Month: August 2026

By Rina Nakano

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — Studies show the number of homeless seniors has increased dramatically in the last year, and a Los Angeles County nonprofit is working to reverse that.

David Lugo earned a modest living as a mechanic throughout his life, supporting his mother and disabled sister, but three years ago, the 60-year-old’s kidneys failed.

His health kept deteriorating, and after losing his income from being a caretaker for his disabled sister, he found himself homeless for the first time in his life.

“I never thought I’d be homeless like that, not in a million years,” Lugo said.

After sleeping on a bus bench and a few trips to the hospital, Lugo landed at Holliday’s Helping Hands, or HHH, a network of interim housing facilities started by nurse practitioner Katina Holliday. “All the sites are full to capacity,” Holliday said.

The 2026 LA County homeless count revealed a nearly 14% increase in the number of adults over 55 compared to last year.

That’s a quarter of the 73,000 total homeless population. Holliday says it’s often caused by the death of a spouse, health crisis, fixed incomes and inflation.

“Our senior population they get $1,100 a month. You can’t afford $3,000 with $1,100. The math ain’t mathing,” she said.

Lugo is now staying at HHH recuperative care, a 100-bed interim housing program with on-duty medical staff. Nearly all the beds are occupied by older clients, many of whom worked all of their lives.

“They’re right. I don’t belong here, but I’m here for a reason,” Lugo said.

A University of Pennsylvania study estimates the number of homeless seniors in the U.S. will triple by 2030.

Holliday is brainstorming ways to hopefully reverse the trend. At the Downey facility, there are peer groups, therapies, workshops and they are developing a unique pathway to housing specifically for seniors.

“We really need to get creative on our housing model for them. They don’t necessarily need to be in a nursing home environment or assisted living,” Holliday said.

“Maybe shared living is a way for them where they cannot have to pay as much, it creates a community and I think it’ll increase their lives.”

In the meantime, Lugo hopes to improve his health, practice his faith and one day, return to his modest life. “See if I can get ahead and buy that home that I want,” he 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 Sarah Horbacewicz

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A presentation at a Colorado high school about driving safety is drawing complaints from parents and students who say a Jefferson County deputy used threatening and inappropriate language while speaking to students.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says it has received multiple complaints about the presentation at Evergreen High School and is now conducting an internal investigation. The concerns came after the deputy spoke to students Wednesday about driving safety and what to do if they are pulled over by law enforcement.

According to multiple complaints, the deputy told students that an officer could point a pistol at someone’s face if they acted inappropriately during a traffic stop. The comments upset some students and parents, particularly because EHS experienced a shooting last year.

The JCSO also confirmed that the deputy involved in the presentation escorted students following the shooting at the high school last year.

In an email sent to parents and the EHS community Thursday, the school acknowledged the concerns and said students had been advised to act responsibly if pulled over.

The school also thanked students who quickly brought their concerns to administrators.

“Our team relayed the feedback and the need for a different approach,” the school said in part. “The JCSO presenter adjusted the second presentation.”

In a statement in part, JCSO said, “The emails stated that the deputy was inappropriate and some of his statements were threatening during his presentation. Internal Affairs is investigating these reports, and the deputy is currently on duty.”

The school said information about driving safety is important, but officials also recognize that students have different experiences with safety-related discussions and that sensitive topics need to be handled carefully.

Evergreen High School is seeking feedback from families as it considers how future community presentations should be handled.

The sheriff’s office’s internal investigation remains ongoing.

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 Amelia Santaniello

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    MINNESOTA (WCCO) — Annunciation Creative Arts Director Kristin Stang says August brings everything back to the surface.

“You can’t help but be transported back to that day and to those moments,” Stang said. “I would say it’s still very raw one year later. And while we’re finding that healing and those moments of joy, holding in our hearts that we all walked through something that no one should ever have to. So it’s a hard mark. It’s a very difficult thing to look back on to that one year ago.”

A mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church on Aug. 27, 2025, killed two students and injured more than a dozen others. Nearly a year later, healing remains ongoing — and is often interrupted by everyday moments that suddenly become triggering.

“Just walking through the grieving process and those hard moments of again, missing two incredible children and the little things that I think take us back to that moment,” Stang said. “I know for, I mean, even the Fourth of July, the sound of fireworks for a number of people was concerning, anything like that.”

She added that every student is moving through that process at their own pace.

“And so we’ve seen the healing steps. It’s a process,” Stang said. “And the kids are all on their own individual place with that process. It’s not going to be an immediate healing. There’s nothing about it that will be immediate, but we’ve seen baby steps, and they are incredibly strong and they can do hard things — and they’re doing those hard things.”

While teachers work to create a safe space for students, Stang says the Annunciation faculty have leaned on one another through the hardest days — no one walking alone.

“I think if one of us was walking it completely alone, it would be incredibly challenging,” she said. “And the fact that we have each other to lean on, it’s pivotal. And when I say I work with some of the best people, I work with some of the best individuals. They’re extraordinary and extraordinary at what they do. And so if there’s ever a moment when one of us feels like we are stuck in the mud, which is what grieving can feel like, you’re lifting that foot out of the mud and you’re trying to find your way. There’s always someone who kind of looks back at you and says, hey, you know, with a look, I get it, I’m there. This is hard.”

Asked what has helped the community find its way back to a sense of normalcy, Stang said there may be no returning to what once was.

“I don’t know if there is normalcy that we can return to,” she said. “We have a new normal. This is part of our story, part of who we will be and who we are. But I think having that love and support from the community is what gives us any sense of security and sense of love, and maybe a step toward normalcy.”

That new normal takes shape in quiet, deliberate ways. In Stang’s classroom, two candles stay permanently lit — a tribute to keep the memory of 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel present.

“If I even remotely miss a moment, the kids are the first to say, ‘We have to light Fletcher’s candle. We have to light Harper’s candle,'” Stang said. “It’s huge in the creative arts classroom, and we maintain the two candles that were part of the Christmas program because they have symbols of what we remember of Fletcher and Harper. I think, obviously for myself, in that space it’s huge. They were and are incredible human beings, and we want to have that.”

As a new school year begins and the community continues to honor Fletcher and Harper, Stang says the lesson going forward is simple, yet powerful.

“Keep taking care of each other,” she said. “Show up for each other, and love harder than you’ve ever loved.”

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 Amelia Mugavero

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — A quiet plume of smoke suddenly became a wall of flames as firefighters rushed to a flare-up on the eastern edge of the Ross Fire burn zone. Within seconds, smoke had erupted into tree-high flames with homes nearby.

The moment offered a glimpse of the challenge firefighters and volunteers are facing as they battle the massive wildfire and its aftermath.

Volunteers rush to save livestock and help Ranchers For the past 48 hours, Garrett Duvall and the Rancher’s Navy have been moving through the burn zone, joining dozens of volunteers and crews trying to save livestock and help ranchers recover.

Their vehicles are packed with animal triage kits filled with supplies to treat injuries and wounds. But Duvall said the work has become much more than saving animals.

“It looks like hell. It’s another world,” he said.

Volunteers are going from ranch to ranch, checking on animals and asking families what they need.

“And sometimes we pull into a ranch and their house is gone,” Duvall said. “And that kind of hits hard.”

The Ross Fire has left widespread damage across North Texas ranchland, where cattle, horses and other livestock have had to be moved to safety. Duvall said some ranchers are now facing another devastating problem, even if they still have surviving animals: the grass they depend on is gone.

“We’re helping a lady right now,” he said. “She’s a sixth-generation rancher. She has some cows left, but she’s lost a lot. There’s no grass left.”

Smokehouse Creek Fire shaped Duvall’s mission Duvall is no stranger to the aftermath of a catastrophic Texas wildfire.

