Author: CNN Newsource

By Christa Swanson

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    Colorado (KCNC) — A 30-year-old program giving 30 incarcerated individuals in Colorado an opportunity to care for wild horses is coming to an end.

The Wild Horse Inmate Program offers vocational training and rehabilitation to the state’s incarcerated population, while also supporting the need to manage and protect the population of wild horses and burros.

The Bureau of Land Management periodically removes groups of wild horses from Sand Wash Basin in order to protect natural resources and prevent overpopulation that could threaten the wild horses. The East Cañon City Prison Complex, a collection of state prison buildings and ranches, is one of the places the horses are taken. In 2021, CBS Colorado was given a rare tour of the ranch and horse pens where the mustangs are prepped for adoption.

The BLM says it is not renewing its contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections, which is set to expire Sept. 30. A 60-day extension on the program was granted through the end of November.

Now the bureau is working to find new homes for 100 horses at the prison in Cañon City.

“We are saddened by the discontinuation of this successful partnership and impactful program,” said Andre Stancil, Executive Director of CDOC. “The Colorado Department of Corrections is immensely proud of the legacy of this program and the positive impact it has had on participants, staff, and the community. While we regret the end of this chapter, we remain committed to working with BLM to ensure a smooth transition and to creating new opportunities that advance our mission of rehabilitation and public safety.”

Friends of the Mustangs President George Brauneis says that they will continue to work with BLM and other organizations on their wild horse program, and hope to make it a model for the nation.

The bureau said five state employees affected by the change will be reassigned to other roles within the department. The 30 incarcerated people in the WHIP will also be reassigned to other vocational programs.

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By Laurie Perez

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A man from Pasadena is speaking out and asking for help after his wife was detained by federal agents at the end of a scheduled green card hearing in downtown Los Angeles in early September.

Tucker May says that his wife, Barbara Gomes Marques, 38, was on her way to becoming a U.S. citizen when they headed to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building almost two weeks ago. He says that at the end of her meeting for her green card, someone asked his wife to accompany them down a hallway to make a copy of her passport, which they thought was the next step in her gaining citizenship after they were married last year.

Now, he believes it was a trick to get the two separated before she was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

“Going home without her that night was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” May said. “She put so much effort into looking nice, because she was excited to take a step toward becoming an American, and I had to go home, and I had to put away the shoes that they took off her feet and gave to me in a plastic bag.”

He says that Marques is a documentarian without a criminal record who came to the U.S. on a tourist visa seven years ago.

“They put her in hand shackles and in leg shackles, and around the waist as well, like she’s some hardened criminal. She had tears streaming down her face, and she told me one of the ICE agents pulled out his cell phone, laughing, and took a selfie,” May said.

CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for further information on the incident. May said that they told his wife she was arrested for missing a court date regarding her status in 2019, something he says they were completely unaware of.

Marcelo Gondim is an immigration attorney who is helping represent the couple. He says that Marques spent a week at the Adelanto ICE Facility in Adelanto, CA, before she was transported to a different detention center in Arizona. She is set for transport to Louisiana, which he believes is her last stop before deportation. He claims that this is a tactic now being used to convolute the process.

“They’re trying to remove her as far away as they can from her counsel, from her family, so that kind of cuts on her ability to defend herself,” Gondim said. “Knowing that she’s married to a U.S. citizen, she has a legal way to become a permanent resident in a matter of months. If they just gave her a chance to find her paperwork.”

Gondim said that they’ve filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order to stop her from being moved to a new detention center or deported.

While they wait to hear back from a judge, May is desperately calling for help, something he says that even goes above bringing his wife back.

“I’m a man trying to get his wife back home, and we need someone with more power than I have to help,” May said. “If we allow these types of things to happen to our most vulnerable people, it’s only a matter of time before it could happen to any of us.”

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By Rian Stockett

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    SWANNANOA, North Carolina (WLOS) — Music filled Valley Hope Church in Swannanoa, where community members met and looked back on that fateful September day one year ago.

“Remembering lives lost, remembering businesses and homes lost or how impacted our community was and above all, we’re remembering God’s faithfulness,” said Director of Discipleship at Valley Hope Church, Amy Berry.

At this Helene remembrance event organized by the church, the congregation heard stories and testimonies from community members who were impacted by Helene.

One of the speakers was Cortney Pauly, whose basement flooded and then in January, they found mold in the house.

“The mold is actually what made us sick for the first half of 2025. We’ve been out of our house for the last few months and now Valley Hope is helping us to put it back together,” said Pauly.

News 13 also spoke with Amy Geist, a church member who turned her house into a distribution center after Helene, bringing supplies to the wider area of the community.

“All of our emotions are just sort of brimming and we feel really grateful to be together on the anniversary of Helene,” said Geist.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein was also in attendance today.

Following the service, he spoke to us about how churches like this play an integral role in helping people face the past and move toward a better future.

“It was a really moving event here at Valley Hope and this was an integral part of the recovery for Swannanoa and what is so clear is the recovery requires repair not only of physical things, of stores, of homes, of roads of bridges, but it requires a repair of heart,” said Stein.

