Author: CNN Newsource

By Cecil Hannibal

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    MODESTO, California (KCRA) — One person inside a Modesto home died after a vehicle that was being chased by the California Highway Patrol crashed into the structure early Tuesday.

CHP said the pursuit started around 1:20 a.m. when two officers noticed a car that was speeding in the area. The vehicle ran a red light and then crashed into a home on Tuxford Lane, according to CHP.

The person inside the home was not the homeowner, who was out of state at the time, CHP said. The victim’s name has not been released.

The driver of the vehicle and a passenger were not seriously hurt.

The driver was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail for two counts of felony DUI, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter, evading officers, and driving on a suspended license, CHP said.

He was identified as 20-year-old Zachariah James Knobel.

CHP said Knobel was arrested prior for driving with a measurable amount of alcohol in his system while being under the age of 21, but said it was not a DUI charge.

“This all could have been avoided if he just pulled over…that’s the point of our officers out there is to stop things like this from happening to innocent people,” said a CHP Spokesperson.

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 Tyler

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    ANKENY, Iowa (KCCI) — On most mornings, Kellen and Beckett Wiederin follow a familiar rhythm.

They brush their teeth, make their bed, pick out clothes for school and tell their mom, Brittany, what they want in their lunchboxes. It sounds like the routine most 8- and 12-year-olds follow. That was the Wiederin boys’ routine at the start of the school year, but as the year comes to a close, they make a little extra time in the morning for grief.

Their dad Cory, who once stood in the same kitchen helping shape those mornings, died in January after a long period of living with a rare form of kidney cancer.

“There’s only one thing worse than telling them that your dad is going to take his last breath,” Brittany Wiederin said. “The next worst thing is that your dad took his last breath.”

Brittany knew what was coming after an 18-month fight, but when the moment arrived, it still didn’t feel real.

“My strong husband, he’s not gone,” she said. “It was like, this cannot happen.”

Before his diagnosis, Brittany said life was full and ordinary in the best way. The college sweethearts had recently paid off student loans and spent date nights writing down where they hoped to be in 10 years.

That future changed in March of 2024, when Cory passed blood in his urine. Soon after came surgeries, trips to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, a clinical trial and radiation. The cancer spread from his liver to his colon, abdomen and lungs.

“Picture perfect health,” Brittany said. “He worked out, ate healthy, did all of the things.”

Cory was the center of the family’s world. He bought his wife the coolest new shoes anytime a pair came out just because he wanted her to look good. He built Lego sets with his sons and took them to wrestling tournaments all over the country. When Cory realized his time here on earth would most likely be cut short, he focused on one thing: being intentional with the days he had left.

In a family of baseball fans, that meant playing catch. Cory set a goal: 365 straight days of catch with Kellen and Beckett.

Each session followed the same rhythm. 20 throws, end on a pop fly. A few minutes every day wherever they could get it in. It didn’t matter how much homework the boys had or how tired Cory was; they made sure to play.

“I didn’t know which would be my last one,” Kellen said. “So I tried spending as much time with him.”

The family extended the tradition beyond their front yard, including a trip to Chicago where, during the Cubs 2025 playoff season, Cory threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field with help from Kellen and Beckett.

“It’s like pain went away for 48 hours,” she said. “We got to sing ‘Go Cubs Go.’ It was beautiful.”

They even played catch in their hotel overlooking Wrigley afterward.

But Cory’s condition worsened in the fall of 2025, and the family entered hospice care. Still, they marked milestones.

“We would tell each other, if you make it to October, you have to make it through October. Keep the month of October a month of celebration,” Brittany said.

They did. Celebrating Cory and Brittany’s anniversary, their birthdays and Kellen and Beckett’s birthdays too.

And as the fall went on, and Cory continued to get weaker, he still kept tossing the ball.

“He never stopped fighting,” Kellen said.

The Wiederins reached 289 days of catch together as a family of four before Cory died on Jan. 13, surrounded by his wife, his sons, his parents and siblings.

In the months that have followed, Brittany said grief comes in waves. But still, they’ve never stopped playing catch. They even played catch at Cory’s funeral.

