Author: CNN Newsource

By Montse Ricossa

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    MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, you often expect astronaut, teacher, firefighter, or another answer that likely changes every few years.

But there’s one woman who, from the start, knew she wanted to become a nurse. Kathleen Topp has been known as ‘Cookie’ all her life, since her older sister couldn’t say her name. She works at Children’s Wisconsin’s day hospital, where children come in for infusions, chemotherapy, or different blood products.

About 3,000 children come through every year, looking to beat cancer. While it’s a terrible diagnosis, the kids, Cookie says, have a great outlook. “They could be receiving the worst chemotherapy ever, or super sick, and they’re still laughing, giggling, running around the place,” she shared. It’s an experience she’s familiar with.

“Being able to be on the other side of it is a nice perspective for me because I know how they’re feeling,” she said. That’s because she got her own diagnosis at 12 years old, when she first noticed she had “little weird spots” on her legs, which she described as appearing like mosquito bites. That was coupled with fevers and losing weight.

For weeks, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Cookie. She explained the frustration over the unknown, wanting to be in summer camp with her friends.

Eventually, doctors found out she had cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It required nine rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant, thanks to her older sister.

“I just kind of took it minute by minute, day by day, and kind of got through [it].” — Cookie

Montse Ricossa:

How did that experience shape high school and picking what you wanted to do as your career?

Cookie Topp:

Before I was diagnosed, I was terrified of the hospital. Like anything; needle shots, doctors really, really freaked me out. And then, of course, I got diagnosed, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna have to face my fears very quickly because this is gonna become my norm’… I kind of remember looking at my mom and, like, having this realization. I’m like, ‘Mom, I want to be a nurse, but I want to be like a nurse here.’ I want to be a nurse, like these nurses that literally got me through the worst days in my life.”

Cookie went to school for nursing, always wanting to get back to the place she knew so well. She noted her first day of work “felt like I was home.” That home is the MACC Fund Center, treating children who were in her same position some years ago.

When Cookie tells kids about her diagnosis, she said first they express “surprise. And then you kind of just see this sigh of relief. They’re like, okay, like there’s something visible in front of me that is proof that this — there is an end and there is a positive outcome here.” An outcome that keeps getting better, thanks to organizations like the MACC Fund, and nurses like Cookie.

“I feel like if I have any chance to be that someone for another one of these families or a patient that’s going through the worst time of their life, then I want to be that. I want to be the light in this dark tunnel that they’re in, and show them that there is a path out of this.”

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 Mia Bearden

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    WAUSAU, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Republican nominee for governor Tom Tiffany says he is lucky to be alive after the plane he was traveling in lost power Saturday night and was forced to make an emergency landing in Lake Wausau.

Tiffany held a news conference Sunday, recounting the moments when the four-seat plane lost power as it approached Wausau Downtown Airport.

Tiffany said the pilot, 73-year-old Leonard Boltz, warned him they were going down.

“Len said to me, ‘We are going down. Pull your seatbelt tight,'” Tiffany said.

Boltz was able to land the plane in Lake Wausau. Tiffany said the pilot quickly raised the landing gear before hitting the water, a decision he believes may have saved their lives.

“If you leave your landing gear down, when you do a water landing, your plane can cartwheel,” Tiffany said. “He was savvy enough and quick enough to think about, ‘We have to pull that landing gear up.’ He did that and might’ve saved us as a result.”

As the plane began to submerge, Boltz was able to call 911.

Tiffany said he and Boltz then swam toward the airport, eventually reaching a shallow area where they waited for help.

Emergency responders later arrived by boat and rescued both men.

Tiffany and Boltz were taken to an area hospital. Tiffany said he hit his head on the dashboard and needed 12 stitches.

“We were really fortunate for what they did, and I can’t thank them enough for helping us in this situation,” Tiffany said. “The gravity of this is just hitting me at this point.”

Tiffany became emotional as he described the moments in the water and their effort to swim to safety.

He said he plans to return to campaigning but will not be able to fly for a few days.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what caused the plane to lose power.

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 Andrew Ramos

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A community in Brooklyn is heartbroken after a beloved bodega cat was apparently stolen.

The Innab family, who owns the Eighth Street Mini Market in Park Slope, had just opened up for the day on Thursday when the 3-month-old kitten, named Jabal, wandered outside.

“My dad noticed that the cat wasn’t inside, and he got very worried, so after that he looked at the surveillance,” Moe Innab said.

Surveillance video captured the moment when a couple walked by. The man is seen swooping in, cradling Jabal, who seems to be squirming in the man’s arms. They then quickly took off.

“To just steal a random cat outside, and it obviously wasn’t a stray cat,” Innab said. “It’s something I wouldn’t think of somebody doing in this neighborhood.”

Innab says his father had just gotten Jabal to replace the bodega’s former mascot, Victoria, after she died. The kitten had a collar and was weeks away from getting microchipped.

Neighbors were saddened to hear the news.

“You gotta be a bad person to do that. It’s like really mean and everyone loved that cat,” neighbor Seb Mitchell said.

