Author: CNN Newsource

By Alina Hauter

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    ZEELAND, Michigan (WXMI) — Ryder Pankey has big dreams, and at just 9 years old, he’s already making them come true on two wheels.

The Zeeland Christian student recently became the youngest racer to complete this year’s Iceman Cometh Challenge, finishing the grueling 32-mile mountain bike race in 2 hours and 49 minutes.

“I love climbing hills, my dad always says it’s because I love to suffer,” Pankey joked.

The race starts at the Kalkaska Airport and finishes at Timber Ridge in Traverse City. For Pankey, who has been biking since he was a toddler, the challenge was both demanding and rewarding.

“It was really just, like, steady, consistent pace, and at the end it was starting to get hard, but I just kept pushing,” Pankey said. “It was a lot of fun, because there was, like, a ton of people cheering for me, because there were so many people out there.”

Biking is a family affair in the Pankey household, with his parents and sister Ellie all participating in the sport.

“It’s a lot of fun, having my whole family do it,” Pankey said. “Ellie’s a really similar pace to me in a lot of things, which is fun, because I can ride with her.”

As an athlete on the West Michigan Coyotes bike team, West Michigan’s largest youth mountain biking team that serves riders from kindergarten to high school seniors, Pankey trains regularly at locations like the Upper Macatawa Natural Area in Ottawa County.

To prepare for the Iceman Cometh Challenge, Pankey trained three times a week.

“The two practices during the week are usually like 10 to 15 miles, and then the weekend is just a wide range,” Pankey said. “My mom and dad would ride with me on my longer rides, and I would practice with some of my friends from the Coyotes.”

He also completed the Peak2Peak Mountain Bike Classic as part of his training.

“I just thought it’d be a lot of fun. I did the Peak2Peak, which is 24 miles, to train for it,” Pankey said.

The Iceman Cometh Challenge is just one item checked off Pankey’s ambitious racing bucket list.

“There’s Lumberjack, that’s 100 miles, and then there’s Leadville [in Colorado], which is 100 miles, but it’s in the mountains. And then there’s Unbound Gravel [in Kansas], it’s 200 miles,” Pankey said.

His ultimate goal is clear.

“I want to be a pro bike racer,” Pankey said. “I want to be in the UCI [Mountain Bike World Series].

In the meantime, he’s focused on his next challenge: the Michigan Scholastic Cycling Association series.

“Next year, I have a MiSCA series, and I’m doing Advanced Elementary, so I want to try and win the championship. There’s six races,” Pankey said.

For anyone interested in trying mountain biking, Pankey offers some sage advice.

“At the beginning, don’t push yourself too hard, because you just want to keep liking bikes, and then you can get more into it,” Pankey said.

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

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By Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com

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    IDAHO FALLS (eastidahonews.com) — The families of Dylan Rounds and Gabby Petito are joining forces to help train eastern Idaho law enforcement and boost public safety awareness.

Candice Cooley and Nichole and Jim Schmidt will be hold a discussion on public safety at the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls on Monday, Dec. 1, from 7-8 p.m. Cooley’s son, 19-year-old Dylan Rounds, disappeared from a remote northern Utah desert in May 2022. His remains were recovered nearly two years later in April 2024.

Nichole and Jim Schmidt’s daughter, Gabby Petito, was killed during a cross-country trip and found in 2021 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

“We’re honored that Nichole and Jim and the Gabby Petito Foundation are coming to speak about domestic violence and important things that the community needs to know,” Cooley tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Our foundation, Dylan’s Legacy, focuses on working with victims and helping families who find themselves in similar situations that we found ourselves in.”

Before the public safety forum, law enforcement experts will lead training sessions for local officers on digital forensics, cell phone data analysis, and other technology-based investigative tools.

Law enforcement officers from across the state will be participating in the event, which is sponsored by the Dylan Rounds Foundation.

“We still have room for ten officers and we welcome local police agencies, Fish and Game, school resource officers and other law enforcement personnel,” Cooley says.

The two-day training will be taught by Detective Aaron Benzick from Plano, Texas, and include retired FBI agent Jeff Ross and Matthew Anderson, the Deputy Director for the Intermountain West Regional Computer Forensic Lab.

Law enforcement officers can learn more about and apply for the two-day training here.

The public is invited to attend the public safety forum at CEI. It will be held in rooms 150-152 in Building 6 at 1600 South 25th East.

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By Briauna Brown

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — A Miami priest was arrested for allegedly attacking a woman during an argument over taking photos as she was donating items to the church, according to an arrest report.

Father Jesus Gabriel Saldana, 72, is facing multiple charges, including battery and criminal mischief, for an incident that took place on Nov. 6.

The arrest report states that at about 11:40 a.m. at St. Kevin Catholic Parish, located at 12525 SW 42nd Street near Kendale Lakes, a woman, identified as Ana Maria Lamar, was dropping off donations.

Lamar then wanted to take photos of her donations with a “politically inclined poster”, and Saldana, who was collecting the donations, approached her and told her she wasn’t allowed to do so, the report said.

And when Saldana asked Lamar to leave the church, she asked for her donations back, and an argument broke out.

