#LiveLikeDom: Idaho Falls turns green to support 18-year-old Dominic Nuñez’s cancer fight

KIFI on August 20, 2026

Danielle Mullenix

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – One color is lighting up homes, yards, and social media across Idaho Falls this week — all in support of 18-year-old Dominic Nuñez as he continues his fight against cancer.

Dom’s favorite color is green, and community members are turning that favorite color into a visible show of support. People across the area have been changing their porch lights to green, lighting up trees and yards, wearing green, and sharing photos online using hashtags including #LightItGreenForDom, #LiveLikeDom, and #DOMinatingCancer.

The movement is also spreading through Facebook, where friends, neighbors, and community members continue to post messages of encouragement and prayers for Dominic and his family.

For Dominic’s mother, Shanna Nuñez, the outpouring has become deeply meaningful for her son and their family.

“Dom is a fighter. He always has been. He always knows his worth and is willing to show everybody,” Shanna Nuñez said.

She says Dominic has also drawn strength from the people rallying around him.

“Dom has also fed off of the community support, and it’s almost like I’m not done fighting. I don’t want to let these people down. I’m just going to keep pushing.”

That support has become especially visible this week, as green lights continue popping up across the community.

“And just seeing the community, everybody turning on their lights…there’s really no words that I can tell the community to show them exactly what they mean to us. And we’re so fortunate to live here,” Shanna said.

The idea is simple: even one green light can serve as a reminder that Dominic and his family are not alone.

A member of the community recently contacted the City of Idaho Falls about the possibility of illuminating the Idaho Falls water tower in green as part of a supportive initiative. After consulting with the city’s office, Local News 8 received a positive statement from Mayor Lisa Burtenshaw regarding Dom and the community of Idaho Falls.

“Our community has demonstrated tremendous kindness by showing Dom their love and support,” said Burtenshaw. “Our hearts go out to Dom and his family during this time.”

A parade of support

The community’s show of support will continue Saturday with a Parade of Support for Dominic Nunez and his family.

According to the event flyer, participants are encouraged to bring their cars and trucks and, if they have green rock lights or underglow, to shine them green for Dominic.

The group is scheduled to meet at the Albertsons on 25th Street in Ammon at 7 p.m., with plans to roll out at approximately 7:30 p.m. The route is expected to be shared with participants at the meet-up and will include a drive past Dominic’s home.

The event is another way for the community to show Dominic and his family just how many people are standing behind them.

A personal moment with Dom

Because of Dominic’s current condition, he was unable to participate in a formal interview for this story.

However, I was able to spend some time with Dom off-camera.

That conversation offered a more personal glimpse of the young man at the center of this community-wide show of support—and reinforced how much the people around him mean to him and his family.

Dom expressed gratitude for the green light that continues to spill through his bedroom window at night, and thanks the community for being so supportive.

For his mother, seeing that support grow throughout Idaho Falls has been emotional.

And for the community, the message behind every green light, Facebook post, and Saturday’s parade is simple:

Dominic is not alone.

To follow along and stay updated on Dom’s journey, visit his Facebook group, “DOMinating Cancer,” here.

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‘Beulah Strong:’ Local musician writes country song about the resilient town

KRDO on August 20, 2026

Bradley Davis

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) – Country singer Lobo Loggins watched from his home in Penrose as flames filled the sky and red filled the town of Beulah.

“Beulah’s gone,” he told his wife.

Then, the unthinkable happened. A small border appeared in the center of the fire map. Surrounded by red, a small dot of white.

“Beulah’s strong,” Loggins said.

He couldn’t join the crews on the front lines, so Loggins did what he does best: He started writing.

Two days later, he had his lyrics. “Buelah Strong.”

He’s spent the last month workshopping the vocal tones accompanying guitar instrumentals. He’ll perform it live for the first time on Saturday.

He’ll play the song with his son, Jake, at the “Cañon City Loves” event Saturday at the local Loves Truck Stop, benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. Loggins said he’s performing for free and donating tips to the network.