“There’s so many animals that need places to live, so to take it from a loving owner is so ridiculous and horrible,” neighbor Hope Thompson said.

“Every time I went into that deli, there would be a line of people just going and petting the cat and saying hi to it,” Mitchell said. “It was like a celebrity.”

The family is offering a $500 reward for Jabal’s safe return, no questions asked.

“We all make mistakes. I’m no one to judge, you know. Maybe they weren’t in their right mind,” Innab said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Eighth Street Mini Market directly.

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 John Ramos

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    ALAMEDA, California (KPIX) — A letter marked “return to sender” has been delivered to an Alameda church. But the date of the postmark has people scratching their heads, and it has begun a nationwide search for who to send it to.

It’s often said that God works in mysterious ways. It turns out, so does the U.S. Postal Service. Last month, it returned a letter to Christ Episcopal Church in Alameda, originally postmarked on October 26, 1955.

“Uh, it came back in the mail on August 20th, 2026, for ‘insufficient address,'” said church Rector Stephen McHale.

The envelope contained the baptismal certificate for a child named Pamela Jean Haslam, born to parents Robert and Lois Haslam. But the keepsake document is coming a bit late. The post office is only about a mile and a half from the church, so Rev. McHale said it’s a mystery to him why it took so long to be delivered.

“The other mystery I’m very curious about is where in the Alameda Post Office this envelope was sitting for 71 years,” he said, with a smile, “and how they decided to drop it back in the mail?”

The church, which has been around since 1869, takes record keeping seriously, and they even have Pamela’s baptism ceremony listed on their books. But she died in 1996 at the age of 41, so, the question now is, to whom to send the document now? McHale put out a call on Facebook and it looks like her son may have been discovered living in Michigan. But at this point all they have is a mailing address.

“So, we are going to be sending him a photo copy of this document,” he said, laughing, “because we don’t trust the United States Postal Service anymore, to deliver in a timely way.”

Others may have just given up, but the church takes a long view of history. Its original building, and two other churches, were burned down by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1960. But a few things survived, including the marble baptismal font.

“This may be the original font in which Pamela was baptized,” said Rev. McHale.

He said, to him, the letter is a reminder that the church’s traditions go back for thousands of years, and it feels like part of its mission is to persevere despite the passage of time.

“We certainly take a long time to change, yes,” he said. “But we plan for the long run, yeah.”

Does that include taking 71 years to deliver the mail?

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t a check for me!” he said.

The Bible says Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years. That’s only about half as long as it took to deliver the letter.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s a miracle,” McHale said. “Because this is the Post Office’s job. But it’s kind of delightful that we got it back.”

The envelope’s address seems to be a location on the old Alameda air base, so the reverend suspects the parents may have been a military family posted there. They are asking anyone with information about Pamela or her parents to contact them.

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 Zach Boetto

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    CORONA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Nearly 3,000 flags representing the people killed during 9/11 are planted outside of Corona’s Historic Civic Center to honor and remember the victims.

For Lilian Davis and her two boys, it’s an opportunity to teach.

“It’s a sad memory, but it’s important to me that they learn about it,” Davis said.

Volunteers read aloud the names of all 2,998 victims at 5 a.m. on Friday to mark the 25 years that have passed since the attack. Rosa Ramirez read her own brother’s name.

“So much has changed,” Ramirez said. “He has two grandchildren that he never got to meet. It’s just very nice to be able to celebrate him.”

Each flag carries a card with a name, an age and a location of where the person died.

“You should never forget. Always remember. It’s important,” said Charles Thomas from American Legion Post 216, Corona.

Thomas is a retired Marine from New York and plans to stand watch among the flags on Saturday. He said his wife worked in the World Trade Center until 2000. His brother Jason helped pull two police officers from the rubble, saving their lives.

“Remember that day and examine it, and know that we’ve become a better country because of it,” Thomas said.

For Davis’ 5-year-old son Rhys, it’s lessons like these that he’ll take into first grade with one wish.

“The wish is that I hope this never happens again,” he said.

The flags will remain in the lawn until 4 p.m. on Sunday.

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 Karen Morfitt

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    JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — A little boy’s Make-A-Wish dream came true on Friday thanks to volunteers at the Tiny Town park in Colorado.

Four-year-old Oliver, a train enthusiast from Texas, was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer when he was 1 year old. Now in remission, he’s celebrating a Make-A-Wish trip he’ll never forget at Tiny Town.

Although the park has already closed for the season, its gates reopened for one special day.

“You’ve got a good bunch here,” one volunteer said.

Nearly a dozen volunteers returned to the park to make the day possible.

“I cannot believe they did that for us,” Oliver’s mom, Victoria Nguyen, said.

The special guest of honor was Oliver, who spent the day riding the miniature trains he loves. Oliver is still too young to fully understand the journey that brought him here, but his parents remember every step.

