Imperial school officials concerned about data centers impacting community

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Jessamyn Dodd

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – School officials in Imperial are ringing the alarm on the proposed data center in town, a project they say will have lasting negative impacts on the community.

In a region already battling water concerns, severe drought and air pollution, school officials in Imperial are standing with residents and pushing back against the data center.

During a school board meeting, board members publicly read a letter opposing the proposed center.

Parents and residents voiced their concerns about how close the project will be to schools and homes, pointing out the potential health risks and noise pollution.

One board member recused himself from signing the letter.

“We want to focus on the fact that this is an accomplishment and you know of course we’re celebrating this as a small win and acknowledging that there are some real concerns that are attached to this project that they, too feel the need to have some light put on it,” said Gina Snow, an Imperial resident.

It’s clear that this fight is far from over, as the city continues to rally support ahead of future decisions on the proposed data center.

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Local students take Arizona attendance law concerns to Crane District Board

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Adrik Vargas

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Several local students are speaking out about an Arizona attendance law they believe does not fully reflect the challenges some families face.

Students from Centennial Middle School and Wellton Elementary recently competed in the State Project Citizen Showcase, a civics competition where students research community issues and present policy solutions before a panel of judges.

Centennial students took their concerns beyond the classroom and to the Crane School District Board.

Their teacher, Mrs. Baker, said she encouraged students to use their voices and was proud to watch them confidently speak on an issue impacting their community.

“That’s what we try to promote in our students here at Centennial,” Baker said. “To let them know that you are not just an empty chair, that you have a voice. Use it.”

The students focused their project on Arizona law ARS 15-803 C1, which says students can be considered habitually absent after five unexcused absences, potentially leading to school or legal intervention.

Students say the law does not always account for issues some families face, including transportation and financial challenges.

“We didn’t really think that it was right that a bunch of kids would get in trouble for missing school, even if they have transportation issues or financial issues,” said Centennial student Benjamin Macias.

Another student, David Ortega, said he hopes speaking to district leaders can help create broader change.

“Our hope after we share our concerns today is that we really change the law and we could help not just the community, but the state in general,” Ortega said.

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SPECIAL REPORT: Imperial County recognized for support-based mental health outreach as cities increase enforcement

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Adrik Vargas

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – Imperial County is being recognized by Governor Gavin Newsom for its efforts to connect people living with severe mental illness to treatment and support services through California’s CARE Act.

The program allows family members, first responders and others to ask a court to help connect someone with mental health care before they end up in crisis.

County officials say the goal is not punishment, but getting people connected to long-term support and treatment.

“And then afterwards, if they do, then we go ahead and engage them into our intensive services and our CARE services,” said Michelle Villarreal. “We link them and do all that we really have to do.”

So far this year, 21 petitions have been submitted to CARE Court in Imperial County.

Officials say the process is meant to be collaborative, with participants helping shape their own treatment plans.

“The main goal is to reduce hospitalizations, crisis admissions and re-incarcerations or getting involved in the justice system,” said Maria Ruiz.

At the same time, some cities across the Imperial Valley have taken a stricter approach to homelessness.

In El Centro, police can charge someone with a misdemeanor if they refuse rehab or mental health services. In Calexico, camping on public or private property can lead to fines or jail time.

William Cooper, who is working to bring a wraparound housing model to northern Imperial County, believes support services are more effective than criminal penalties.

“That money can be better spent building housing, building wraparound services, mental health services,” Cooper said.

Cooper has spent several years applying for funding through Imperial County’s Continuum of Care board, which helps decide what housing projects receive county support.

His proposal would focus on expanding access to case management, behavioral health and health care services in northern parts of the county.

The latest count shows more than 1,500 people in Imperial County experienced homelessness in 2025, highlighting the ongoing gap between available resources and community needs.

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Housing America Corporation hosts energy assistance event in Somerton

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Abigahil Padilla

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA) – Housing America Corporation hosted a Power AZ application assistance event Thursday in Somerton to help local families apply for energy assistance through the state program.

Residents visited the Housing America Corporation offices in front of City Hall, where staff members provided free help with applications and document uploads.

