Author: CNN Newsource

By Danielle Scruggs

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    BOYNTON BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Family, friends and loved ones are in mourning after a 3-year-old child died after getting their head stuck in a playset last month in Boynton Beach.

It happened just after 11 a.m. on July 23 in the Meadows of Boynton Beach community.

Officers with the Boynton Beach Police Department arrived at the scene and immediately began lifesaving measures on the toddler. Boynton Beach Fire Rescue arrived shortly thereafter and took the child to a nearby hospital.

The preliminary investigation showed that the toddler, along with their sibling, had been at a babysitter’s house when the incident occurred. The babysitter left the residence and left the children in their spouse’s care.

During this time, the spouse remained upstairs as the children played downstairs, periodically checking on the children and giving them snacks. The spouse came down to check on the children and located the 3-year-old with their head stuck in a kitchen playset.

The spouse removed the child and immediately began performing lifesaving measures until first responders arrived.

The toddler’s sibling advised that the child’s toys had fallen into the kitchen playset when they attempted to retrieve the toys and became stuck.

The child was pronounced dead on July 27.

At this time, charges have not been filed.

This is an ongoing investigation, and WPBF 25 will keep you updated on-air and online when 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.

By Hayley Crombleholme

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    FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A Flagler County man is accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, stealing a teddy bear containing her son’s ashes, and making threats after their brief relationship ended.

According to an arrest report, 31-year-old Justin Fountain met the woman on Facebook Dating and dated her for only a few weeks before she ended the relationship.

The woman, who lives in Palm Coast, told police and deputies that she broke up with Fountain after he became “verbally aggressive with her and was attempting to control her everyday life.”

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Fountain did not handle the breakup well.

“Stealing the ashes of her child and taking her medication and making all kinds of threats,” Staly said.

Fountain is accused of stalking, theft, and accessing the victim’s social media and phone accounts, including using some apps with location-tracking to find her.

The woman said she had kicked Fountain out of the Red Roof Plus where she had been living, but he continued to show up at her workplace, the hotel, and even a restaurant where she was eating with a friend.

When she returned to her room, she found it in disarray and discovered several items missing, including a teddy bear containing an urn with her son’s ashes.

“I can’t think of a more despicable person that would do that,” Staly said.

The arrest report also stated that Fountain claimed to have taken the woman’s insulin. Messages allegedly sent by Fountain, and edited for what the report said was “readability,” included threats such as, “Five seconds and I’m gonna set this teddy bear on fire,” and, “If you want your son back, tell Buddy to leave now.”

While a deputy was speaking with the woman, Fountain reportedly called her over 60 times from multiple numbers and sent more than 50 text messages. Some of the messages included pictures of the GPS in his car, which helped deputies track him down.

“Fortunately for us, he’s kind of a dumb criminal,” Staly said.

When deputies stopped Fountain on I-95 North, he denied any wrongdoing.

“She went and met up with somebody else, and so I confronted them about it, but I was never violent, never aggressive,” Fountain said in body camera footage. “I went to the room and got my stuff, which is in the car. If you look in the trunk, you can see my stuff’s in the car.”

Inside the car, deputies found the missing teddy bear containing the woman’s son’s ashes. Fountain was arrested and is now facing multiple felony charges.

“If he’s acting like this within just a couple weeks, there’s no telling what he is capable of doing,” Staly said.

The sheriff commended the woman for coming forward and encouraged others in similar situations to seek help from law enforcement.

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, help is available through the domestic violence hotline at any time. You can reach it at 800-799-7233.

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 Britt Leoni

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    CAPE CORAL, Florida (WBBH) — In between the streets and canals that call Cape Coral home, no neighborhood lawn is safe from 18-year-old Braylon Beckers.

A month ago, when Braylon started cutting lawns for neighbors, he decided to offer an unbeatable price.

“They were like, what?! For free?!” said Braylon.

So far, Braylon’s mowed over 50 lawns, free of charge. While profits are low, the feeling of giving back is high.

“They’re really thankful and appreciative,” said Braylon. “It’s just awesome to see.”

Like most acts of kindness, Braylon’s are inspired by a mentor who came before him.

Rodney Smith Junior is the owner of “Raising Men and Women Lawn Care.” He cuts lawns for veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities, for free.

“I was leaving school one day, and I came across an elderly man outside mowing his lawn,” said Rodney. “It looked like he was struggling, so I did what anyone would do: I pulled over and helped him out. Little did I know that one small act of kindness would vastly change my life forever.”

In 2016, Rodney started “the 50-yard challenge.” A call to action for kids to cut 50 yards for free in their communities.

“It started off small, and then it eventually grew,” said Rodney. “Once COVID-19 hit, that’s when we saw a big explosion of kids signing up.”

Today, over 6,000 kids and teens, like Braylon, have participated across the country.

“A lot of the people we help are on fixed income, especially the elderly, the disabled, and the veterans,” said Rodney. “The kids get a sense of pride in knowing they’re giving back and they’re gaining character.”

What started as one neighbor helping another has grown into a movement, and, for Braylon, mowing lawns is bigger than starting his business.

