Month: July 2026

By Olivia Young

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    RIFLE, Colorado (KCNC) — The recent line-of-duty deaths of three firefighters in Colorado serve as a reminder to Rod Goossen about why he began his mission to help keep them safe.

“I couldn’t imagine being in a situation where I know I was trapped and see the end coming and all hope is lost,” said Goossen, CEO of RoGO Communications. “That sort of event is what we’re trying to prevent in the future.”

It’s a mission he took up in 2013 after 19 of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona.

“It makes me very sad thinking about the Yarnell Hotshots and how they passed,” Rod said. “I was confused, mad and frustrated. How this event could have happened? How could Incident command not even know where they were located at? Could not warn them that the winds were shifting radically.”

He turned to his firefighter brother, Derek Goossen, to understand what went wrong.

“My brother, being an aeronautical engineer, called and said, ‘How are you guys tracked?’ And I said, ‘We’re not,’ and he said, ‘We could do better,'” said Derek, training and safety captain at Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District and Summit Fire & EMS.

“The Granite Mountain guys had paper maps, compasses and two-way radios,” Rod said.

From there, the brothers used their tech and firefighting knowledge to launch RoGO Communications and a satellite location device for wildland fire crews. The company’s DropBlock device transmits over the Iridium satellite constellation at a lower frequency than Starlink, allowing it to penetrate through the tree canopy.

“This is the DropBlock. It is in an IP67-rated case, so weatherproof, waterproof, dustproof. Open up the lid, and this device runs off eight AA batteries,” Rod said.

The DropBlock shares GPS locations, messages and fire weather data between fire crews without cell service via the RoGO app.

“On this map right here is us. I put us there as a hand crew, and this engine is actually a firefighting buggy that was deployed earlier this morning, so we can track its exact GPS location and see where they’re at,” Rod said. “With our devices now, incident command can get a very granular picture of exactly where people are at, exactly where the fire is at, exactly what the fire weather is doing and how that might change fire tactical decisions, and it might be a possible danger, so you can get them out of the way before.”

“Anyone on the fire can pull up a tablet or a phone and see where everyone’s at on that fire. Obviously, the wilderness that we typically fight fires in is so vast it’s hard to know exactly where everyone’s at, and this gives that instant capability,” Derek said.

This week, on the 13th anniversary of the Granite Mountain Hotshot tragedy, RoGO launched the DropBlock 2.0 and began testing it at Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District in Breckenridge.

“Accountability and finding our people, knowing where they are, is a key part of fire management, especially in the wildfire world, where people are strewn throughout the woods, and we don’t always have eyes on them. We don’t necessarily know where they are exactly, so a product like DropBlock gives us an idea on one platform where all of our resources are,” said Matthew Benedict, wildfire division chief at Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District. “It gives us the ability to text between each other with absolutely no service at all. So that’s a pretty awesome feature, and it’s very portable. It’s super small. We love that.”

Benedict is excited about the potential new technology like this can bring to the firefighting industry.

“Public-private partnerships is not traditionally something the fire industry has embraced very well, and we just understand that we need all of the solutions at this point,” Benedict said. “Red, White, and Blue Fire has been approached by several startups and tech companies, and basically private industry looking to make a difference in the wildfire industry, and we’re open to this, to say the least. So a lot of these ideas that come out can increase our effectiveness and efficiency, and so we’re open to this one. We’ve looked at several other companies, from exterior home sprinklers to insurance companies to drone companies, and then now RoGO.”

The first version is already in use in Arizona. RoGO hopes to take the new model nationwide to protect those who protect us all.

“We’re starting here at my brother’s firehouse, since I have an in. And then after this, the next firehouse we’re going to deploy to is the Colorado River Fire [Rescue] in Rifle, Colorado,” Rod said.

RoGO Communications is hoping to hard launch version 2.0 in September.

“I love my department, and I love this technology because I know it’ll help save lives in the future and make us more efficient,” Derek said. “I just can’t wait for it to get out there and be in use and actually start helping people out and hopefully preventing some disasters in the future, which is what it’s all about.”

“Make sure firefighters, when they’re deployed on fire, that everybody comes home. That’s our mission, and that’s our goal,” Rod 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.

By Ford Hatchett

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    PHOENIX (KNXV) — Newly released 911 calls reveal the chaotic moments after a 16-year-old was fatally stabbed inside a classroom at Maryvale High School in Phoenix last August.

Michael Montoya, a junior, was stabbed multiple times just four days after he turned 16. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. A classmate has been charged with his murder and is facing trial.

One of the 911 calls came from a student inside the classroom.

