Month: June 2026

By Darius Johnson, Elyssa Kaufman

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — City leaders have searched for ways to address large teen gatherings, and on Wednesday, they are turning to the teens themselves.

Wednesday morning, 26th Ward Ald. Jessie Fuentes will chair a hearing focused on large teen gatherings, also known as teen takeovers.

For the first time, the hearing will feature a panel of teenagers providing what Fuentes calls “expert testimony,” giving young people a chance to tell city leaders what they need to stay healthy, safe, and engaged this summer.

The deputy mayor of community safety and the deputy mayor of education and youth services are also expected to participate in the hearing.

This discussion comes one week after the Chicago City Council rejected a proposal that would have held some parents accountable for disruptive gatherings involving teens.

Supporters said the ordinance would create accountability. Opponents argued that the city should focus more on investment, opportunity, and engagement with young people.

Fifteenth Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez first introduced the Parental Accountability Ordinance in 2023, but it stalled for years. His attempt this week was defeated, with only 16 councilmembers backing his proposal, and 32 voting to reject it.

Now, alderpersons say they want to hear directly from teens about what they believe would make the biggest difference this summer.

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 Lauren Granada

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    BURLINGTON, Vermont (WPTZ) — Summer camp season is in full swing, and campers with the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired were challenged to step outside of their comfort zone on Tuesday by trying skateboarding.

The annual kids’ camp takes place at a different location every year to accommodate participants from all over Vermont. This year, Saint Michael’s College is hosting the sleepover camp.

About a dozen participants who are blind or visually impaired are encouraged to try new things through planned activities in the surrounding area and challenge themselves in ways they’ve never tried – including skateboarding at Talent Skatepark in Burlington.

“I guess it’s kind of empowering because it’s something I never expected to do. Something I never really thought I’d end up learning, whether it’s not really being able to see well enough,” said John Crowningshield, a camper from Fairhaven.

Tuesday’s skateboarding activity was a first of its kind for the visually-impaired campers. Green Mountain Adaptive Sports partnered with Talent Skatepark to make the event happen.

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 Lauren Blois

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    MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — The quarantine period is now over for the American passengers who were on a cruise ship hit by a deadly Hantavirus outbreak.

A total of 18 people, including two with New Hampshire addresses, began quarantine at a facility in Nebraska in May. Some people affected later finished their quarantine in their home states, but six passengers stayed at the facility until the 42-day period was over on Sunday.

Officials say many groups made a big effort to make the passengers comfortable during quarantine.

“Problem-solving and collaboration is essential to our daily operations, to make sure we’re providing safe quarantine care and also meeting all the daily needs of our folks who were in quarantine. So, a lot of folks to thank, and we are appreciative of the work that we’ve done together,” said Dr. Michael Wadman, the medical director of the National Quarantine Unit.

According to officials, none of the passengers who were quarantined caught the virus, but it was important to monitor them to prevent any possible spread.

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 Megan Shinn

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    ETNA, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A man has died after his vehicle flipped into a creek in Etna, Allegheny County, on Monday night, authorities said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 46-year-old Hoang Truong.

People were gathered in shock on Monday night near Dewey and Crescent streets to witness the rescue operation unfold.

KDKA’s Drone Team captured video of a vehicle that had driven off the road, landed between two bridges, and flipped upside down into Pine Creek, near the former Blarney Stone restaurant.

Etna Borough Fire Chief Greg Porter said he was one of the first responders on the scene, along with several other first responders from surrounding areas.

“Several fire departments. Three different swift water rescue assets,” said Chief Porter.

Those assets worked from both sides of the car and up above to try to rescue the driver.

“All of that was in position, should we have needed it,” the chief added.

They did need it because Monday’s storms created difficult rescue conditions. The creek was high, the water carried run-off and debris, and the risks were elevated.

“It’s really the perfect storm,” said Chief Porter.

Crews quickly got their gear to reach the man behind the wheel. First responders had to prepare, mobilize, and act to rescue the man in “15 minutes or less,” Chief Porter said.

It was a monumental accomplishment to try to save his life.

“He was unconscious and not breathing, so we moved very swiftly to get him out of the water,” Chief Porter said. “We spent a lot of time practicing and training for all kinds of situations.”

