Brothers receive special gift on Honor flight

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Ethan Williams, Max McKenna

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    MARION, Illinois (WPSD) — Ninety veterans returned to Southern Illinois from Washington, D.C., on a Tuesday honor flight after a delay Monday night.

The honor flight takes veterans to see the memorials on display in Washington.

Hundreds of people packed the Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion on Tuesday to welcome the veterans home.

While many of the veterans on the flight would call themselves brothers in arms, a small group of them are connected by more than just their experiences.

“I’m just one of the five that are still alive, and there were two more brothers that had previously passed away,” Vietnam veteran Arthur Winkeler said. “My brother Frankie was a year and a half behind me. He followed me up into the Air Force, and then our brother Virgil came along.”

Five of the seven Winkeler brothers, who served in the Vietnam War, made the trip to Washington for the first time this year. The other two, Frankie and Virgil, passed away before they could make the trip.

The crew with the Honor Flight Network surprised the brothers with folded American flags accompanied with their late brothers’ pictures and name tags to bring with them as they passed through the monuments.

The brothers said it was very important to them that they got to bring their fallen brothers with them.

“We have to because we’ve always been together, and we’re not letting them go,” Ralph Winkeler said. “They’re going to stay with us. That’s the way it is.”

The veterans got a tour of Washington and many of the memorials on display.

“We saw all the war memorials: the Second World War memorial, the Vietnam Wall, the First World War, and Iwo Jima,” Leonard Winkeler said.

Other veterans said the trip was a big help to them.

“It was awesome,” Vietnam veteran Gary Nease said. “All of it together kind of brought a lot of closure for me because of the past.”

The best part of the trip for some veterans was coming back and seeing their families greet them at the Veterans Airport in Marion.

“It gets emotional,” Arthur Winkeler said. “You think I’m tough? I can stand this stuff because I’m a big old guy. This made me cry all the way through.”

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.

25 years after 9/11, Turtle Creek Chorale turns memory into a mass for peace

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Marvin Hurst

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — From a symphonic stage in Dallas comes the story of a tragedy that struck a nation in its heart.

But this time, the story is being told through hundreds of voices, an orchestra and bodies in motion — not to recreate the terror of Sept. 11, 2001, but to search for what can come after it.

“Better Is Peace: 9/11 Remembered Through Song and Dance” brings more than 400 community artists to the Meyerson Symphony Center Wednesday night for a sweeping commemoration 25 years after the attacks.

“This is a pretty special once-in-a-lifetime deal for the Chorale and probably one of the largest performances the Turtle Creek Chorale has ever taken on in 46 years,” Artistic Director Sean Baugh said.

The production has been in the making for two years.

At its center is British composer Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace,” an anti-war work that has become closely associated with 9/11. For this performance, the work was specially arranged for the tenor and bass voices of the Turtle Creek Chorale.

But the challenge was bigger than arranging music.

“We struggled a little bit with how to use music to commemorate the events of 9/11,” Baugh said.

The answer was not to reenact what happened. It was to interpret what remains.

Current flight attendants will read excerpts from voicemail messages left by passengers aboard the hijacked planes for loved ones back home. Bruce Wood Dance will give those emotions movement, joining the Chorale and Dallas Chamber Symphony throughout the work.

Choreographer Joy Bollinger said some of that movement may initially look like chaos. Watch closer, she said, and something else emerges.

“You’re seeing people taking care of one another and doing everything they can to hold on to each other and find each other and support each other and move each other through that moment,” Bollinger said.

For her, creating the work also became intensely personal.

Bollinger’s father died in August. The loss put grief — and the possibility of healing — close to the surface as she worked on a piece confronting another kind of enormous loss.

“It felt really cathartic to create a mass for peace and healing in a way,” she said.

That is where the production reaches beyond history.

Twenty-five years later, millions of Americans know 9/11 only as something that happened before they were born. Those who lived through it remember where they were, what they saw, and the fear that followed.

Baugh is among them.

“Personally, I’m speaking for me. I think we haven’t felt peace since 9/11,” he said. “And peace for me means being void of fear.”

The second half of Wednesday’s program turns toward what comes next. About 100 singers from the Glee Club at Dallas ISD’s Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy will join the performance, shifting the evening toward hope and resilience.

It makes for an enormous tribute. But its message is remarkably intimate.

