Author: CNN Newsource

By Kaitlyn Lagrange

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    JOHNSTON, Iowa (KCCI) — The Johnston Police Department recently awarded Joey Bertroche a brand-new bicycle, courtesy of Scheels in Des Moines, for his safe biking practices on Johnston trails.

Joey was “Busted in a Good Way” this summer, earning a ticket for demonstrating safe bicycle habits. He redeemed it for a free ice cream cone at Van Dee’s Ice Cream Shoppe.

His ticket also entered him into a drawing for a new bike. Approximately 130 tickets were distributed this summer, and those who submitted them on time were entered into a bicycle drawing.

“This program is in its 10th year,” said Sergeant Johnston. “It provides a great opportunity for uniformed officers to interact positively with children in our community and help them understand the importance of bicycle safety. Safely crossing the road, wearing a helmet, and using proper hand signals alert motorists and ensure everyone’s safety.”

The officers look forward to handing out more tickets in 2026. The Johnston Police Department appreciates the continued partnership of Van Dee’s Ice Cream Shoppe for this program.

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By Baylee Martin

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    LEBANON, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — A house fire on Sunday morning in Lebanon County resulted in the deaths of five people, including the 4-year-old daughter of an EMT who was among the first responders.

Gregg Smith, executive director of First Aid & Safety Patrol, described the incident as “horrible” and “our worst nightmare.” The First Aid & Safety Patrol were the first ambulance units called to the scene.

One of the EMTs, Azelyn Arenas, arrived to find her daughter, 4-year-old Veyda Pereyra, among the victims. Smith said, “I’ve never seen such a tragedy,” and added, “When you take an employee, a first responder, that has to respond to their own child, words can’t describe the nightmare scenario this truly is.” Veyda was being watched by another victim, 73-year-old Josefina Estevez, who was also killed in the fire.

Smith, a paramedic for 30 years, explained the emotional toll on first responders, saying, “You jump in the action and then it sinks in later. Right? We do our duty, and we do our job. And you kind of learn to detach from that. I got to be honest with you, as a parent, there is no detachment at any time, anywhere. That’s just too much to ask of anyone.”

First Aid & Safety Patrol shared a post on their Facebook page to raise awareness and included a link to a GoFundMe campaign, which has far exceeded its $10,000 goal. Smith expressed his hope for significant community support, saying, “They’re fiercely private and humble, and they don’t want charity. I want to see that blow up. I want to see hundreds of thousands of dollars for these families.”

A county-wide Crisis Intervention Stress Management team has been established to provide individual counseling and long-term tailored response for first responders. Smith emphasized, “These people are not robots. They’re parents. They’re relatives, people. And they hurt deeply from this.”

He urged the community to remember the ongoing impact on first responders, saying, “Remember that when the music stops two weeks from now and this is no longer in the news, people are still hurting. And don’t forget your first responders.”

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By Allen Devlin

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A Queens teenager helped save multiple lives after someone took his.

Sanjay Samuel, 13, was shot in the head after getting into an argument with another teen on Sept. 22 and died from his injuries two days later. His organs were donated to help people in need of transplants.

A community gathered in loss Tuesday as hundreds met on Linden Boulevard to honor Sanjay’s life and legacy.

“If there’s one thing that I know, it’s that no parent should bury their child,” one speaker said.

Looking on was Samuel’s family, with his mother, Vilene Griffith, front and center. His uncle, Elvin Griffith, took the stage and spoke passionately on the family’s behalf, calling for more action to protect the community’s youth.

“If we care about these 13- and 14-year-olds in our community, we are failing miserably,” Elvin Griffith said.

But in Samuel’s passing, there is new life.

“The old saying said that out of one came many,” Elvin Griffith said.

Samuel’s heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and pancreas were donated in his passing and recovered by LiveOnNY.

“They know what he represented and what he would have wanted,” LiveOnNY President and CEO Leonard Achan said.