The Power AZ Program offers financial assistance to eligible households to help cover heating and cooling costs throughout the year.

Households may qualify for benefits ranging from $160 to $640 annually.

“Especially with the high cost of energy and the increase we have seen in the Power AZ Program within the community, along with the fact that there are farmworkers currently unemployed, it is important that we provide this type of assistance,” said Yolanda Galindo, executive director of Housing America Corporation.

Housing America Corporation says the event is part of its effort to help families maintain safe and stable homes during times of financial need.

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Local realty company volunteers at Yuma Community Food Bank

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Abraham Retana

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A local realty company gave back to the community today by supporting a non-profit organization.

As part of its Red Day, Keller Williams Realty of Yuma (KW Realty) employees volunteered at the Yuma Community Food Bank.

They helped out by preparing bags full of groceries.

“It’s a major resource for our community and for those who are dealing with food insecurity, so it’s important not just to think about those people, but also the action to step up to give back and the service is extremely important not only for our company, our culture but for everyone,” said Kristan Sheppeard, KW Realty CEO and team leader.

The Yuma Community Food Bank president says receiving this kind of support helps a lot, especially now that more locals are depending on the food bank.

“We are seeing more people coming in and using the food bank so anyone WHO can give, we ask please give, you can definitely use their support. Volunteers, food, funds whatever they can do we definitely can use it,” expressed Andy Robinson, Yuma Community Food Bank President and CEO

Keller Williams Realty has its “Red Day” the second Thursday of each month. If you would like to donate to the Yuma Community Food Bank, click here.

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Yuma students learn about working for the City for Career Day

KYMA on May 16, 2026

Abraham Retana

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A group of students learned first hand what it takes to work for the City of Yuma.

More than 30 students from the Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) Charter High School had a career day at the Yuma City Hall, where department heads explained their duties and careers they studied to obtain their positions.

“They learn all about what it is, how the Community Parks and Rec Public Work it, all the opportunity to work for the community, City Hall has opened its doors for the students, so they can learn the different phases of the city and it works,” said John Horvath, EOC counselor/ teacher.

Horvath said they do several career days during the school year to teach students the variety of job opportunities they could find after graduate from college.

“With the speakers talking to them about how to get the education that they need for the position or if they need college equivalent to get these jobs. So public works, communications, all these are opportunities for these kids,” expressed Horvath.

EOC has open enrollment for the next school year.

For more information about the school, you can click here.

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Traffic impacts expected as University of Missouri graduation weekend continues

KMIZ on May 16, 2026

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

University of Missouri commencement ceremonies are set to continue through the weekend as nearly 6,000 students have earned degrees.

The majority of ceremonies are taking place on Saturday in Jesse Auditorium and Mizzou Arena:

College of Health Sciences – 8:30 a.m. in Mizzou Arena

School of Medicine – 10 a.m. in Jesse Auditorium

College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources – Noon in Mizzou Arena

College of Health Sciences (Professional/Clinical) – 2:30 p.m. in Jesse Auditorium

College of Arts & Science (part 1) – 3:30 p.m. in Mizzou Arena

School of Law – 5:30 p.m. in Jesse Auditorium

College of Arts & Science (part 2) – 6 p.m. in Mizzou Arena

Ceremonies will also continue through Sunday:

Trulaske College of Business – 9 a.m. in Mizzou Arena

Graduate School (PhD/EdD) – Noon in Mizzou Arena

Honors College – 1 p.m. in Jesse Auditorium

Army ROTC – 2:30 p.m. in Monsanto Auditorium

Graduate School (Master’s/Education Specialists) – 3 p.m. in Mizzou Arena

Over 4,700 students will receive bachelor’s degrees, and over 1,000 will receive master’s degrees, according to the university’s website. The class of 2026 is also made up of over 1,000 first-generation students, 80 active-duty military and over 70 student athletes.

Traffic impacts are expected, with the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau reporting hotels in the area are at around 75-80% occupancy. Drivers should expect many graduates and families on campus. This includes traffic on Conley Avenue, Ninth Street, Tiger Avenue and Rollins Street.

Major roads, including South Providence Road and Stadium Boulevard, are also expected to see some backups.

