Author: CNN Newsource

By Justin Schecker

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    ORLANDO, Florida (WESH) — For the past ten years, the Pulse sign on South Orange Avenue has been a visible reminder of the tragedy that took place at the former nightclub.

Orlando Torres said he had hoped to watch the removal of the sign by crews hired by the City of Orlando.

“I’m one of the Pulse survivors that was nearly three and a half hours in the restroom, waiting to get saved by the SWAT team,” Torres told WESH 2.

By the time Torres arrived Wednesday morning, the sign was already gone.

“It was important to see something that is showing progress,” he said.

Torres recently moved back to the City Beautiful. He said the sign finally coming down as part of the plans to build a permanent Pulse memorial is long overdue.

“We felt like we were sentenced for 10 years of agony, disappointments and delays,” he said.

In the aftermath of the mass shooting on June 12, 2016, Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said she got to know many of the 49 families who lost loved ones.

“They’re expecting to go to graduations, weddings,” Sheehan said. “They weren’t expecting to go to funerals, and their lives were cut short.”

Commissioner Sheehan remembers how the Orlando community came together.

“Churches welcomed the LGBTQ community that never had before,” she said. “We had, you know, businesses raising money.”

But then, the commissioner said the failures of the onePULSE Foundation to construct a lasting memorial only caused more pain.

The City purchased the nightclub property for $2 million in October 2023 and then restarted the process of creating a permanent memorial.

“I keep telling people if, unfortunately, it’s not against the law to run a not-for-profit into the ground,” Sheehan said. “I think there should be more rules and regulations, absolutely, but that’s just kind of where we’re at, and I think it’s important to move forward.”

The City is moving forward with plans to demolish the former nightclub building next week, now that the sign is down and artifacts from inside have been removed.

“I do think that the more emotional day for me is actually going to be when the building comes down,” Sheehan said, “because that’s a place where I went and had good times.”

The bar top, posters and two chandeliers are some of the Pulse artifacts the City is preserving.

New renderings released last week from the project managers show the permanent Pulse memorial will feature a reflection pool, a survivors’ common, and 49 rainbow-colored tribute columns.

A section of the nightclub dance floor is also part of the design.

“It was a place to look forward to enjoyment and dancing,” Torres said. “That’s all they did, was to come out and dance, not to hurt anybody and get shot.”

After the site is completely cleared, the City said construction of the permanent Pulse memorial will begin in September.

The plan is for the memorial to be finished in the Fall of 2027.

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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    ALVA, Florida (WBBH) — “I’m just always amazed at the personalities and the differences and their way of thinking,” said Terrilynn Dunford.

Among the many animals on Dunford’s Alva farm, there’s one she will never forget.

“Matilda, Princess Matilda, she had a sign out here that said ‘Queen and loving it,'” said Dunford.

Matilda was Dunford’s beloved Toulouse goose, who once ruled these grounds and now watches over her in heaven.

“She brought joy,” said Dunford.

Dunford took that joy and put pen to paper, filling pages of her children’s book, “Princess Matilda: A Silly Goose,” with their memories.

But most of all, what Dunford will never forget is the message Matilda imprinted on her heart.

“Everyone is special, and if people treat you differently, just continue to be nice and stay on your path,” said Dunford.

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 Muhammad Abdul Qawee

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    LEHIGH ACRES, Florida (WBBH) — A 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran died Tuesday evening after a lawn mower accident left him pinned beneath the water in a canal behind his Lehigh Acres home, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Dennis Moody was mowing his lawn near a canal behind a residence on Monet Street when the riding lawn mower went into the water and trapped him underneath.

A family member discovered Moody in the canal with the mower on top of him and called 911.

A deputy said Moody was submerged beneath the water with a red lawn mower resting on top of him, according to the sheriff’s report. The deputy attempted to check for a pulse but was unable to detect one and observed signs of rigor mortis.

Crews with the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District responded to the scene and pronounced Moody dead at 5:40 p.m.

Sheriff’s officials said homicide detectives and the medical examiner responded to investigate, which is standard procedure in unattended deaths. Authorities described the incident as a tragic accident.

Gulf Coast News spoke to Moody’s daughter the day after the tragedy.

