Author: CNN Newsource

By Kate Devine

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    CONWAY SPRINGS, Kansas (KAKE) — Kansas wheat farmers are facing a difficult season as dry weather, extreme temperatures and rising costs take a toll on crops.

According to the USDA, wheat production is forecast to be down 21% from 2025 and could be the smallest crop since 1972.

Conway Springs farmer Bryan Bates said his wheat got off to a strong start in the fall, but conditions changed as the crop came out of dormancy.

“We had a real good start in fall. We had plenty of moisture in the fall. We came up good, looked good most all the winter, and then as it started coming out of dormancy, we were running out of moisture,” Bates said. “Late February would be coming out of dormancy, and then just very, very little rainfall in April and May when the crop needs it the most. We just didn’t have much at all. That has presented its own set of challenges.”

Bates said warmer-than-normal temperatures also hurt the crop.

“We’ve had warmer than normal temperatures during those times, some 90-degree temperatures in April, and maybe some 90-degree temperatures in March, just pretty much unheard of,” Bates said. “The wheat had its set of struggles.”

He said the drought has left much of the wheat shorter than usual.

“Our wheat crop usually should be a lot of times hip-high, and this year it’s knee-high, so there’s just a lot of that growth that didn’t happen,” Bates said.

Bates said harvest is also starting earlier than normal.

“In my life, we’ve only cut one time in May that I can remember,” Bates said. “More often than not, as a kid, I remember we would be starting harvest on Father’s Day, and so getting a start here end of May is unusual.”

He said a smaller crop can have a ripple effect across the Kansas economy.

“We don’t have as much wheat to sell, so consequently it affects the equipment dealers and that kind of thing,” Bates said. “When we have a short crop, then it trickles through the rest of the economy.”

Bates said he is still trying to stay optimistic.

“Farmers, I think, are always optimistic that the crop is going to be better than what it looks,” Bates said. “I’m hopeful that it yields better than it looks.”

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 S.E. Jenkins

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    KERR COUNTY, California (KTVT) — A week after temporarily suspending the nursing license of the chief health officer for Camp Mystic, the Texas summer camp where 27 girls were killed in a flood last year, the Texas Board of Nursing said Mary Elizabeth Eastland may practice with a limited license.

The board temporarily suspended Eastland’s license following its investigation into the deadly July 4, 2025, flood.

According to an agreed order approved May 19, the board found Eastland failed to ensure the camp’s emergency nursing manual included adequate emergency planning procedures, failed to contact 911 after campers and staff were reported missing and failed to report the deaths to state authorities within the required 24-hour timeframe. According to the order, this created an unsafe environment that likely contributed to physical, emotional and psychological harm as well as loss of life.

The order also alleges Eastland allowed camp nurses to administer medications under inadequate standing orders between March and July 2025.

Eastland, a registered nurse since 2008 and Camp Mystic’s chief health officer for 16 years, neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed to disciplinary action.

Her license was reinstated on Tuesday with stipulations, including restrictions barring her from direct patient care while under the order. She must also complete a board-approved nursing jurisprudence and ethics course within one year.

Following the board’s updated action, attorney Joshua Fiveson released the following statement:

“We are grateful that the Texas Board of Nursing has allowed Mrs. Eastland to continue practicing under a limited license. While she has no intention of again serving as a camp nurse, Mrs. Eastland remains committed to her professional calling and thanks the Board for that privilege. The families of all those lost to the July 4, 2025, flood will forever remain in Mrs. Eastland’s heart and prayers.”

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 Lesley Marin, Dean Fioresi

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Just a day after tens of thousands of Orange County residents were finally able to return to their homes after days of uncertainty due to a chemical tank crisis at a nearby aerospace facility, a group of high school seniors was able to walk the stage for their graduation on Wednesday.

Pacifica High School seniors, decked out in shiny blue caps and gowns, gathered with friends and family to celebrate the moment they thought wouldn’t happen.

“We were all ready to go to school and we got the notification, like, ‘School’s canceled.’ And that day was our last day,” said one senior.

For her and other seniors, the days leading up to their graduation were filled with unease, evacuation orders and emergency updates revolving around the compromised tank at GKN Aerospace, which was at risk of a catastrophic explosion or toxic chemical leak. Their school, which sits just a mile from the facility, was in immediate danger, as were many of their houses.