Crews got him to EMS, but sadly, the man did not survive.

In his 35 years as a first responder, Etna’s fire chief can only count about four times they’ve gotten a call about a car upside down, in moving water, most recently on June 8, 2025.

“Similar water conditions, similar weather conditions,” Chief Porter recalled.

Victims of the June 2025 incident crawled out of the car’s sunroof and survived.

“It’s usually not a pedestrian-occupied area. It’s kind of removed from the road,” Porter said of the rescue area.

“Was it the same area?” KDKA’s Megan Shinn asked.

“Exact same spot, it’s crazy,” Porter said in disbelief.

It’s unknown at this time whether the road will be assessed for changes since multiple vehicles have flipped over in the same spot during inclement weather.

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 CBS 58 Newsroom

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    WISCONSIN DELLS, Wisconsin (WDJT) — It was a historic day in the Wisconsin Dells as a couple from North Dakota took their wedding vows at a water park in an attempt to establish a Guinness World Record.

Keisha and Jon Lakoduk took their wedding vows for the sixth time this month on top of a water slide at Land of Natura water park.

The two have been taking their vows at numerous places in the country. They’ll set two world records in the process — most vow renewals in a 30-day period and the most times a bride has gone down a water slide in a wedding dress. The current world record sits at zero.

“Being able to do exactly what we want and being able to have experiences without guests, rather than our guests experiencing something for us,” the couple said.

Keisha and Jon went down the water slide nine times Tuesday.

Their next stop on the tour is Kentucky, where they’ll get married in a bourbon distillery.

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 Joe Brandt, Tom Gardiner, Joe Holden

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Two Philadelphia pastors have been arrested and charged with creating child pornography that impacts multiple victims, officials said Tuesday.

Bryan Jackson, senior pastor at Garden of Prayer World Prayer Center, and Isaiah Banks, the former senior pastor at Second Pilgrim Baptist Church, are charged with several criminal offenses, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said.

DA Larry Krasner and members of his office held a news conference to discuss the charges and encourage other victims to come forward.

An investigation into Banks, 30, began in April after police investigated a report from the Department of Human Services, Krasner said.

The report alleged Banks asked a minor to send sexually explicit videos to him via text message, in exchange for money or food. The messages were found after a witness conducted a random check on the victim’s phone, and then relayed what they found to a therapist who was a mandated reporter.

Assistant District Attorney Helena von Nagy said evidence shows Banks “groomed more than one minor in the community to produce child pornography and then provided that pornography to Mr. Jackson, who also directly communicated with the children for the purpose of getting more photos and videos of that type.”

Von Nagy said the evidence shows the alleged criminal activity was “a process over a course of several years” but that prosecutors are focused on a time period between January and May 2026. Arrest papers allege the two pastors texted and messaged back and forth about soliciting images of child pornography as far back as 2024.

Detectives with the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit obtained search warrants for the pastors’ phones, obtaining pornographic images and videos depicting children, and messages exchanged about the illegal content.

“I would like to commend these children and their bravery in coming forward and starting this process,” von Nagy said. “It’s extremely difficult to have to speak about these things to law enforcement, to the community members and eventually in front of the defendants when this goes to a preliminary hearing and eventually a trial.”

Both men have been arraigned and posted bail. They’re awaiting preliminary hearings on the charges, which include conspiracy, sexual abuse of children and corruption of minors.

There may be more charges filed related to the victims who have already come forward or if more victims come forward.

“We want to notify people who may have a story to tell, or may remember something that happened in the past that seemed off, but at the time they didn’t have enough information to understand the broader context,” Krasner said.

LaQuisha Anthony, executive director of the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence (also known as WOAR), wants victims to know that resources are available for them, whether they want to come forward to law enforcement or seek support.

“These allegations are profoundly disturbing, not only because of the alleged harm inflicted on children, but because they represent a violation of trust within spaces that are meant to be safe, sacred and protected,” Anthony said.

“To every survivor, every family member and every community member impacted by this: we want you to know that you are not alone and that support is available,” Anthony said.

WOAR has a 24-hour hotline — that number is 215-985-3333.

If you want to contact law enforcement, you can reach the Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251, or the DA’s office’s Victim Services Unit at 215-686-5709.

