Author: CNN Newsource

By Michael Paluska

Click here for updates on this story

    ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (WFTS) — A dilapidated St. Petersburg home where the owner’s skeletal remains were found years after his death has been transformed from a neighborhood eyesore to a dream home.

The house sat seemingly abandoned for years during the COVID-19 pandemic, with neighbors unaware that the reclusive owner was dead inside. The body was discovered only after the bank sent a representative to investigate when automatic payments stopped.

“The representative went inside the house and thought they saw a Halloween decoration. It was not a Halloween decoration. It was the skeletal remains of the owner, and they had been there for a while,” said Alex Jandick of 131 Cash Home Buyers.

St. Petersburg police told Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska the case is inactive, and that the body was too decomposed for the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.

“During COVID, when a lot of people just weren’t outside and just staying inside, no one went to check on him, and they said he was a bit of a recluse anyway, so he’s just a private person, didn’t go outside and was not close with any of his family,” Jandick said. “It’s just kind of like the perfect storm, essentially.”

Jandick specializes in finding the most run-down houses and sold this property to Andrew Strong, a real estate investor who spent more than seven months gutting and renovating the home. The project transformed the one-bedroom, one-bath into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom family home.

“This house got the full nine, everything,” Strong said.

When Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska first visited the house in 2024, it was infested with rats and roaches, piled high with trash, and had an overwhelming smell. The transformation is stunning.

The room that was once piled high with trash is now the master bedroom. The living room has been completely transformed. What was once a study full of junk is now a bedroom. The kitchen didn’t just get updated – it went through a complete metamorphosis.

“I think in the beginning it’s always a little overwhelming at the beginning stages, because you’re putting together your budget, you’re trying to envision the house coming together,” Strong said. “You have to be creative. You have to have confidence that you’re turning this blank slate into something beautiful.”

The renovation represents more than just a house flip – it’s about changing communities one property at a time.

“This has literally gone from the by far the worst house on the block to by far the best house on the block,” Jandick said.

Strong described the finished product as “a beautifully rehabbed home, a home that’s waiting for a buyer and that’s gonna spend several years in here. Very happy, yeah, no more zombies, no more zombies. No critters, just a home waiting to be lived in.”

If you are interested in the home at 5820 Fairfield Ave S., St. Pete, you can reach out to the realtor, Laura Marie 727-350-7003.

This story was reported on-air by Michael Paluska and converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Paluska and Scripps editorial team verify all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Annette Gutierrez

Click here for updates on this story

    INVERNESS, Florida (WFTS) — A day of fun and adventure for two friends turned into an unimaginable loss for their families in Citrus County.

George Watts and his best friend, Derrick Hubbard, both 14 years old, died after a sand tunnel they were digging collapsed on them near Sportsman Park.

The boys’ former neighbor, Zachariah Roberson, who owns Doggylicious Florida, remembered them as joyful, energetic kids that everyone loved.

“They were just being kids – they were just playing in sand. We always encourage our kids to get off the tablets, electronics to go play outside, and that’s exactly what they were doing and unfortunately you never really think about the dangers of sand, and we live in Florida. So this is a very eye-opening experience for myself and I’m pretty sure a lot of others,” Roberson said.

Citrus County deputies said on Sunday afternoon, they responded to a call about two teens who had gotten lost near Sportsman Park. Authorities found the boys inside a hole they had dug after the sand tunnel collapsed on them. Both boys passed away, leaving an entire community mourning.

“They were kids who were part of the community in a very positive way and they’re definitely going to be missed for sure,” Roberson said.

The Watts family made the decision to donate George’s organs. Roberson joined dozens of community members at UF Health Shands Hospital to support the family, capturing a powerful moment of unity and prayer over the grieving families.

“Knowing that they’re going to save other kids with their donations, and that they will live on somehow, that’s a blessing,” Roberson said.

The teens attended Inverness Middle School. The superintendent of Citrus Schools shared the following message to the teachers and staff:

I want to take a moment to reach out to you during this incredibly difficult time for your school community. The tragic events involving two of your students have deeply impacted all of us, and I know many of you are carrying the weight of this loss alongside your students.

Our district support team is on the IMS campus and will remain available throughout the week to support students, staff, and families. I encourage you to reach out to them if you need any support throughout this difficult time.

I am appreciative of the care, professionalism, and dedication each of you continue to show your students, especially during moments of grief and uncertainty. The relationships you have built make a meaningful difference in helping students feel supported.

Thank you for looking out for one another and for continuing to support each other with empathy and grace. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Mr. Hermann, Mrs. Lulenski, or Mrs. Cassidy if you need additional assistance. Statement from Dr. Scott Hebert Superintendent, Citrus County Schools Community members are organizing different types of fundraisers, both online and in-person.

If you’re interested in supporting the donation, you can do so with the Citrus County Education Foundation.

Roberson and his company have teamed up with Cleveland’s Catering to throw a BBQ fundraiser event in the coming weeks. They will also be selling shirts made by LandShark Elite Custom Printing & Design. Stay with Tampa Bay 28 for all the updates on this event.

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 Reg Chapman

Click here for updates on this story

    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A couple and their six children say they were trapped inside their vehicle in the Twin Cities when a tear gas canister exploded underneath them during an interaction with ICE officers.

Shawn and Destiny Jackson have an 11- and 7-year-old, 4-year-old twins, a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old baby boy. They were on their way home from basketball practice when they were caught between protesters and ICE agents.

“They stopped at my car, and they proceeded to yell in and said, ‘Get out of here.’ Well, they used profanity. And my husband screamed and said, ‘We’re trying,'” Destiny Jackson said.

The couple stayed calm, they said, while ICE agents ramped up their demands.

