Author: CNN Newsource

By Khiree Stewart

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    BEL AIR, Maryland (WBAL) — Several parents and others held a “read-in” before Monday’s Harford County Board of Education meeting.

The protest comes after the board’s decision to remove “Flamer” from school libraries across the county.

Kevin Smith, a parent, is one of many who took part in the protest. Smith joined other people as they read Flamer and other books that have been banned in other areas and throughout history.

Flamer is about a boy navigating friendships, bullying, sexuality and self-discovery, according to its description. However, some have said it contains graphic language and vulgarity.

“If you don’t like what’s in a book, then don’t read it, put it down. It doesn’t cause you any harm by doing that,” Smith said.

Not everyone agreed with Smith, though. Some think the county did the right thing by banning the book.

“We just want to protect our children’s purity,” one person said during the meeting. “We don’t want to bring our children into an adult environment too quickly.”

Delane Lewis, president of Together We Will – Harford County/Upper Chesapeake, attended the meeting. Lewis’ advocacy group planned the read-in.

“This book is a very powerful book that speaks to bullying, and it’s very important that books like this are in the system and available to students that might be experiencing something like that because it gives them hope,” Lewis said.

Lewis said they are in the process of appealing the decision to the Maryland State Board of Education.

“They chose the most extreme option when every parent in this system already has the ability to tell the system they don’t want their child to read a book,” said Lewis.

The board will hold a listening session later in September for parents to discuss the topic and other topics on their minds.

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By Pavlina Osta

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    WAUWAUTOSA, Wisconsin (WDJT) — It’s been one month since the historic flood destroyed thousands of people’s cars and homes. For the Knitter family, it was an ordeal that included being rescued by boat from the raging waters. On Monday, Sept. 8, we learned they still have a long road to recovery.

“I think a lot of people locally didn’t fully realize the impact certain families have experienced,” said Katie Knitter.

Flooring ripped up, drywall gone, and a toilet in the middle of the living room.

“There’s a segment of people that truly lost everything,” said Knitter.

Katie Knitter and her family’s home was once full of color, laughter and cuddles with their dogs, is now gutted.

“We are missing drywall all along the lower half of the entire house, there’s no floors. We have to buy new kitchen cabinets, appliances,” said Knitter.

We first told you about the Knitters when they were rescued by boat, even saving their daughters beloved goldfish, Rodeo.

“Everyone was a big fan of Rodeo. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it to the move to the rental. He lived a big life,” said Knitter.

Now that they have a temporary home they’re trying to make the best of a tough situation.

“People have been generous, I’m sitting on a couch that someone gave us for free. Really anything you see in this rental are things people were gracious enough to let us barrow or to donate to us,” said Knitter.

“My daughter is turning 60this month there’s been a lot of changes for her first we were staying with family, now we are here, last week was her first week of Kindergarten.”

While the timeline on construction is still unclear, the family hopes to be home for the holidays.

There is a GoFundMe to support the Knitter family here.

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By Matthew Rodriguez

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    INGLEWOOD, California (KCAL, KCBS) — An Inglewood man faces seven criminal charges after he allegedly killed two men and tried to kill another he met through a dating app.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office charged 34-year-old Rockim Prowell with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of carjacking, two counts of burglary and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted as charged, Prowell faces death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prowell is currently on probation after he was convicted of a series of burglaries in LA County between 2019 and 2021.

“Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence,” LA County DA Nathan J. Hochman said. “These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life.”

Prosecutors said Prowell allegedly shot and killed Miguel Angel King, 51, in July 2021 after the two men met on a dating app. Prowell allegedly stole King’s car, which investigators found more than a week later, several miles away from Prowell’s home. Prosecutors said forensic evidence inside the vehicle tied Prowell to King’s death.

Investigators found King’s remains in the Angeles National Forest about a month after his death.

The district attorney’s office also tied Prowell to the 2023 disappearance of Robert Gutierrez, 53. Investigators said Prowell met Gutierrez in person on Aug. 21, 2023, after the pair chatted on the same dating site. Gutierrez reported the 53-year-old man missing two days after the incident. Police have not located his body, according to the LA County DA.

Prosecutors said investigators found Gutierrez’s car in Prowell’s garage and additional evidence that linked him to the man’s death when they arrested him last week.

The final case mentioned by the LA County DA happened on Feb. 22, 2025, when Prowell allegedly beat a 40-year-old man he met on the same dating app. Prosecutors said Prowell allegedly bound the victim, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat before running him over with a car, breaking his leg, when the 40-year-old man tried to escape.

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By Hannah Kliger

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — It has been nearly 24 years since Sept. 11 terror attack, and while hundreds of FDNY and NYPD crews rushed to ground zero, so did the city’s volunteer firefighters.

In the outer boroughs, small teams of “vollies” quietly stepped in to protect and support their neighbors however they could.

Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department still feels pain At the historic Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department, retired Chief Doreen Garson recalled the nightmares of a city covered in dust.

“Driving through the tunnel, you could not see anything. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It was just ash coming at us,” Garson said.

The 100-year-old department’s first female chief served for 32 years before stepping down in 2018. On Sept. 11, 2001, and in the days following, Garson, who was running for city council at the time, went down to ground zero with a partner to help with recovery and cleanup.

“We were passing the buckets through to wherever the end of the line was. And the dogs went in and searched, you know, to see if they could find anybody,” she recalled.

Garson also took photographs of her time at the site, to document a city rattled by tragedy.

“It was just very, very frightening that something like that can happen to us when we felt so comfortable. That comfort is not there anymore,” she said.

“We all have our own variation of PTSD”

The Gerritsen Beach vollies are Brooklyn’s only volunteer-run firehouse, one of eight in the city, scattered across the outer boroughs. Ed Wilmarth III, former chief and department historian of the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department, comes from a long legacy of firefighters.

