Month: June 2026

By Jay Greene

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    NORFOLK, Virginia (WTKR) — When Jorge and Lynne Agnese look back on the summer of 1986, neither can help but wonder how close they came to never meeting at all.

The couple’s love story began during OpSail 1986, when tall ships from around the world filled Norfolk’s waterfront and drew thousands of visitors to Harborfest festivities.

Nearly four decades later, the couple is returning to the same ship where they first met — Argentina’s famed training vessel, the ARA Libertad — as Sail250 Virginia brings tall ships back to Hampton Roads.

Their story started with a decision Lynne almost didn’t make.

“In fact, I was supposed to go on that Sunday evening to Fort Story,” she said. I had my eyes set on a pilot, but a girlfriend of mine had her eyes set on one of the Argentine guys, and she begged me to go to the party with her, and I finally agreed.”

At the time, Lynne was an Old Dominion University student who spent part of that summer working at Town Point Park selling T-shirts during Harborfest and OpSail events.

Jorge was also an ODU student, but his path to Norfolk was much different.

Originally from Argentina, Jorge had moved to Hampton Roads about a year and a half earlier to attend Old Dominion University. When the ARA Libertad arrived in Norfolk, Jorge was invited to help welcome the ship and its crew.

For a young man who grew up around sailing, the experience was unforgettable.

“It was fantastic,” Jorge recalled. “I got to see the ship firsthand and all the other tall ships coming from all over the world.”

He still remembers the atmosphere surrounding OpSail 1986.

Thousands of visitors packed Norfolk’s waterfront. Sailors from around the world mingled with locals. Historic tall ships shared the harbor with modern military vessels.

“One thing I remember specifically is the tall ships right next to the warships,” Jorge said. “That was quite an image for me.”

While Jorge was taking in the sights of the international maritime celebration, Lynne was preparing to attend a reception aboard the Libertad — reluctantly.

Once aboard, guests were required to have escorts.

Lynne’s friend quickly disappeared with her own escort, leaving Lynne standing alone.

Then she heard a voice behind her.

“Excuse me, do you have an escort?”

That voice belonged to Jorge.

“I turned around and said, ‘No,'” Lynne recalled.

From Jorge’s perspective, the moment was just as memorable.

“I saw this girl who was standing by herself, and I said, ‘Oh, I need to start a conversation now.'”

The two spent the evening talking aboard the ship.

Lynne assumed Jorge was part of the crew.

After all, they were aboard an Argentine tall ship, and Jorge spoke with an accent.

“I assumed everybody spoke Spanish,” she said. “I thought he was an officer.”

But later in the evening, she learned Jorge wasn’t a sailor at all.

He was another ODU student.

The revelation surprised Lynne, but it didn’t change the connection the two had already formed.

In fact, Lynne says she knew almost immediately.

“As soon as I heard, ‘Excuse me, do you have an escort?’ and I turned around, I was done.”

The relationship moved quickly.

“I had a date scheduled the following week and I canceled it,” Lynne said with a laugh.

What started as a chance encounter aboard a ship turned into a marriage, four children and nearly four decades together.

Today, the Agneses often share the story with friends, family and anyone curious about how they met.

Their children know it by heart.

So do many of their friends.

Now, with Sail250 Virginia bringing tall ships back to Norfolk, the couple has a chance to relive the moment that changed their lives.

The timing is especially meaningful.

This summer marks nearly 40 years since they first met aboard the Libertad.

As they prepare to step back aboard the same vessel, the couple can’t help but reflect on how one unexpected decision altered the course of their lives.

When asked whether their life together would exist without that ship, Jorge didn’t hesitate.

“Most likely not.”

For Jorge and Lynne Agnese, Harborfest and Norfolk’s waterfront are more than part of the city’s history.

They’re part of their family’s history too.

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 Holly Lehren

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) — Tay Keith, the Grammy-nominated producer whose beats helped shape some of hip-hop’s biggest hits, has died at age 29.

Metro Nashville Police said Keith was found dead Thursday afternoon in his apartment on Martin Street during a welfare check. Investigators said no foul play is suspected. His death remains unclassified pending autopsy results.

Born in Memphis, Keith, whose birth name is Brytavious Chambers, produced chart-topping hits including BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive,” Drake’s “Nonstop,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” and Beyoncé’s “Before I Let Go.” Keith received two Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song as a producer. The first came in 2019 for “Sicko Mode.” He earned a second nomination in 2024 for Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex.”

But those who knew him say his legacy extended beyond music.

Keith graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in December 2018, becoming the first person in his family to earn a college degree.

Beverly Keel, dean of MTSU’s Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment, said Keith was already working with major artists before graduation, but remained committed to finishing school because he had promised his mother he would earn a degree.

“He had already created a name for himself,” Keel said. “Lots of people were telling him, ‘Hey, you’re already working with Drake and Travis Scott. Why are you finishing a degree?’ But it was so important to him. He was the first to graduate from college in his family.”

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 Jordan West

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    AVONDALE, Louisiana (WDSU) — Residents in Avondale are working to recover Friday after Arthur brought widespread flooding, tornadic weather, and destruction to the area.

The storm, which deteriorated Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, lost its tropical strength but still caused significant damage in Louisiana.

