Month: September 2026

By Eric Valadez

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    SOUTHLAKE, Texas (KTVT) — Organizers of a pride festival denied a permit for a community event to support LGBTQ+ residents in Keller and Southlake are promising not to give up.

On Tuesday, the Southlake city council gave no reason before rejecting Pride Kel-So’s request to hold an event on Oct.3, on the grounds of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church.

The event is being promoted as a celebration of love, diversity, and community spirit featuring inclusive vendors, food trucks, and family-friendly activities to support LGBTQ+ and ally-owned businesses.

When asked for comment and an explanation on the vote, the city of Southlake referred CBS News Texas to the Sept.15 city council meeting and video, where the item was “considered, and the City Council took action.”

The unanimous council vote to deny came after no debate and no questions for April Dreyson, Pride Kel-So co-founder, who was present for the vote. While one Southlake resident submitted a note of support, fewer than 10 others submitted notes of opposition.

One Southlake resident appeared in person to speak against the festival, saying last year’s event caused upheaval.

“I don’t believe that’s representative of the values of our community,” said Paul Segal. “Seeing these drag queens out there like last year, it was abhorrent.”

Rev. Ellen Singer, an associate pastor at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, attended the council meeting, saying it was the church’s mission to welcome everyone. She told city leaders that last year’s event was a great success and that she saw no reason it wouldn’t be again this year.

After Pride Kel-So welcomed nearly 1,600 people to its festival last year, organizers had to apply for a special use permit this year because of the crowd size.

Dreyson told CBS News Texas on Thursday that she worked with the city of Southlake for several months to meet its requirements. The city’s Planning and Zoning committee recommended approving the permit in August, citing adequate space, parking, and other needs to hold the event on private property.

Dreyson said she felt blindsided by the council’s decision.

“I think that it sends a message because of them having no comment and just shutting down an event in what seemingly is because it’s an event for the queer community without any comment does send that message that you don’t belong here.”

Dreyson and her wife, Shaina, relocated to Fort Worth from Keller last year. She said that when the couple started their event-planning business three years ago, they were pleasantly surprised by the community’s acceptance. But they felt a shift when they announced plans for a pride event to serve suburban Tarrant County.

“I think we did see a lot of we were accepted, that doesn’t mean the gay community is accepted in this area,” said Dreyson. “We love you, but we don’t need to make it too gay.”

Dreyson said she appreciates anyone who shows up to speak out for their beliefs or to protest outside an event, as happened last year. However, her fight isn’t about making a point.

“Until people start to get to know more people in LGBTQ+ community, and really try to get to know us and have conversations, there are going to be assumptions made about us that do create this kind of upheaval and I think misguided anger and misperceptions of us as a community.”

Pride Kel-So has received hundreds of private messages of support since Tuesday, according to the co-founder.

Dreyson told CBS News Texas she plans to reach out to the city for an explanation on Friday. Regardless, she’s hopeful their event will still happen, if they have to pivot.

A message to supporters posted on Pride Kel-so’s Facebook page read, “We will not be silenced. We will not be made to just ‘go away.'”

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 Lisa Rozner

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — It’s easy to complain about litter in New York City, but how many people actually do something about it?

When one man recently spotted a Brooklyn eyesore near his commuter rail stop, he took matters into his own hands.

He called out 311 on social media and it ended up being a call to action for himself.

“People were telling me, ‘Oh, how about you stop making videos about it, and go clean it yourself?’ So I did,” Joshua Service said.

Service says when he commuted from Queens to his job in Crown Heights last week he noticed a mess under the Long Island Rail Road Nostrand Avenue station near Atlantic Avenue.

In response to his 311 complaints, the Department of Sanitation said, “It will inspect within 7 days.” Service learned the holdup was due to the site in question also being considered a homeless encampment.

“It was a catastrophe,” Service said. “Sanitation couldn’t just come and get the bags. They had to make sure it wasn’t the homeless person’s property.”

When it comes to homeless encampments, New York City requires the Department of Social Services first visit the site seven days in a row before it can address the area.

“What I worried about was just making sure that the area was neater for everybody,” Service said.

So for two hours on Monday, the 25-year-old says he put on some gloves and filled up about 10 garbage bags.

“Women’s shoes, children’s shoes. I’m seeing that they probably had garbage that was dumped here,” Service said. “Someone was like, ‘Do you work for the Department of Transportation?’ I said, ‘No, man, I’m an independent contractor.'”

Strangers acknowledge his efforts.

“Phenomenal. It was philanthropic. He was passionate about it and cleaned it up. [It’s] something we need more of,” said Haile Ali, of Crown Heights. “It’s a step forward. When you deal with the things going on on this planet, raindrops make puddles, so every little bit counts. You know what I mean?”

Service didn’t just clean up the area; the Department of Homeless Services says when it went out there Wednesday, it helped moved someone to a shelter.

“My main takeaway from this experience is that no matter who you are, you can make a change,” Service said. “We as a people make our community.”

