Author: CNN Newsource

By Britt Leoni

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    NAPLES, Florida (WBBH) — At 13 going on 30, Paul Campbell is known for having the answers to most of life’s questions.

“Find what you really want to do with your life, and if you do that, you will find happiness, and you will find peace,” Campbell said.

He’s wise enough to know how he likes to spend his time. He’s wise enough to know how not to spend his time.

“Not to gamble, because that’s bad,” Campbell said.

Most of all, Campbell is wise enough to know what most of us spend our entire lives searching for… his life’s purpose.

“Nobody deserves to lose their life early because of being homeless,” he said.

Campbell first learned what homelessness was at 6 years old. That’s when he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“‘Mah, I want money.’ She’s like, ‘What do you need money for?’ I’m like, ‘They need money so they can eat,'” Campbell said.

The family decided to take Campbell’s passion for helping the homeless and start with a sock drive.

Seven years later, he has donated 8,000 socks and clothes to St. Matthew’s House in Naples.

“I get to hand things out, I get to drop things off, I get to do all these things,” Campbell said. “This has enabled me to do so much more outside myself.”

“Such a little guy for such a big heart, you know it’s great,” said Rachel Fratterelli, Shelter Intake Manager of St. Matthew’s House in Naples.

When it comes to each of us asking what our own purpose may be, Campbell proves we can’t go wrong by looking inside our hearts and outside ourselves.

“I’m just hoping to kind of like pass this torch to my kid or any other kid who needs that kind of purpose in their life,” he said. “They can find it through doing what they love. Helping somebody. Helping many people. It’s just awesome.”

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 Adam Schumes

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    INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — A Venezuelan restaurant in Indianapolis has become a gathering place for community members processing the dramatic political changes unfolding in their homeland thousands of miles away.

Orlando Sanchez and his wife watched with dozens of others as news broke of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s removal over the weekend. Inside their northeast side Venezuelan restaurant, Cumaco Arepa House, phones came out immediately as the community absorbed the breaking news.

“As many people pass away for this, you know, and never see it. People fight for this for many, many years. Now we can see it that happen,” Sanchez said.

What’s usually a place for food and celebration quickly transformed into a space for processing developments from Venezuela. The removal of Maduro sparked a wave of emotion for families with deep ties to the country, with some feeling cautious hope while others expressed uncertainty about what comes next.

“We’re waiting for 25 years, you know, people are being in power doing many things to Venezuelan people, but in the meantime, we are happy,” Sanchez said.

His wife, Mayrin Sanchez, expressed concern for family members both in Venezuela and abroad.

“I was afraid. For our family, our family inside, outside of Venezuela,” she said, holding back tears.

Orlando Sanchez described the complex emotions surrounding the political shift.

“It’s mixed with joy, definitely, ok, but we say, ok, what’s going to happen after this,” he said.

The Sanchez family emphasized that this moment isn’t about celebrating or politics. It’s about staying informed, protecting family members still in Venezuela and ensuring the world continues paying attention once the headlines fade.

“Pray for us because I know we wait for this for many, many years. We want Venezuela back to the right condition. I know it’s going to take time,” Orlando Sanchez 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 Rian Stockett

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    HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — A local woman found out that a loud boom on New Year’s Eve wasn’t caused by fireworks.

When Toni Constantino walked around her house to find out what the sound was, she didn’t notice the hole in her windshield at first.

It wasn’t until the next day when her wife got into the truck and found a bullet sitting in the passenger seat.

“Then she looks up, and she’s like, oh my god, and she sees the windshield, which had this big hole. And then we’ve had glass just everywhere, from literally front to back, and in everything,” said Constantino.

Constantino says someone from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office came out on New Year’s Day, but she didn’t feel like they took what happened seriously.

“I had to kind of encourage him to please write up a report and to take the bullet and do something with it, because I feel like there should be a traceable thing,” said Constantino.

News 13 reached out to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, but the sheriff’s office declined an interview. The sheriff’s office did send News 13 a redacted report related to the incident, which said the case has since been closed.

Under case status, the document says “Closed by Other Means.”

News 13 responded to the sheriff’s office asking why the case was closed and what that meant. News 13 is still awaiting a reply.

Constantino said she’s feeling frustrated.

“(I’m) pretty mad because it makes you feel like they don’t care. You call them because that’s who we’re supposed to call, and they’re supposed to help keep us safe…if they won’t enforce the law what are we supposed to do?” she 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 Joe Ripley

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    KENNESAW, Georgia (WXIA) — Kennesaw Mountain has seen its fair share of history and its fair share of battles. Captain Cameron West (Ret.) followed his family lineage and signed up for service seven years after September 11, 2001.

West said both of his grandfathers served in the military, which helped inspire the Acworth native to join the U.S. Marine Corps after engaging in the ROTC program at The University of North Georgia.

