Author: CNN Newsource

By Michael Abeyta

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    AURORA, Colorado (KCNC) — An Aurora murder caught on camera, but with little other clues to go on, has remained a cold case for ten years. Now, police are hoping a podcast can help crack the case.

Back in the week of May 15th, 2016, there was a lot going on. People were monitoring the spread of the Zika virus, then candidate Donald Trump was in the middle of his first campaign for President, and Aurora Police shot an offender fleeing a traffic stop. That shooting ultimately proved to be justified. So, police say it may have been easy to miss this one murder case amidst the other events.

“If you weren’t watching the news that day or you didn’t pick up a copy of the paper that day, you might not know anything about this case,” said Joe Moylan, a Public Information Officer for the Aurora Police Department.

On Sunday, May 15th, 2016, at 9:59 PM, a caller reported to the Aurora Police that they had found a woman lying in the parking lot of a Burlington Coat Factory in the 1200 block of Abilene Street. That woman was 21-year-old Chelsea Yasser from Arizona. She had been stabbed multiple times. Yasser was rushed to the hospital, where she later died.

The murder was caught on camera. Police say a van drove up, pulled Yasser inside, and a struggle ensued when she was presumably stabbed.

“There’s evidence that she fought back, and she got out of the car. You do see on video that she takes several steps and then she collapses,” said Moylan.

Police immediately began their investigation, but there was little left at the scene in the way of clues, and they couldn’t make out the license plate of the van in the video, so they turned to the public for help.

“There was media attention at the time. We did push out videos and photos on social media. We got very little tips in this case,” said Moylan.

Now, ten years later, the case is cold, and they are turning to the public again. This time in a different way. They are releasing a podcast about the case called “The White Whale — The Chelsea Yasser Story”.

“True crime is a widely popular genre, not just podcasts, but books, TV shows, all that stuff. And I think what we’re trying to do is to tap into a broader audience,” said Moylan.

The podcast will explore the case, who Yasser was, and how detectives have been investigating over the past 10 years.

APD says Yasser’s parents are featured in at least one episode because they are hopeful this will help find their daughter’s killer.

“They’ve been without answers for ten years. Speaking with them, I know that it hasn’t been an easy ten years. They’re still dealing with the loss. And I think they were up for trying something new,” said Moylan.

The podcast will be five episodes, which allows APD to reveal much more about the case than they ever have before. They say they hope it will generate new and better leads.

“I think being able to go into greater detail about the case itself and what we’ve learned over the years, hopefully will …maybe jog somebody’s memory,” said Moylan.

The first episode of the podcast will be released on June 29th.

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 Christa Swanson

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    AURORA, Colorado (KCNC) — Aurora firefighters say one person was injured in a house fire that trapped six kittens inside.

Around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, firefighters were called to a home in the 1600 block of N. Dayton Street after police at the scene saw smoke rising from the structure.

They received reports that someone might be trapped in the basement and conducted two searches of the home, but found no one inside. The firefighters did, however, find 6 kittens trapped inside the home and safely rescued them.

Aurora Fire Rescue says one person was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The resident and the kittens have now been displaced due to the fire.

AFR says they’re looking to find new homes for the kittens, named Mason, Dixie, Alfie, Alex, Felicia and Suki. Anyone interested in adopting one or more of them can contact Demi’s Animal Rescue, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter serving the Denver metro area.

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 Dean Fioresi

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    RIVERSIDE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — More than 30 dogs were rescued from a box truck and an SUV in Murrieta in May during an animal cruelty investigation, police said.

The incident happened on May 1, when Murrieta Police Department officers said they were called to the 41000 block of Guava Street for reports of trespassing.

“What began as a routine call for service quickly developed into a significant animal cruelty investigation,” a social media post from Murrieta PD said.

Arriving officers found a 15-foot U-Haul truck that had parked on private property. Inside, they found 21 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that were “confined within the vehicle’s enclosed cargo area,” which they said “lacked ventilation and air conditioning.”

Police said that many of the dogs appeared neglected as they had matted fur and limited access to food and water.

“Several of the female dogs were determined to be pregnant,” the post said. “Officers learned the animals had been left inside the enclosed vehicle for several hours.”

Riverside County Animal Control officers were contacted to assist with the incident and worked to remove the dogs from the truck one by one, police said.

While this was happening, police said that the suspect returned to the area in a separate SUV, which had an additional 12 dogs, bringing the total to 33 animals involved.

“Based on the circumstances of the investigation, the suspect was arrested on charges related to animal cruelty, animal abandonment, and leaving animals unattended in a vehicle,” police said.

On May 27, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office filed 21 felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor charges against the suspect, police said.

All of the dogs were taken to Animal Friends of the Valley in Lake Elsinore for treatment and care, according to police. At the time of their post on June 9, all 33 of the dogs remained in the custody of Animal Friends of the Valley.

