Month: June 2026

By Sooji Nam

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    DALY CITY, California (KPIX) — Members of the Bay Area’s Filipino community expressed worry about loved ones back home after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the southern part of the country.

Christian Flaviano thousands of miles away from his homeland of the Philippines, but that’s the only thing on his mind.

“I’ve seen it on social media earlier. And then I worried about all the students in the school because today is the first day in school. Yeah, I worry about a lot of the students there,” Flaviano told CBS News Bay Area.

He’s been working as a chef at Karilagan in South San Francisco for the past seven years. He moved from the Philippines to the Bay Area back in 2017.

After he heard of the terrifying earthquake online, he urgently called his family back home. Fortunately, he said, his family is safe.

Officials said the epicenter of the earthquake was roughly 10 to 20 miles off the southern coast of Mindanao around 7:30 a.m. Monday local time.

“It’s close enough to cause severe shaking and damage, but fortunately, it wasn’t under a major city which would have caused a lot more damage,” Paul Earle, a seismologist with USGS, told CBS News Bay Area. “For example, the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is comparable size to this earthquake. We’ve seen pictures of what happened in that earthquake.”

“This area is also much more complicated than the Bay Area, where you have two large plates that are moving towards each other at about 3 inches per year. But in between those large plates, you have lots of little plates. You have about five small plates interacting in different ways. So, the Philippines are much more seismically active than California,” he added.

Earle said the Bay Area should not be seeing any ripple effects from the earthquake.

“You’re not going to see any effects in California. It’s possible if you have a larger earthquake, you can send a tsunami across the ocean. This earthquake was not large enough to send a tsunami,” he said.

Alyza Garcia was born in the Philippines and moved to the Bay Area when she was eight years old. She said she also checked in with her family back home who are safe.

“It is devastating to see families sometimes displaced and also, unfortunately, it’s hard for families to get resources or help. And then that they always have to rebuild, but it’s always very admiring to see how much community helps each other,” Garcia told CBS News Bay Area.

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 Eli Kuhn

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    EUGENE/KEIZER, Oregon (KEZI) — A LEGO Star Wars collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is at the center of a national controversy that has led to the closure of a Keizer store and raised questions about a Eugene location.

The national LEGO resale chain Bricks & Minifigs has permanently closed its location in Keizer following a dispute over a consignment agreement that has drawn tens of millions of views on social media.

Bryan Mansell says he and his 83-year-old father Ed spent years building a massive collection of Lego Star Wars sets, worth roughly $200,000. Mansell says he agreed to a consignment deal with the Keizer location of Bricks & Minifigs. But he alleges when the location changed ownership in 2024, the new ownership took full control of the inventory and refused to honor the consignment.

This led to a handful of lawsuits and national attention after the YouTuber Reckless Ben, or Benjamin Schneider, posted several videos investigating the case. Reckless Ben’s videos on the subject have gained more than 17 million views on YouTube as of Friday.

“Bricks & Minifigs is saying, ‘Yes we have all of Bryan’s LEGOs in our store, no we didn’t pay for them,'” Schneider said in a video uploaded May 23rd. “Their answer for that is: ‘We would never try to exploit an old man,’ but it seems like that’s what they’re doing, they’re exploiting an old man.”

In a statement released Thursday, Bricks & Minifigs says it has parted ways with Keizer franchise owners Joshua Johnson and Brandon Best following the closure of the Keizer location. However, the Oregon Secretary of State’s database shows Best is also listed as the owner of another franchise location in Eugene. It remains unclear whether he still owns or operates this location. Employees inside the West Eugene store declined to comment, but said that aside from the statement released on Thursday, they have not received any information related to the Eugene location.

In that statement, the company writes they “uncovered significant evidence of gross negligence in how the store was previously operated by the prior owner,” which they say led to complications with the consignment.

Bricks & Minifigs say the company has reached out to Mansell to meet and come to a mutual resolution. Reckless Ben also set up a GoFundMe for the Mansells, which as of Friday, has raised more than $400,000.

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 Andrew Adams, KSL

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    SANDY, Utah (KSL) — Severe burns can leave someone facing a mountain of physical, psychological and emotional trauma, but a program run by the University of Utah Health’s Burn Center is helping burn survivors to literally climb their way above it all.

Sixteen-year-old Atticus Jones-Wahlquist said the burns he received at the age of 2 took an incredible toll on many aspects of his life.