The report said that during the argument, Lamar started taking pictures of Saldana, and he lunged at her, and a physical scuffle began.

Witnesses reportedly separated the two from each other; however, Saldana allegedly reached inside Lamar’s vehicle without her permission, and she then pushed him out of the way. When Lamar got into her driver’s seat, Saldana allegedly continued to “batter her while she was sitting” inside her vehicle, the report said.

During the renewed struggle, Saldana allegedly ripped off the vehicle’s rearview mirror and then reached inside Lamar’s passenger side window to grab her purse and emptied the contents on the ground in search of her phone.

Lamar, who was able to drive away, took herself to the hospital because she has a history of cardiac issues and wasn’t feeling well after the altercation with Saldana, police said in the report. She was later admitted.

On Saturday, Nov. 22, Saldana reported to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office in the Midwest District, initially denying the allegations. However, the affidavit didn’t say what he admitted to, in which Saldana was arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

He was charged with burglary/occupied conveyance, battery on a person 65 or older and criminal mischief. Two days later, Saldana was released on bond.

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By Matt Schooley

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    BEDFORD, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Counselors will be available to students at schools in Bedford, Massachusetts Monday to help them cope with the death of 13-year-old Parker Robles.

Robles was riding an electric dirt bike on Oak Street in Stoneham around 4:30 p.m. Friday when investigators said he crashed into a car. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where he died. According to the Middlesex District Attorney, a 73-year-old driver was turning his Toyota Corolla onto Oak Street when Robles hit the car.

There are no charges at this point in the investigation.

Bedford Superintendent of Schools Cliff Chuang said in a letter to families Sunday that the district is “deeply saddened” by the death of Robles, who was a student at John Glenn Middle School.

“Counselors will be available on Monday for students and staff at John Glenn Middle School and at Lane Elementary School, where Parker’s brother goes to school. Principals of those two schools have shared additional information with families and staff about the supports available,” Chuang said.

A Bedford School Committee meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled. It was moved to December 9.

Dozens of Robles’ friends went to the crash scene in Stoneham over the weekend to lay flowers and leave notes in his memory.

“I can’t believe he’s already gone. He was only 13. Nothing like that should ever happen to a 13-year-old, never in the world,” said Georgie Travis, a friend of Robles.

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By Mike Bolger

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    ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — A gas explosion destroyed a home on Walker Drive in northeast Albuquerque at 10:23 p.m. Sunday, according to the Albuquerque Fire Department.

AFD Lt. Jason Fejer confirmed that one person was transported to the hospital following the incident. That person is in serious condition.

No additional injuries were reported.

A home next to the destroyed home was also badly damaged.

The residents of that home will be displaced until crews verify the structure is safe.

AFR says the New Mexico Gas Company took multiple readings and did not detect any leaks in the surrounding homes. The event appears to be isolated to the involved address.

People miles away reported feeling the forceful blast and say it shook their homes.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the explosion.

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By Peyton Headlee

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — Sacramento city leaders are calling for unity as Alvin Prasad fights for his life following an attack that police are investigating as a hate crime.

Prasad was attacked after celebrating Halloween at Badlands, one of the city’s most prominent LGBT+ friendly nightclubs. Sacramento Police officers who went to the Lavender Heights district found him with serious injuries.

His daughter, Andrea, said he is still in a coma and not responsive, with a feeding tube still in place, three weeks after the attack.

Outside Sacramento’s City Hall Saturday night, a few dozen people gathered with candles, calling for justice for Prasad. Andrea described her father as “very, very vibrant,” saying, “I’d say he’s like sunshine or a rainbow. He likes to dress up in a lot of colors and just be himself.”

Police have arrested 24-year-old Sean Payton in connection with the attack. He faces a felony charge for assault with great bodily injury with a hate crime enhancement and a misdemeanor charge for resisting arrest, according to a complaint obtained by KCRA 3.

Andrea said, “My dad used words and it got met with violence. And I don’t think that is ever okay.”

“This is an awful thing that happened. The opportunity here is to come together so that we have more tools in the future and we have success,” one of Alvin’s friends said on Saturday night.

The gathering was also a call for community members to look out for each other.

“Let’s take all the people that are here, the energy that we have, the sadness, the frustration, the anger and let’s turn that into action together and let’s look out for one another,” Sacramento City Councilmember Caity Maple said.

“We do not stand for this kind of behavior. We are a community that believes in love, believes in peaceful communication, an exchange of ideas that does not ever result in the kind of trauma and harm that we’ve seen here in this instance,” councilmember Phil Pluckebaum said.

The councilmembers also discussed measures to make the city safer, including forming a neighborhood watch.

Andrea said her father would be proud to see the support and sense of community at the gathering.

“He would be really shocked, honestly. He always felt like a lot of people didn’t really know him or notice him. He always felt like he didn’t have friends. So, I think this would be a lot for him in a good way,” Andrea said.

Payton appeared in court before a judge briefly on Monday. His attorney asked the hearing to be moved to next month. He’ll next appear in court on Dec. 16.

Andrea Prasad shared a fundraiser to help cover her father’s medical expenses.

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