“Every male Wilmarth going back to the 1700s has been a [fireman], a volunteer fireman at some point in their lives,” Wilmarth said.

Wilmarth also rushed toward Lower Manhattan with three vollies after the first plane hit. He recalls running for cover once the first tower began to collapse.

“I can hear all this stuff hitting behind me, hitting the ground, hitting the ambulances. So, I just made the decision to just dive underneath the back of our ambulance. And that’s probably what saved me,” he said.

The force of the collapse broke windows of nearby buildings and bones of those lucky enough to be far away. All four volunteers made it out alive, though two of Wilmarth’s colleagues, Fred Gray and Captain Robert Nussberger, would eventually die of 9/11-related illnesses.

“I have a chronic sinusitis that was became 9/11 certified. We all have our own variation of PTSD, as one would expect,” Wilmarth said.

Many scars are invisible but lasting

In the days following the attack, volunteer fire departments in the outer boroughs were deployed to backfill at FDNY firehouses because their manpower and resources were all tied up at ground zero.

Memorials to local heroes can be found across the borough’s small communities: a baseball field, a flagpole in Marine Park, a plaque on the wall of the Broad Channel VFD.

“I hope I live to be an old man,” Wilmarth said of his health. “But unfortunately, the amount of first responders that were out on 9/11, the amount that have passed away has now surpassed the amount of people that were killed that day.”

Sometimes, the heroes walk among us, carrying the consequences of their sacrifice.

“Bladder cancer came in 2021. I went through a year of treatments. And then I was clear for a year, and then it came back again,” Garson said. “In ’23, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and last year it was metastatic.”

Many scars are invisible but lasting, a reminder that the danger, their fight, and their service didn’t end that day.

Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.

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By Marvin Hurst

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    PELICAN BAY, Texas (KTVT) — A Pelican Bay woman, who told CBS News Texas that she is known by many as the “monkey woman,” is willing to relinquish her furry companion, Abu. Carmen, whose first name we’re using for now, faces no criminal charges.

She was under investigation for owning a spider monkey, as keeping the animal in the municipality is against the city’s ordinance. Prior to securing an attorney, Carmen said she was unaware of the local law, and public safety members took pictures with the animal.

Police sergeant asks “monkey woman” for a picture “I was coming back to the police department here, and I saw the owner walking, and she had the monkey on top of her shoulder,” Sgt. Justin Spurgeon.

Spurgeon said he stopped Carmen for a picture. The images served two purposes: for his daughter and as a record of the animal in the city limits. The sergeant said as he prepared to take the picture, what happened next shocked him.

“I was probably maybe five feet away from her, taking a photo, and the monkey kind of lunged from her,” Spurgeon said. “Grabbed my arm, my left arm, and bit me on the elbow.”

The father of two said he asked Carmen if the animal drew blood. He said he did not see any until he got back to the office. Then, Spurgeon said he did research that frightened him about the possibilities that bit could bring.

“We’d like to avoid that just by not allowing it back in our city,” he said. “It shouldn’t have been here in the first place. But yeah, we don’t need that.”

As he sought medical attention, the authorities went to get the spider monkey. Police said it’s the same process for a dog that bites a person.

Abu’s owner alleges spider monkey is being kept in a bird cage

Abu was voluntarily surrendered by his owners and sent to a facility in Johnson County.

His owner alleges he’s being kept in a bird’s cage.

Her comments are now being answered by her attorney, Dan Wyde. He helped a Dallas woman regain custody of her spider monkey, Jorgie Boy, after she was arrested for a DWI offense. He was being kept at the Funky Monkey Ranch in Burleson until Wyde got involved.

Now, the owner of Abu wants her spider to go to the Funky Monkey Ranch. So, they are working in concert on the matter.

Owner requests spider monkey be transferred to Funky Monkey Ranch

In a statement, Wyde said, “Abu’s owners only want the current caretaking facility be “primate” certified. If not, the owners request Abu be transferred to the Funky Monkey Ranch Primate Preserve. Thank you for your concern.”

Pelican Bay Police Chief Brad Anderson said they have been working with Wyde to resolve the issue. He has no intentions of euthanizing the animal, although the wording of their ordinance states they can in certain instances.

Anderson said the matter will be handled in a hearing next week.

“The judge can make a decision on if the animal goes with her, if the animal goes with some other organization, that’s completely up to him,” Anderson said.

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By Alicia Roberts

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Richard Cornish is a pro at making people look and feel their best, no matter the obstacles.

Cornish has been a hairstylist for more than three decades. Since January, he’s been operating a mobile bedside salon, Restore Salon Services, out of two black travel bags for patients undergoing long-term treatment and hospital stays at Penn Medicine.

“When you tell a person who is in the hospital that they can actually receive a haircut or a shampoo or a beard trim or something like that, it helps them to kind of change their own perspective on their own situation,” Cornish said. “It kind of normalizes their experience in the hospital, it helps them keep their own identities.”

For him, helping someone look their best even when they’re not feeling it is a small win in the road to recovery.

“People who I encounter in a hospital are just so incredibly grateful to have something other than medical issues to talk about and services to receive,” Cornish said. “So this work in the hospital is much more my calling, although I do love being in the salon.”

Right now, he spends two days a month at Penn Medicine, but come January, he’s hoping to spend four days a month. The goal is to expand his work to as many patients as possible.

He also encourages anyone with a talent to share to consider volunteering their time, knowing that sometimes the best medicine may come from the outside in.

“I think there is always something you can do with your talent you have, you just have to find what your passion is,” Cornish said. “This is my passion. I see the magic and the power that this provides people, and so that just fills me up.”

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