Several homes in Avondale were destroyed, and two people, a man and a woman with leg injuries, were taken to the hospital for treatment for their injuries.

One resident shared how roof damage at her home has complicated power restoration efforts, even though Entergy restored power to the rest of her neighborhood.

She said she is concerned about the impact of the outage on her husband’s health.

“He has his machine that he has to use either to eat or to drink, he’ll start choking if he doesn’t’ have this power source on,” she said.

After learning about the issue, Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Jennifer Van Vrancken helped send EMS to the resident’s home to transport her husband to a safer location.

First responders are continuing their efforts in the area this morning to help secure the community.

Those first responders will face extreme heat and more flash flooding due to scattered afternoon storms.

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 Amy Fleury

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    Wisconsin (WISN) — A federal judge in Indiana has ordered the release of Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“Petitioner Salah Salem Sarsour is a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States for 33 years,” United States District Judge James Patrick Hanlon wrote. Hanlon was nominated by President Donald Trump in April 2018.

Sarsour has been detained since the end of March.

Sarsour was being held in Clay County Jail in Indiana. His family is on the way Thursday morning to bring him home, WISN 12 News has learned.

“We’re getting our dad back,” Salah’s son, Kareem Sarsour, said in a statement. “This experience has been a nightmare to wake up to every day, with his health at risk in a cruel basement cell simply for speaking up for Palestine. But we know who my dad is, he’s a voice for the voiceless and the heart of our family and our community. I can’t wait to hug him, and I hope everyone like him will be released.”

His legal team claimed in April that Sarsour was detained “because the government appears to be using the immigration system to target individuals for protected speech related to Palestine and Palestinians.”

In response to the judge’s order his legal team released this statement:

“We are ecstatic for Salah Sarsour and his family that they will soon be reunited.

“In issuing this order, the federal judge made clear that the government cannot detain a lawful permanent resident for speaking out about Palestinian human rights. Salah Sarsour, who has lived in this country for more than three decades and served as a core pillar in his community without any issues, should never have been detained in the first place.

“While we continue to fight these baseless claims in court, today is about celebrating a family being reunited. It is also a sober reminder that, if the government can target Mr. Sarsour, everyone’s free speech rights are at risk.”

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 Richard Bourne

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    SENATOBIA, Mississippi (WAPT) — The mother of a 1-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer in Senatobia is speaking out publicly for the first time.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump released the video clip of Vellesiya Wiley’s account of what happened Sunday at Walmart when her son Kohen Wiley was shot and killed.

“It was me, my son and another friend of mine at Walmart. As we was leaving out the Walmart, they tried to stop her, but I kept walking, because it had nothing to do with me. By the time me and my baby got in the car, she came, and then when we was backing up, they was running out to come. I raised my baby, because they was drawing they guns. She has no tent. I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car. So, she was backing up, and she hit the car,” Wiley said.

The Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office responded to the situation at the Walmart on Highway 51.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said officers were responding to a shoplifting call when they tried to stop the car, and when the driver drove towards the officers, nearly hitting one of them, they opened fire.

“By the time I sat my baby down, it was like three to four shots. One of the shots hit him in his rib cage, and the other shot hit her in her arm and her thigh, and we left and went to Senatobia Hospital where he was pronounced dead,” Wiley said.

The mourning mother also addressed the shoplifting claim against her friend as well as the claim that she tried to run over law enforcement.

“On the little self-checkout, they can see its cameras, they can see when she got the diapers and walked out, but yeah, they tried to say that she forcefully was trying to drive and hit them, but they were all on the right side, and she was driving to the left. They just personally shot into the car,” Wiley said.

Tuesday, Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell addressed the media and the public.

“To make no mistake, this is a very tragic situation. I want the public to be assured that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct its independent investigation. We have five agents working on this case,” Tindell said.

Tindell said they would be working with Walmart to review surveillance video to see what happened prior to the shooting.

The commissioner asked the public to be patient as the investigation proceeded.

The officer who shot the child has been placed on administrative leave.

There has been public outcry in the wake of the shooting. A large group of protesters gathered Tuesday outside Walmart demanding justice. They were met with a strong law enforcement presence, which eventually led to tear gas being fired.

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 Kaoyeng Lee

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    PITTSVILLE, Wisconsin (WAOW) — A legal dispute between the Pittsville School District and a local mother has come to an end after both parties reached a settlement agreement.

The lawsuit stemmed from a social media video posted by the mother explaining why she chose to homeschool her child.

The video gained national attention, accumulating more than 26 million views online.

According to the mother, the video was part of a social media trend.

However, after it was posted, law enforcement officers were sent to her home by the school district, leading to the legal challenge.

Nearly six months later, the district and the mother have released a joint statement outlining the terms of the settlement.

“The school district agrees that they should have handled this in a different way,” says Cory Brewer, Deputy Counsel with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL).

“They acknowledge that the post by our client was protected speech and that they frankly should not have sent law enforcement to her door in response to it and that they will handle this type of dispute differently going forward,” she adds.

The attorney said the settlement is significant because it reinforces First Amendment protections and the rights of parents to advocate for their children.

She added that while school districts may disagree with parents, government entities cannot punish or silence individuals for protected speech.

The full joint statement can be found on the Pittsville School District’s website (right hand side of your screen) or WILL’s website.

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.