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 Dean Fioresi

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    REDONDO BEACH, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A Redondo Beach hardware store owner says that his business was hit by burglars twice in two days, leaving them out about $40,000 in stolen goods and damaged property.

The burglaries happened at South Bay Hardware, located in the 2400 block of Artesia Boulevard, on Friday, said Marcello Minguzzi, the store’s manager. The first burglary happened at around 1:40 a.m. on Friday, when two burglars approached the store and broke a window panel to gain entry.

Once inside, Minguzzi says that the burglars took off with approximately $10,000 in tools that were on display as part of their Father’s Day deals and money from the registers.

About 24 hours later, at 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, two burglars targeted the business again, this time arriving in a different car, but shattering a window panel to gain access again.

“We had sealed this panel. We tried to block it off, but it didn’t stop them,” Minguzzi said. “They still snuck in, pulled their car back, hit our end caps. I guess they had seen other stuff they wanted, some other power tools, so they came back to finish the job.”

Minguzzi said that a police report has been filed with the Redondo Beach Police Department, who are now investigating the incidents. So far, there have not been any reports of arrests in connection with the burglaries.

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 Charlie Lapastora

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    VACAVILLE, California (KOVR) — U.S. Marine veteran Rory Nichols is on a mission to make waves in his community with new American flags waving in their front yards. Three hundred and fifty flags were donated, along with gas gift cards to give to volunteers on Sunday, many of whom were veterans, to help replace used flags flying through their city.

With America’s 250th birthday around the corner, Nichols, who is also the Vacaville Veterans Services Organization’s vice chair, wanted to do something on Flag Day to help his community.

“Seemed like a fitting day to be able to do this and to make sure that the flags are replaced ahead of the Fourth of July and our 250th anniversary of America so that we have all new, bright, serviceable flags flying throughout the city,” Nichols said.

Nichols organized a day where 26 volunteers came together to replace American tattered and torn flags with brand new ones, including David and Sue Hornbrook’s torn flag. They weren’t home when the group went around to neighborhoods in the morning, so they contacted Nichols after volunteers left a note in case they wanted a new flag.

The Hornbrooks have children who’ve served in the military and appreciated the gesture, saying their new flag was “beautiful” and “gorgeous” – for them, it’s about pride in America and freedom.

“It’s just a great feeling as a veteran, and particularly people like this that, through their family, they have that public service, that patriotism that runs in their families,” Nichols said. “To be able to do this for them, it’s a good feeling to be out and give back and show our pride. And for people that are demonstrating their patriotism and pride by flying the flag, particularly in these times, it’s a great feeling to be able to go out there and do that.”

The stars and stripes team of volunteers put up around 200 flags Sunday. Two of them are twins and Cub Scouts, Everett and Eli Ramsey. They joined their grandfather to help.

“I was passing out flags for the for the 250th anniversary, the torn down flags and worn out,” Everett Ramsey said. “We get permission first, we take them down and replace it with the ones that we got, and then we put those on it. It made me feel generous and kind.”

Everett’s twin brother, Eli, said it made him feel “happy” to be able to put up new American flags for people.

“There are lots of nice people that serve our country, like military, Air Force people that help our community today,” Eli Ramsey said.

An act of service for those who serve our country.

Lew Derfuss, an Air Force veteran and Team Amvets northern area commander, chose to volunteer and said, “It’s a worthy cause on Flag Day, especially commemorating the 250th anniversary of this great country.”

“We have our faults, but it’s still the best country in the world,” Derfuss said.

Jeff Mech, also an Air Force veteran, said he will go out of his way “to make sure this country is well represented.”

“Having the freedom to do what we want to do is the big thing for me,” Mech said.

Nichols and the Vacaville Veterans Hall staff are still accepting flag donations. You can drop them off at the drop box outside their building. There was also a flag retirement ceremony in Dixon, where torn and tattered flags were disposed of with honor.

“It’s just an honor, this representation of the service that we all have dedicated to this country,” Nichols 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 Sooji Nam

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    PACIFICA, California (KPIX) — After WalletHub ranked Pacifica as the worst small city nationwide to start a business, community members and entrepreneurs are turning this into something positive.

“We came up with what we call ourselves, we’re ranked 1,334. We’ll call ourselves Project 1334,” Ed Ochi, the co-founder of the initiative, told CBS News Bay Area. “We got handed lemons, let’s make lemonade out of this.”

The study compared 1,334 cities nationwide with a population between 25,000 and 100,000 residents. Officials said the best small city to start a business is St. George, Utah, and they had come to this conclusion based on business environment, access to resources and business costs.

