Author: CNN Newsource

By Kennedy Mason

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    BONITA SPRINGS, Florida (WBBH) — A weekend standoff between a Bonita Springs woman and Lee County deputies is prompting renewed calls from neighbors for increased access to treatment and crisis intervention services.

Ciara Smith remains in custody after an hours-long confrontation with deputies, but those who know her say the situation reflects a mental health crisis rather than criminal intent.

A neighbor who is also a recovery coach said a member of Smith’s family described her behavior as often not making sense, pointing to long-standing mental health struggles.

Joe Scalia only spoke to Gulf Coast News. He said troubling behavior had been evident for months.

“She would come out of the house and just start screaming at nobody, at the air,” Scalia said.

Authorities say the situation escalated Saturday night when Smith exited her home and pointed a handgun at deputies. Deputies reported hearing clicking sounds from the firearm before she retreated back inside.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Smith later appeared in a front window, again pointing the gun toward deputies. Fearing for their safety, a deputy fired a rifle in her direction. No injuries were reported. Smith then barricaded herself inside as deputies repeatedly urged her to come out. Deputies say she eventually exited the home but ignored commands and attempted to run away before being taken into custody.

Scalia said the man Smith lives with feels powerless to get her the help she needs.

“He feels helpless, like there’s nothing he can do for her,” Scalia said.

Investigators say the incident began earlier at Leoni’s Pizza on Bonita Beach Road, where employees called 911 after Smith allegedly entered the restaurant with multiple firearms and handed an employee a note with her name on it.

Neighbor Connie Hill said while the police response drew attention, the situation was troubling to witness.

“You worry about the person that’s going through this,” Hill said.

Scalia said the extensive law enforcement response highlights the need for stronger mental health resources in the community.

“Look at how many resources it took just to de-escalate that situation and end it,” he said. “Jail isn’t always the solution. Getting help is.”

Smith remains in the Lee County Jail, facing three counts of aggravated battery and resisting officers.

LCSO said when Smith was taken into custody, she had two replica handguns in her possession. One was a tan handgun, and the other was a black handgun.

Neighbors say they hope the case leads to treatment and support rather than punishment alone.

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 Aziza Shuler, Lisa Rozner

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — There’s no end in sight for the New York City nurses strike, which has stretched into its second week.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders joined striking nurses on the picket line on the West Side Tuesday.

Hospitals and emergency rooms remain open as the nurses rallied outside. The health systems impacted are Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian.

Hundreds of nurses gathered outside Mount Sinai West on 10th Avenue, and heard from Mamdani and Sanders.

Sanders spoke at the podium first, saying it’s unfair how hospital executives are paid millions, but a contract with better pay for nurses cannot be negotiated.

“Don’t tell me you can’t provide a good nurse-staff ratio when you are paying your CEO at NewYork-Presbyterian $26 million a year, the CEO at Montefiore $16 million a year, Mount Sinai $5 million a year,” he said.

Mamdani’s appearance on Tuesday marked his second day joining the picket line. The mayor stood by nurses on the first day of their strike.

“This is about safe working conditions. This is about a fair contract. This is about dignity. And today is day nine – day nine – of those demands, and I want you to know that wherever I go in New York City, I hear about the plight of our nurses,” Mamdani said. “Now is your time of need, where we can ensure that this is a city that you don’t just work in but a city that you can also live in.”

Mamdani said he is pushing for all sides to go back to the negotiating table to achieve a “swift and urgent resolution.”

The nurses went on strike nine days ago, and say they’re not backing down from what they’re demanding of the city’s three major hospital systems – NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Health, and Montefiore

Negotiations remain at a standstill, and no additional negotiations are scheduled. NewYork-Presbyterian said it’s working with a mediator to schedule the next bargaining session.

The New York State Nurses Association is calling for better staffing ratios, protection from workplace violence, and improved healthcare benefits.

“We are so fortunate to have the support of our community and allies, who truly energize our movement as we picket through the bitter cold,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said. “We need hospital management to understand that we are out here fighting for the safety of our patients and nurses, so that every patient can have a qualified nurse at their bedside. Hospital management must take action to maintain our health benefits, guarantee enforceable safe staffing, and make hospitals safer workplaces.”

The hospitals continue to push back, calling the union’s demands unreasonable. NewYork-Presbyterian says its nurses are among the highest paid in the city, and says NYSNA’s demands for a 25% wage hike over three years are “unrealistic.”