To help the area recover, Valley Hope Church hosts Community meals every Monday.

You can volunteer to help serve by going to their website.

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By Jennifer Emert

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    FAIRVIEW, North Carolina (WLOS) — Hurricane Helene’s wrath claimed 108 lives to date across western North Carolina. One single family, the Craig family, suffered tremendously, losing 11 loved ones to a landslide. Even in their deep grief, a thread of hope remains.

“You never know what’s going to bring it up. What song or smell or whatever, it just happens,” said Alicia Craig about the storm that forever changed her and her extended family’s lives.

To say Helene ripped apart the fabric of the Craig family hardly describes what they’ve endured over the last year.

“We were very close, we were very good friends, explained Alicia Craig of the relationship with her mother-in-law, Sandy Craig.

Among the 11 family members lost during Helene were her in-laws, Ronnie and Sandy Craig.

“It’s just a relationship you would want a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law to have, so I was very fortunate for that,” said Craig. “The night before the storm, she had come over and got our dog, and she was like I’ll trade you a pizza for a dog. I remember her coming out with Hank, our dog and she had put a raincoat on him because it was raining so bad and I was like I’ll bring your pizza in and she was like no, no, I’ll bring him to the car and I was like if I’d only known, I would have gone in and stayed and talked to them, you know for hours. We didn’t know any of this was going to happen,” explained Craig, as tears gently rolled down her cheeks. “I guess that’s the hardest part, knowing we’re still here, and that they’re not. And we’ll never be able to get that back, at least we have the memories.”

Memories turned into keepsakes after some of Sandy’s treasures were pulled from the mud.

“It was just a picture of my mother-in-law, and it was one of her ficus trees she had, and a little bench that I had here at the house, and just made that her little special corner,” said Craig about the memorial set up in her home to honor her mother-in-law.

A separate tribute for her father-in-law, Ronnie, has also been created in another area of their home, built by Ronnie Craig.

The dress Strangers found countless belongings from the families’ homes and laid them out gently at the Garren Creek Fire Department.

“I kept walking by this dress and Bible. I was thinking to myself, when I would go by the dress, every few weeks, that would be so great if someone could figure out whose dress that is,” said Craig.

Covered in mud, it remained unmistakably familiar.

“I sent a picture of it to her sister, and I was like, ‘Do you think this is Sandy’s dress?’ and she was like, ‘I do,’” said Craig.

Determined to salvage what the storm had nearly shredded, Alicia Craig tried dry cleaner after dry cleaner.

“I’d walk in with this plastic bag, full of mud, with her dress in it, and they were like, ‘We’re not touching that.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, it’s okay if it can’t be restored, I get it, I just want it to be dry cleaned,’ and they were like, ‘No.’” said Alicia Craig.

All seemed lost when something needled Alicia to take it somewhere she hadn’t considered. That somewhere was Best Bride.

“I never thought of them as restoring dresses; I only thought you went there to buy dresses. I didn’t think, and then something just told me to take it there,” Craig said.

“It was a Saturday morning and we were just in here going crazy and my staff came and found me back here in the bridal department and said, ‘We have a lady up front, and she has a bridal gown in a trash bag, and we don’t think she’s real happy.’ and I said, ‘Well lets go find out what’s going on,'” said Denise Knapp, co-owner of Best Bride Prom & Tux.

“When we took the dress out of the bag, the bottom of the dress was shredded, and clumps of dirt were on this gown. And I held it up and I shook it and it just came off on the floor,” said Knapp.

Best Bride works with Wedding Gown Preservation in New York and New Jersey, a business restoring gowns since 1913.

“So, the overlay over this dress is silk chiffon, and they were concerned that the chemicals in the cleaners would just continue to disintegrate it, so they really had to take their time,” said Knapp.

They worked gently, relentlessly to erase the storm’s touch, one stain at a time. Boxed up, it recently arrived back at Best Bride.

“It is perfect, in an imperfect way,” said Knapp about the dress’s return.

The return In a rare bright moment after so much loss, News 13 broke the news to Alicia.

“They have it at the store. Do you want to go see it?” News 13 asked.

“I do, yes, I do. I want to go see it and bring it home,” said Craig.

Just a thread in the greater effort.

“Hey, hey, I think Sandy would be proud,” said Knapp as she opened the box to reveal the dress.

“Oh, it’s perfect,” said Craig as she stared through the plastic at the cleaned, preserved dress.

“Isn’t that great?” asked Knapp.

“It does, it looks so good,” said Craig, gently touching the plastic protecting the cleaned dress.

It’s a thread of hope, stitching healing into the fabric of a grieving family.

“I just hope that this helps your family find some closure,” said Knapp, still looking at the dress.

“Yeah, no, it definitely will,” replied Craig, still looking over the cleaned garment.

“And she talks to me all the time, and so I’m glad to do this. It’s a pleasure,” said Knapp.

“She talks to me too,” replied Craig, though some light tears, “So it’s perfect, it looks so good, thank you. I can just see her, through it, yeah, so, it’s good.”