“Never let your thoughts bring you down,” said Braylon.

It’s determination to move kindness forward one cut at a time.

“Never let your brain tell you that you can’t do this because you can. You can achieve,” said Braylon.

You can learn more about Raising Men and Women Lawn Care Service on its website.

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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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — As recent events have demonstrated, there is a great need for more people to fight wildfires in the state, and now two nonprofits have joined to address the shortage and provide jobs to underserved communities.

When Eddie Herrera is not fighting fires for Cal Fire, he’s training the next generation at the Future Fire Academy. Herrera spent nearly two decades in prison, and while incarcerated, he became an institutional municipal firefighter.

When he was released from prison, he started working for the state, and now he’s giving back.

“We’re allowing individuals to overcome a lot of the trauma they’ve experienced in their lives, redirecting it in a positive way,” Herrera said.

“What better way than being in a life of service and that’s what they are doing now.”

Anthony Pedro spent nine years in prison and turned his life around by becoming a firefighter and starting the Future Fire Academy.

“There’s this narrative on folks that come from our background. The thing is, we are changing it,” Pedro said.

He devotes his time to helping others like him find a pathway into the fire service.

“Maybe folks that normally wouldn’t have access, we have grant funding to provide it to them for free. We pay them while they are here training,” Pedro said. “Everyone will leave her with a few thousand dollars to go home once they graduate.”

The Future Academy has teamed up with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which has its own training center. With the two nonprofits joining forces, fewer people are getting turned away, as recruiting continues in schools, jails and juvenile halls.

“We started hitting every institution. We would plant the seed. Hundreds of people have been directly impacted by those recruitment trips,” Jon Cesario/ARC, firefighter recruitment specialist, said.

Jason Rojas was recruited from juvenile hall, and the 21-year-old just completed the Future Fire Academy, along with 18 others. This isn’t the end of the road for them; they will also get the help they need to apply for a job.

“It’s a new direction I’m heading in life. I want to be successful and make a change, not just for myself but for my family and those around me,” Rojas 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 Olivia Young

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    DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — Sunday is the last day of the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo, a special tradition that goes back more than a century in the community. It now includes a new event that allows those with disabilities to experience the rodeo firsthand.

The second year of the “Unbridled Rodeo” at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo is providing an accessible and inclusive experience. It’s put on through a partnership with Developmental Pathways.

The Unbridled Rodeo welcomes everyone.

“Everybody deserves to experience the rodeo, and especially when we live in a community where rodeo is a big part of Douglas County, that right there means everybody who lives down here hears about it and wants to participate in it. So we just want to make that happen,” said Dinah Frey, director of community engagement at Developmental Pathways. “People with disabilities can have their needs met and be part of it and have an experience of, you know, Colorado’s historic rodeo in Douglas County.”

For some with disabilities, attending a traditional rodeo could be challenging.

“With their kind of a disability, they will be cranky. They’ll have more sorts of needs where they don’t feel themselves, and they’ll be bothered by their environment with so much crowd and not having a safe space,” said Jaimi Doshi, Douglas County mother of developmentally delayed twins.

But the Unbridled Rodeo caters to special needs.

“This just allows a space for people with all abilities to come and gather and experience it together,” Frey said.

The event allows attendees to step into the cowboy boots themselves.

“They had all sorts of saddles, sensory experiences to touch. Autism Community Store was here with a sensory area. There was square dancing, crafts,” Frey said.

From stick horse racing to steer roping to the mechanical bull, there’s no shortage of Western activities to enjoy.

“Here we brought the speed down, help people get it on and off of it, and really take it and tailor it to what somebody’s needs are,” Frey said.

“We’ve had all of our friends come out, and they have been able to ride stick horses with us, and then we’ve had our team out doing face paint,” said Meghann Guentensberger, executive director of nonprofit The Mane Mission.

“I see smiles, I see joy, but also a level of belief in themselves that is super encouraging to all of us,” said Abe Laydon, Douglas County Commissioner. “Our goal is to let them know that they are unbridled, unrestricted, unlimited, and that there’s nothing that they can’t do.”

More than 500 people took part in this year’s Unbridled Rodeo.

“I love it. It feels so safe, and you feel like the kids are with their own kind of a community, where they feel welcomed and enjoyable,” Doshi said.

“There’s such joy,” said Guentensberger. “It breaks down barriers.”

“Just so much fun. Everybody’s having fun out here, and that is the goal: is that people get to experience rodeo and have fun,” Frey 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 Stephanie Stahl

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    MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — The Chick Mission, a nonprofit, rolled into Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Monday. Its mission is to save fertility for young women who have cancer by providing grants.

It also aims to get more states to mandate insurance coverage for the treatments and to help women become moms.

“My baby, his name is Tino. He is a little boy, and he’s perfect,” said Rebecca Aguado, a new mom.

Aguado said she always wanted to be a mom, but a cancer diagnosis almost derailed that dream.

Doctors said she should have her eggs removed and preserved before cancer treatments because chemotherapy can hurt fertility. But Aguado’s insurance company refused to cover the cost, which can range from $10,000 to $20,000.