Honor is not locked into a day on the calendar. Grief does not always surrender to words. Sometimes expression has to go where words cannot.

And 25 years after a nation took a blow, replacing fear with voices, movement, unity, and art may look a lot like peace.

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.

Miami Gardens police K9 Gael leaves Hollywood animal hospital after going missing for a week

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Abby Dodge

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — A Miami Gardens Police Department K-9 that went missing while on duty has been found safe and returned home following an almost weeklong disappearance.

K-9 Gael was reunited with officers Monday after spending two days at VCA Hollywood Animal Hospital, where veterinarians evaluated and cleared him.

Police said Gael ran from his handler last week while responding to a business alarm call. Officers launched an extensive search but were unable to locate him immediately.

During the search, investigators reviewed surveillance video that appeared to show Gael being struck by a vehicle. Despite the impact, the dog continued running. Police have not identified the driver involved.

A Miami Gardens resident eventually spotted Gael and alerted authorities, leading to his recovery.

“He is a great big part of our family,” Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt said. “Those couple of days he was missing, we really, truly missed him.”

Police said they are still investigating what caused the K-9 to run from the scene.

“I don’t have any idea what prompted him to run off,” Noel-Pratt said. “We are still going to look into that matter.”

Despite spending a week on his own, Gael returned in good condition, healthy, and even gained weight during his time away, according to police.

“He is very happy, very vibrant, and we will give him a little bit of rest and then he will be back on duty again,” Noel-Pratt said.

Authorities noted they still do not know where Gael spent most of the week before he was found.

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3 Things We Learned From the First Two Episodes of HBO’s ‘JAŸ-Z in 8’ Docuseries

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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    September 16, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — Thirty years after Reasonable Doubt introduced Shawn “JAŸ-Z” Carter to the world—and 25 years after The Blueprint cemented his place among hip-hop’s elite—Hov is doing something increasingly rare: slowing down long enough to explain himself. Houston Style Magazine – ‘Keeps It Real’ as First Seen in VIBE Magazine

HBO’s eight-part JAŸ-Z IN 8, directed by legendary producer Rick Rubin, premieres Friday, September 18, with its first two chapters airing back-to-back on HBO and streaming simultaneously on HBO Max. Two new episodes arrive each Friday through October 9. The series uses classics including “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” “Brooklyn’s Finest,” “Meet the Parents” and “What More Can I Say” as doorways into Carter’s childhood, creativity and evolution.

The timing could hardly be better. JAŸ-Z has spent 2026 celebrating three decades of Reasonable Doubt, and just this week the documentary received a star-powered premiere at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.

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For longtime listeners, the first two episodes feel less like a documentary and more like being invited into the studio after everybody else went home.

Here are three things that stood out. 1. JAŸ-Z Never Really Wanted to Be Famous Imagine creating one of hip-hop’s defining debut albums—and thinking that would be your exit.

JAŸ-Z explains that his original plan was essentially to record Reasonable Doubt, establish Roc-A-Fella Records and move behind the curtain as an executive. Stardom was not the dream.

The revelation reframes his entire career. The man who would become a stadium-filling performer, billionaire entrepreneur and cultural institution considered himself naturally introverted and uncomfortable with interviews, videos and celebrity obligations.

That may also explain part of his mystique. Hov rarely appeared desperate for attention. The music did the talking.

And three decades later, it is still talking loudly. 2. He Understood Early That Every Rap Battle Wasn’t His Battle One of the most revealing moments concerns “Brooklyn’s Finest,” JAŸ-Z’s legendary collaboration with The Notorious B.I.G.

During the height of East Coast-West Coast tensions, Biggie reportedly recorded an additional provocative reference aimed toward California. JAŸ-Z asked him to remove it.

That decision looks even more significant through history’s rearview mirror.

Rather than inserting himself into an increasingly dangerous rivalry, Carter recognized a line between competition and conflict. Hip-hop has always celebrated lyrical warfare, but wisdom sometimes means knowing which fight not to join.

It is a fascinating reminder that even young Hov was thinking several moves ahead. 3. The Secret Sauce Is Controlled Imperfection JAŸ-Z’s famous ability to compose lyrics mentally without writing them down is already rap folklore. JAŸ-Z IN 8 goes deeper.

He describes a “free play” studio process in which he would enter the booth, let the track roll and unload melodies, phrases, concepts and rhymes until something connected. Music—especially strings—could steer him toward darker, more introspective storytelling.