The organs were quickly used to save the lives of five people in need across the country.

“He gets to be remembered as somebody who saved five lives,” Achan said. “He gets to be remembered as a hero.”

Outside of all of those who were personally impacted, five complete strangers are now a part of Samuel’s story.

“We thank you for his life. We thank you for a mother that raised him with a good and pure heart. And we thank you that you gave of Sanjay, even in his transition, to save others,” another speaker said.

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder in connection to Samuel’s death. If convicted, the suspect faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

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By Sooji Nam

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    ATHENS, Georgia (WUPA) — Jasmine Peters had never imagined this would be her reality behind bars.

“I always wanted to learn a new trade and here I am getting it in one of the places, last places, I thought I would have gotten it,” Peters told CBS News Atlanta.

She, along with other women at the Athens-Clarke County Jail, is a part of the Future Foundations Jail Resident Construction Program. Students learn hands-on trade skills, including how to read a measuring tape and how to utilize hand and power tools.

Peters has been helping to build a playhouse to be auctioned at the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office Fall Festival this October.

“[The program] brought us closer because most of the girls here are in my unit, where we sleep and shower and eat together,” she said.

Peters said she has been incarcerated for about two months and has been keeping herself busy with what she calls a life-altering trade program.

“When I’m working in here, all I’m thinking about is how I can utilize this when I get out, job opportunities that will be available for me,” she said.

Jonathan Sims, the program manager, started these classes at the jail in 2024. He said a graduating class can range anywhere from 9 to 15 women.

Sims teaches these eight-hour workshops every other week and helps them connect with potential employers.

“The construction industry is the most forgiving industry there is when it comes to hiring people who have criminal records, getting out of jail, starting over. They look more toward hiring people who have some knowledge and experience,” Sims told CBS News Atlanta.

“Even though they are in jail, this gives them the opportunity to experience what working on a jobsite looks like, what the overall workforce looks for, and they can go out and talk to companies after they get out of here,” he added.

Staff added that some of the goals of the program are to reduce recidivism through career readiness and also help place those formerly incarcerated into affordable housing.

“A lot more resources for men than they offer for women, so this is opening up a box and giving them the tool to fit in their belt to find a job,” Lt. Gary Davenport of the Athens-Clarke County Jail told CBS News Atlanta.

As for Peters, she is looking forward to finishing up the playhouse.

But to her, it’s more than just a trade program. It’s a symbol of hope.

“Since my incarceration inside those walls, and inside these walls, I learned that it’s never too late to start over,” Peters said. “Sometimes we make mistakes, but just undo it and take a second, start over.”

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By Mike Sullivan

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    BOYLSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Massachusetts woman who battled ALS is going out in her own words. Linda Murphy has become a posthumous viral sensation for a tongue-in-cheek self-obituary that has been published locally and nationally.

Murphy, who was raised in Framingham and lived in Boylston, not only wrote her own obituary, but she also picked out her own casket, chose the music at her funeral, and planned a dance party in her own honor.

“She was the life of the party. She was the party,” said her daughter, Justine Hastings, with a laugh. “One of my favorite comments was, ‘I just read this, and I just wish I could have had a glass of wine with her.”

Murphy passed away following a battle with Bulbar ALS. She had been unable to speak for about a year. When she first felt symptoms such as slurred speech and trouble swallowing, she went to the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital with a request.

“(She) said, ‘I have ALS. Prove me wrong.’ And they did every single test, and she diagnosed herself,” said Hastings, “That is the most ‘my mom’ thing she has ever done.”

Murphy was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and survived. The journey not only pushed her daughter to become a nurse, but it also prompted Linda to write a book about her battle. The tongue-in-cheek book, titled “F-Off Cancer,” was written to show that people can still have a fun life while battling cancer. Her obituary carries some of that same humor.