“I was, like, at my aunt’s house in Long Beach and all my friends were like at hotels and we were like, ‘I guess this is our life,'” said Penelope Jesson. “We’re gonna graduate and our house is gonna blow up.”

With the threat now mitigated, seniors said that the fear of missing out on another graduation milestone was far too familiar. The same group of students missed out on their sixth-grade promotion due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

“It was not a unique feeling,” Jesson said. “We were like, ‘Not again.'”

Garden Grove Unified School District Board member Teri Rocco lifted spirits during her speech to students, despite also having to evacuate from her home in the midst of the crisis.

“This even is more meaningful now for our kids. They need that sense of normalcy, they need to celebrate, they need to be joyous and happy and focus on this day,” Rocco said.

For Jesson, now the eighth family member to graduate from Pacifica, she said that moment is all the more special.

“Not all of them are here with me. I’m wearing [my grandfather’s] ashes and class ring. I just feel really good and proud right now,” Jesson said.

John F. Kennedy High School, which acted as an evacuation shelter for some of the thousands of people who fled their homes, had to postpone their graduation ceremony by one week. It is still scheduled to take place in the coming days.

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 Hunter Sowards, Dean Fioresi

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Thousands of dollars have been raised for a John Wayne Airport employee who became the subject of a viral video on social media, which showed him clearly working through pain.

Since the GoFundMe was started, more than $65,000 has been raised for James Blair, a U.S. Navy veteran who has spent the last two decades working at the airport.

“When I first saw the video and I saw the money coming up, I started laughing, because I’ve been doing this job for 20 years and I just didn’t think anybody actually cared,” Blair said.

He says that despite chronic pain, he continues to work through it so he can continue caring for his 90-year-old mother in hospice care.

“My mom fell … I’m going to cry. My mom fell in September, and she was taken to the hospital,” Blair said.

The video in question, which shows him limping across the tarmac at the airport, was captured by Lacinda Thackeray.

“He was really struggling, what my first thought,” Thackeray said. “As I sat with it for a moment, and the tears were coming down my face, I just wanted to know if anybody knew who he was.”

She posted the video online. Since then, it’s gotten more than 3.5 million views and helped spur the massive fundraising effort.

“There was just so many beautiful comments that, like, it was also so heartwarming to see that people really needed to see this,” Thackeray said. “That there’s still good people out there.”

Blair, who works as an aircraft mechanic, says that so many years of refueling planes have taken a toll on his body, specifically his knees. He wanted to make sure to say that he doesn’t consider himself a hero, and that he represents people around the world who are still working and living with chronic pain. He’s hopeful that his story can serve as an inspiration for others to keep working hard.

Thackeray hopes that the moment can be a learning lesson for others as well, inspiring them to take notice of the people around them, and helping if you have the means.

“So many people were just saying, ‘I just have lost hope.’ Don’t lose hope. Continue to go forward and see what you can do to be those helping hands,” she said.

The GoFundMe can be found by searching for the keywords: “Help Him Retire with Dignity.”

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 Jasmine Viel, Julie Sharp

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — While the majority of evacuated Orange County residents were allowed to return home last night as officials said conditions of a compromised chemical tank improved, thousands remain under evacuation orders on Tuesday.

At a Fountain Valley Red Cross evacuation shelter, Ace Kelley is trying to keep his spirits up as he prepares for another long night sleeping in his truck with his cats. He is frustrated that he still can’t go home.

“I think it’s screwed up these people get to go home. I don’t think it’s fair,” Kelley said. “I’m glad people got to go home, but I’ve been out here since Thursday.”

Since the onset of the Garden Grove crisis last week, 50,000 people in several cities within a certain radius of a GKN Aerospace chemical tank were evacuated. Officials were uncertain if the failing tank would explode or leak, potentially exposing communities to toxic chemicals. By Monday evening, Orange County Fire Authority officials said the “worst-case scenario was mitigated and resolved.”

This led to a reduction in the evacuation footprint, leaving 16,000 residents to remain under evacuation orders.

Luis Castro and his family remain evacuated, and on Tuesday morning, he returned to the Fountain Valley shelter from his graveyard shift as a truck driver.

“At night, my wife and daughter sleep. I leave for work around 10 p.m., and I come back at 6 a.m., and repeat. It’s hard to sleep (but) making it work,” Castro said, noting that they sleep in cots, in close quarters.

Others, like Jazmine Ramiro, were leaving the shelter on Tuesday, after arriving last week.

