Author: CNN Newsource

By Amy Zimmer

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    SAVANNAH, Georgia (WJCL) — Banana Ball is back at Grayson Stadium and ready to usher in a new era of entertainment in 2026.

The Savannah Bananas’ fast-paced, fan-first brand of baseball will feature a major change this season with the launch of the Banana Ball Championship League, a newly formed league that includes two expansion teams and a full-time former Major League Baseball player.

The Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns will join the Bananas, Party Animals, Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters as the six-team league begins its inaugural season.

Former Savannah Bananas pitcher Andy Archer, now a member of the Coconuts, said the addition of a formal league structure takes Banana Ball to another level.

“The league and the competitive aspect, elevating that to the next level, I think it’s going to do a lot of things — not just for us internally to take us to the next level, but from a national scale,” Archer said. “To give people more insight as to what this actually is.”

Archer spent two seasons with the Bananas before joining the expansion Coconuts. One of his new teammates, outfielder Tanner Allen, is new to Banana Ball entirely and said the atmosphere is unlike anything he’s experienced before.

“For me, the first couple of days, the vibes are immaculate on the field,” Allen said. “It’s almost like a breath of fresh air stepping on the field and knowing you have freedom. That’s been the coolest part for me so far.”

The other expansion team, the Indianapolis Clowns, will feature former Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. on a full-time basis. Bradley, a two-time Gold Glove winner, made a guest appearance with Banana Ball last season at Fenway Park and is now joining the league for the full 2026 campaign.

“I see this as an opportunity to hopefully bridge that gap,” Bradley said. “That way, there’s some trust kind of going on, and to show that this game is very exciting.”

The Banana Ball World Tour will begin Feb. 26–28 in Tallahassee, Florida, featuring all six teams. The season will conclude with the Banana Ball League Championships beginning Oct. 1 at Grayson Stadium.

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 DeAndria Turner

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    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A woman and her dog are facing a long recovery after they were hit by a truck last week, but neighbors in NuLu say the close-knit community is stepping up to help them heal.

Kristin Campbell and her dog, Lucy, were hit Friday night at the intersection of Main and Shelby streets. Both were injured, and witnesses say the moments after the crash were chaotic and frightening.

“You heard a scream,” said Tracey Powers, who was nearby when it happened. “I turned around and saw something in the street.”

That “something” was Campbell and Lucy, a familiar sight in NuLu. Lucy, known for her pink hair, is something of a neighborhood celebrity. Campbell and her dog are daily regulars at local businesses, including The Dog Shop.

“They come every day, sometimes twice a day,” said owner Chris Roark. “They’re family to us.”

Friends who witnessed the crash rushed to help, loading Lucy into a car and rushing her to emergency veterinary care while Campbell was treated for her injuries.

“To see it happen was traumatic,” Powers said. “There was real fear about whether Lucy was going to make it.”

Campbell has since returned home to recover. Lucy remains in critical care with three pelvic fractures and lung injuries, though friends say she is showing signs of improvement.

“She’s eating and she’s barking,” Powers said. “That’s huge.”

The NuLu community has launched a GoFundMe to help cover medical and veterinary expenses as both recover from injuries no one expected.

“We’re hoping to raise enough so money isn’t something they have to worry about while healing,” Roark said.

For those who know them best, the response has been overwhelming but not surprising.

“They’re our family,” Roark said.

In NuLu, neighbors say, a best friend isn’t just a dog, it’s the community that shows up when it matters most.

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 Matt Reed

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    PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (WCVB) — Brown University students are returning to campus Wednesday in Providence, Rhode Island, after a gunman opened fire on the campus of the Ivy League school.

Wednesday marks the first day of classes for the 2026 Spring semester at Brown University, more than a month after a gunman opened fire on campus.

Sophomore Ella Cook and freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov were killed and nine others were wounded inside the Barus and Holley Building on Dec. 13. The deadly shooting sparked a tense, six-day manhunt that crossed into Massachusetts and ended with the discovery of the killer, Claudio Neves Valente, 48, dead in New Hampshire.

Students who spoke with NewsCenter 5 said returning to campus has been an adjustment.

“It’s kind of jarring being back,” said Percy Unger.

Adjustments to the campus include a larger police presence, more emergency blue light stations, and the implementation of card access to all buildings.

While the increased security is intended to protect students, some see it as a stark reminder of December’s tragic shooting.