“Despite our best efforts to negotiate, a near-term path to an agreement is very unlikely,” Mt. Sinai Health CEO Brendan Carr said in a statement Monday. “Over the weekend, our operational teams extended our plans to run the Health System without the support of the nurses NYSNA leadership has convinced to strike,”

A Montefiore spokesperson told CBS News New York, in part, “until they can back away from their reckless and dangerous $3.6 billion demands, progress overall will not be possible.”

“Our nurses are among the highest paid in the city, with a current average annual compensation of $163,000,” a rep from NewYork-Presbyterian said. “NYSNA’s demands remain unrealistic – its latest proposals include an approximately 25% wage increase over three years.”

Hundreds of nurses have shown up each day on the picket line, through all kinds of weather. Many say they’d rather been inside caring for patients, but until there’s progress, they’re staying put.

“I’ve been loyal to them since my 20s. I’ve always been there and made so many sacrifices – holidays, leaving my family,” one nurse 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 Mythili Gubbi

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    SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) — With deportations across the country and here in Utah, some organizations are seeing how “forgotten” family members are impacted, too. Whether it’s families having to self-deport or be forcibly removed from the United States, many of them have to leave their pets behind.

“Anecdotally, we know that we are seeing more pets surrendered, and more pets are coming to our clinics for vaccines and microchips in preparation for travel,” said Juli Ulvestad, the pet resource center director at the Humane Society of Utah.

separate families from pets

By: Mythili Gubbi Posted 12:00 AM, Jan 20, 2026 and last updated 9:47 AM, Jan 20, 2026 SALT LAKE CITY — With deportations across the country and here in Utah, some organizations are seeing how “forgotten” family members are impacted, too. Whether it’s families having to self-deport or be forcibly removed from the United States, many of them have to leave their pets behind.

“Anecdotally, we know that we are seeing more pets surrendered, and more pets are coming to our clinics for vaccines and microchips in preparation for travel,” said Juli Ulvestad, the pet resource center director at the Humane Society of Utah.

The video player is currently playing an ad. Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering in Salt Lake City helps people take care of their pets — whether it’s keeping them temporarily while someone is experiencing homelessness or dealing with medical issues, getting food if they can’t afford it, or a variety of other issues. And now, they are adding a new category of people to that list.

Kristina Pulsipher is the co-executive director and co-founder of Ruff Haven. She said a few weeks ago, a woman reached out to them while her husband was going through immigration proceedings.

“[They] found out at that court hearing that he was going to be deported,” explained Pulsipher. “So, they chose to all join him as a family and that included their small, cute, little dog, Haru. And she reached out to us in a panic and wasn’t sure what to do.”

Haru needed an international health certificate to travel, up-to-date vaccines and a plane ticket to travel with his humans — something that his family was struggling to afford with all their other costs.

“To then be uprooted and have to leave everything that you know and leave your companion animal behind, it’s just one more layer of trauma to add on to the situation,” said Pulsipher.

So, Ruff Haven stepped in to help.

They have been hearing from more families with pets after a loved one was deported or needs to self-deport.

“Unfortunately, their family member has already had to be deported and so they’ve been kind of stuck with these animals that they don’t know what to do,” she added.

Ulvestad wants to encourage people to plan to care for their pets if something drastic happens, and to get their pets microchipped to help with reunification.

“If you are deported or choose to self-deport, can you or will you take your pets with you? What do you need to do to prepare for that? Consider if your family is separated, and some are left in the United States and others are returned to their home country, who would be best to have that pet as a source of comfort?” she said.

She also wants to remind neighbors to look for pets that might be waiting for their loved ones to come home, but are not.

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 Jhovani Carrillo

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    LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Valley family is grieving the loss of 19-year-old Kevin Reed, whose body was found at Whitney Mesa Park in Henderson after a massive brush fire swept through the area last week.

Fire investigators discovered Reed’s body following the blaze that ravaged roughly 3 acres of the park and caused damage to nearby homes. Police are investigating both the cause of the fire and Reed’s death.

“It’s really hard. It’s something we didn’t expect. I don’t think anybody ever expects something so hard,” said Summer Carpenter, Reed’s sister.

Carpenter, who is just a year older than Kevin, said this tragedy is unfortunately one her family has experienced before.