“It was a gasoline fire from my lawnmower at my grandma’s house,” Jones-Wahlquist said during an interview with KSL. “It spread all over me, caught fire.”

In addition to the physical scars on his face and chest, Jones-Wahlquist described emotional scarring as well.

“It made me really shy and made me a lot less confident of who I was,” the teen said. “There was a hot while where I struggled with confidence really bad.”

Jones-Wahlquist’s family and recreational therapist, Eric Bonin, believed the Burn Survivor Climbing Clinic could have positive results.

Bonin said the six-week clinic, which runs four times per year, brings groups of 10 to 15 burn survivors together, allowing them to express who they are and to work toward goals and improved life skills.

“It can hit a lot of those different domains,” Bonin said. “We use it a lot for emotional well-being, cognitive well-being and then there’s also a huge social aspect as well within the community.”

Volunteers and family members are also present to help the burn survivors through the experience.

“We frame it as never failing. There’s always, like, a project you can do,” Bonin said. “There are a lot of parallels between pushing yourself and trying and failing or trying and succeeding to life as well.”

Jones-Wahlquist’s father, Ammon Wahlquist, acknowledged he was initially apprehensive about the idea of climbing as therapy.

“I didn’t want him to get too frustrated or feel really discouraged if he couldn’t do a climb,” the dad said.

Wahlquist said the results he saw in his son, however, were significant.

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, honestly, to watch Atticus kind of go through the healing process of being really little and being burned, but kind of grow up and just work through the struggles that came with that,” Wahlquist said. “To just work through it and still be positive and the cool kid that he is, it’s been pretty awesome.”

Jones-Wahlquist, who now plays cornerback for West Jordan High School’s football team, said he had also noticed the changes within himself.

“It made me a lot more confident in who I am as a person,” Jones-Wahlquist said. “There might be a moment that’s really hard, but you can get through it, no matter what the situation is.”

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 Marc Monroy

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    TUCSON, Arizona (KGUN) — A local DJ is handing out water bottles to unhoused residents on Tucson’s south side as temperatures continue to climb.

Jahmar Anthony, a DJ, and his friends are distributing water to homeless people in the community in an effort to prevent heat-related deaths among what Anthony describes as a vulnerable population.

“If you not from Arizona is one thing i’ll tell you is that Arizona is hot during the summer time,” Anthony said.

“They don’t have the pleasure of being in the house with the AC and they don’t have the pleasure of jumping in the pool, so why not help them,” Anthony said.

The Pima County Health Department says 117 people died due to heat-related issues in 2025. About a quarter of those were homeless people.

Anthony and his crew distributed about 1,600 bottles of water, donated by his close friends and community members.

“They all need an opportunity and hand up, so if we can do our little part to try and help them in these hard times then that’s what we’re all about,” a friend who goes by Octane said.

Anthony said he wants to challenge assumptions about the unhoused population.

“We got to really get across this sterotype that they’re homeless and they’re drug addicts because no that’s somebodies mom, dad, child, uncle and it’s up to us to look out for each other,” Anthony said.

This is the fourth year Anthony has organized the effort. He plans to continue for as long as he can.

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 Katrina Markel

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    COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A cycling event along the Wabash Trace in southwest Iowa has raised $1.2 million for mental health resources in the Omaha area, honoring a man who loved the sport and died by suicide.

Mike Kutilek rarely missed the Taco Ride — a popular cycling event from Council Bluffs to Mineola along the Wabash Trace — according to his father, Steve Kutilek. Mike also had schizophrenia and died by suicide six years ago.

His family wanted to help others experiencing a mental illness.

“We felt that the resources for mental health were very weak in the Omaha area at that time,” Steve Kutilek said.

Bike with Mike, a bike ride in Mike’s memory was started following his death. To date, the event has raised $1.2 million in net proceeds for Community Alliance, allowing the organization to hire more staff and take on more clients.

“Being able to do something in Mike’s memory is beautiful. It helps bring us some peace. It helps us continue our grieving process,” Steve Kutilek said.

Kutilek said they will continue working to increase education and resources for anyone experiencing a mental illness, while trying to reduce stigma.

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

By Carrie Sharp

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    CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) — A Clarksville veteran was declared dead — not once, but twice — by the federal government, cutting off the disability payments he and his wife depend on to live.