“I have not been resting. I’ve been waking up at five in the morning. I’m not used to that and there is a lot of activities, and dogs and animals, barking noise,” she said, relieved to go home.

Officials said on Monday that the remaining evacuees will be allowed to return home when it is determined to be safe, when the damaged tank is stabilized enough.

“We’re going to make the decision, are those readings stabilized, is the community safe to come back? If that’s the answer and all the unified incident commanders support it, then we’re going to have that discussion to then go ahead and consider reducing the evacuation zones,” OCFA Chief TJ McGovern said.

The Garden Grove City Council is hosting a community forum on Tuesday evening regarding the chemical tank incident.

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 Zach Boetto

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    RIVERSIDE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A Riverside County beekeeper says that last week’s Verona Fire, which broke out near Hemet and burned hundreds of acres, caused him to lose 80 hives and millions of bees.

Brandon Teller, of BeeDoctor Bee Removal, says the loss could have a critical impact on the region’s farmers and shoppers.

“As the beekeeper, that’s devastating to me,” Teller said. He said that the small number of remaining bees at the apiary

Teller usually goes across Southern California, rescuing unwanted European honeybees, which he would then bring back to his property for care. Once healthy enough to return to work, he’d then rent them out to alfalfa and almond farmers to pollinate their crops.

“We say, ‘Hey, we’ve got plenty of hives right here. They’re ready to go, they’ve got fresh queens and they’re hungry,'” Teller said. “Farmers love it.”

He says that by losing three to four million bees, the impact will be felt across Southern California.

“Keeping bees and maintaining bees at this scale is what allows the farmer to produce food at a lower cost,” Teller said.

While he knows there’s a lot of work ahead, he says the main message taken away from the loss is fire prevention and conservation of California’s natural landscape.

“The saying goes: This land is my land, this land is your land. It’s all of our land and we have to conserve it, we have to preserve it, we have to maintain it, and we have to do it responsibly,” Teller 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 Carmela Karcher

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    SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, California (KOVR) — An invasive bug species has made its way to Northern California wine regions. If spread, it could damage and kill acres of grapevines.

Now, the San Joaquin County Agriculture Commissioner’s Office is putting out a warning. The Costco in Lodi is one of the four store locations in the county that recently recieved and distributed grape plants that could contain the invasive species.

The county agricultural commissioner is now trying to find where these plants went and stop the spread.

“If we have something coming in that can wipe out our industry, we better get on it,” said Peltier Winery owner Rodney Schatz.

The bug is a glassy-winged sharpshooter, a bacteria-carrying insect that can kill grapevines and damage other crops.

“You get this bacteria that, eventually, it slowly kills your vines over time,” Schatz said. “It can devastate your field in a very short period of time, and you really won’t know it till you start seeing it six or eight months later, or next year when spring comes out, you start to see the problem, and then you have a bigger problem.”

Schatz said he remembers when this invasive species destroyed countless vineyards in Temecula back in the 1990s.

Now, it was discovered on grape plants sold at Costco stores in California’s Central Valley, stemming from a wholesale nursery in Fresno County.

Because of the risk it poses, the ag commissioner is asking anyone who has purchased grape vines from Costco on or after April 21 to contact them.

But Schatz isn’t too worried.

“Maybe there’s a few of them on a few plants, but because this has happened, the county is on it. They’re going to go isolate the problem as quick as they can,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that one or two aren’t going to get loose, but I don’t think you’re looking at an epidemic.”

According to the county commissioner, they already rejected shipments coming into the county and placed traps at all area Costco stores. They say 617 grape plants have already been sold and so far, 50 of those have been destroyed.

“The industry is doing what they’re supposed to do,” Schatz said. “They found a problem, attacked it, and it looks like it’s probably going to get contained. So whatever procedures are in place to do this have worked.”

The food supply chain has not been impacted by this invasive bug.

If you have purchased the grape plants, Costco is offering full refunds.

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 Conor Wight

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    ANOKA, Minnesota (WCCO) — Buried within the National Archives is an unexplained sighting from right here in Minnesota.

It happened just after 1:17 a.m. on a cold day in February 2025. A small group of Anoka police officers was conducting an “after-action briefing” in a Domino’s Pizza parking lot just up the road from the police station.

That’s when one of the officers spotted it: a multi-colored object with flashing lights “hovering” in the sky. Federal investigators have classified it as an unidentified anomalous phenomenon, or UAP.