Honoring those lost to Helene Among the Craig family members killed when the land around their homes gave way on September 27, 2024, were Ronnie and Sandy Craig, Jimmy and Lois Souther, Freddie and Terri Pack, Dan and Evelyn Wright, and Angie Craig, along with Tony Garrison and Brandon Ruppe.

Two other residents unrelated to the family also died on September 27, 2024, as a result of the landslide. Neighbors Chase Garrell and Marsha Ball were also killed.

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By Nick Lentz, Joseph Buczek

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    GRAND BLAC, Michigan (WWJ) — At least two people are dead after a shooter opened fire at a church in Michigan during a Sunday morning worship service. Eight other victims have been hospitalized, according to police.

Worshippers were gathered at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on McCandlish Road in Grand Blanc Township around 10:25 a.m., Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said. That’s when the suspect, identified as a 40-year-old man from Burton, Michigan, drove his vehicle through the front doors of the church, exited his vehicle and fired “several rounds” of an assault rifle at hundreds of churchgoers, Renye said at a news conference.

Ten people with gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital, where two victims were pronounced dead. Renye said at an update Sunday afternoon that one victim is in critical condition and seven others were in stable condition.

According to investigators, the suspect deliberately started a fire at the church at some point, though it’s not yet known how the fire was started. Crews have since contained the blaze, but more victims are expected, Renye said.

Police said the gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, died after responding officers “engaged in gunfire” with him. Law enforcement officials are expected to hold another news conference at 8 p.m. You can watch it at the video player above.

Officials have set up an on-site reunification site at a movie theatre on Trillium Circle Avenue. Anyone who needs to connect with someone who was at the church is asked to call the American Red Cross at 248-705-7352.

“This is a dynamic scene,” Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said in a video recorded at the scene. “The time where we are right now, there’s going to be more updates. Just know that there’s a lot of things that are happening that we are not able to communicate just because of the work that needs to be done.”

Swanson said there is no active threat to the community.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a written statement that it’s been in communication with law enforcement and that it’s thankful for the emergency responders who are helping the victims and their families.

“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and concern from so many people around the world,” the statement said. “In moments of sorrow and uncertainty, we find strength and comfort through our faith in Jesus Christ. Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved.”

Officials react to Michigan church shooting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer posted a written statement on social media that said, “My heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community. Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly. We will continue to monitor this situation and hold the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc close.”

Grand Blanc Township police said at least 100 Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are responding to the shooting. FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the agency is tracking reports of the shooting and that agents are at the scene to assist local authorities.

“Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy,” Patel said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she has received briefings about the incident.

“Such violence at a place of worship is heartbreaking and chilling. Please join me in praying for the victims of this terrible tragedy,” Bondi said.

President Trump also said that he has been briefed on the shooting.

“The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn. This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America. The Trump Administration will keep the Public posted, as we always do. In the meantime, PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post.

According to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, her agency is in communication with “interagency partners.”

Noem added in a social media post on X that, “Sacred places of worship should never fear violence in America. I am praying for the victims of this heinous attack and their families.”

The New York Police Department said early Sunday afternoon that it was deploying “additional resources to religious institutions across the city,” in response to the shooting.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that out of an abundance of caution, the Los Angeles Police Department will be increasing patrols at places of worship across the city.

The Grand Blanc Township Police Department said it will have counselors at its facility starting on Monday and through the rest of the week.

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By Doug Myers

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    MANFIELD, Texas (KTVT) — A Union Pacific train blasted into an 18-wheeler in Mansfield on Friday morning, as all occupants of the truck were able to exit safely before impact, fire officials said.

The accident happened in the 300 block of North Street, according to the Mansfield Fire Department. No injuries were reported.

Residents were asked to avoid the area during cleanup and stabilization efforts after the crash. Both the roadway and rail line were promptly cleared and are fully open.

The Mansfield Fire Department, Mansfield Police Department, and Union Pacific responded to the scene of the crash.

“We are thankful that no one was injured this morning, and we appreciate the teamwork of all agencies involved,” the fire department said in a Facebook post.

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By Logan Hall

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A historic Baptist church in Boston is undergoing major renovations with help from some former inmates.

Felipe Colon served 21 years in prison for manslaughter, but less than two months after his release, he found himself volunteering at Tremont Temple Baptist Church. He said the restoration work has given his life a new purpose. He is now helping give America’s first integrated church a much-needed makeover.

“We could’ve made a lot of mistakes. We could’ve burned a lot of bridges. But this church burned down, and then 100 years later, it’s being renovated. This is basically an example of what you can do with our own selves,” Colon said.

Inspired by former inmates

Pastor Jamie Owens said seeing crews of volunteers working on the building has been inspiring.

“Just seeing God work through many people, many hands. This particular occasion that we’re able to see a restoration of our main meeting space. It’s just been incredible to see all these different people from all over the city, all over the state,” Owens said.

The church’s balcony chairs had not been replaced since the 1890s. Volunteers are reupholstering and reinstalling the seats, which many described as a painstaking process, but one that volunteers hope will make the sanctuary welcoming once again.

“People do have the ability here in America to reform yourself, and people will be accepting if you are doing the right thing,” Colon said.

The renovations are expected to be finished in October.

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