“It’s truly insane to me,” Aguado said.

But Chick Mission came to her rescue with a Hope Grant that paid for her fertility preservation.

“It was very important to me, obviously, from a monetary standpoint, but more from an emotional standpoint,” Aguado said.

The Chick Mission has a camper that’s traveling across the country to raise awareness, making a stop Monday at Shady Grove Fertility in Chesterbrook.

“Nobody should be denied the opportunity to have a family,” Dr. Isaac Sasson, of Shady Grove, said.

Sasson said the issue is that some states like Pennsylvania don’t mandate that insurance companies pay for fertility preservation for cancer patients. But a bill that could change that is pending in the Pennsylvania legislature.

“We have worked with phenomenal legislators across the aisle to get people to pay attention to this,” said Amanda Rice, who founded Chick Mission.

Rice started the nonprofit when she had cancer and her insurance refused to pay to preserve her eggs.

“I just thought, you know, wouldn’t it be great if I could help the next woman?” Rice said.

Rice didn’t end up having children, but the Chick Mission Hope Grants have resulted in 14 babies for other women.

“So I consider all those bundles of joy a piece of me,” Rice said.

Currently, just 22 states mandate insurance coverage for fertility treatments for cancer patients.

The Chick Mission camper will travel the country trying to change that and raise awareness.

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 Ali Bauman

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Some 9/11 families are defending New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inclusion in this year’s solemn remembrance ceremony after an online petition asked he not attend.

“The focus should be on where are we in this world, 25 years later?” Elizabeth Miller said.

Miller’s father was killed in the 9/11 terror attacks nearly a quarter-century ago. She’s been attending the annual remembrance ceremony in Lower Manhattan since, and is now nearly the age he was when he died.

Year after year, mayors, presidents and politicians on both sides of the aisle have paid their respects at the ceremony.

“Mayor Mamdani has assured 9/11 families that he wants to be there to honor our loved ones, and I think he should be allowed to do that,” Miller said.

Miller is speaking out after an online petition garnered more than 72,000 signatures from the public asking ceremony organizers to carefully consider Mamdani’s participation this year.

Two petitioners whose spouses were killed in the attacks told CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner last week that their concern stems from the mayor’s public positions and rhetoric.

“We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,” Giovanni Galante told Rozner. Galante’s wife died on 9/11.

Miller is the project director of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, which has over 250 members. In a statement, that organization responded, in part, “We strongly condemn the anti-American accusations and Islamophobic sentiment underlying the effort seeking to prevent him from being at Ground Zero.”

“Clearly calling for the mayor of New York City to skip the 9/11 memorial because he’s a Muslim, or because these guilt-by-association smears, is anti-Muslim bigotry, plain and simple,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Mamdani has reaffirmed his commitment to attend.

“I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them,” Mamdani said last week.

Miller said she hopes this debate does not overshadow the true reason they’re all there.

“The focus really shouldn’t be on who’s there, who’s not there,” Miller said. “It should be on our loved ones.”

A spokesperson for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum said, in part, “we have intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9/11 should never be a partisan issue.”

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 Cindy Hsu

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    DUTCHESS COUNTY, New York (WCBS) — For most kids, summer camp is a time to make new friends and explore the outdoors, but at a Girl Scout camp in upstate New York, campers are learning a different skill: knitting.

The activity at Camp Kaufman is meant to foster community, boost self-esteem, and demonstrate a sense of accomplishment.

“This is a place where we give them the permission to learn by doing and to do it in the most fun way possible,” said Kristen Glass, the director of camps and outdoor education for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. “Community is essential and that’s what we provide here at camp.”

The camp is situated on 425 acres in Dutchess County and allows the campers to have all the normal camp experiences, but it’s the knitting that is the standout.

“To find ways to work together and individually to find inner peace, to be able to have positive relationships with ourselves and with others,” Glass explained.

“It’s so great to see them move away from the screens and just scrolling and being able to do something, not only just a good use of their hands, but be able to make something at the end of it,” said lead knitting instructor Cecilia Nelson-Hurt.

The campers love it.

“Both knitting and zip-lining can challenge your mind in a positive way because it makes you think. It’s like processing. So it helps you challenge yourself,” said camper A’tijah.

“It’s like a conversation opener because when you’re knitting with someone else, it’s like, ‘Oh, do you need help? How are you doing so far?'” another camper said.

Knitting is also shown to have a plethora of health benefits, like reduced stress, mitigated anxiety and depression, and more, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“The non-pharmaceutical treatments for mild to moderate depression, malaise, isolation, anhedonia – call it what you want to – is social activities,” said psychologist and expert on young adult mental health Dr. Nicholas Kardaras. “The pride that comes from some kind of arts and crafts can be really healing.”

Campers say they already feel the benefits.

“You’re able to use something that you could feel and touch and physically see and that it helps your brain feel better and your mood feel better,” a camper named Morireoluwa said.

“Sometimes you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t do this,’ but it also kind of makes me feel accomplished when I finally work through what I’ve done, and I’m like, ‘Yay!'” said camper Alyssa.

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.