Juan Rodriguez proudly served as part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — the Night Stalkers — in the 1990s. He was drawn to the military from an early age, enlisting right out of high school.

“I remember seeing those commercials on TV. You remember the ‘Be All You Could Be,’ ” Rodriguez said.

He became a helicopter mechanic based with the Night Stalkers at Fort Campbell. The youngest in his unit, he says his fellow soldiers raised him. But military service with the elite group also left a lasting mark. A battle with PTSD led to a disability determination in 2022, and the monthly payment became the main source of income for Rodriguez and his wife, Discie.

That income abruptly stopped in January 2026.

“You’re not dead,” Discie said.

“I’m not dead!” Rodriguez said.

Letters arrived one after another, expressing the government’s deepest sympathies. Discie said the correspondence described burial benefits and surviving spouse compensation.

“And then they’re telling me how I was gonna get the burial check and the surviving spouse compensation,” Discie said.

A letter bearing the signature of President Trump followed.

“The United States of America honors the memory of Juan Rodriguez. This certificate is awarded by a grateful nation in recognition of devoted and selfless consideration to the service of our country in the armed forces of the United States signed by President Trump,” Discie said.

With their main source of income gone, the stress mounted.

“I mean, that’s a lot of anxiety — it’s a lot of sleepless nights. I saw a sharp increase in his depression,” Discie said.

Discie launched her own effort to fix the problem, first contacting the Department of Veterans Affairs, which she said could not provide a timeline for resolving the error. She then reached out to elected officials.

“Reached out to the congressman and the state senator and no response. You’re the only one,” Discie said told me.

In February 2026, I emailed a VA contact in Nashville, and the situation was resolved within days, and Rodriguez’s disability payment was restored.

Then, unbelievably, it happened again on May 1, 2026.

“I’m still dead in the system — and then the letters start populating again,” said Rodriguez.

A visit to a Social Security Administration office offered a possible explanation for where the bureaucratic breakdown began.

“They said that the gentleman that passed away on 12/25/25’s name was Juan Morales Rodriguez. My husband’s legal name is Juan Manuel Rodriguez,” Discie said.

The social security numbers connected to the two men were not even close, Rodriguez said.

With Rodriguez still listed as deceased on paper, Discie reached out to me again. This time, resolving the error took weeks and required a call to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.

“You kind of gave us a little bit of hope, because things started moving and people were starting to call us,” Discie said.

With May’s payment deposited into their account, the couple is hopeful the mistake is behind them. But Rodriguez, who thinks of the military as family, said the experience left him feeling forgotten.

Juan and Discie updated Carrie and said they received June benefits.

But they are speaking out for two reasons: they do not want to go through this again, and they do not want anyone else to experience it.

As of now, they still have not received any assurance that the problem is truly fixed.

Carrie reached out to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration for answers.

Only the VA responded, writing:

“When VA receives incorrect information affecting benefits, it moves quickly to correct any errors. In this case, VA has resumed Mr. Rodriguez’s benefits payments and will ensure he is issued any retroactive payments he is owed. VA has also notified SSA to ensure they are aware of and can look into this recurring problem.”

Carrie will keep you updated if the SSA responds.

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

By Kellen Voss, Whitney Burney

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    LAKE SUPERIOR, Michigan (WXYZ) — As part of a new documentary about the Great Lakes, filmmakers captured the deepest part of Lake Superior, and will livestream their footage later this morning.

Very few people have dived to Superior Maximus, the deepest part of the lake. Very little is known about what exactly is down there, but phenomena has emerged surrounding the depths, such as the emaciated siscowet lake trout — “zombie fish” — that have been observed in these waters.

“Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries research biologist Shawn Sitar and the crew of the research vessel Lake Char will join filmmakers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick to explore Superior Maximus as it has never been seen before — using a cutting-edge ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) equipped with high-resolution cameras,” the DNR told us in a press release.

“We spent the last week going deeper and deeper and deeper, 362 meters is the deepest we’ve ever been the other day,” Yvonne said. “Where we’re headed is over 400 meters, 1300 feet, that’s 35 school buses down stacked on top of each other. We really have been working up to that deepest dive.”

You can watch the live stream of the dive, which debuted on Sunday morning, as well as learn more about the documentary, ‘Hidden Below: The Great Lakes’ at this link: inspiredplanet.ca

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.