habitats and a growing population, sightings in urban areas are becoming more common.

While experts say that it is impossible to stop all development, there are other ways to support bear populations in western North Carolina.

“Accommodating for the natural space, allowing for the forest areas to happen, providing natural forging options for them in landscaping, things like that,” Hollander said.

Custom home builder Brian Sineath, owner of Sineath Construction, says certain communities have implemented rules to limit human interactions with the bears.

“Some communities you have to keep the dumpsters covered, or signage up that’s saying no food trash, and we try to police that very closely,” Sineath added.

Sineath says preserving natural vegetation during construction is also a priority for him.

“We use native trees. You know, if there’s wildlife corridors, we want to protect those. Try to leave as much buffer around the streams, and around those pathways as we can,” he said.

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.