“Since about single-digit age, nine or ten, I had a letter written that I wanted to join the service and be a Marine,” West said. “It was tough at times. I mean, it’s mental toughness like anything in life. We all kind of struggle with different things throughout our lives: mental, emotional, physical.”

In 2010, West found himself in enemy territory. He was deployed to Afghanistan, where his life would change forever.

“Our battalion was put into a very hostile part of Afghanistan,” West said. “We were relieving a battalion that had taken a lot of hits. We knew going in it would be a tough deployment. We took a lot of casualties in the first three months.”

West said dozens of servicemembers were lost in the mission. The losses mounted. An explosion left him with injuries to his extremities, including the loss of a leg. West’s injuries ultimately brought him back to the U.S., where he retired in 2013.

West credited the Semper Fi and America’s Fund for starting his road to recovery. Through the fund, West has made a living on the farm. He’s raising three daughters and has turned to raising cattle.

“I look at my injury as a gift, because it opened my eyes and mind to why I’m here and what I want my journey and chapters of life to look like in the future,” West said. “I was given a second chance. A lot of us were, and a lot were not. If you take that into consideration, the short answer is live your life I feel the best you can. Try to be kind and respectful to your fellow humans.”

After getting knocked down, West constantly gets back up to honor his family and fellow servicemen no matter the battle.

“If I’m able to limp around and tell a story and try and continue to let those names of the fallen Marines live on through our own individual legacies, I think I’ll have done a little bit of my part to keep it going,” West said. “We’ve got to do right by the boys and in their name, because we’ve got to continue to live on to the best of our ability in their names and not let their stories be forgotten.”

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 WABC Eyewitness News

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    PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (WABC) — Officials in Piscataway said Tuesday that a man with a knife killed his mother and grandparents before he was shot and killed by police on Monday.

Officers responded to a home on River Road around 5:30 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from a man reporting that an individual had a knife.

When officers arrived at the scene, they said the suspect was holding a knife or machete. When they tried to use tasers, they say it did not stop him.

Authorities say he charged at the officers with the weapon and that is when they shot and killed him.

When police went inside the home, they found three bodies that are believed to be the suspect’s mother and grandparents.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey Attorney’s General Office are investigating their deaths.

Neighbors told Eyewitness News said they had nice encounters with those who lived at the home in the past.

The investigation is ongoing officials say it appears to be an isolated incident, and that there is no indication of an ongoing threat to the community.

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 Blair Sabol

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    BALTIMORE (WMAR) — On Sunday night, chaos was unfolding in Little Italy.

Trash cans, door decorations and dumpsters were all set ablaze.

Parked cars weren’t spared from the damage either.

It all happened so quickly, neighbors like Annie Burns say it hardly felt real.

“Just kind of shock honestly. A little bit of panic ’cause I haven’t experienced anything like that before,” Burns said. “Just ran down the street checking our cars, checking our neighbors’ cars.”

While some helped to put out the flames, Tony DeMarco took it upon himself to try and track the guy responsible down.

“We don’t need that here. You can’t have anybody walking around the streets setting fires on houses that are attached to old people’s buildings,” he said. “That’s the scary part.”

Safe House Privacy LLC., which now operates the new neighborhood’s security camera system, reports the fires began around 10:16 p.m.

The Little Italy Neighborhood Association established the system early last year thanks to a state grant under a different contractor. Safe House has since expanded it, and added new cameras, one of which caught the suspect in action.

Video shared with and reviewed by WMAR-2 News shows the alleged arsonist, now identified by police as 29-year-old Kyle Scott, setting fire to what appears to be a makeshift shelter in Mince Alley. Additional video, according to the company’s report, captures Scott kicking several cars’ side door mirrors.

Hopping on his bike, DeMarco began patrolling the area and found Scott in an alley behind Kneads Bakeshop, where he says he saw him begin to “torch” another dumpster.

“I made a very serious threat, you’re either going to get your ass kicked or you’re going to jail but it’s going to happen tonight and he took off running down the alley,” DeMarco said.

A vigilante chase of sorts began, with DeMarco following Scott for several minutes.

“I’m screaming to everybody, he’s right here, he’s right here,” DeMarco said.

Though it was against the advice from 9-1-1 operators at the time, he’s now being called a “brave citizen” by the Baltimore Police Department for helping to detain Scott until they arrived.

“When they finally pulled up on the guy he literally just sat down and put his hands behind his back,” DeMarco explained.

He’s not the only neighborhood hero to emerge from the chaos as more than once a bystander jumped into quick action to put out the flames.

“Definitely a welcome to the neighborhood,” newcomer Madi Wingert said. “A little bit of a shock, but it’s the city so things happen and you just kind of have to be prepared for the unknown.”

Wingert and Burns say that’s how they met their next door neighbors, as they helped to put out their fiery trash can.

They and many others are feeling grateful for choosing to live in the close-knit community.

