Author: CNN Newsource

By Michaela Springer

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    INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police in Indianapolis are seeking the public’s help finding two tortoises that were stolen from the Indianapolis Zoo earlier in October.

These tortoises – an Egyptian tortoise and a Northern Spider tortoise – are housed in the zoo’s Deserts exhibit. Investigators believe the theft happened sometime between 10 a.m. Oct. 11 and 10 a.m. Oct. 12.

Jake Oakman, the zoo’s senior VP of external relations, says the zoo is working closely with ISP to find the tortoises.

“The Indianapolis Zoo had two small tortoises stolen from our facility. We are working closely with law enforcement to investigate the theft. We continue to hope for their safe return and we appreciate the community’s support during this time. The Zoo will provide updates when they are available.”

The stolen reptiles both have microchips and are considered “critically endangered species.” The Egyptian tortoise has a “prominent scar” on its belly, police noted.

Anyone with information on the tortoises was asked to contact ISP Capitol Police at 317-234-2131 or Crime Stoppers.

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By Da Lin

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Bay Area seafood lovers hoping to serve fresh Dungeness crab for Thanksgiving or Christmas are out of luck again this year. California officials have postponed the commercial crabbing season once more because of the ongoing risk of whale entanglements off the Northern California coast.

At the docks near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, crab pots are sitting idle.

The delay doesn’t come as a surprise, as the season has been pushed back four or five years in a row, but commercial fishermen said that doesn’t soften the economic blow.

San Francisco fisherman David Kemp pointed to his worn work clothes as a sign of how tough things have gotten.

“Look at me, I’ve got holes in my shirt. We’re barely holding onto our businesses,” he said.

It’s been a particularly rough year for Bay Area fishing crews. The state cancelled the commercial salmon season entirely, and now they’re missing out on the busy holiday demand for crab, one of their biggest revenue drivers.

“Who really misses out is the public,” Kemp said. “If they get crab that comes out of San Francisco, it’s been in a freezer for six months or eight months. If they get crab that comes out of Puget Sound, they’re paying $15.99 a pound.”

Most of the crab currently available in local markets and restaurants is coming from Washington state, driving prices up and profits down for local businesses.

“That means we’re probably going to be closed on Thanksgiving because people don’t come down here for turkey,” said Eli Fowler, a manager at Capurro’s Restaurant. “So that hurts us for Thanksgiving and [Christmas].”

He added, “It’s bad for business and it really just hurts Fisherman’s Wharf as a whole.”

Environmental advocates said the delay is necessary to protect endangered marine life.

“Anytime that they entangle more than three endangered humpback whales in a single year, the season will be delayed until the following year,” said Dr. Geoff Shester, Director of Fishery Innovation and senior scientist at Oceana. “There were four whales confirmed entangled in Dungeness crab fishing gear over the last year.”

Shester said a solution is on the horizon. The state is expected to approve new “pop-up” gear for the spring season, a technology that uses GPS and acoustic triggers to raise buoys and ropes only when harvesting pots, eliminating vertical lines in the water that whales and sea turtles can get caught in.

“This new technology has been tested successfully and shown to work in a limited context over the last few years,” Shester said. “We’re hopeful that this spring, that will be an option to allow these fishermen to stay on the water and really prevent further entanglements at the same time.”

But affordability is a major concern.

“I can’t be optimistic,” Kemp said. “Right now, there’s nothing to be optimistic about.”

He worries his boat is too small — and his finances too stretched — to invest in entirely new equipment.

The state said the earliest possible opening for the commercial Dungeness crab season would be in early January. Recreational crabbing, however, will still open Nov. 1 in some areas, including waters off San Francisco.

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By Charlie Lapastora

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    LODI, California (KOVR) — The Lodi High School baseball field transformed into what felt like spring training in October for a brand-new T-ball league. The Lodi T-Rexes had their first practice on Sunday for kids of all ages who are on the autism spectrum.

“My inspiration is Niko, my son,” Jose “Jojo” Duenas, the founder of the Lodi T-Rexes league, said. “He’s 3 years old, last year we found out that he was autistic. I was kind of looking around, seeing what our options [were] as far as sports. I couldn’t really find anything in the immediate area of Lodi.”