“It gives me a feeling of insecurity, like we’re prepping for another terrible thing to happen and also a feeling of just paranoia and a closed-offness that used to not be present,” said Unger.

Brown University Student Body President Talib Reddick said he, too, has found it difficult returning to campus.

“I’m still processing everything myself, so it feels a little odd having to come back after this tragedy,” he said. “Even going into a building today, just having to pull out my ID to swipe into a building that was usually unlocked was a little different. By muscle memory, I tried opening the door, but it was locked.”

Cameras have been installed in key areas throughout campus, including the Barus and Holley Building.

Despite the painful reminders of what happened, the community is trying its best to move forward.

Brown University President Christina Paxson penned a letter to the student body, saying that Wednesday marks a new beginning for the campus.

“We will forever be a campus where a senseless attack brought devastating tragedy, and we continue to grieve the lives lost and support the healing of those injured on Dec. 13,” she said. “But this moment alone does not define us.”

Providence city leaders said they plan to commission a third-party review of the response to the mass shooting on the Ivy League campus.

Providence City Councilor John Goncalves said while the shooting certainly shook the community, they’re looking to ensure it never happens again.

In the meantime, an official memorial service for Cook and Mukhammad is scheduled for Feb. 7 and is open to the campus community.

Others will be able to watch live via webcast.

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 Marissa Barrett

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    MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — New England Patriots fans hoping to attend Sunday’s AFC Championship game in Denver may run into challenges when trying to buy tickets.

Ticketmaster displayed a notice saying only buyers with billing addresses in the Rocky Mountain region are eligible to purchase tickets for the game.

Keith Pagello, founder of TicketData, said similar restrictions have been used in the past, including when the New York Yankees limited ticket sales to Boston Red Sox fans during the AL Wild Card Series.

“Teams often do this to signal that they are trying to control the crowd, but in reality it does not have a meaningful impact on the makeup of fans who actually attend the game,” Pagello said.

Pagello said Patriots fans can still buy tickets through the secondary market.

According to StubHub, the cost of two tickets ranges from about $1,000 in the upper levels to nearly $22,000 for the best view.

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 Ari Hait

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    FORT PIERCE, Florida (WPBF) — A planned gun purchase involving teenagers turned into a chaotic shootout in Fort Pierce Sunday afternoon, leaving four people injured and detectives scrambling to piece together the events.

Initially, one of the victims told detectives that the meeting was arranged to buy an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace, but investigators now believe it was actually about buying guns.

The sheriff said the situation is so convoluted that they are still trying to determine who are the victims and who are the suspects.

The scene on the 3600 block of Avenue R was marked by police tape and dozens of yellow placards, each indicating a bullet fired during the incident.

“This was a full-blown shootout here in broad daylight,” said St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro.

Sheriff Del Toro said two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old used a messaging app to arrange a gun purchase from three other individuals.

“A little concerning considering the fact you have people of this age group dealing with firearms, illegal firearms transactions,” he said.

Del Toro said shortly after the teens arrived, something went wrong.

“Three individuals came from the vicinity of a vacant residence on Avenue R and within moments the transaction escalated into gunfire,” Del Toro said. “We recovered 30 casings at the scene, so this obviously escalated very quickly and very violently.”

The shootout resulted in the three teenage buyers and one 16-year-old seller being shot.

All are expected to survive.

Investigators have since recovered 10 guns, with at least three believed to have been used in the shooting.

Detectives are still working to determine who fired the guns and how the teenagers obtained them.

“This isn’t like TV where this stuff gets solved in an hour’s time,” Del Toro said. “This takes a lot of work, a lot of coordination, a lot of documentation. A lot of work with our state attorney’s office.”

Detectives have identified a fifth person involved as a 17-year-old and are still searching for a sixth individual.

So far, no charges have been filed.

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 Justin Schecker

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    ORLANDO, Florida (WESH) — A family is demanding justice after a 92-year-old woman died following a car crash over the weekend with an Orlando Police cruiser.

Orlando Police told WESH 2 Investigates the Traffic Homicide Unit is now investigating the accident that happened early Sunday morning at the intersection of Semoran Boulevard and Hoffner Avenue.

The initial traffic crash report found the marked Orlando Police vehicle was at fault.

The family said Milagros Ortiz took her last breath at 6:59 Monday night at Orlando Regional Medical Center while surrounded by her loved ones.

“Just because you’re a police officer, that doesn’t allow you to just go and run a red light to do whatever it is that you’re doing,” Ortiz’s daughter Judy Santiago said.

