September 2026 – Page 105 – NPG Content Share

From drag races to car shows, this Wisconsin man’s car has been winning trophies for 65 years

CNN Newsource on September 18, 2026

By James Groh

SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin (WTMJ) — When you look at one particular 90-year-old car in Sheboygan, you’re not going to think, this is a drag race championship-winning car. But back in the day, it was one of the fastest cars on a quarter-mile track in Wisconsin.

For roughly 60 years, a 1936 Ford Coupe has only had one driver – Tom Lawrence. The 85-year-old has been driving it since he was about 19-years-old.

“It’s just a challenge to have something fast and be faster than the other guys, and this car was,” Tom Lawrence, the owner of the car, said.

He has won many trophies from official races at places like the Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove. Lawrence also owns bragging rights for beating his friends in races on back roads and country roads.

“Well, I don’t know how to explain happiness. I guess theres so many things in this world that makes a person happy,” Lawrence said.

Going fast is one of those things that makes Lawrence smile.

However, racing was eventually replaced by a family and a career. So the car collected dust for a few decades.

“It really kind of sat like a shell for most of my childhood. In fact, my friends and I used to pretend it was a tank, and we would play army inside of it,” Jeff Lawrence, Tom’s son, said.

That was the case until the late 1990s. Tom Lawrence moved into a new home in Sheboygan and built a garage specifically so he could work on his car. He took the car apart and put it back together piece by piece with the help of his family.

“Bring the grandkids to help out, put a fender on,” Tom Lawrence said.

It took about 30 years, but he finally restored this car to its former glory.

“I can’t believe it. It’s done. You know, I did this, so it’s a great honor,” Lawrence said.

While he doesn’t drag race anymore, the car is still winning competitions, like best in show and best in class at car shows across Wisconsin.

“So it’s a family affair of us going to car shows, supporting him, celebrating him, and then being able to drive in it, sitting in the front seat is a lot, is just joyful,” Kelly Ottman, Tom’s daughter, said.

Ultimately, the 1936 Ford Coupe is way more than just a car. It represents a journey, marriage, kids, grandchildren, moving. This car is a symbol of Lawrence’s life.

“Well, obviously it means everything,” Lawrence said.

This car and Tom Lawrence still have many miles left in the tank and competitions to win.

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.

HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT APPROVES FY27 BUDGET

CNN Newsource on September 18, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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September 18, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — HOUSTON — September 17, 2026 — Harris County has put the final numbers on its next fiscal chapter. Commissioners Court approved the County’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget Thursday, establishing a $3.095 billion General Fund spending plan for the year beginning October 1, 2026. Harris County’s September 17 budget book confirms the $3.095 billion figure following the final round of budget changes.

For a county serving millions of residents, balancing the books is never simply a matter of moving numbers from one column to another. Roads, courts, public safety, libraries, health programs, disaster response and thousands of county employees are attached to those numbers. This year, the balancing act became especially challenging after the County’s projected General Fund deficit grew from approximately $129 million to $181 million, driven in significant part by rising employee health-care costs.

“This budget reflects the difficult financial environment facing Harris County while maintaining the services our residents rely on every day,” said Harris County Administrator Erica Lee Carter, crediting Commissioners Court, the Office of Management and Budget, county departments and employees for navigating the process.

The adopted budget continues funding for core county operations while making several targeted investments. Among them is $15 million in additional funding for the Harris County Public Defender’s Office, supporting its planned expansion toward representing 50% of eligible indigent-defense cases. The County’s September 17 budget documents also reflect continued criminal-justice investments, including additional funding for pretrial case managers and other justice-system initiatives.

Public health receives its share of attention as well. Funding includes $2.3 million for food distribution and nutrition-benefits enrollment, $1.1 million for chronic-disease prevention, $1 million for behavioral-health and substance-use services, and $1.2 million for maternal and child health programs.

Additional September 17 budget amendments support Public Health initiatives including expansion of the Holistic Assistance Response Team, community-violence interruption efforts, domestic-violence services and wastewater surveillance.

Harris County libraries also remain part of the equation, with approximately $1.1 million for collections and materials, along with technology funding supporting educational and library services. The final budget revisions additionally include funding intended to help maintain state library accreditation.

County employees received an important piece of budget news: following Commissioners Court amendments, medical-plan premiums and deductibles are not scheduled to increase for calendar year 2027. The budget also continues funding connected to law-enforcement compensation and implementation of county pay-equity efforts. Budget Director Daniel Ramos wrote that FY27 includes the second year of law-enforcement pay parity and the first full year of the County’s pay-equity implementation, alongside historically higher health-care spending.