“I live on the ground floor so, that could have been all my belongings, could have been my dog, dad if he was home at the time that happened. So, really scary to think about,” neighbor Sam Jones said.

Scott is facing multiple counts of arson, according to police. He has previously pleaded guilty to a 4th degree burglary charge in 2024 according to Maryland case search.

He’s also been listed as homeless previously.

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 S.E. Jenkins, Briauna Brown

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    DALLAS (KTVT) — Dallas rapper Zeethewizard has died days after a shooting in the early hours of New Year’s Day outside a Dallas strip club, according to police.

Dallas police responded to Empire Central near northbound Stemmons Freeway around 3:45 a.m. Police didn’t say exactly where the shooting took place, but a CBS News Texas crew at the scene reported seeing a heavy police presence in the parking lot of Pink House, a new strip club.

Several people were injured during an altercation, police said, and Dallas Fire-Rescue transported five victims to a hospital.

On Monday, Dallas police said that 25-year-old Zecquire Fields, also known as Zeethewizard, succumbed to his injuries.

The conditions of the other victims weren’t shared by the police.

According to the club’s Instagram page, New Year’s Eve was the grand opening of its new after-hours event, with doors opening at midnight. Pink House is located where Club Safari Dallas used to be.

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 Kaitlin Knapp , Eric Lovelace

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    LEHIGH ACRES, Florida (WFTX) — The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said a 14-year-old boy attempted to kill four people inside a home by igniting a propane tank at their front door.

According to Sheriff Carmine Marceno, firefighters rushed to the home on Paisley Avenue on Saturday, Jan. 5 around 6 a.m. in Lehigh Acres.

Namiry Álvarez said she woke up to the smell of smoke.

“Erika called me and said, “Miri, run, the house is on fire!”, Álvarez said. “I thought it was just the kid baking bread and burning it.”

Álvarez, who is pregnant, said smoke quickly filled their home.

“We didn’t know what was outside, and there was already a lot of smoke inside the house,” she said. “We couldn’t breathe.”

The sheriff said the suspect, Maikol Estrada Gomez, parked down the road and walked up to the house. Deputies said he had a five-gallon propane tank, a glass bottle full of gas and a wick.

It caught fire and video shows part of the front door charred. No one was hurt inside the house.

As investigators worked to figure out the motive, the sheriff said Gomez knew someone in the house. Marceno said they were friends at one point, but the friendship “went south” and there was “extreme hatred” between the two of them.

Yulando Enrique was also in the home. He said he’s still in shock because he never thought Gomez would do something like this to him.

“I felt bad because I never thought he’d do that to me, and well, that’s it.”

The sheriff said Gomez admitted to wanting to kill the people inside the house and hurting his former friend, who the sheriff said was around his age.

Gomez is charged with four counts of attempted murder, armed burglary, arson, making a destructive device, and possession/use of a weapon.

According to LCSO, Gomez has a criminal history including burglary and criminal mischief.

The State Attorney’s Office will determined if Gomez will be charged as an adult.

He was booked and released from jail, according to jail records.

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 Shelley Bortz

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    UNIONTOWN, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — For nearly a month, the city of Uniontown operated without a permanent police chief, raising concerns about leadership and accountability inside the department.

City leaders finally filled that vacancy on Monday, swearing in a new chief and making history in the process.

For the first time, the department is being led by a woman, Chief Alexis Metros, who is stepping into the role amid scrutiny and high expectations.

“This will be 15 years now that I’ve been involved in law enforcement. I worked hard over the years, and like anything else, you have goals, and at the end game, that was my goal one day when the chance arrived, and it arrived,” Chief Metros said.

Metros told KDKA-TV that law enforcement has always been a part of her life.

She comes from a family of law enforcement officers and says that serving the community was ingrained in her at a young age, but she also understands the significance of this moment.

As the first woman to lead this department, Metros says she hopes her appointment sends a message, especially to young girls, that they belong in leadership roles, too.

“I hope it gives little girls or teenage girls something to look up to,” Chief Metros said. “I’ve always felt like one of the team, so to me, one of us taking over a position, we’re one big family.”

Metros is no stranger to Uniontown. She is from the area and has spent her career policing the communities she knows.

Since graduating from the police academy, she worked in Brownsville and Masontown boroughs before joining the Uniontown Police Department three years ago.

The experience, she says, has prepared her for this role.

“Over those years, I have had the chance to network with a lot of the community throughout Fayette County,” she said. “I feel like I have a great working nature with a lot of them.”

It’s no secret, though, that Metros takes over a department emerging from weeks without a chief, facing challenges that include morale, staffing concerns, and public expectations.

She said her focus moving forward couldn’t be clearer, with the safety of the city as her top priority.

“This past year was a big year for us. We didn’t have any violent homicides, and we can thank that to the men and women who are out here day and night sweeping these streets, getting the guns and drugs and keeping the violence down,” she 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.