The Wiederins made it to 365 days and decided to keep going, channeling Cory’s motto of handle hard better. Now, in June, they’ve played more than 440 days of catch.

While Cory’s clothes still hang neatly in the closet and his photos remain on every wall in the house. Brittany, Kellen, Beckett and their dog, Mitz, feel closest to Cory at his grave. Where they often gather to play catch. And they still play the same way. At least 20 tosses and always end on a popfly.

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 Esteban Reynoso

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    WINTERS, California (KCRA) — Fire crews in Yolo County are preparing for Wednesday’s red flag warning by fortifying containment lines and prepositioning resources to respond to potential new fires.

Wind gusts near Winters have fueled the flames of the Putah Fire, which began as a prescribed burn, but jumped containment lines Monday morning.

“We were challenged overnight with very strong and gusty winds, and we had some areas where the fire slopped over some of our dozer, our hand crew lines,” said Jason Clay, public information officer for the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.

The Putah Fire, which at one point prompted evacuation warnings, has been a priority for crews to bring under control.

The fire serves as an example of what crews are working to prevent.

Cal Fire is focused on containment efforts and preparing for the possibility of new fires.

“To get ahead of the red flag warning conditions that are gonna be in the area [Wednesday] so we want to get this containment up. So, we feel good about our perimeter, that it is secure so we don’t have any escape or anything else move forward,” Clay said.

Cal Fire is also prepositioning resources, including strike teams of engines, to be ready for initial attacks on any new fires.

“We preposition resources. Sometimes we have strike teams of engines that are in a region that could be utilized for initial attack on any new fire,” Clay said.

PG&E is also taking precautions, with plans for public safety power shutoffs that will impact nearly 5,000 customers across nine counties, including Colusa, Napa, Tehama, and Yolo.

“A lot of wind. That’s really the primary factor in driving these public safety power shutoffs,” said Jeff Smith, public information officer for PG&E.

Smith explained that the shutoffs are necessary due to the combination of “fire weather”.

“We’re already seeing these strong winds with hot temperatures, and really dry vegetation, which is why we decided that we needed to put plans in place to potentially call for this public safety power shutoff,” Smith said.

The shutoffs are expected to last until Thursday.

Cal Fire emphasized that they are ready to respond if any new fires emerge.

“Between the hand crews and the dozers, they’ve been able to add extra control line so everything is getting fortified right now,” Clay 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 Austin Pollack

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) — There’s one thing guaranteed to bring the community together in Nashville — and that’s music.

Members in the Nashville Voices of Resilience Homeless Choir have either experienced homelessness or worked closely with those who have.

Founded by Daniel Holmes, who experienced homelessness for five years, the choir is made up of about 10 people united by a shared mission to use music as a bridge between communities.

“I said I’d like to have a homeless choir because I was homeless for five years,” Holmes said, when looking back at his desire to create this group.

“Everybody is a jewel to be extracted that has lived expertise of being unhoused,” said Kennetha Patterson, one of the members of the choir.

Conductor Nat Peterson Lopes joined after Holmes approached them with the idea.

“He told me one day, hey, so I kind of want to start a homeless choir, you want to help out? And I was like yeah I know about music, yeah absolutely,” Peterson Lopes said.

“The people in your life that are the most giving and the most generous are those that have the least,” they said.

Holmes describes the group as more than an ensemble — it is a family.

“We know each other because we call each other every night, we talk to each other,” he said. “We speak with each other, this is a family, this is not just a company.”

This Saturday, the choir will host a community gathering built around music, art and connection. The event is from 2-5 at 1502 Edgehill Avenue in Nashville. It’s also a fundraiser to support low-income families in need of stable housing.

Holmes said the path to helping someone experiencing homelessness is simpler than many might think.

“If you’re watching today and you ask yourself, what does it take to help a person who is homeless, it just takes love,” he said. “That’s all I would say – it just takes a little bit of understanding, and to say to someone I love you. Or, I care.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVF’s editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Julie Sharp, Michele Gile

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — Warm weather is here, and as people head to the beach, Los Angeles and Orange County lifeguards warn of strong rip currents and high surf.