That instinct extends to performing. JAŸ-Z admits he does not like becoming too rehearsed. A little uncertainty keeps him alert, present and emotionally inside the song rather than simply reciting it.

The documentary also finds him reconsidering decisions surrounding The Black Album—from its retirement narrative to sequencing and single choices. That willingness to critique even celebrated work may be the biggest lesson of all.

Greatness, apparently, does not mean believing you got everything right.

It means remaining curious enough to ask what you could have done better.

For hip-hop fans who grew up studying every bar, JAŸ-Z IN 8 offers something better than nostalgia. It gives context.

And when Hov finally starts explaining the hustle, you listen.

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Watch the official trailer: JAŸ-Z in 8

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High school syllabus sparks backlash over menstrual cycle disclosure policy

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Peter Maxwell

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    ST. CLAIR SHORES, Michigan (WXYZ) — A Lakeview High School gym class syllabus is drawing scrutiny from parents and an attorney after a requirement asks female students to share personal health information in order to make up missed swimming days.

Andy Amsdill, the father of a Lakeview student, says he was stunned after reading his daughter’s class syllabus. He immediately reached out to school leaders, questioning why students are being asked to disclose something so personal.

“This is their private information. That teacher, nor anybody in the school administration, has any right to it,” Amsdill said.

Under a section titled “Non-Swim Days for Pool Only,” the syllabus addresses female students who miss swimming because of their menstrual cycle. It states a parent must provide a written note or email stating the length of their cycle in order for those missed days to be made up.

“The teacher wants us to either send a note or an email with the suspected length of the cycle which by itself is ridiculous,” Amsdill said.

The syllabus also states that if a student does not participate in dry land gym activities, or for each day not made up, it will be considered a non-participation day resulting in a loss of points.

Amsdill contacted school leaders questioning why that level of personal information is necessary just to excuse or make up a swimming day. He says the response fell short of a district-wide fix.

“The best they got for me was that my daughter wouldn’t have to do it, but they weren’t doing it systematically,” Amsdill said.

Amsdill believes the requirement raises Title IX concerns, arguing female students like his daughter are being singled out because of their menstrual cycle.

Attorney Jon Marko says the syllabus language is legally problematic.

“This is a problematic area here,” Marko said.

Marko said the requirement could run afoul of federal and state law.

“It could be violative of both federal and our state anti-discrimination laws which is called the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,” Marko said.

Other Lakeview parents also weighed in on the syllabus requirement.

“To have to disclose that information is really invasive and I think it’s unnecessary,” Elizabeth Gibson said.

Amy Droelle, another Lakeview parent, echoed those concerns.

“For sure against privacy for the young ladies that are going to class and they shouldn’t have a grade reduction,” Droelle said.

The Lakeview School District Superintendent Karl Paulson provided WXYZ-TV with statement:

“We recently became aware of a parent’s concern relative to certain class expectations. Given our commitment to partnering with parents to address any issue that might arise, we immediately sought to schedule a meeting with the parent to engage in a conversation about the concern. We look forward to meeting with the parent in the coming days and working collaboratively with that objective. The Lakeview School District remains fully committed to educational excellence and best practices in all it does.”

Amsdill says he plans to make his voice heard at Tuesday night’s school board meeting and encourages other parents to do the same.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WXYZ verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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23-year-old woman wanted for shooting during Gwinnett County road rage incident, police say

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Dan Raby

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Gwinnett County police are searching for a 23-year-old suspect in a road rage incident that turned into a shooting earlier in September.

Officials say the scary situation started when Sierra Iman Little pulled out in front of the victim on Sept. 7 around Hog Mountain Road and Braselton Highway.

According to police, the victim honked at Little, which led the woman to speed toward the victim’s vehicle and hit it. Little then drove away from the scene but returned a few moments later and opened fire, hitting the victim’s vehicle multiple times, police say.

Investigators say the victim was not injured in the shooting and that they identified Little as a suspect in the case after looking at surveillance footage and Flock camera data.

Authorities say they have now obtained arrest warrants for Little on charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, hit and run, and reckless driving.

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.

Legacy Community Health Takes Pharmacy Beyond the Counter With ‘Pharmacy Without Borders’

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Francis Page Jr.