Loggins is not charging for recordings of the song. If you would like a copy, shoot him an email at Lobologgins@gmail.com.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.

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El Paso County officials reverse course, install roundabouts on south end of Furrow Road near Monument

KRDO on August 20, 2026

Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — In an update to a story by KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior in May 2025, officials have changed their minds about whether to install roundabouts on a two-lane, mile-long segment of Furrow Road.

Crews finished construction last week on a pair of roundabouts along the road through an upscale residential neighborhood just east of Monument.

One roundabout is just south of Highway 105, at the Minglewood Trail intersection; the other is farther south at the Lamplight Drive intersection, just north of Higby Road.

Officials hope that the traffic-calming devices will significantly reduce speeding on the hilly, winding road.

And although neighbors are willing to try anything to curb speeding, some are skeptical.

“It’s nice that they’re putting them in,” said Lark Haines, who lives next to one of the roundabouts. “I kinda have questions about the type of roundabouts they’re putting in and if they’re really going to have any traffic calming effects because the other mitigation projects have not made a difference at all.”

The roundabouts aren’t made of brick and concrete as we usually see, but are modular, using prefabricated materials bolted to the pavement.

Crews created buffer zones around the roundabouts so that semitrucks and other large vehicles can get around them, and some neighbors worry that traffic will drive over them.

Officials previously tried other measures to reduce speeding — such as narrowing the lanes to a width of 11 feet and creating a walking/biking path on the west side of Furrow.

However, some neighbors say that loose gravel from a median between the path and the road can be a hazard, adding that some spend their own time cleaning up the loose gravel.

The sheriff’s office has placed a speed meter along the road to monitor how often drivers violate the 30 mph speed limit.

The county recently released the following statement:

The original countermeasures we used were very effective; however, we have researched and are piloting this prefabricated, modular roundabout product on Furrow, since this road was already identified as a candidate for this type of traffic-calming improvement.

Officials estimate the cost of the project at $1.5 million.

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Commissioner Ellis Calls on Harris County to Invest Additional $4.5 Million for Effective Community Safety Strategies

CNN Newsource on August 20, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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    August 20, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — HOUSTON — In a county of more than five million people, public safety is never a one-tool job. Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis is making the case that keeping neighborhoods safe requires not only responding to crime, but investing earlier — before a behavioral-health crisis becomes an arrest, before neighborhood tensions become gunfire and before domestic violence turns deadly.

Ellis, alongside Georgetown Law’s Center for Innovations in Community Safety, has released Advancing Safer Communities in Harris County, a report recommending an additional $4.5 million for three community-safety initiatives launched in 2022: the Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART), RISE community violence interruption program, and domestic violence prevention and intervention programs. The additional funding would bring the proposed investment in the programs to $15.3 million.

For Ellis — a longtime civil-rights leader with more than four decades in public service — the philosophy is straightforward: good government should be smart enough to stop some emergencies from becoming emergencies in the first place.

“For too long, our public safety systems have been built to respond only after harm has already happened,” Ellis said, arguing that mental-health and substance-use challenges often require treatment rather than a jail cell. “We have four years of proof that these programs work. Now we have an obligation to make these programs permanent.”

photo Harris County community safety leaders gather for the release of Advancing Safer Communities in Harris County, a new report highlighting the results of HART, RISE and domestic-violence prevention initiatives while calling for an additional $4.5 million investment to strengthen and sustain proven community-based safety strategies. Ivonne Godinez

HART: Sending the Right Help HART may be the clearest example of that approach. The program dispatches unarmed interdisciplinary response teams to nonviolent calls involving behavioral health, homelessness, substance use and other quality-of-life concerns. Harris County Public Health confirms that HART began in March 2022 and expanded throughout all Harris County Sheriff’s Office districts by 2025.

The newly released report says HART has now answered more than 31,000 calls, connected more than 5,000 residents to care, and freed thousands of hours for deputies and emergency medical personnel to concentrate on situations requiring their specialized response.