“Convincing the world and the public that our town is not a lemon, so. We kind of came up the idea to go with that quite literally and we’re now making a Shandy and a mocktail using local citrus,” Alex Englund, the co-owner of Sharp Park Taproom, told CBS News Bay Area.

He opened his business a few months ago.

“Helping spread the image of the message of the campaign, and literally using lemons from our town to do so,” Englund said.

With this campaign, businesses are promoting local.

“One of the local pizza places is having a $13.34 pizza special on their pizzas. The bread bakers are doing a $13.34 combo. So, there’s just been a really creative combination they’re doing for 1334. Art studio across the studio is offering a bracelet-making project for $13.34,” Ochi said.

Neighbors like Paul Zabin said there’s more to Pacifica than a ranking.

“The surfing community, the galleries, there’s awesome food on the coast, awesome hiking trails. Tons of hiking trails,” he said.

“We’re working together as a group to try to change the story about what Pacifica’s about. The businesses that started here work together and they work collectively,” Ochi said.

And entrepreneurs like Englund said he, too, is pushing for a positive narrative.

“I’m just hoping we can get to a world where we have more shops that it’s easier for them to live, survive in this neighborhood, this community. And we can continue to grow that image in the greater Wallethub community and beyond because it’s pretty awesome little town,” 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 Julia Avant

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — After breaking ground in 2018, the Gordie Howe International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada is now standing tall and awaiting its first traveler, but an opening date is still up in the air.

On Thursday, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority issued a statement that said the U.S and Canada are still resolving outstanding issues.

In the meantime, CBS News Detroit learned the opening of this passageway could be a business boom, especially in Detroit.

It’s more than just a bridge, economists say the Gordie Howe Bridge is the single largest point of trade in the U.S.

“I think they are using the symbolism of this bridge for leverage in trade negotiations with Canada,” said Shooshan Danagoulian, associate professor of economics at Wayne State University.

When the bridge opens, Danagoulian says it will generate a higher volume of trade.

With the Ambassador Bridge and the tunnel being the current passageway, the economist said the Gordie Howe Bridge will alleviate the backups businesses have been seeing and are trying to avoid, while appeasing the many employees who travel back and forth for work.

“A lot of businesses on either side of the bridge rely on partners across the bridge for their product,” said Danagoulian.

However, in the last year, the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods shook up business production, especially in Michigan.

“A lot of businesses, I have been hearing, have been declaring bankruptcy or teetering on the verge of bankruptcy because they can neither afford their inputs or the tariff is making their entire operation unaffordable,” said Danagoulian.

CBS News Detroit found crews working near the bridge on Sunday.

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 Web Staff

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — A beloved Chicago runner just finished one of the most ambitious running challenges in the city’s history.

Accompanied by friends, his family, and dozens of supporters, Joabe Barbosa became the first person to have run every street in Chicago—finishing his quest from Oak Street and Michigan Avenue to the Buckingham Fountain on Sunday morning.

Barbosa started the project back in 2024. Over the next 680 days, he ran every single block in all 77 neighborhoods and logged more than 5,000 miles in all.

During his journey, the native of Brazil says he’s come to love Chicago as his second home.

“I went out to different neighborhoods in the winter, nothing happened to me. I went out to different neighborhoods in the summer, nothing happened to me,” he said. “It’s not even the fact that nothing is happening to me, it’s that people were being so, so nice to me. And so as I kept going, as I kept running, I just saw how, umm, how nice people were. And so I just started the message of positivity, trying to show how every single neighborhood in Chicago deserves respect.”

Barbosa was set to be deported after his student visa expired, but will get to stay for at least another year after getting some help from Roosevelt University.

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 Web Staff

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    LIBERTYVILLE, Illinois (WBBM) — Dive and swiftwater rescue teams are in the water in Libertyville looking for someone who may have vanished in the Des Plaines River.

It happened Sunday afternoon near the Oak Spring Road canoe launch.

Witnesses called 911 to report an overturned kayak with fishing gear, but no one was around it.

Rescue crews from several fire departments are helping with the rescue attempt.

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 Doug Myers

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    DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — A collision between a car and a DART train in northeast Dallas on Sunday left one person dead and two others injured, officials said.

The vehicle-train accident occurred just before 5 p.m. at Royal Lane and Audelia Road, according to the Dallas Police Department.

In a release, DART said a personal vehicle crossed onto the tracks and was struck by a Blue Line train.

The driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead. Their identity has not been confirmed. Two passengers on the train reported minor injuries, according to DART.

DART said train service was suspended between LBJ/Skillman and White Rock. A bus bridge was established to transport passengers between affected stations.

“The incident near Lake Highlands Station has been repaired,” DART said just after 10 p.m. “Blue Line trains are resuming normal operations; however, it may take time to recover regular scheduled service. Thank you for your patience.”

CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.

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.