“Seeing my dad like that — I had a restless night,” she said. “I was up at 4:30 this morning crying, sick to my stomach about all of this. I can’t believe he’s gone.”

Family members said Moody served in the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart. His daughter described him as a devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“He served for this country. He loved this country,” Amanda Moody said. “He was a great dad, a great granddad — an amazing guy, and I miss him so much.”

She said her father enjoyed cutting grass and spent much of his time working in the yard.

“He died doing what he loved to do,” she said.

The accident happened near the canal behind the family’s home, where the lawn mower remained in the water hours after the incident.

The tragedy is especially painful for the family, Amanda Moody said, noting that her mother also died in a drowning nine years ago.

Authorities have not released additional details as the investigation continues.

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 Meghan Schiller

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh-area man is not just giving people living with ALS a voice, he’s giving them their own voice.

A recent diagnosis just inspired a man with no coding experience to develop a life-changing app. It’ll allow people who are struggling to speak sound more like themselves.

David Betts lives in Mt. Washington with his wife, Anne. He received an ALS diagnosis two years ago at the age of 55.

“Admittedly, I was terrified and I still am but Anne always tells me I’m the most rational person because I’m a consultant and now I have a problem to solve,” he said.

Betts thought all the assistive tools and apps on the market sounded too robotic. So with zero coding experience and no time to waste, he created “Talk to Me, Goose!”, named after the character Goose from “Top Gun.” It’s an AI-powered text-to-speech app that uses voice cloning to help people with speech loss sound like themselves again.

“If I can make something with no experience as a developer, sitting on my couch, in 80 days, and release it to the world, and then in nine months build it on Windows and Android and iOS that I think has capabilities of what’s available, why have they not done it?” he said. “And why are we asking people to settle for less far less than what’s possible?”

He’s partnering with the nonprofit Live Like Lou to make it free for people living with ALS, but also Parkinson’s, strokes, head and neck cancer.

“While I focus on ALS for obvious reasons, there’s, we think, 97 million people living around the world with speech-limiting conditions who would benefit from assistive tech who lack access,” he said.

Users can create a voice clone with as little as 45 seconds of audio. It’s giving people not just the ability to talk, but to connect. The app also lets people create and tell bedtime stories in their own voice. That was an idea born from a message from a 41-year-old father living with ALS, no longer able to read to his little kids.

“She said they sat rapt with attention, and then their youngest said ‘I want daddy to tell that story 100, 100 times forever,” he said.

From bedtime stories to the Austrian Parliament, the app’s getting attention. It just won the Zero Award for reducing barriers for people living with disabilities.

And even though Betts never thought his story would include this, his own father’s voice speaks clearly in his mind.

“He always said he didn’t care what we did when we grew up. ‘I don’t care if you’re a plumber, you’re an electrician, you’re a janitor, you’re the world’s best surgeon, just be your best, do your best.”

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 Naveen Dhaliwal

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A Queens man is accused of killing his wife after her remains were found in two separate locations, months apart.

Rupchand Simboo, 74, has been charged with murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

In September, sanitation workers made a disturbing discovery while collecting trash near 149th Avenue and Brookville Boulevard. Inside a garbage bag wrapped in a tarp and blanket, workers found a woman’s beheaded and dismembered torso.

The medical examiner later identified the remains as Simboo’s wife, 33-year-old Salisha Ali, and ruled her death a homicide.

Then, just last week, another set of remains including a head, legs and an arm, were discovered in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge near the North Channel Bridge. Investigators say they also belong to Ali. They conducted the search based on coordinates they found in an app on Simboo’s phone the day after Ali was last seen alive.

Simboo was arrested Wednesday morning.

“As alleged, the defendant went to extraordinary lengths to evade responsibility for the brutal killing of his wife, discarding her remains in remote locations, and concealing critical evidence in an apparent effort to cover up this horrific crime,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years behind bars.

His neighbors are in disbelief.

“It’s definitely eerie to, like, know that, you know, such people live right across from you, and you’re trying to raise your family here and, like, exposed to that,” neighbor Hasiena Dwarika said. “It’s not something that’s pleasant.”

“Sorry to hear that. God bless the family and, you know, the relatives that’s behind, that’s for sure,” another neighbor said.

Police said the investigation is ongoing, and they are continuing to process evidence connected to the case.

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.