A powerful storm from the South Pacific generated a south-southwest swell that has reached Southern California’s coast, with conditions building on Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.

The National Weather Service issued a Beach Hazards Statement that remains in effect through Thursday night, as wave size increases.

The long-period swell will bring surf “in the head-high to well-overhead range at many south-facing beaches across Los Angeles County,” LA County Lifeguards said in a statement.

In Orange County, lifeguards are also on alert, increasing staffing for the summer rush as waves could reach 12 feet by Wednesday.

“This is a big deal. With this incoming swell system, we are supplementing our daily roster with additional lifeguard positions open on Tuesday and Wednesday in some of our hotspots, most dangerous areas.” Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda said on Monday.

“We are extending our hours out here in the field … we’re bringing in guards early, and we’re expecting them to stay late over the next couple of days.”

Near the Balboa Pier parking lot, a sand berm to block high surf was created where flooding has occurred in the past.

In Huntington Beach, Mike Ali said his beachfront bike rental store patio is ready for people to watch the action. “When people realize a big storm is coming, they want to come and watch it, so hopefully I have my patios open, I have food, and beach rentals.”

While the storm may be a surfer’s delight, lifeguards are hoping most people are ready to just watch and wait this one out.

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 Zac Harmon

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    SOUTH HAVEN, Michigan (WXMI) — The City of South Haven’s new lifeguard program logged its first rescue, just weeks after lifeguards returned to the sand.

On Tuesday morning, a swimmer got out of the water and spoke with lifeguards on south beach when the person collapsed and was unresponsive. The on-duty lifeguards immediately began CPR and used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), according to South Haven Area Emergency Services.

The lifeguards also called for emergency aid, with personnel from South Haven Area Emergency Services, the South Haven Police Department, and Beach Enforcement Attendants stepping in to care for the swimmer.

The person was eventually taken to a hospital in St. Joseph for continued medical treatment.

The on-shore rescue came just over two weeks since lifeguards returned to South Haven’s city-operated beach. The program restarted after a woman sued the city in the deaths of her daughter and her boyfriend.

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By Molly Demrow

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    BOONE COUNTY, Kentucky (WLEX) — A University of Kentucky student’s candy business has gone from local to the most magical place on Earth.

Aubrie Sink, founder of ‘Freezin’ with Aubrie,’ now sells her freeze-dried treats at Walt Disney World gift shops.

“It’s outside Space Mountain and Mission Space,” Sink said.

The road to Disney started with word of mouth and a series of wholesale partnerships closer to home.

“My first ever place that I wholesale to was the Cincinnati Zoo, and then I went to Jungle Jim’s and King’s Island, so still in the local area, and then I ended up (in) King’s Island, word of mouth, they told Cedar Point,” Sink said.

The business, based in Florence, Kentucky, ships products across 32 states. But it didn’t start with freeze-dried candy.

“So I actually started off with Jammin’ with Aubrie because I started my business with homemade jam and apple butter when I was 12 years old, and then that’s how I expanded it and I saved my money from doing that to buy a freeze dryer,” Sink said.

The Walt Disney World deal came together through a family connection at a trade show.

“My aunt, she’s my sales and marketing director. She met with the buyer for the space theme stuff at Disney Parks, and she met with them at one of our trade shows, talked to them, and they were pretty interested in the idea because for one I’m a teen founded business,” Sink said.

Sink’s ambitions don’t stop at Walt Disney World. She has her sights set on expanding the brand even further.

“Also even expand to like the Disney Cruise Lines, that would be a lot of fun. I would really like that. And then I also do dirty sodas, so my end goal for that is to get like a dirty soda food truck,” Sink 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 Hunter Sowards, Dean Fioresi

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Hundreds of Orange County residents gathered in Garden Grove on Tuesday night to demand answers from GKN Aerospace leadership during a special city council meeting regarding the chemical crisis at their facility in May.

The meeting, which was standing room only with two overflow areas full of upset residents, was held after the Garden Grove City Council demanded that a company representative from the aerospace company make an appearance so they could directly listen to community concerns.