“The FY27 budget reflects the financial realities facing the County while continuing to fund essential services and priority investments,” Ramos said.

Despite the squeeze, county officials point to liquidity, the property-tax base, grants and disaster reimbursements as financial resources supporting continued operations. The budget process itself stretched from spring forecasting through summer hearings and the September adoption process; the County’s published budget calendar identified September 17 as the date for the public hearing and adoption of the FY27 budget and tax rates.

For taxpayers who prefer spreadsheets and dashboards to political sound bites — and there are more of them than you might think — Harris County has made the numbers publicly accessible.

The FY27 fiscal year runs October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 — twelve months in which Harris County residents will be able to measure how those billions translate from budget pages into services in their communities.

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OFFICIAL BUDGET LINKS: FY2027 Budget Documents | FY27 Budget Dashboard | Office of Management and Budget

Kierra Lee
KIELEESTYLE@GMAIL.COM
3465287733

California nonprofit gives food to those in need and second chances to rebuild lives

CNN Newsource on September 18, 2026

By Rina Nakano

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POMONA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — The nonprofit God’s Pantry in Pomona serves around 10,000 families monthly, while nearly all of its staff have overcome homelessness, addiction, gangs, or incarceration.

This often-neglected group of people is reshaping their lives and getting second chances while serving the community.

“We like to say we work in the intersection of food insecurity and gang intervention work,” Augusto “Goose” Dolce, God’s Pantry executive director, said.

Randi Ethridge is in training with God’s Pantry, and she was homeless and addicted to opiates for 20 years. Her rock bottom was her husband’s death and losing custody of her children.

“I had accepted that I was going to die that way,” she said. It took her 42 attempts at a rehabilitation facility to finally break free.

Her first meal was from God’s Pantry, and while food distribution was making a clear difference in the community, staff realized during the pandemic that they should be doing so much more.

“We had a lot of work, and we needed a lot of people,” Dolce said.

COVID grants helped them to provide work training, housing, and counseling. They now have a system where trainees are paid not just to work the food line but also to receive services while on the clock.

“We literally call it a therapeutic work environment where healing is as important as them clocking in and showing up on time,” Dolce said.

For Ethridge, getting custody of her kids again was a top priority. “If I want to get my kids back, I need to prove myself, so I took all of those classes 12 times over,” she said.

Their newest project, free tattoo removal for gang-affiliated or prison ink, and Third Street, a print shop where proceeds go back into the nonprofit. Ethridge now works at the shop full-time, managing orders and invoicing.

“I love numbers, I’m weird like that,” Ethridge said. It has sparked an interest in business, leading her to enroll in college.

She now lives in an apartment with her youngest and is working to regain the trust of her two older children one day.

“Because he’s the oldest, he saw the majority of the addiction and he has yet to speak with me. But I’m remaining hopeful that one day he will. I just need to keep showing up,” Ethridge said.

85-year-old thwarts armed home intruder’s attempt to steal car

CNN on September 18, 2026

WCCO

By Jason Rantala

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MINNESOTA (WCCO) — An 85-year-old St. Paul, Minnesota, woman helped stop an armed home intruder from stealing her vehicle this week by trapping him inside her garage, according to authorities.

The incident began Tuesday afternoon in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, when the homeowner said a man entered her home through a back door while she was inside.

Ramsey County deputies said the suspect was armed with a knife. According to police, he grabbed the keys from inside the home and headed to the car in the garage.

As the suspect tried to drive away, the homeowner quickly closed the garage door, preventing him from escaping in the vehicle. Forced to abandon the attempt, the suspect fled on foot, authorities said.

Investigators later linked the suspect to a stealing spree across St. Paul.

“It’s unclear what the motive was,” Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Joe Kill said.

The following day, deputies located the suspect driving a different stolen vehicle and attempted to stop him near Ford Parkway.

“We thought it would be the best place to take him down. He was kind of caught up in traffic,” Kill said. “As we attempted to, he ended up ramming cars and ourselves out of the way.”

Witnesses told authorities he approached people who were out for a walk and asked for directions to Minneapolis.

Deputies said those witnesses provided a detailed description of the suspect, while a camera captured the license plate of the stolen vehicle in Minneapolis. The information helped investigators track the suspect to another St. Paul residence.

Police say the man was hiding inside a closet and they took him into custody.

Deputies say the suspect, described as a career thief, is now being held in the Ramsey County Jail. He is facing a first-degree burglary charge.

“To make the citizens of Ramsey County and Hennepin County feel safer, that a guy that would steal people’s cars or go into people’s homes is off the streets as fast as possible is our number one goal,” he said.