CBS News Texas first met him in 2024 during the historic Smokehouse Creek Fire, which became the largest wildfire in Texas history. The fire burned more than 1 million acres across the Texas Panhandle and into Oklahoma. Two people died, and thousands of livestock were lost as ranchers faced massive damage to their land, homes and infrastructure.

That fire also became part of Duvall’s own story of survival.

During the Smokehouse Creek Fire, he rescued a badly burned calf named Ash. The animal became a symbol of hope and healing after surviving the disaster.

Now, two years later, Duvall is watching the next generation grow.

“We know that there’s brighter days ahead,” he said. “Even if some of them are injured, there’s a pretty high chance they’re going to survive. Ash is two years old and she’s doing great. And that kind of gives a little bit of hope for the future.”

For Duvall, that hope is what he wants ranchers facing the devastation of the Ross Fire to hold onto.

Because while thousands of acres remain blackened and the threat from the wildfire is still far from over, he has seen before what can happen after the flames are finally gone.

And he believes brighter days can come again.

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 Marie Saavedra

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — An Evanston woman was reunited with her dog, who had been missing for nearly 12 years.

Vanessa Antonino last saw her beloved chihuahua Flor more than a decade ago. Antonino aid she was going through a hard time, and it only got worse when she had Flor in her car and the pup ran off.

In the years that followed, she hoped and prayed Flor was safe with a family somewhere. It seems she was – all the way in Gary, Indiana.

Her most recent caretakers had to give her up, so they brought her to a shelter which found Flor’s microchip and, eventually, Antonino’s number.

“When I got the phone call, the first phone call, they’re like, is this Vanessa? I’m like, yes. And they’re like, We have Flor. And I was like, I was thinking back, I was like, Flor? I’m like, I hadn’t heard her name in years!” Antonino said. “I missed years with her, her knowing her brothers, like, her human brothers. They all know about her. When they saw her, they’re like, oh my god, ma. They’re like, our sister is home! Like, yes! Yes!”

“I have looked for her every single day of my life and it’s like just having her home. It’s like, I can’t believe it!” she added.

Antonino said she’s ecstatic to have Flor home. And the reunion was even more moving because, Antonino said, it feels like a gift that Flor is now back to see her in a new and brighter chapter of life.

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 Madeleine Wright

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    Philadelphia (KYW) — A grieving family is marking five years since a deadly police shooting outside a high school football game in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, and continuing the push for changes to police firearms training.

The tragic incident occurred on Aug. 27, 2021. Police were responding to a shootout between a 15-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man near a crowded high school football game. Upon hearing the gunfire, three Sharon Hill police officers fired their weapons toward a car they believed was involved.

One of their bullets struck and killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility, who was leaving the game with her family.

“Sometimes I can be very sad if I think about my daughter,” Fanta’s mother, Tenneh Kromah, said.

The three Sharon Hill police officers involved in the shooting, Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan and Devon Smith, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and were sentenced to five years of probation.

Kromah said she wants to make sure another family does not experience the same loss, which is why she’s supporting House Bill 1604, also known as Fanta’s Law.

The legislation would require police officers in Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Lancaster counties to complete quarterly firearms training or face administrative leave.

In addition to mandatory training, officers would have the opportunity to undergo simulation training at least twice per year to better prepare them for on-duty confrontations.

The bill has stalled in Harrisburg since it was first introduced in summer 2024, but supporters announced Thursday it is now scheduled for a vote on the House floor in October.

“I’m so excited to hear … they’re taking care of the law,” Kromah said. “I’m so happy for that.”

The bill would still need to pass the state Senate before it could reach the governor’s desk. State Rep. David Delloso, who is sponsoring the legislation, said the goal is to make sure officers are prepared to use their firearms safely, particularly in chaotic situations.

“No one wants to be in a position where their training isn’t second nature and bad things happen to civilians and communities,” Delloso said.

While Kromah continues to push for changes in police training, she is also working to keep her daughter’s memory alive through the Fanta Bility Foundation, which provides school supplies to children in need.