“If you can come to Maryvale High School, we have a student that got stabbed. He got stabbed by a knife,” the student said.

Phoenix Fire personnel walked students and staff in the classroom through first aid techniques while school staff waited for an ambulance to arrive. A school staff member also called 911.

“We have a student who was wounded by a weapon, and I need to know where the ambulance is at. We’ve been waiting for more than 10 minutes,” the staff member said.

Several other 911 calls came in from people who were not at the school but had seen video of the incident posted online.

Montoya’s mother is now suing the Phoenix Union High School District, alleging the district programmed metal detectors to ignore small weapons like the knife used to kill her son.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KNXV’s editorial team 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 KTBS Staff

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    TEXARKANA, Texas (KTBS) — It’s been 10 years since Morgan Angerbauer died in Bi-State Jail custody under medical distress.

Her Texarkana family says they’ve spent the last decade fighting for jail reform and they’ll never stop.

“It’s as fresh in my mind as the day it happened,” said Andy Houser, Morgan Angerbauer’s father.

Andy Houser and Jennifer Creamer say they’ll never forget July 1, 2016 when they received the call that their daughter Morgan Angerbauer, 20, had died in jail from complications of her diabetes.

Each year, the family releases balloons in her memory.

“I wake up with her on my mind. I go to sleep with her on my mind. It’s a certain smell, a certain sound, a certain song, countless times a day I think of her,” said Creamer.

Houser says negligence led to his daughter’s death. He says a nurse and jail staff refused to treat Angerbauer despite knowing she was diabetic.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that had everybody known what they were supposed to do, Morgan would still be here right now,” said Houser.

Privately-owned LaSalle Corrections managed the jail then. A wrongful death suit was settled against the company in 2020.

KTBS 3 News spoke with the family at the courthouse just as their fight to improve jail standards was beginning.

“Things need to change in all jails ran by for-profit companies. I’m not done yet. I want to get laws passed and make sure these inmates are taken care of,” said Creamer then.

The family testified before Texas lawmakers about the need for correctional officers to be medically certified before starting the job.

“I think she would be proud of everything her mother has accomplished, making the changes at Bi-State, you don’t hear about a lot of folks dying in Bi-State like you did right before Morgan passed,” said Houser.

Creamer says the Bi-State Jail now requires staff to scan identification bracelets during routine welfare checks.

“So, these people in medical, there’s no longer, ‘I did 30-minute checks and this person hasn’t been checked on in 13 hours.’ So, it has made a big difference,” said Creamer.

Creamer says the changes are a good, but there’s more work to be done.

“There’s always room for change, always. Especially when things like this are happening. Because mothers, uncles, grandmothers, whoever does not need to have to come do this when it’s so senseless,” Creamer.

The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office has managed the Bi-State Jail since 2021. LaSalle Corrections managed the facility for 8 years before that.

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 WLOS Staff

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Amid understaffing issues at the Buncombe County Detention Facility, Sheriff Quentin Miller comments on the recent jail takeover in the eastern part of the state.

On Monday, June 29, inmates overpowered staff, taking control of parts of a detention center in Windsor, N.C., according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Hours later, everyone was safely released with minimal injuries.

As News 13 previously reported, the Buncombe County Detention Facility is facing jail overcrowding and understaffing. Miller previously said overcrowding is contributing to safety concerns for both inmates and staff.

News 13 asked Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller if a takeover is possible here.

“I would tell you that that’s always a concern. I think that it goes back to our philosophy of treating people with dignity and respect, not saying that that hadn’t happened down in Bertie, but what I will tell you is, yes, we always have to take precautions, and we have a plan in place that something like that should happen,” Miller 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.

By Kaley Fedko

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School is proving that one simple question at the start of class can make a big difference.

The Atlanta Public Schools campus has been named one of 32 schools nationwide to receive a national Kindness Designation for the 2025-26 school year from Teach Kindness.

The recognition highlights schools that prioritize relationship-building and positive school culture.

School leaders say the strategy is straightforward: build relationships before opening a textbook.

Nearly 900 students begin each class with a brief conversation designed to help classmates and teachers connect.

“One of the first things we did was change our entire instructional framework,” Principal Kimberly Sewell told CBS News Atlanta. “Every class, every day, our teachers start with connection before content. For 30 seconds, we ask students something simple, like their favorite pizza topping or what makes them happy.”

The school’s approach extends beyond the classroom.

Staff members are encouraged to greet students and build positive interactions before correcting behavior.

Since adopting the approach two years ago, Sewell said discipline referrals have dropped by about 50%, attendance has increased, and more students are choosing to resolve conflicts through conversation instead of physical altercations.

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.