That is not about replacing law enforcement. It is about letting law enforcement do more law enforcement.

“Community safety cannot rest on law enforcement alone,” said Mariela Ruiz-Angel, Georgetown Law’s Director of Community Safety Initiatives and a report co-author. She emphasized behavioral health, crisis response and prevention as complementary tools that allow police to focus on situations where an armed law-enforcement response is truly necessary.

RISE: Interrupting Violence Before the Trigger Is Pulled The county’s RISE — Relentless Interrupters Serving Everyone — program takes prevention directly into neighborhoods. Harris County’s strategic plan identifies RISE expansion as part of its objective to reduce violent crime, using trusted “credible messengers” to interrupt conflicts and defuse tensions before they escalate.

According to the new report, Cypress Station — where RISE was piloted alongside other public-safety interventions — experienced a 36% decline in crime, including a 48% decrease in family violence and 34% decrease in aggravated robberies during the first two years of the initiative.

Domestic-violence initiatives provide the third pillar. The report says county programs have assisted more than 5,000 survivors and children in safely leaving abusive situations while delivering more than 20,000 hours of therapeutic care to 1,000 families.

And then comes the taxpayer test.

The report estimates Harris County could save more than $5 million in detention and legal expenses if an expanded HART prevents 500 additional low-level jail bookings and RISE prevents seven gun-related homicides.

With Commissioners Court preparing to make Fiscal Year 2027 budget decisions, Ellis’ proposal presents a distinctly Houston-sized question: If prevention is working, can Harris County afford not to invest in more of it?

For a county accustomed to thinking big, $4.5 million could prove that sometimes the smartest public-safety investment is the crisis that never happens.

Community Health and Violence Prevention Services Website: HarriPs County Community Safety Programs

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.

Kierra Lee
KIELEESTYLE@GMAIL.COM
4096658446

The 2026 Annual Faith for Social Justice Luncheon

CNN Newsource on August 20, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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    August 20, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — Houston’s 2026 Annual Faith for Social Justice Luncheon brought faith, public service and community action to the same table Friday, August 7, under the powerful theme “Freedom Rising 2026.”

Presented by Kingdom Builders Global Fellowship, the annual gathering at 1024 Pinemont Drive in Houston reflected a historic tradition deeply rooted in the Black church: using faith not simply as inspiration, but as a force for civic participation, equality and social progress.

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Bishop James Dixon II, co-leader of Freedom Rising, delivered the movement message, challenging attendees to transform belief into meaningful action. Houston television personality Isiah Carey served as moderator of a powerhouse panel featuring U.S. Rep. Al Green, U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, State Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, State Rep. Ron Reynolds, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Rev. Dr. Max Miller, Shekira Dennis and Rev. Alex Moorer.

The luncheon also recognized an impressive group of 2026 honorees, including Johnny Mata, State Sen. Royce West, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Conchita Reyes, Dr. Coretta Mallett-Fontenot and Rev. Dr. Samuel Gilbert II.

For generations, Houston’s churches and faith leaders have helped turn moral conviction into community progress. Freedom Rising 2026 carried that legacy forward with a timely message: justice works best when people of faith, elected leaders and everyday citizens rise together.

And in Houston, that movement is clearly still rising.

More on The Community Of Faith Church, go to: thecommunityoffaith.org

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.

Kierra Lee
KIELEESTYLE@GMAIL.COM
4096658446

2026 HCC Southwest–Tesla Manufacturing Training Completion

CNN Newsource on August 20, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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    August 20, 2025 (Houston Style Magazine) — Tuesday, August 18, 2026, was more than certificate day at Houston City College’s Stafford Campus Workforce Center. It was another green light for Greater Houston’s fast-moving manufacturing future, as nearly 50 Tesla employees completed specialized workforce training through the expanding HCC–Tesla partnership.