“I think about my daughter every single day,” Kromah said. “And this law will help protect other families.”

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 Tim McNicholas, Naveen Dhaliwal, Kris Van Cleave

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    New York (WCBS) — Two air traffic controllers at LaGuardia Airport in New York left work early on the night of a deadly runway collision in March, a government source familiar with the situation told CBS News on Thursday.

The Federal Aviation Administration is in the process of trying to fire those two controllers for leaving their shifts earlier than scheduled because the agency considers it timecard fraud, the source said.

Just before midnight on March 22, an Air Canada Express plane arriving at LaGuardia collided with a fire truck on the runway.

The pilot and copilot of the plane were killed. Two Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting officers from the truck, and 39 of the 76 people on board the plane, were taken to local hospitals.

At the time of the crash, two controllers were working in the tower.

The other two who left early would have been additional support staffing, as the National Transportation Safety Board said in March it is common to have just two controllers in the tower.

“It’s also common practice across the national airspace where you would have two controllers in the tower cab during the midnight shift,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at the time.

The NTSB said it’s investigating staffing and it has long had concerns about fatigue from controllers working that shift across the country.

“The vast majority of air traffic controllers are great patriots — they show up for work, complete their full shift, and come back and do it all again,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement Thursday. “But when a small percentage of individuals take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers, and impact the airspace — we have no choice but to act. We will not tolerate fraud, and we are taking appropriate action to hold folks accountable and prevent unlawful practices from disrupting the traveling public.”

The air traffic controllers union said it is discussing the situation with FAA leadership.

The FAA would not agree to an interview with CBS News New York, but said it’s committed to holding employees accountable. It also says they’re hiring more controllers to try to fight staffing shortages.

Todd Yeary, a former air traffic controller, told CBS News New York that there are plenty of unanswered questions from the FAA.

“Now, if it is just arbitrary leaving for the sake of leaving because it’s an endorsed practice, we know that’s a whole problem,” he said. “But there are some other factors there. Was the traffic low? Were they on leave? Was that comp time?”

Yeary says there should have been more oversight that night.

“Part of the question is not just for the controllers that they say left early, but also for the supervisors and the managers who were on duty at the time who should have been ultimately covering what was going on with the traffic at that time,” he 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 Tim McNicholas, Walter Smith Randolph

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    New York (WCBS) — A CBS News New York investigation has found that a car registered to the former police chief of Tuckahoe in Westchester County was involved in multiple reported hit-and-runs within minutes.

Now, the Westchester district attorney is investigating how police handled the case.

Yonkers Police say they took a report on Aug. 14 that someone driving an Infiniti sedan struck a car near a CVS on Central Park Avenue then drove off.

Officers say someone else then reported the same Infiniti struck and damaged a parked car half a mile away on Falmouth Road.

Yonkers Police say the Infiniti is registered to former Tuckahoe Police Chief John Costanzo, but a witness said a woman was behind the wheel during the incident on Falmouth. That witness said someone tried to stop her, but she drove off before police arrived, so police took a hit-and-run report.

Minutes after the incident on Falmouth, an Infiniti crashed into a parked Amazon truck in Tuckahoe near Main Street and Columbus Avenue, half a mile from Costanzo’s home, CBS News New York learned. Witnesses say police responded, but the Village of Tuckahoe says no one was arrested.

In a statement, Tuckahoe Mayor Cara Kronen said a vehicle involved in the incident “entered the Village following an earlier incident in Yonkers.”

No injuries have been reported in those crashes, but Amazon did say their truck was scratched and dented.

The village says it referred the case to the Westchester district attorney, and it can’t provide any more details because the DA is now investigating.

The DA’s office will only say their Public Integrity and Law Enforcement Bureau is investigating. That unit typically investigates police misconduct.

No one answered the door when CBS News New York went to Costanzo’s home, and Tuckahoe’s current police chief and mayor would not agree to interviews with CBS News New York.

Costanzo retired from the force in 2023.

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.