Author: CNN Newsource

By Edie Kasten, Irika Sargent

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Helping people make the move from incarceration to inspiration. It’s all happening in a sweet way in North Lawndale.

The folks at Sweet Beginnings are busy as bees, producing skin care products made from honey.

Sweet Beginnings is a social impact business headquartered at the North Lawndale Employment Network.

Its staff has turned their lives around, spending their days at work after doing their time in prison. The goal is to help them achieve self-reliance and self-worth.

“What I want for people who come through our program is, first of all, to know they matter; that they have made a mistake, but they aren’t their mistake. It was a moment, it was a poor decision, but they have paid the price for that,” said president and CEO Brenda Palms.

Sweet Beginnings production specialist and trainer Charlotte Austin is at the top of her game. It’s a big win after a long journey.

“I’m thinking they ain’t going to help me, but they did. Look where I’m at today,” she said.

In December 1996, Charlotte was arrested on bank robbery charges.

“They dropped four, I pleaded guilty to five,” she said. “I got 30 years. I did 20.”

After she got out of prison, Charlotte’s sister, Elaine, told her about Sweet Beginnings. Charlotte got a spot in the training program called “U-turn Permitted.”

She remembers when she got the call.

“‘You start Monday, you’ve got to be here at 8 o’clock.’ I’m there. I was there at 7, because I was excited and it was something positive,” she said.

Her first assignment was at a small apiary, or beehive collection. Her coach, Jose Wilson, taught Charlotte about bees and much more.

“Jose taught me deal with my attitude. ‘Why you always mad? The world didn’t make you angry.’ He taught me how to talk to people,” she added. “He taught me how to deal with Charlotte.”

Sweet Beginnings has hired more than 1,000 people, helping them build new lives. It began in 2004, with the simple question: how do we get people back to work?

“After a whole host of really, really, really bad ideas, a friend of mine – actually, she served on the board at the time – and she said, ‘You know, I have a friend who’s a beekeeper,'” Brenda said.

So Brenda set out to get the buzz.

“Beekeeping is passed on through coaching. There’s a mentorship relationship there,” she said. “You can learn on the job, right? So I thought, ‘Hmm, that might work.'”

The first bees were bought with a seed grant from the Illinois Department of Corrections, and everything blossomed from there.

“We entered into Whole Foods in 2006. We’re also in Mariano’s,” Brenda said. “Our largest apiary’s actually at O’Hare Airport, which is one of the first in the country.”

Another North Lawndale Employment Network program is the beelove café, which sells locally sourced coffees, teas, pastries, and quick lunch bites.

Many of the people who work at the café live in North Lawndale, a community eager to fight misconceptions.

“People see that we have a high unemployment rate there and make the automatic assumption that, ‘Oh, those people don’t want to work,'” Brenda said. “I can assure you that is not what I have learned, that is not what I have witnessed.”

She said there are many reasons someone might not work, from medical problems to mental health issues, in addition to the stigma of a criminal record.

For Charlotte, that stigma has slowly eased, as she now helps trainees learn the art, craft, and business of bees.

“When the participants come, and I tell them, ‘Good job, you did that,’ they smile. Because they probably never hear ‘good job’ or ‘thank you,'” she said. “They need help and love. I can give it to 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 Chad Pradelli and Cheryl Mettendorf

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    WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) — Six families are suing TikTok , claiming the company’s algorithm has a defect, is addictive, and targets minors with disturbing and troubling content.

On Friday, a judge in Delaware heard a motion to dismiss the civil case on behalf of five British families and a Delaware family.

The case centers on those six families whose children aged 11 to 17 allegedly took part in a choking challenge after seeing videos on the popular app. All died in recent years.

The families hope the suit will bring accountability.

Michelle Ortiz’s son, Jaedon Bovell, asphyxiated in 2020.

“Children make decisions not knowing finality like adults do, and they bank on this,” said Ortiz.

“TikTok has a For You page that deluges young people, young kids with dangerous material,” said Matthew Bergman, an attorney who represents the families. “In this case, dangerous choking challenges. Not material kids want to see, material they can’t turn away from.”

Lawyers for TikTok argued that the case should be dismissed under the First Amendment and the current law called the Communications Decency Act, which bars internet companies from liability for content by third parties.

Critics argue that the law is outdated.

Attorneys for TikTok had no comment, but a spokesperson said this is a case that should not be litigated in the United States, but rather in the United Kingdom.

“This is not the first time foreign nationals have sought justice in a U.S. court, particularly in the state where the company is incorporated,” said Bergman.

The parents said, even more troubling, they still don’t know what their children were exposed to on the application, alleging that TikTok won’t release the information.

They’re hoping that if the case moves forward, they’ll get that information in discovery.

“We just want the truth, but this company is preventing us from getting to the truth,” said Liam Walsh, a father of one of the victims.

In a statement Tiktok said in part, “Our deepest sympathies remain with these families. We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour. Using robust detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams to proactively identify and remove this content, we remove 99% that’s found to break these rules before it is reported to us.”

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 Frederick Sutton Sinclair, Eva Andersen, Joe Brandt

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    HARRISON TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (KYW) — Police have identified the two people killed when their car crashed into a Harrison Township, New Jersey, home on Saturday night, sparking a fire.

Driver Thomas Hengel, 72, and his passenger, 61-year-old Lisa Hengel, both of Mullica Hill, were killed in the crash on Banff Drive in Mullica Hill, the Harrison Township Police Department said in a news release.

Thomas Hengel was a track and cross-country coach within the Clearview Regional School District, according to teachers in the district. Coach Hengel was inducted into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, according to a social media post by the organization. He was known as a “legendary Clearview Regional boys and girls cross country and track coach” who also coached several other sports in the district for 94 combined seasons.