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Man who beat “unicorn” case of Merkel cell carcinoma to ride in Pittsburgh’s Rush to Crush Cancer

CNN Newsource on May 16, 2026

By Tory Wegerski, Meghan Schiller

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A western Pennsylvania dad went from wondering what a spot on his leg was to learning he has an extremely rare skin cancer. And then, things get even weirder. But now, he’s tackling this weekend’s Rush to Crush Cancer.

There’s never a good place to get cancer. But you really don’t want to get cancer somewhere that makes world-leading researchers and oncologists like Dr. Ravi Patel describe your case as “a unicorn.”

Cam Cerro was just 32 when he was first diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma five years ago.

“Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive skin cancer,” explained Cerro’s oncologist, Dr. Melissa Burgess. “Some estimate about 3,000 cases a year. So it’s an extremely rare condition that affects patients mostly ages 65 and older.”

What he thought was just a cyst on his leg turned out to be the rare cancer. Doctors at Hillman treated him with two dozen radiation sessions, immunotherapy and surgery. Cerro got the all clear, but doctors warned him they’d need to keep an eye on him for life.

“These tumors, even when they do a good surgery, it tends to come back,” Patel said.

And come back it did. And that’s when things got weird.

“He had a PET scan that showed something weird in the heart, which is a very unusual location,” Patel said.

“It’s not typical to metastasize or spread to the heart,” Burgess added.

Burgess called in Patel, a researcher and radiation oncologist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

“The heart is a difficult place to treat, to do a big surgery in a very young patient, and so we had to come up with something different,” Patel said.

“We don’t typically irradiate the heart, and there’s no standard protocols,” he added.

Patel knew that Merkel cell carcinoma responds very well to radiation. He talked to national experts and his fellow Hillman researchers to come up with a game plan to treat Cerro’s heart cancer with radiation.

“To Dr. Patel’s point, he’s never radiated anybody in their heart, but looking at that piece and finding other people that have and getting the expertise to help him was essential,” Cerro said.

“In certain cases, certain times, cancer behaves in weird ways where it’s unpredictable and does things that you don’t expect, and you have to think of something on the fly that’s safe, that’s reasonable and effective, and fortunately, we were able to get that,” Patel said.

And that’s when Cerro went from weird to one of a kind. He was the first patient ever to receive radiation treatment for heart cancer at UPMC Hillman, getting 15 treatments over a period of three weeks.

“It was a difficult thing to go through, and he had to make a lot of tough decisions,” Patel said.

Those tough decisions paid off and paid off fast.

“The cool thing was, once the next set of scans came around, everything was gone, which was insane,” Cerro said.

Now, three years later, Cerro is a healthy father of two kids who will be cheering him on this weekend at the Rush to Crush Cancer cycling event in Pittsburgh. The event raises money for cancer research at UPMC Hillman.

“The research piece is obviously vital for us, for our younger generation, to make sure that they’re taken care of,” Cerro said.

It’s all to help the next person who becomes the “most interesting” case in Pittsburgh.

“Without the research, we wouldn’t be here today, and we can’t advance the medicine without it,” Cerro 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.

Emory physicist takes science out of the lab and onto the playground

CNN Newsource on May 16, 2026

By Brian Unger

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WUPA) — Inside a small lab at Emory University’s Math & Science Center, physicist Justin Burton spends his days teaching and asking some very big questions.

How do dust particles behave in plasma? How fast are glaciers melting? Is it possible to handle delicate materials without ever touching them by levitating them with sound?

“If you look at those particles, it’s quite complex,” Burton said, gesturing toward a video monitor displaying an experiment in progress.

Burton’s research has earned recognition from the National Academy of Sciences and caught the attention of the New York Times, which recently featured a piece headlined “The Secret to Sliding Eggs Off Stainless Steel.”

For Burton, the mission behind all of it is clear.

“We’re trying to explore nature’s secrets, but we’re not just doing it randomly,” he said. “We do care about important problems.”

In another room, a small-scale model of a glacier, composed of what appears to be white blocks of plastic submerged in a water flow, yields valuable insights into the impacts of melting glaciers on rising sea levels.