Ortiz was the matriarch of her family. She was living her life to the fullest at 92-years-old.

“My mom wasn’t the average 92-year-old,” Ortiz’s daughter Evelyn Alicea said. “Like when we go to the hospital, all the doctors would think, but she’s 92-years-old. But she was a strong 92, a vibrant 92.”

Ortiz’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren said they are devastated by her sudden death after she was badly injured in the crash around 1:45 a.m. Sunday.

“I know it’s going to be harder for my sister,” Santiago said, “because my sister lived here with her, so she’s got the brunt of the memories, because waking up, doing mom’s coffee. Like just now, when we were sitting here, we both were thinking at the same time, but where’s mommy? We got to get her so she could come join us to sit down, because and we can no longer do that.”

The family said a 64-year-old friend was driving Ortiz home from her weekly Saturday night bingo game.

“I could have expected that, maybe from a drunk driver, which is what I used to tell my mom, be careful, because early hours in the morning, there’s a lot of drunk drivers out there,” Alicea said. “And that’s what I would always worry about. And like I said, that’s why we had her location. But it never in a million years I would have thought it was a police officer that was going to hit her.”

According to the traffic crash report, there’s video of the collision that corroborated a witness account.

The witness said a marked Orlando Police vehicle was stopped at a red light while headed westbound on Hoffner Avenue, but then drove into the intersection of Semoran Boulevard and hit the driver’s side of Ortiz’s friend’s Jeep going southbound.

The report said the police vehicle “was at fault for the collision due to failure to yield right of way.”

Both vehicles had to be towed away from the scene, and firefighters took the officer, Ortiz, and her friend to ORMC.

“We got to see her, and she was just, my chest pains, my chest hurts,” Alicea said. “She was afraid.”

Ortiz’s family is calling on the State Attorney’s Office to hold the officer accountable.

“And now that my mother’s gone,” Santiago said, “he needs to be charged with vehicular manslaughter. I don’t know if that’s the right term, whatever, but he needs to be charged for taking my mother’s life.”

The condition of the officer is not known.

WESH 2 Investigates asked Orlando Police whether he was on or off duty at the time of the crash, but they replied they had no additional information to share on Tuesday afternoon.

WESH 2 received this statement from OPD after the story aired.

Orlando Police Department Official Statement:

The Orlando Police Department has initiated an internal investigation following a traffic accident involving an Orlando Police officer that occurred at the intersection of South Semoran Blvd and Hoffner Avenue early Sunday morning.

In addition to the preliminary accident investigation conducted at the scene, a comprehensive Traffic Homicide investigation is also underway.

Both the internal review of the officer’s actions and the Traffic Homicide investigation remain ongoing and have not yet been completed.

To preserve the integrity of these investigations, no additional information is available for release at this time.

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 Madison Monroe Adams

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    CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Florida (WBBH) — The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has accused Irlene Innocent Saint Armand of stealing more than $30,000 from Michael Kraft, a 79-year-old Vietnam War veteran she was hired to care for through Visiting Angels.

“People do desperate things, but thieves are thieves,” Kraft said.

Kraft, who has been on 179 cruises, most recently last year, kept jewelry, rare coins, cash, and a collection of 1,000 two-dollar bills in his safe. He recounted an incident when he wanted to tip one of his caretakers for Christmas and asked her to open the safe for trip money, only to find it empty.

“I wanted to give one of my caretakers a tip. So I had her open up the safe for the trip money. And it wasn’t there,” Kraft said.

Kraft, who rarely wears the 22-carat gold chain he bought in Dubai, said, “It’s just it’s too Mr. T for me,” but acknowledged its sentimental value, adding, “I don’t know if I’ll ever go to Dubai again.”

Recently, Parkinson’s disease has confined Kraft to a wheelchair, but he remains hopeful. “I’m trying to get well because I want to start traveling,” he said.

Deputies reported that Saint Armand, one of 33 Visiting Angels caregivers in Kraft’s home, was identified in a database and accused of pawning Kraft’s coins, leading to her arrest on Friday.

“Why did you do this? You ruined your life,” Kraft said.

Visiting Angels stated they conduct several employee background checks and confirmed that Saint Armand has been fired.

“Their owner came over yesterday and apologized for everything,” Kraft said.

Despite the incident, Kraft has formed a special bond with a few of his caretakers. He advises others to avoid using the same code for their garage and safe, and to regularly check their home security cameras to ensure they are functioning properly.

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.