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    September 16, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — HOUSTON — A neighborhood pharmacy can be much more than the place where prescriptions are picked up. At Legacy Community Health, pharmacists are becoming educators, advocates and accessible health partners — helping Houston-area families better understand their medications, manage chronic conditions and protect their health.

At the center of that work is Pharmacy Without Borders, Legacy Pharmacy’s approach to expanding access, improving health outcomes and bringing pharmacy services closer to the communities that need them.

Just as important for Houston Style Magazine readers: Legacy Pharmacy is a community pharmacy that serves everyone — not only Legacy medical patients.

Community members can use Legacy Pharmacy regardless of where they receive their healthcare. Patients may transfer prescriptions from other pharmacies or medical providers, receive immunizations and access pharmacy-support programs without first becoming a Legacy medical patient.

That open-door philosophy is helping redefine what the neighborhood pharmacist can mean to a community.

“At Legacy, pharmacy is more than dispensing medication. We are committed to expanding access to innovative pharmacy services that improve health outcomes and create healthier communities,” said La Vonia Cannon, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy & Financial Support at Legacy Community Health.

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Legacy pharmacists provide medication counseling and management, chronic-disease support, immunizations, tobacco-cessation assistance, medication reconciliation and patient education. Clinical pharmacy programs also support patients managing diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and weight concerns.

That commitment recently earned statewide recognition.

Legacy Pharmacy received the 2026 Texas Pharmacy Association Excellence in Patient Outcomes Award, recognizing pharmacy programs that demonstrate excellence in improving patient outcomes through innovative, patient-centered care. The honor reflects Legacy’s focus on medication management, education, care coordination and expanding pharmacy access. Ready for Flu Season Legacy Pharmacy also provides immunizations, including seasonal flu shots, offering individuals and families another convenient way to protect themselves during flu season.

Community pharmacies can play an important preventive-health role by making vaccinations easier to access. Legacy pharmacists also help patients understand recommended vaccines and preventive-care options for themselves and their families.

Pharmacy Without Borders For Cannon, expanding pharmacy care goes directly to Legacy’s broader mission.

“We are redefining what’s possible by expanding access to pharmacy services and bringing care closer to the communities that depend on us. Pharmacy Without Borders is our commitment to ensuring that geography, access, and affordability are no longer barriers to better health.”

Legacy also offers conveniences designed to remove practical barriers. Pharmacy services include free prescription delivery up to 70 miles, statewide prescription shipping, medication labels in more than 120 languages and assistance with insurance, medication costs and copay-support programs.

And Legacy’s pharmacy footprint is still growing.

A new pharmacy is planned for the Legacy Pasadena Southmore campus and is anticipated to open before the end of 2026, although an exact opening date has not been announced. Legacy is also planning a pharmacy at its new Acres Homes campus, currently anticipated to open in early 2027.

“Pharmacy Without Borders means meeting patients where they are and reimagining how pharmacy services can improve health outcomes, advance equity, and transform communities,” Cannon said. Three Houston Legacy Pharmacy Locations Legacy Pharmacy – Lyons – 3811 Lyons Ave., Houston, TX 77020 • Call: (713) 366-7400 Legacy Pharmacy – Montrose – 1415 California St., Houston, TX 77006 • Call: (713) 665-8800 Legacy Pharmacy – Sharpstown – 6441 High Star Dr., Suite 100, Houston, TX 77074 • Call: (713) 814-3499

For an organization born from the belief that quality health care should reach people others overlooked, Pharmacy Without Borders feels less like a new direction and more like the next chapter of Legacy’s original promise.

Or, as Cannon puts it beautifully: “Serving our community is not only our mission. It’s our responsibility and our privilege.”

In Houston, that responsibility is being filled one prescription, one conversation — and one healthier community at a time.

Website: legacycommunityhealth.org

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Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office introduces Germaine, a facility dog joining the Victim Assistance Program

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Sam Harasimowicz

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    BATAVIA, Ohio (WCPO) — The Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office has a new team member, and he’s bringing a “cold nose and a warm heart.”

Germaine is a 2-year-old Labrador/retriever mix who’s found a new home at the prosecutor’s office in Batavia.

Prosecutor Mark Tekulve and Victim Advocate Allyson Ware brought Germaine onto their team through Canine Companions, which trains service dogs for all sorts of different duties.

Germaine is now a part of the Victim Assistance Program, which began in Clermont County in 1985 and has grown to include four full-time team members. Germaine brings that number up to five.