So that’s when, about a month ago, Duenas, a local football coach, and his family stepped up to the plate and started the Lodi T-Rexes. He was expecting about a dozen kids to coach originally. On Sunday, 52 athletes showed up.

“My son, I wanted him to have a good experience,” Duenas said. “And for people like my wife, there’s some parents out there that really struggle. I’m doing this for them. I want to get them the opportunity to celebrate their kids, I’m doing it for the parents and the athletes. That’s all I need. Just the ‘thank yous’ of the smiles on people’s faces, some of the parents sharing their stories, what they go through every day. That’s all the motivation I need besides my son. So, yeah, it’s been beautiful.”

Duenas met with applied behavior analysis therapists and local baseball coaches for insight. He held training for the dozens of volunteers to spread awareness ahead of the practice because he said, “Every kid is so specific.”

One of those volunteers was 9th grader Landon Camarena. His favorite part was helping all the kids, and he said for the families, “they’re getting emotional seeing the kids having fun.”

“They deserve to wear a jersey and they deserve to be a part of the sports,” Camarena said.

Camerena helped at the hydration station. It was one of four stations set up for the T-ball athletes. The others were a home run derby, a throwing and catching area, and batting practice. Duenas said there were high school volunteers, even from rival schools, Tokay High and Lodi High, putting aside their rivalry to unite in helping by volunteering.

Parents, grandparents, and loved ones filled the stands at Lodi High School, which partnered with Duenas to provide the baseball field, to cheer on their athletes.

Jennifer Jurado was with her 5-year-old kindergartner grandson, Julian Camberos, now a Lodi T-Rex T-Ball athlete.

“To be able to meet other people, other families in the community whose children are on the spectrum, is amazing,” Jurado said. “In the autism community, for a lot of years, it hasn’t been diagnosed-it’s really coming in the spotlight now with acceptance and being recognized. It is very important for our children, grandchildren, our loved ones to be represented, and understood, and included.”

For Jhair Carmona and his son, Jhair Jr., it was a great father-son bonding moment for them. Carmona Sr. said his son means everything to him and enjoyed spending more time with him while seeing him have fun.

“Support your kids and do everything that you can to treat them like normal because even though we know this sometimes is [a] struggle, we need to be patient and encourage our kids to be more involved with daily stuff and games like this,” Jhair said.

Duenas said there were around 150-200 people total that showed up for the first practice on Sunday and that even people from Texas reached out to him to inquire about it. He also said there was a family from Merced that came to shadow what he was doing, hoping to bring something like this back to their community.

He said there is another similar program in Lodi, called Spark, offering soccer, but that it was hard overall to find something nearby involving sports to put his son and other kids with autism into and that it shouldn’t be this way. He wants to take this eventually on the road and branch out to other communities to help with this type of league.

An online fundraiser Duenas originally had is fully funded for this season and next.

For any parents who want to sign up their kids to play, it’s completely free and includes a jersey. All you have to do is message Duenas on the Lodi T-Rex’s new Instagram page.

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By WTVD Staff

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    HOLLY SPRINGS, North Carolina (WTVD) — A heartbreaking day for the family of a 14-year-old and the Wake County community after a teenager died when he was hit while riding his bike early Sunday morning.

The principal of Holly Springs High School sent a letter to parents and students informing them that the victim was 9th-grade freshman Max Dunham.

Max’s father tells ABC11 he lost his wife a few months ago to cancer and now has to deal with losing his son.

As students head back to class on Monday, the school said in the email, they will have grief resources available to support students dealing with Max’s loss.

The message says impart: “Dear Holly Springs High Families, It is with great sadness that I write this message to let you know that one of our students, 9th grader Max Dunham died on 10/26/25. Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”

The school said they will continue to have staff available at the school to assist students trying to cope with his death.

The crash occurred around 1:40 a.m. on Avent Ferry Road near Holly Meadow Drive and involved a head-on collision between the driver of a Honda Civic and a driver in a Honda Passport. Before that collision, police say one of the drivers hit the teen who was riding a bicycle.

Police have not said which driver hit Dunham.

According to police, 16-year-old Ashton H. Rahlfs, who was driving the Passport, is facing a DWI charge.