In the past, Jackson attended Philadelphia City Council meetings. He once offered the invocation.

“I’m deeply disturbed and hurt to my core that anyone in a position of faith and community leadership would carry out these actions. It’s a betrayal of the very tenets that inform my beliefs,” Minority Leader Kendra Brooks said, in part, in a statement.

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By Janelle Burrell, Joe Brandt

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    OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (KYW) — The Ocean City, New Jersey, man who saved a girl from a rip current late last year has received a major honor.

Frank LaFerrara, 73, said his lifeguard training from 50 years ago kicked in when he heard a teenage girl swimming in the ocean cry for help.

The grocery store worker was able to tow the girl out of a dangerous rip current and bring her back to the beach, saving her life in October 2025.

On Monday, LaFerrara was one of 18 people across the U.S. and Canada awarded the Carnegie Medal, the top civilian award for heroism in North America.

The Carnegie Hero Fund said everyone recognized this year “risked serious injury or death attempting to save others in acts of extraordinary heroism.”

We caught up with Frank on Wednesday after he received the award. Here’s a partial recap of Frank’s live appearance on CBS News Philadelphia at 9 a.m.

Janelle: This is an amazing honor. Tell us about it and take us back to what happened.

Frank: “Well, I was sitting on the beach, just sunning. And I saw this young lady, and it was dangerous that day. In fact, my rescue was the second one that day. There were four people that had to get rescued about an hour before mine. And I just saw her and she was getting swept out by this rip current, but she wasn’t trying to do anything to swim out of it.

I said: ‘I got to go.'”

Janelle: And so what did you do?

Frank: “I took a lifeguard course around 50 years ago, and I just swam out there and kept my eye on her, there was no time to get rescue equipment. And I got to her and of course, people panic. And she jumped on top of me and pushed me underwater, and screaming, ‘I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.’

I calmed her down and I said ‘relax, calm down. You’re not gonna die, I’m here.’ And I said I’m gonna get you in very slowly, a little at a time.

You kind of have to swim parallel to the shore. You don’t swim straight in on a rip current. And I took my time, and I couldn’t let her go, cause she’d go right underwater again. So I held her on with one arm, and I just paddled the best I could with the other one.

Once in awhile a wave came, and I just let it push us in a little bit more. I said OK, here comes a wave, let it push us in a couple more feet, and we had about two or three waves to do that with.

I finally got her to where I could stand up and I could catch my breath. A nice young man from a store on the boardwalk called By the Sea came out with a float, and we walked her in from there.”

Janelle: There’s so many times that we cover stories like these and they don’t end with happy endings. Tell us about what it means to get this honor, the Carnegie Medal.

Frank: “It’s overwhelming, it’s really overwhelming… My biggest reward is when she came up to me later on, and said thank you. And looked into my eyes, that was it for me.

She was a young lady too, she had a lot of living to do yet, and because of me, she can do it.”

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By Joe Holden, Tom Dougherty, Casey Kuhn

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    DELAWARE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — A woman with ties to a cultlike group called the Zizians has been charged with the murder of her parents, Richard and Rita Zajko, inside their Pennsylvania home in December 2022, according to court documents.

Michelle Zajko was charged with murder and related offenses in the deaths of her parents in their Delaware County home, court documents show.

Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to provide a “significant development” in the investigation. Watch live on CBS News Philadelphia or wherever we’re streaming.

Richard, 72, and Rita Zajko, 69, were found dead during a wellness check in Chester Heights on Jan. 2, 2023. The Delaware County medical examiner ruled their deaths a homicide. They were killed on New Year’s Eve in 2022, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Investigators did not consider their death a random act of violence, state police previously said.

The Delaware County couple’s deaths are among six deaths connected to a cultlike group called the Zizians in Pennsylvania, California and Vermont.

Michelle Zajko, the couple’s daughter, was previously questioned but not charged in her parents’ deaths. In April 2025, she released a 20-page handwritten letter through her attorney in which she said she was falsely accused of killing her parents.

Authorities claim Michelle Zajko provided the gun used in the shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in Vermont in January 2025.

Zajko remains in custody in Maryland with two other members of the extremist group Zizians.

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.