Around 6:17 p.m., police were dispatched to Banff Drive after Hengel’s 2020 Hyundai Palisade SUV quickly accelerated for an unknown reason, hit a curb and drove across two front yards and through the exterior wall of a home.

The crash put the Hyundai in the living room of the home that was struck, and sparked a fire that engulfed the SUV and the home, police said.

No one inside the house was injured.

The crash remains under investigation by Harrison Township police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.

Members of the community say Thomas Hengel coached for decades and shaped generations of student-athletes.

Cassandra Kulik, a former state champion, credits every athletic achievement to her coach.”He was like a father figure to me,” Kulik said.

Though the Hengels never had children of their own, former athletes say Coach Tom filled that role for many.

Molly Mahoney, another Clearview runner, said the coach was “a second dad” for her, and his influence helped steer her life in a new direction.

“I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be a track coach and a teacher because of the monumental impact that he put on my life,” Mahoney said.

Kulik remembered a chance her class had to thank both of the Hengels.

“My senior year, we decided to use all of our money … for a gift card for him to take his wife out because we know she just did the same amount of time of years, and all those hours that he did,” Kulik said.

Friends say Lisa Hengel spent more than 30 years designing landscapes across South Jersey and tended to a beautiful garden at her home. Neighbors say the couple poured the same care into their community.

“They were amazing neighbors, they were really good,” said Mike Misuraco, who lives across the street. “They loved each other.”

As the Hengel family prepares to lay their loved ones to rest, community members are rallying around the family who lives in the home where the crash happened, raising money for them as they figure out where they’ll live next.

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 Wakisha Bailey

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — In the summer of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood outside the gates of Girard College to deliver a message that would become one of the most powerful civil rights moments in Philadelphia’s history.

“It’s a sad experience at this stage in the 20th century,” King told demonstrators in August 1965, “to have a kind of Berlin Wall to keep the colored children of God out.”

At the time, Girard College admitted only White orphaned boys. King’s visit brought national attention to a local fight already well underway, one fueled by young activists who had been marching long before he arrived.

Among them was Kenneth Salaam, also known as “Freedom Smitty.”

Salaam was just 15 years old when he joined the movement, marching alongside members of Cecil B. Moore’s Young Freedom Fighters. Girard College was his first march, one that would last seven months and 17 days.

Each morning before sunrise, hundreds of police officers surrounded the school. Salaam recalls violent confrontations — tear gas, beatings and even police motorcycles driven into crowds.

Despite the brutality, the movement only grew stronger.

The fight didn’t stop at Girard College.

Salaam continued marching for civil rights across the South, including in Mississippi, where his cousin was killed in a Ku Klux Klan ambush.

What the world often labels as civil unrest, Salaam experienced as a community. Families opened their homes. Strangers provided food, clothing and medicine. When the marches ended, supporters raised money to fly the activists back home to Philadelphia.

Over time, Salaam and King developed a personal bond. He remembers King not only as a global leader, but as a man, one he felt comfortable calling “Doc,” asking casually for a cigarette.

King’s words that day outside Girard College left a lasting imprint.

“Now is the time to straighten up Girard College,” King said.

He was fighting for children like Salaam, children who would one day walk through those gates and receive an education once denied to them.

Sixty years later, Salaam continues to share that message with Philadelphia’s youth.

“I did not benefit from what I was doing,” Salaam said. “When I talk to young people, I tell them, we loved you before we knew you.”

Salaam was jailed more times than he can count and was later honored to walk alongside King’s casket during the funeral procession.

Today, like King and Cecil B. Moore before him, Salaam is passing the torch, reminding the next generation that meaningful change has always been driven by the young.

“No great change in history has ever been done by old people,” he 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 Monique John

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Bianca Modo loves style and beauty. She is also a survivor of domestic violence. Modo says she has watched women in her family and in her broader community be affected by human trafficking.

One day, she decided to use her passion for fashion to help lift other survivors by helping them look and feel their best.

“I realized that the survivors I was encountering in domestic violence and human trafficking didn’t have confidence and didn’t have leadership skills,” Modo said. “So we wanted to pull in art and fashion, something Atlanta is known for, to get people excited.”

Modo has spent nearly a year preparing for her first-ever Unmasked Fashion Show and Gala through the Bianca Modo Foundation. The preparation has been challenging, but she says the mission behind the show makes it worth it.

About 20 models walked the runway, and all of them are survivors. Two of the models say they were inspired to take part because of the cause.

Bailee Wistisen-Kunkel lit up when asked about her favorite look in the show.

“It’s lace and black, and it’s really powerful,” she said. “It really makes me feel like that girl.”

Dreama Nguyen said she felt right at home during her fitting.

“I love it because it’s so flowy, and it’s also form-fitting,” Nguyen said. “It builds a lot of confidence.”

Several Atlanta boutiques are involved, donating some of the 50 pieces featured in the show.

“It was great that they wanted to be a part of this and share the vision we had,” Modo said. “They wanted the models to look amazing.”

Jazmine Frazier, executive director of Eternal Reign for Girls, is one of Modo’s colleagues and a survivor of human trafficking. She said trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere.

“If you go into any group home or any place where victims are sharing their stories, you’ll hear that they were groomed and coerced,” Frazier said. “The trafficker targeted them, built trust and then exploited that.”

In addition to the fashion show, Modo’s foundation also showcased artwork at the event. The goal is to raise $50,000 to create leadership and career-readiness programs designed specifically for survivors.

Modo hopes that creating space for survivors in fashion is just the beginning.

The event was held Saturday night at the Smyrna Community Center, timed with Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

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.