He said the best part is that he did something for others, and added he does want to become mayor one day. After all, his last name is Service.

City Councilmember Chi Ossé plans to honor Service for his service on Friday at the spot he cleaned up.

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 Naveen Dhaliwal

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — A Brooklyn woman says her motherly instinct kicked in when a stranger allegedly tried to pull her son away from his grandmother.

Anyia James says her mother took her 4-year-old son, J’Mark, to a McDonald’s on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights on Monday. James and her husband were right across the street when she got a cellphone call from her mother.

“She was scared. She was kind of yelling over the phone, like, there’s a stranger trying to grab my son,” James said.

Hearing the terror in her mother’s voice, James ran across the street toward the restaurant.

“When I got there, basically my mom is pulling [one of J’Mark’s arms] and the stranger’s pulling another arm, so they’re both fighting over my son,” James said.

James says her husband came over and confronted the woman, who claimed J’Mark belonged to her.

“What the hell? Like, is this even real?” James said.

James says her mama bear instincts kicked in, and she grabbed her son, who she says was terrified.

“During that moment, he was crying ’cause the whole pulling and arguing,” James said.

The woman then ran away. No one was physically injured.

“It was scary. I can’t believe it happened to me. But it can happen to anybody. It can happen to anybody. It’s a crazy world out here. People are sick,” James said.

James has a message for parents.

“Be very cautious and hold onto your children tight as possible. Not all strangers are good strangers,” she said.

James says her son is safe but still shaken, and police are searching for the woman who allegedly try to take 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.

By Mike Darnay, Christopher DeRose

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    LATROBE, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Country music star Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour concert Thursday night in Westmoreland County has been called off.

The show was canceled late Thursday morning because of the wet and muddy field conditions at 1846 Farms in Unity Township near Latrobe, where the concert was slated to take place.

Bryan apologizes for cancelation Several hours after the cancelation was announced, Luke Bryan took to his Instagram page, where he posted a story saying in part that he was “so sorry” and that the decision was made in the name of safety.

“Please hang on to your tickets and parking passes,” Bryan said. “We are working on the next steps and will update y’all as soon as a decision is made.”

The website for the show says that people with tickets will receive information by email.

There is no word on a rescheduled date, but KDKA can confirm Bryan’s people reached out to the Westmoreland County Fairgrounds about a potential new show date in the not-too-distant future.

Muddy field conditions blamed Aleisha Stas, the general manager of 1846 Farms, said that she and her team are devastated that the show was called off.

“Luke and his team made the call. It was not on us,” Stas said. “But the conditions of the mud, the ground is just too soft to have millions of dollars of equipment and it is just not safe either for people to be parking. There was a risk of people sliding in their vehicles and people falling so, it was overall the better choice for everyone’s safety.”

One by one on Thursday, the tour buses and trucks had to be pushed, moved and towed out of the soggy, sunken earth, made even worse by a heavy Thursday morning rain that lasted for well over two hours.

“This is the life of the American farmer,” Stas said. “This is what we deal with every single day. No matter how tirelessly you work, how hard you work, you can’t help Mother Nature. So that’s all I can say: God bless American farmers.”

Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people were expected to attend the show at the farm.

One Luke Bryan fan, Kristin Carter, came all the way from Florida for the show. She said she had to come to the farm Thursday afternoon to see for herself just how bad the conditions were.

“As much money as I spent to get here, I could have bought a Louis Vuitton purse,” she joked. “But here I am … I get it for safety why they had to do it, of course. But it is disappointing.”

In 2024, Luke Bryan played a similar farm show to the one that was planned for the Latrobe area when he played near Smithton at the Cunningham Family Farm.

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 Kerri Corrado

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    SICKLERVILLE, New Jersey (KYW) — A South Jersey family-owned ranch sits on a sprawling 33 acres in Sicklerville. It’s called Circle S: Second Chance Ranch, and its name speaks for itself. Its mission is to save and care for as many horses and animals as they can.

“Some of ours have been directly saved from slaughter,” Kevin Schultz, who owns the ranch with his wife Hilary, said, “and some have been pulled out of the auction pipeline.”

They say they never thought it would bloom into what you see here today, especially knowing nothing about horses or ever owning this much land and pastures.

“We started out rescuing one horse, and it quickly led to two and three, and our mission developed into what it is now,” he said.

CBS News Philadelphia met Rescue, one of the seven horses that called the ranch home, along with some other fellow farm friends like goats and pigs. He was pulled from slaughter 15 minutes before being loaded on a truck.

“Rescuing feels natural to us because we always rescued our cats and dogs,” Hilary Schultz said.

The ranch hosts events, field trips and school visits, welcomes volunteers and has its own nonprofit called the Second Chance Ranch Foundation to support its mission and give back to the community.

A big piece of their heart is also dedicated to helping first responders and vets. They have a program that helps with PTSD and anxiety.

While keeping up with the ranch is no easy task, the reward means everything to them.

“We really felt like we wanted to allow the community to experience the blessing that we get to experience every day,” she 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.