“A lot of people that know us, know that we had to bury our mom, and now we have to bury him,” Carpenter said.

Of seven siblings, both Kevin and Summer were in the middle of the pack. Carpenter described her brother as goofy and protective.

“Very goofy. Loved to be outdoors. Very spunky. Very protective, you know, needed anything, he was there,” Carpenter said.

She said Kevin grew up going to Whitney Mesa Park with his foster parents and was always active in the area.

“Always in the biking trails, whether it was the park, on the bikes, hiking, by the water over there. He was always over there; he enjoyed being over there,” Carpenter said.

When Carpenter learned about the large fire on social media, she knew something was wrong.

“Something didn’t feel right, so I called the coroner’s and then they ended up calling me back…. His wallet was with him, which had his ID,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter isn’t sure why her brother was at the park the morning of the fire, but said she has many questions about the tragic morning.

A memorial now stands along the trail at Whitney Mesa Park, serving as a bright symbol of love, honor and remembrance amid the charred trees and ash-dusted brush.

As the investigation continues, Carpenter hopes Kevin’s cheerful spirit will be remembered forever.

“I want him to be remembered as the kind, loving soul that he was,” Carpenter said.

The Henderson Fire Department has not yet released the cause of the fire.

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

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By Zoe Hunt

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    MARINA, Calif. (KSBW) — A growing memorial is forming at the scene of Sunday’s deadly police shooting in Marina, where a mother says she wants answers and full transparency from law enforcement.

Valencia Richardson identified her son, Ronald Tinsley, as the man shot and killed by Marina police during a traffic stop near Marina Heights Drive just before 5 p.m.

“Today has been very overwhelming. I lost my firstborn son. I lost one of the legacies of my family,” Richardson said.

Police have released limited details about what led up to the shooting. Richardson said she arrived at the scene and repeatedly asked officers for information as she watched her son placed into an ambulance.

“I kept asking the police if my son was alive. Or was he dead, or what was going on with my son? I couldn’t get any information,” she said.

Richardson said she received confirmation that her son had died around 1 a.m., hours after police confirmed there had been a fatality.

“I just feel like they just stole moments from me yesterday. And they also stole my son. He didn’t deserve to be shot,” she said.

Richardson described Tinsley as a well-known member of the Seaside community and a local rapper

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By Maricela De La Cruz

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    STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) — A violent shooting erupted at a Stockton flea market on Sunday, leaving two men dead and a woman injured, as described by Salvador Cervantes, a longtime resident and jewelry business owner.

“Yesterday, we were working, and I was working on a watch,” Cervantes said, recalling the moment the day was shattered by gunfire. “When all of a sudden, I hear this gunfire coming from places.”

Cervantes recounted the terrifying moment when an armed individual walked out of his booth.

“This individual came, was walking out of my booth with the gun pointing, and I threw myself on the floor when I saw him,” he said. “There was an exchange of fire between my son and them. My son is the one who saved my life for the second time, so I’m pretty much blessed that he was around again for the second time.”

While police have not confirmed these details, they did confirm that two men were killed and one woman was injured in the incident.

For Cervantes, the violence is hauntingly familiar. In 2012, his father was shot and killed while selling jewelry at the same flea market.

“They just killed him pretty much. They didn’t even ask for anything that time. They just came up to him, and they just shot him, and they had me at gunpoint, so I couldn’t do anything,” Cervantes said.

A decade later, the trauma continued when robbers targeted his business again, this time at his home.

“In 2022, they came to my house to do the same thing. They came over because I used to go to the Galt flea market, so I would transport my merchandise, so I’m assuming they had been watching me or following me, and they decided to do that at my house,” Cervantes explained.

After years of loss, Cervantes expressed frustration with what he perceives as a lack of follow-up from Stockton police.

“They don’t do much of anything, I’d say, because I haven’t heard from them since they killed my dad. They haven’t said, ‘hey, we got this suspect who was involved in your dad’s death,'” he said.

Despite the recent shooting, Cervantes remains determined to continue his business.

“I’m here trying to clean up and buy the glasses again and put them back together again, so it’s pretty intense,” he said.

Stockton police have not confirmed if the two people shot and killed were suspected robbers, nor have they stated whether this was an attempted robbery, how many suspects were involved, or if anyone is in custody.

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.