But beyond the research, awards, and academic recognition, Burton says he’s made an even bigger discovery.

Almost every month for more than a decade, he and his graduate students have packed up their experiments and carried them out of the university and onto the playground at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Decatur. There, the laws of physics get demonstrated loudly.

“Usually, making it big and loud gets them excited,” Burton said.

The demonstrations are exactly that. Chemical reactions. Exploding trash cans. Balloons that go out with a bang. Burton sees the spectacle as inseparable from the science.

“There’s enjoying the wonders of nature like blowing up trash cans, and there’s discovering her secrets as well,” he said. “So, we gotta do both.”

Fifth-grade science teacher Tracy Hammer has watched the program’s impact stretch well beyond her classroom walls.

“I’ve had kids who have written me letters, sent me emails from high school, thanking me for introducing them to science, and thanking Dr. Burton,” Hammer said.

That kind of response — observable, measurable, and lasting — is exactly the proof Burton finds most meaningful.

Some of the most important discoveries, it turns out, don’t always happen in a laboratory. Sometimes they happen on a playground, with exploding balloons, a group of fifth graders, and a lesson they never forget.

Burton and his team are currently on their summer break from the Laurel Ridge program and are set to return when the new school year begins in the fall.

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.

More expensive than a starter home: rare Kobe Bryant basketball card expected to sell for over $500K

CNN Newsource on May 16, 2026

By Joe Brandt

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Three rare basketball trading cards depicting the late Kobe Bryant are expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions this weekend. And buyers from the Philadelphia area, where Bryant grew up and starred in high school ball, could be especially interested.

The most valuable of the three cards is one of only eight in existence. Its full name is a mouthful, but every word shines like gold for a collector who knows the market. This is the 1997 SkyBox E-X2001 Essential Credentials Now Kobe Bryant card, with a serial number 1/8.

As of 1 p.m. on Friday, bidding was up to $280,000 but expected to intensify around the auction’s closing time at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

What makes this basketball card so special?

We talked to Mike Provenzale, production manager at Heritage Auctions, and he told us there’s been a spike in interest in the sports card market in general. A card from this same print run depicting Allen Iverson sold last year for over $700,000, a record for an Iverson card.

“In the last 10 years or so, those limited cards have really exploded in value, especially for those top-tier athletes. And Kobe Bryant, certainly, is in that group,” Provenzale said.

And in the Philadelphia area, where Bryant starred at Lower Merion High School — and was named MVP of the 2002 All-Star Game, there’s typically a high level of interest.

“There’s a few areas on the map where he’s especially popular. Of course [Los Angeles], but also Philadelphia, where he grew up, they have a special place in their heart for him,” Provenzale said, noting that collectors do come from all corners of the world.

2 other Kobe cards going for 6-figure prices Also for sale is a 1997 Metal Universe Championship Kobe Bryant card from the Precious Metal Gems series. That one is up to $200,000 with an estimated auction value of $400,000.

Rounding out the trio with an estimated value of a mere $200,000 is a 1998 Metal Universe Kobe Bryant from the Precious Metal Gems series.

What to expect for the end of the sale Any of these three auctions could go to overtime — what Heritage calls “extended bidding.” At the end of the normal bidding period, anyone who has previously placed a bid is allowed to place another, and that process will continue until there is one bidder left standing.

There could be some serious cash thrown around Friday night and into Saturday morning.

I have a Kobe Bryant card from the ’90s, too. Can I have half a million dollars, please? Probably not! Or, maybe, if it’s very, very special like this one. This one is a “parallel,” meaning it’s a rarer variety of an existing card. Let’s explain.

As an easy example, say there’s a regular, run-of-the-mill Kobe card in 1 in every 10 packs of cards; if you buy a couple of packs, you have a pretty good chance of getting a Kobe. But then, in 1 in 100 packs, you could find the same Kobe with an added shiny, special, more aesthetically pleasing treatment.

This card follows that example, but on another level. Other Essential Credentials cards of Bryant were printed, but the “Now” versions feature individual serial numbers on the back according to the player’s jersey number. Because Bryant wore No. 8 for the Los Angeles Lakers at the time, there are only eight of these.

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.