“He was diagnosed with Stage 3 metastatic Wilms tumor,” mom said. “He had four chemo treatments, some experimental, so they didn’t know how it would affect his little body,” Oliver’s dad, Andrew Paige, added.

After years of treatment, Oliver is now a survivor.

His visit to Colorado was made possible through Make-A-Wish.

“Make-A-Wish is so cool,” Nguyen said. “It’s for children who have gone through some life-threatening disease and got through it, and it’s a way to celebrate their survivorship.”

As Oliver soaked in every moment, his parents enjoyed something they had been waiting a long time to see: Oliver and his brother simply getting the chance to be kids.

“We needed a moment to be like, ‘Wow, that happened,’ and then get back to the pace of things and feel normal again,” Nguyen said.

The volunteers who made the day possible got something in return: the chance to witness a moment no one is likely to forget.

“Today his eyes lit up, and he has his little outfit on,” a parent said. “I don’t think he’s going to forget this. It’s hard to find these moments that are unforgettable, and we’re so grateful,” mom said.

For Oliver, the memories of the day will last long after the train makes its final stop.

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 Itinease McMiller

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, first responders and city leaders in Asheville gathered Friday to honor the lives lost and reflect on the lasting meaning of service and sacrifice.

The City of Asheville held a remembrance ceremony outside the Court Plaza fire station, bringing together firefighters, police officers, city officials and community members.

The ceremony began with a moment of silence and the traditional ringing of the bell in memory of the firefighters and victims who never came home. The Asheville Fire Department’s Honor Guard also presented the colors as those in attendance paused to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.

Local first responders said the anniversary serves as both a moment of remembrance and a reminder of the responsibility that comes with public service.

Asheville Deputy Fire Chief Chris Budzinski said the legacy of 9/11 continues to influence how first responders do their job.

“It is a reinforcement, too, that our firefighters, first responders and police officers put the public above themselves, and it reinforces the need for them to be ready for any type of event, any time of the day, so it reinforces our training needs,” Budzinski said.

Leaders from the Asheville Fire Department, Asheville Police Department and City Manager’s Office reflected on how the attacks changed the nation and the lessons that continue to resonate 25 years later.

Asheville City Manager DK Wesley said the courage shown by first responders that day remains at the heart of public service today.

“They put the safety and lives of others ahead of their own,” Wesley said. “That kind of commitment and courage is at the heart of public service, and it is something I am proud to see every day here in Asheville and across the community we share.”

Interim Asheville Police Chief Jackie Stepp also emphasized the importance of continuing to serve with the same courage and dedication shown by those who ran toward danger that day.

City leaders said remembering 9/11 is not only about looking back, but also about renewing a commitment to service, unity, and hope.

They are encouraging people across the community to take time to remember those who were lost, honor those who served and make sure their sacrifices are never forgotten.

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 Terell Bailey

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — Flock cameras have become a growing point of debate in communities across Metro Detroit. Now, one local tattoo shop owner in New Baltimore is adding a little humor to the conversation.

Steven Jean, owner of The Alien Body Shop, recently posted an unusual offer on Instagram: Bring him a Flock camera, and he’ll give you a free tattoo. The post was meant as satire and entertainment, but Jean says it quickly took on a life of its own.

He told CBS News Detroit that more than 2 million people have seen the post. People have also sent him photos and videos of damaged Flock cameras.

“I’ve had people send me pictures of damaged Flock cameras — videos of themselves damaging Flock cameras,” Jean said.

Jean says the offer isn’t meant to encourage people to remove or damage the cameras. That’s especially important because damaging or removing someone else’s property can have legal consequences.

Former Detroit Police Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt told CBS News Detroit that there’s a difference between accidentally hitting a Flock camera with a vehicle and intentionally damaging one.

“It’s one thing if you hit it with a car — but these guys are going over it and painting over it. Well, guess what? You’re going to jail,” Dolunt said.

CBS News Detroit spotted several Flock cameras in New Baltimore. City records show the New Baltimore City Council approved a $7,500 agreement for two Flock cameras in 2025. The technology uses cameras to capture license plates and other vehicle information as vehicles pass through an area.

Jean said he understands how beneficial the cameras can be, but also understands why some people are concerned about how the technology is used.

“Maybe they should be around places where a really high crime could be committed, something like a kidnapping, or a sexual assault,” Jean said.

Dolunt said Flock cameras can be useful, particularly when investigating serious crimes, but said there should also be limits on how long the information is retained. He also said there should be stricter penalties if an officer is caught using the technology for non-police purposes.

“Keep the data in there for a week or two unless it’s an active investigation,” Dolunt said.

For Jean, the viral post is ultimately about starting a conversation. He says the reaction to the post shows how strongly people feel about the technology.

Jean told CBS News Detroit that someone even contacted him, claiming they had been arrested for vandalizing a Flock camera. He joked that the story might qualify for a free tattoo. He’s also open to doing tattoos inspired by Flock cameras.

However, he has one important message for anyone considering taking his original offer literally: “Please do not bring Flock cameras to my shop! It’s all about obeying the law and having a good 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.