The milestone put people—not machines—at the center of advanced manufacturing. Inside HCC Southwest’s Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence, Tesla employees have been sharpening hands-on skills designed to translate directly into high-demand work at Tesla’s Megafactory Texas in Brookshire. In an industry filled with robotics, automation and sophisticated energy technology, the partnership carries a refreshingly human message: before a world-class factory can run, a world-class workforce must be ready to run it.

And HCC has been preparing Houstonians for that moment for years.

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HCC Southwest traces its Stafford presence to 1998, and the campus has steadily evolved into a workforce and technology hub serving one of America’s most diverse metropolitan regions. Today, Stafford’s Workforce Building supports advanced manufacturing and other career-focused programs designed around practical skills and modern industry needs.

That history makes the Tesla partnership feel less like a sudden spark and more like the next powerful connection in a circuit HCC has been building for decades.

The collaboration accelerated in May 2026, when Houston City College and Tesla signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Stafford and celebrated an inaugural cohort of 12 program completers. HCC said the partnership incorporates curriculum development, shared resources and direct training opportunities, with participants demonstrating skills in industrial maintenance, advanced manufacturing, troubleshooting and workplace safety. The partners also announced plans to substantially expand participation during 2026.

Three months later, nearly 50 additional Tesla employees crossing the training finish line offers an encouraging snapshot of that promise becoming practice.

The timing could hardly be better for Greater Houston. Tesla is developing its Megafactory in Brookshire, west of Houston, as a major energy-storage manufacturing operation. Tesla has said the new facility will produce Megapack 3 for its next-generation Megablock energy-storage system, with production planned for 2026. Current Tesla career listings in Brookshire include manufacturing, production, fabrication, maintenance, engineering and operations positions.

That is where Houston City College’s workforce model shines. Instead of asking industry what it needed yesterday, HCC is helping prepare workers for what employers need next.

HCC Chancellor Dr. Margaret Ford Fisher has described the partnership as part of the College’s commitment to building strong industry connections and meaningful career opportunities. HCC Board Chair Eva Loredo has similarly characterized the collaboration as the future of workforce education—connecting classroom instruction, hands-on experience and pathways into high-demand careers.

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For the nearly 50 employees honored August 18, those big-picture ideas now have names, faces, certificates and new skills attached to them.

Houston has always been a city that knows how to build—energy systems, medical breakthroughs, space exploration, neighborhoods, businesses and bold second acts. Advanced manufacturing is simply adding another chapter, and Houston City College is making sure local talent has a seat at the workbench.

The Tesla partnership also demonstrates a larger truth about community colleges in the 21st-century economy: workforce education is no longer a side door into opportunity. Increasingly, it is the front entrance.

So, congratulations to the latest HCC–Tesla completers. The machines may be smart, the factory may be ‘mega’ and the technology may be futuristic—but Houston’s greatest competitive advantage still begins with skilled people ready to get to work.

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Learn more about Houston City College (HCC): hccs.edu

Explore Tesla careers and opportunities: tesla.com/careers

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.

Kierra Lee
KIELEESTYLE@GMAIL.COM
4096658446

Several state politicians to attend Missouri State Fair Governor’s Ham Breakfast

KMIZ on August 20, 2026

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Fair will host the annual Governor’s Ham Breakfast Thursday morning, with multiple politicians from across the state expected to attend ahead of the midterm elections.

The breakfast will be in the NUCOR Director’s Pavilion at 8 a.m. at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. Governor Mike Kehoe, Lt. Governor David Wasinger, state politicians, farm families, and community leaders are expected to attend to celebrate Missouri agriculture.

State politicians are preparing for the midterm elections in November, as the redrawn state congressional map will remain in effect.

A Cole County judge sided with Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and Republicans Wednesday over a vote on whether the maps should be placed on the ballot. The state argued that state and federal law prohibit a referendum on a map, that it’s too late to change the districts voters are tied to for the November election and that Missouri lawmakers were within their rights to redistrict mid-decade.

The judge also sided with Hoskins and republicans to reject an initiative petition looking to check the General Assembly’s power to change voter-approved policy. The judge wrote that the initiative petition was overly broad, violating Missouri’s provision that ballot measures address only one subject.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Should lawmakers have the power to undo voter-approved laws?

