Month: September 2026

By Hunter Sowards

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    PALMDALE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Jarring security footage captures the moment a pregnant employee chases a would-be thief out of an Ace Hardware in Palmdale, then wrestles a stolen AC unit away from them.

The woman who fought back was fed up with recurring theft at her store.

This is the model of the AC unit, not easy to pick up, and it’s actually very heavy,” store manager Carlos Morales said. “She had a lot of adrenaline. She picked it up with one hand.”

Morales said they never encourage employees to intervene during thefts, but many of his employees were tired of weekly crime sprees at their Ace Hardware.

“It’s exhausting, to be honest,” he said.

The store opened just six months ago but has been targeted by thieves nearly nonstop. As of September, they’ve lost $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise. They’ve resorted to locking many aisles in cages after the thefts became too common.

“Obviously, we started with no cages,” Morales said. “Everybody would come and grab. Now, everybody has to wait.”

Investigators believe the thieves are traveling from out of town. All Morales can do is file a police report after losing so much product.

“It’s never about the product,” Morales said. “It’s never about the money. It’s principle. It’s values.”

Theft is so prevalent in the shopping center that Morales gets together with other businesses every month to share photos and security footage to warn and hopefully protect other stores.

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 Alys Martinez

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    LANCASTER, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Three generations of nurses from the same family have all worked at the same hospital in Lancaster. For them, nursing is a family affair.

Patricia Pendleton started it all. She worked as a nurse at the Antelope Valley Medical Center for 25 years, and now she’s retired.

She said she is amazed that her daughter and granddaughters have followed in her footsteps at the same hospital.

“They’re doing wonderful things. They are working in a wonderful place, they are saving lives and that’s what we should all try to do,” Pendleton said.

Terryl Call said she was inspired watching her mom, Patricia, become a nurse and care for their father as he fought cancer.

“We were basically raised in the hospital for two years, and seeing the care those nurses provided for my father and the way we were embraced as children, it basically led my way,” Terryl Call, AVMC house supervisor, said.

She decided nursing was the path she wanted to take too, and has since become a supervisor supporting hospital staff.

The family’s legacy didn’t stop with Terryl. “It honestly makes me very emotional, but I am very honored and privileged to be able to see them and all the hard work they put in,” she said.

Her daughters, Tayler and Amanda, grew up hearing stories about the work their mother and grandmother did, and there was no pressure.

Nursing did eventually become their calling – they even went through nursing school together.

“Growing up, I just remember thinking my mom was the coolest person ever and my grandma was the coolest person ever and a lot of that came from what they did as a profession,” Amanda Starler, AVMC nurse said.

“It wasn’t really like we were pushed from generation to generation. It was kind of natural and flowed that way.”

Amanda and her sister Tayler both work in the ER. It’s a level II trauma center, and they get to see their mom every day.

“We work nights so we get to see her for an hour. She always comes down and says ‘hi’ and it’s the best thing,” Tayler Rodriguez, AVMC nurse said.

Three generations of nurses, one hospital and one calling. “I think it shows how much we appreciate our community and how we want to help and give back,” Rodriguez 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 John Garcia

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    WHEELING, Illinois (WLS) — A family is mourning the loss of its 6-year-old black Labrador retriever after the dog was allegedly left in a hot vehicle for hours following transport to a Chicago-area dog daycare facility.

Friends and neighbors have brought flowers and offered support to the Serota family as they grieve the death of their dog, Miller.

Steve Serota said Miller was more than a pet and was an important part of the family. According to Serota, a driver picked up Miller around 9 a.m. He said he later received a call around 4 p.m. informing him that the dog had died after apparently being left in a hot vehicle throughout the day.

“He was the definition of a good boy. Love everybody. He was one of those dogs that was super friendly to dogs, kids, everybody,” Serota said.

Serota said the family had sent Miller to Waggles Pet Resort dog daycare in Wheeling several times a week for the past five years. He said the daycare provided an opportunity for Miller to socialize with other dogs.

Serota said that after receiving the call, he immediately went to the facility and found Miller still locked in a cage inside a van. He said he could not understand how staff apparently forgot the 110-pound dog.

“It defies rationale. This was a happy loving member of our family who was left in a hot vehicle for hours. He didn’t deserve that,” Serota said.

Serota described Miller’s death as an inexplicable mistake and said explaining what happened has been extremely difficult for the family.

Waggles, which describes itself as a premier resort for pets, released a statement addressing the incident.

“We are devastated about the incident involving a dog on one of our buses yesterday. As dog lovers, the thought of any dog harmed breaks our hearts, and today we are grieving with the family,” the statement said.

The family said it is speaking publicly in hopes of preventing similar incidents in the future.

“I wanna make sure everyone is aware of this. There has to be accountability when things like this happen. This can’t happen,” Serota said.

The owner of Waggles said the company is reaching out to customers individually to discuss the situation.

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.