Documents detailing the event were declassified and released in 2025 by the National Archives and Records Administration. Three Anoka police officers witnessed the object in the sky, with at least one of them reporting what they saw to Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA), a nonprofit that evaluates UAP sightings. The ASA then forwarded its interview to the FBI.

The unnamed officer said that he and his colleagues spotted the object rapidly changing and flashing various colors on the horizon from their position in Anoka. He shot a video with his iPhone through a pair of binoculars, estimating that the object, which looked like a sphere, was about 50 miles away. He said that it descended and ascended rapidly. He said that one of his fellow officers traveled in the object’s direction, arriving in Elk River, only to find that it was still too far to the west.

In all, the officer said that they observed the object for about 90 minutes with clear visibility.

Ryan Graves, the founder of ASA, said that he and his team found the report credible. The former military pilot said that he started the nonprofit to raise awareness about UAPs and advocate for improving safety protocols both at the federal and state levels when it comes to flying objects of unknown origin that defy known “state of the art” flight paths.

“We don’t take a position that these are therefore aliens or something else,” Graves said.

He said it was notable that police officers were the chief witnesses in this case. He said more often, reports are coming from both commercial and military pilots.

According to the interview with ASA, the officer involved said that he had witnessed a similar object about a month prior during the day.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon began releasing more files related to UFOs and UAPs at the direction of President Trump.

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 Adam Duxter

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    ZIMMERMAN, Minnesota (WCCO) — School was not in session over the holiday weekend, but a four-legged friend still managed to pay a visit to a Zimmerman, Minnesota, Montessori school.

The entire incident lasted less than 10 minutes, but left Prairie Hill Montessori with a shattered door and quite the story to tell.

“We got a call, we were up at our cabin… I was more concerned about the deer, which is just the way I am,” said Katherine Curtis, the school’s owner and instructor.

Curtis says the entire moment was caught on CCTV. It shows the deer break through a tempered glass door before tearing through the building, knocking items off shelves and attempting to exit through another door.

Eventually, a local sheriff’s deputy responded and was able to shoo the deer out the door.

“We were all like amazed at how fast it all happened. Actually, how fast the sheriff was able to get here,” Curtis said.

On Tuesday, Curtis was using the incident as a teaching moment. The school had painted a life-size deer on the boarded-up door, and students were coloring deer photos.

“All of the children came in this morning and reported to me what happened,” she said. “It’s unique. It’s something we can remember for years and we’ll have the video. The kids can remember it as something unique and special that happened to us at Prairie Hill.”

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 Frank Sulkowski

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    BULLOCH COUNTY, Georgia (WJCL) — In Bulloch County, kindness sometimes arrives on a yellow school bus.

For the past 11 years, Edward Rich has safely transported students for Brooklet Elementary School, Southeast Bulloch Middle School, and Southeast Bulloch High School. But for the children who ride with him, Mr. Rich is known for more than getting them to and from school. He is also known for a tradition that reflects his generous heart.

“It’s very rewarding,” said Rich. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do this, but these are memories I can take with me the rest of my life.”

Each year, Rich rewards students for good behavior on the bus with a pizza dinner, paid for entirely out of his own pocket. He also makes sure to get permission from parents before taking students out. It is a simple gesture, but one that leaves a lasting impression.

“You don’t find very many people that are willing to do extra stuff for their students,” said Jennifer Douberly.

“He goes above and beyond,” said Allen Martin, Director of Transportation for Bulloch County Schools. “That’s what we look for when hiring our drivers.”

What makes the tradition even more meaningful is that Rich does it quietly. He does not seek praise or attention. Instead, he chooses to recognize students in a personal, thoughtful way—showing them that respect, kindness, and good choices matter.

“I wanted to do something for the kids that behave well and this seemed like a fun thing for them to do,” said Rich. “I like seeing them have a good time.”

During the final week of school, Rich continued that tradition by taking two groups of students to Nonna Picci in Statesboro for dinner.

In a world where big headlines often overshadow small acts of goodness, Edward Rich reminds us that everyday heroes are all around us. Sometimes they are behind the wheel, opening the bus door with a smile, and teaching children lessons that go far beyond the ride home.

“This was on my bucket list,” said Rich. “Driving a school bus is something I wanted to do for a long time. I used to have my own business and this allowed me to drive before I went to work and drive in the middle of the day. After dropping off the last student, I would go finish my day off at my office.”

Bulloch County Schools always looking for experienced and motivated bus drivers. For more information visit Jobs in Transportation.

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.