“He is able to really put, in particular, victims at ease,” Tekulve said.

I was there as Germaine traveled with Ware from the prosecutor’s office to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

We went into what’s called a soft interview room, where Ware demonstrated how Germaine will provide comfort to victims during investigations and court proceedings.

“Some of his commands are providing deep pressure both on the lap while sitting and then also on the ground to assist with anxiety when it comes up,” Ware said.

Germaine practiced his “cover” command, where he rests on a person like a living, breathing heated blanket. Germaine practiced on Sgt. Yvonne Sheppard and me.

“Anything we can do as an office and as individuals to relieve some of the difficulty that these folks experience, we want to do,” Tekulve said.

In his first couple of weeks, Germaine has already been put to work, offering support in a recent case.

“We had a case; it was a domestic violence case, and I had previously met with the family, so they were already familiar with me,” Ware said. “When they saw him, they were just over the moon.”

Germaine is also being trained to sit and offer support inside the courtroom, where he’ll be present for victims who could be testifying for hours, according to Ware.

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Master milliner transforms silent battle against depression into wearable art

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By La’Tasha Givens

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    COLLEGE PARK, Georgia (WUPA) — Inside his College Park studio, Otis Damón gently wets and steams a piece of fabric known in the trade as a “hood,” preparing to shape it over a wooden block.

To the fashion world and Hollywood, Damón is a master milliner whose striking, bespoke designs crown icons such as Whoopi Goldberg, Patti LaBelle, and Ne-Yo, regularly appearing on the big screen.

For Damón, his shop is far more than a business. It is a lifeline.

“I call this place my sanctuary. It’s not just a studio,” Damón said. “I call this my art therapy.”

Damón’s journey to high fashion began during a period of deep isolation. Since he was 6 years old, he had carried an unnameable weight.

“Back then, I didn’t know what it was,” Damón said. “I didn’t know I was depressed or dealing with depression. As a grown-up in church, everything’s spirit, and I thought it was, you know, that.”

He turned to a teacher at school for help.

“I confided in her that I was contemplating suicide that summer before my 10th-grade year, and she instructed me to come to her class every day on my lunch, and she taught me how to sew, so I started making clothes first,” he said.

Sitting at the machine, the steady hum and physical rhythm began to quiet the darkness.

“It was the rhythm of using my hands and hearing the machine, putting things together,” he said. “It just gave me a peace. So some of my best works came out of my darkest times, honestly.”

Each of his head-turning headpieces takes nearly three days to complete, hand-shaped over traditional wooden molds to create one-of-a-kind silhouettes from towering, avant-garde crowns reminiscent of Erykah Badu’s signature style to reimagined, southern “church lady” hats.

While his craft transformed a silent battle into celebrated wearable art, Damon is open about the fact that healing is an ongoing journey. In addition to the therapeutic outlet of design, he receives medical treatment for depression.

“I still struggle,” Damon said. “I just learned how to life surf with it.”

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here.

For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@nami.org.

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Mexican restaurant offers free food for entire day to uplift community

CNN Newsource on September 16, 2026

By Dillon Thomas

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    GREELEY, Colorado (KCNC) — A Northern Colorado restaurant spent Monday giving away its entire menu for free as a way to give back to the community.

Tres Amigos in Downtown Greeley offered free food to anyone who dined in at the restaurant from opening until closing at 9 p.m. Alcohol was the only item not included in the giveaway.

“Today we are giving back to the community,” said Jonathan Iniguez, owner of Tres Amigos.

The restaurant’s giveaway is part of an effort by Iniguez and his team to return some of the support they say they have received from the Greeley community. Iniguez said the restaurant is celebrating its anniversary and has grown quickly, opening its third location within five years.

“We have been blessed,” Iniguez said.

Tres Amigos gave away about $50,000 worth of food during last year’s giveaway.

“Hopefully we beat that record this year,” Iniguez said.

For Iniguez, the giveaway is about more than the amount of food served. He said it is a chance to help people during a difficult time, even if the gesture makes a difference for just one person.

“It makes me happy. Times are tough right now. It is more about giving back and pitching in, ourselves. But sometimes it makes someone’s day,” Iniguez said.

He said seeing the community come together around the restaurant is personally rewarding.

“It just completes you and makes you feel whole,” Iniguez said.

Some visitors told CBS Colorado they loved the gesture, and the food, so much that they will now become return customers.

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