“She starts the obituary, ‘Well, if you are reading this, then it looks like I am dead. Wow. It actually happened. I died of FOMO due to complications of ALS,” Hastings read from the start of her mom’s obituary before skipping down to this part: “I lived my life with two superpowers. My first of which everyone was jealous of, was that I could drink as much as I wanted and never seemed to get hungover. The real wonder is why I didn’t die of liver failure.”

As friends, family and strangers alike read her self-tribute, they began to connect with a woman trapped in her own body, looking to go out on her own terms. Murphy wrote the obituary about six months ago when she could still type with her hands. By the end, she could only sign a few hand signals. She wrote about that trapped feeling in her obituary.

“My stupid Bulbar ALS got me to the sad point of not being able to talk. Never speaking means never being able to say, ‘I love you!’ It means not being able to call my Mr. BoJangles over for a snack, and it means not being able to order at the Dunkin’ drive through,” she wrote. “As far as eating, it totally stinks to sit at the table while people around you are eating juicy burgers hot off the grill, heaping piles of Chinese food, a healthy portion of pasta Alfredo, or Chipotle — and I just have to smile and act like I’m enjoying my bowl of puréed baby mush!”

Though she handled it with humor, Hastings said that feeling of being trapped was a real struggle for her mom.

“The hardest thing up until the end is that people would say she looks so amazing. ‘Oh, you look great! You’re smiling! You’re not sick! You’re okay! But behind closed doors, the struggle was so real,” Hastings said.

In her obituary, Murphy told people to be kind – and not to buy her flowers.

“Please be kind to everyone: the telemarketer, the grocery clerk, the Dunkin’s staff, the tailgater, your family, your friends. Speak nicely and positively. Is there really ever a reason to be negative? I don’t think so…”

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t waste money on flowers,” she wrote. “Buy a bunch of scratch tickets and give them out to strangers along your way. Make people happy, that is the best way that you can honor my memory.”

It is something she used to do while she was alive and a tradition her family says they will continue in her honor.

Murphy had her brain and spinal cord donated for ALS research.

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By Maddie Miller, Will Thomas

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    OUTER BANKS, N.C. (WTKR) — Five oceanfront homes in Buxton collapsed into the water on Tuesday, bringing the total of fallen Hatteras Island homes to 17 since 2020.

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the unoccupied homes collapsed between 2 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. There are no reported injuries at this time.

Seashore officials have closed the entire oceanfront area from northern Buxton to the off-road vehicle (ORV) ramp 43. Anyone using ORV ramp 38 should avoid driving south.

Here is a list of the houses that collapsed, as of Tuesday afternoon:

46001 Cottage Avenue 46002 Cottage Avenue 46007 Cottage Avenue 46209 Tower Circle Road 46211 Tower Circle Road More collapses are expected due to the rough surf, the seashore says, and visitors are advised to avoid the surrounding area due to dangerous debris.

News 3 Meteorologist Tony Nargi says the Outer Banks is seeing very rough surf Tuesday, thanks to Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda offshore, with heights of 6 to 12 feet and NE wind gusts between 35 and 45 mph. These winds and high surf will lead to coastal erosion, and overwash is expected in vulnerable areas of the dune. A Coastal Flood Warning is in effect from Rodanthe and points south for 2 to 3 feet of coastal floodwater inundation.

The collapses come two weeks after another Buxton home was claimed by the ocean. The home was owned by the family of Bonnie Clarke Lattimore, who tells News 3 the family had conversations of moving it two years ago. They recently started the process to move it after Hurricane Erin, but time wasn’t on their side before the ultimate collapse of “Dream House One.”

“The amount of people and love and memories of those house… I feel like someone died. You can hear it in my like emotions. I’ve been really struggling this past week with it all,” said Lattimore.

Before the recent Buxton collapses, all of the homes that have fallen into the ocean since 2020 have been located in Rodanthe.

The collapses have sparked discussions about how to protect threatened oceanfront structures. One solution that’s been underway includes moving homes further away from the water, but community members and officials are still working to take other preventative measures.

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