Anyone with any information regarding the crash or the events leading up to it, is requested to contact the Traffic Investigations and Enforcement Unit at 919-577-3110.

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By Payton Busselman

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    FAYETTE, Missouri (KOMU) — Peacock Beauty Shop in Fayette celebrated its 100th anniversary Sunday.

Mickie Foland, the owner of Peacock Beauty, said the shop means community to her.

“I’ve seen kids grow up, go out, seen their own kids come in,” Foland said. “To me this isn’t a job: I love this.”

Foland said having people come in, sit in her chair and share stories is the best part.

“Storywise, there are so many of them to pick and choose,” Foland said. “But I can’t really nail one down because I’ve just enjoyed everyone I’ve done over the years, and we just have a good time.”

Throughout the beauty shop’s century, there have been previous owners, and Foland said the shop wouldn’t be here without them and what she learned from them.

“Being there when someone needs it — that’s basically what we’ve all been doing,” Foland said.

Foland also said the same about her employees. One of them, Janice Kay Harris, has been there for 58 years — over half the time the beauty shop has been open.

“I’ve done hair from French rolls to the Farrah Fawcett,” Harris said. “Pin curls were prominent when I was going to school and I apprenticed.”

Harris used to do haircuts on her aunt and mom and even practiced on her dolls.

“I used to take my dolls; I would cut their hair and give them permanents,” she said.

Harris would also bring dementia patients to the salon to do their hair and get them out of the house.

“I would bring them to the shop and do their hair and take them home, and I loved it,” Harris said. “They were just as sweet as they could be.”

Both Foland and Harris love their customers and being able to make them smile.

“I like the people, and I like the interaction with people,” Harris said. “And you find there’s other people who are worse off than you are, and you try to comfort them. It’s wonderful.”

“They come in, sit in my chair, and if they put a smile on their face before they leave, I know I’ve done what I’m supposed to do,” Foland said. “So, I’m a therapist at the same time, too. I’m a “hairapist,” as they put it.”

The theme of the celebration was rocking hairstyles from the 20th century. The hairstyles included iconic styles throughout the century, and some employees wore zombie makeup for Halloween.

“I like to do everything big,” Harris said.

Employees wore wigs or styled their hair, from the the 20’s boyish bob, the grown-out bob from the ’30s, the Bouffant from the ’50s, the beehive and afro from the ’60s, Farrah Fawcett from the ’70s, Madonna and Frank Sinatra’s style from the ’80s and Jennifer Anniston from the ’90s.

Both Foland and Harris hope that the shop gets to stay around for another century.

“I just hope I get to continue to do this until I can’t do this anymore,” Foland said.

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By Ashley Grams

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A food shelf is open at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in support of federal employees who are working without pay during the government shutdown.

Some people dropped off donations at specified sites on Sunday. A flyer, shared with WCCO, reads “the MAC is partnering with the Armed Forces Service Center to open a food shelf to help ease the burden.”

The shutdown started on Oct. 1 and is the second-longest on record.

“People are grinning and keeping up a good face, but people are getting a little nervous. Some people are getting a little scared and some people are getting a little angry,” said Neal Gosman, a union officer with AFGE Local 899 who represents Transportation Security Administration members in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Gosman first spoke with WCCO on day 19 of the shutdown and says emotions have shifted in the week that followed.

“Last week, there were people who were optimistic in some ways, this is going to be done soon and that has gone away,” Gosman said.

The union representative and long-time TSA officer says in a briefing at the end of his shift on Sunday, many TSA employees received a list of resources, including some food shelves. Gosman says while some people received a partial paycheck last pay period, this time, no money will hit their bank accounts.

Second Harvest Heartland says it plans to help meet the need at MSP and bring food for federal workers directly to the airport this week.

These efforts at MSP are reminiscent of six years ago, during a 35-day government shutdown. Back in 2019, a food shelf and donation locations at the airport also supported unpaid workers.

Gosman knows these impacts go far beyond just union members, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the nation.

“Our job is to keep people safe to keep transportation going and that’s our job,” said Gosman. “The job of the people in Congress and the people in the administration is to run the country.”

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