KMIZ on August 20, 2026

Matthew Sanders

A Cole County judge ruled Wednesday that a ballot issue to limit lawmakers’ power to undo laws approved by voters is not legally fit for the November ballot.

The case is sure to be appealed, and it’s one of several racing toward a conclusion ahead of a September deadline to certify November ballots. The case, however, raises interesting questions about Missouri’s novel system of allowing citizens to enact laws and change the state constitution by a direct vote, known as the initiative petition process.

That process has frequently been used to enact policy, including a requirement that employers give their workers paid leave. That was shot down by the legislature the following year, and signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe.

Do you think lawmakers should be able to overturn laws enacted by a direct vote of the people? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Judge sentences Omaha man convicted of armed bank robbery that he used ChatGPT to help plan

CNN Newsource on August 20, 2026

By McKenzy Parsons

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    OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) — The man convicted of using ChatGPT to plan an armed bank robbery in Omaha was sentenced to prison.

According to the Department of Justice, Deron Lewis-Payne, 23, went into the i3 Bank near 156th and Spaulding streets, pointed a handgun at the tellers, and told them he would kill them if they didn’t follow his instructions.

The DOJ said Lewis-Payne told the tellers to empty their drawers and warned against using dye packs.

The tellers did so, and Lewis-Payne got away with $9,175.

The bank’s surveillance footage captured Lewis-Payne’s “distinctive outfit, including red Nike slides.” Residential surveillance footage captured the vehicle as well as the license plate he used to flee the scene.

The DOJ said surveillance footage captured Lewis-Payne at multiple retailers at the Westroads Mall.

An officer saw him near one of his residences, and Lewis-Payne ran, leaving behind a band of cash.

The DOJ said law enforcement searched his home and found more cash, the vehicle he used, and most of the outfit he was seen wearing in the bank’s surveillance footage.

According to a news release from the DOJ, Lewis-Payne admitted to driving the car, but he denied his involvement in the robbery.

After a search of his phone, the DOJ said officers found that Lewis-Payne used ChatGPT to plan the robbery, “including advice on law enforcement response times, how to strip and repair a Llama Mini-Max .45 handgun, and for advice on obtaining ammunition as a felon.”

The DOJ said his most recent search on Google maps was for the bank.

Lewis-Payne was sentenced to a little more than 10 years in prison for robbery and brandishing a firearm.

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.

Dramatic video captures moment Bellevue officer arrests stolen car suspect

CNN Newsource on August 20, 2026

By Daisy Kershaw

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    BELLEVUE, Ky. (WLWT) — A dramatic arrest in broad daylight, in the middle of a busy Bellevue street, was caught on camera.

WLWT has video showing officers stop the driver of a stolen car, at gunpoint.

On Monday evening, Bellevue Patrol Officer, Johnathan Kohler said he ran the tags on a car passing him on Taylor Avenue.

Kohler says that’s how he discovered the car was reported stolen in early August. He said extensive training through the department helped him jump right into action.

Neighbor and local bar owner, Charlie Zimmerman, caught all the action on his phone.

“I was upstairs in my bedroom right above the tavern here, and I heard a very commanding voice say, ‘hey get out of the car’,” said Zimmerman.

It was Kohler’s voice.

“I called him back to me, and I backed up with him as he was walking towards me. I got him on his knees, made sure that we were in a safe position as possible,” said Kohler.

Releigh Lunsford, 57, was taken into custody.

Kohler, who has been on the force just over a year says that it is because of constant training drills that officers are able to react safely and swiftly in these cases.

“Everybody went home safely. Nobody had any scratches. We’re all good at the end of the day,” he said.

Officers were also able to get the car back to the woman it belongs to.

Meanwhile, the suspect is still being held behind bars at the Campbell County Jail on a $2,500 cash bond. He is charged with being in the stolen car, driving without a license and having drugs on him.

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.