“We cannot sleep at night with the GKN monster under our beds,” one woman said while speaking at the meeting, which saw many more expressing their anger after more than 50,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes in six Orange County cities when a tank holding 6,500 gallons methyl methacrylate, a highly flammable, toxic substance, became compromised and at risk of exploding or leaking as the contents continued to self-heat.

The ordeal, which spanned over five days as local first responders worked to mitigate the incident and reduce the risk to residents, still hasn’t reached a complete end, as cleanup continues nearly a month after it began.

Some residents held signs that read, “Full transparency on the impacts on our health and environment!” while others held signs that simply said, “Make GKN pay!”

The meeting comes about a week after GKN officials announced a $3 million donation to the Orange County United Way’s OC Community Resilience Fund, to help people affected by the evacuation orders.

“Thank you for the opportunity to come speak with you tonight. I know a lot of people have been wanting to hear from us,” said Steve Carlin, the senior vice president at GKN’s Garden Grove location.

He was met with a litany of questions from residents, council members and Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein, who repeated further lines of questioning from the community members who didn’t get a chance to speak.

“What was inspected? Were there warning signs? Will there be changes to ensure this doesn’t happen again?” she asked. “I think one of them that struck home with me is: ‘Would you be willing to remove these chemicals from your facility altogether?”

Carlin said that it’s still too early in their investigation to answer the final question, but said that work was ongoing to resolve the situation.

Residents who live nearby, and can still see the problem tank, now dismantled and stripped of all weather protection after emergency crews began working to cool the tank, want the company gone altogether.

“I don’t think they understand. Their lives were not disrupted. They went home and they were far away and they got to watch it on the news,” said Frank Aguirre, who said that his family now leaves their car packed in case they have to leave at a moment’s notice again.

When Klopfenstein asked Carlin for a timeline as to when the hazardous material would be removed from their facility, and when compensation would be given to the people who had to find shelter for their families or their pets, he didn’t have an answer.

She demanded a resolution soon, as well as a town hall meeting where residents can speak to more company officials.

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 Ilene Gould

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    LANSING, Michigan (WXMI) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has overturned several terrorism-related convictions for one of the men tied to the alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer back in 2020.

Joseph Morrison was convicted back in 2022 on state charges of providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and felony firearm.

In December of 2022, Morrison was sentenced to 4-20 years in prison, alongside others with ties to the militia group “Wolverine Watchmen.”

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals overturned all three of his convictions, ruling that “kidnapping” did not meet the definition of a “violent felony,” one of the requirements for Michigan’s Anti-Terrorism law.

The ruling also notes that the jury’s instructions allowed for a conviction based on the understanding that the kidnapping was a violent felony.

“And because the jury instructions given by the trial court allowed for a conviction based on an underlying kidnapping offense, his conviction cannot stand. We agree that the charge of kidnapping cannot properly form the basis for defendant’s conviction,” reads the ruling.

The decision from the Court of Appeals comes after Morrison argued that kidnapping is not a “violent felony” according to the legal definition.

Let us walk you through it.

A “violent felony” is, in part, defined as a “felony in which an element is the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against an individual.”

In 2006, Michigan state law was changed and removed all references to “force” regarding kidnapping.

According to Michigan law, an “act of terrorism” means a willful and deliberate act that is all of the following:

An act that would be a violent felony under the laws of this state, whether or not committed in this state. An act that the person knows or has reason to know is dangerous to human life. An act that is intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence or affect the conduct of government or a unit of government through intimidation or coercion

The ruling goes on to say, “Because the ‘use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force’ is not an element of kidnapping, kidnapping is not a ‘violent felony’ falling within the definition of an ‘act of terrorism.'”

In a release, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, “This ruling is completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous, and irresponsible.”

She also says her office will appeal the ruling.

“My office will not allow this to stand. We will not downplay violent terrorism, we will not accept violent threats against our elected leaders, and we will not abide the arbitrary defanging of the criminal statutes that preserve public safety and order in the State of Michigan. To restore sanity, protect our public servants, and uphold the rule of law, we are appealing this preposterous decision,” said Nessel.

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