“They said it again, and we said, ‘We’re trying, if you guys will move.’ And of course, everybody saying what happened with Renee, you know, we weren’t going to pull off while they were right there. That’s what we were trying to avoid,” Destiny Jackson said.

She said the agents walked to the back of their vehicle and released a canister of tear gas under their vehicle.

“Within seconds, there was a big boom and our car was up in the air and we slammed down and all of our airbags deployed and all of our doors locked. And tear gas just started forming, a ball of gas just started forming around the car,” Destiny Jackson said.

WCCO has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment about the incident.

When the tear gas was released, Destiny Jackson says panic set in.

“I managed to feel around and open up everybody’s, like, I unlocked everybody’s door and I hopped out, and I just started pulling as many kids as I could out,” she said.

Bystanders stepped up. Destiny Jackson said she was taken inside a house nearby, and total strangers began helping her children out of the smoke-filled vehicle.

“The last person to get out of the car was my infant child,” she said. “And when he came in, he was, like, lifeless. It was like foam or bubbles coming out of his mouth. I had to give him mouth-to-mouth and CPR. I couldn’t even breathe myself, and all I remember is between every breath, I was saying, ‘I’m going to give you every breath I have until you get yours back.'”

The couple has been together since their days at North High School. Shawn Jackson, who was coached by Minneapolis and Metro Transit police officers, says he has respect for law enforcement. Now, their lives are forever changed by ICE agents and a canister of tear gas.

“It was like they didn’t have a care in the world for us,” Shawn Jackson said.

“The windows were down. You could see my kids in the car, the lights were on in the car,” Destiny Jackson added.

The parents say their children are traumatized and are not sleeping, but are physically OK. A fund has been set up to help the family with medical bills and to replace the family vehicle.

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 Juli McDonald

Click here for updates on this story

    BOSTON (WBZ) — In a world where it can be awfully hard to agree, here in New England one thing is for certain: it sure feels good to be a Patriots fan right now.

“Some people don’t like that we’re back in the good times, but we are,” said a New England native who now roots for the Pats from Tampa.

There are of course some clear factors at play in these good times.

“Coach Vrabel’s done a great job of bringing the team culture back to what it used to be years ago,” said a Norwood fan.

But even prior to the playoffs, before early in the season back-to-back wins, the return of football always feels good, and experts say being a fan is good for you.

“In New England just walking by someone it’s very interesting if someone says ‘hi.’ But at a sporting event you’ll turn around and you’ll high five a stranger and it’ll be an intense great moment, and you’ll never think about it again,” said licensed independent clinical social worker Dawn Perry.

Perry, a Pats fan herself, is the co-clinical director for AVIV Mental Health. She explains that regardless of the scoreboard, cheering for a team with fellow fans can be like medicine for your mind and mood.

“Sports allows us as a community to get outside of that isolation and to really go into what feels good and it’s being with one another, feeling connected, and feeling connected to your life, the life that’s happening in front of you,” Perry added.

A way to bond with family and friends on the couch, at the tailgate, or even through social media memes… and also, find comfortable common ground throughout your community.

“You can go to Mass on Sunday, and you can see people in Patriots jerseys. In business, I’m in sales, so I talk to clients about business opportunities. And the first thing we say, ‘what a great win.’ So, it kind of lightens the moods,” said the Norwood fan.

“In these times, when times are so tough and how the world is split right sports brings us all together,” a Patriots fan 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 Molly McCrea, Juliette Goodrich

Click here for updates on this story

    SANTA CRUZ, California (KPIX) — From the California coast, you can see a lot of surfers. It’s not so easy to see a blue whale.

“There’s probably only 10,000 in the entire world,” marine biologist Nancy Black said.

However, at UC Santa Cruz, you can walk right up to a legendary blue whale, or at least its skeleton.

Her name is Ms. Blue. In 1979, Ms. Blue died out in the ocean and washed up on shore.

The Santa Cruz community saved her bones. For decades, her 87-foot-long skeleton has greeted visitors outside the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. But the sun, wind, rain, and salty air eventually took a toll.

“It wasn’t just the metal structure that began to rust away. The bones themselves were decomposing,” explained Jonathan Hicken, the Seymour Center executive director.

Hicken put out the call to find ways to sustainably restore the landmark. That’s when the community, including surfers and engineers, stepped up for a second time to save Ms. Blue’s bones.

“The message came through loud and clear. They said, ‘Get Ms. Blue back up!” Hicken said with a smile.

Halon Entertainment, a Hollywood special effects studio, jumped into action. The team created a high-fidelity 3D scan of the skeleton.

“We really wanted to get it right. We really wanted to do right by Ms. Blue,” producer Andrew Ritter said.

“It’s a real cool merger of the science and the tech that we use,” senior VAD supervisor Jess Marley said.

Some of Ms Blue’s bones were too damaged to repair. That’s where surfer and inventor Patricio Guerrero entered the restoration efforts.

Guerrero is CEO and founder of Santa Cruz-based swellcycle.

The Santa Cruz startup makes sustainable surfboards using giant 3D printers and bioplastics.

“When I started this company, I had no idea we would be making whale bones to tell you the truth,” Guerrero joked.

With Halon Entertainment’s scan data, swellcycle fired up the 3D printers to create replica bones, using plastic hospital trays destined for landfill.

The staff textured the bones and sealed them with a bio-based resin.

“At the end of the day, you won’t be able to recognize our reconstructed bones from the real ones,” Guerrero said.

To repair damaged bones, some engineers at U.C. Santa Cruz jumped onboard.

“I do love the ocean and the sea. So just fixing the whale was very exciting for me,” said Professor of Engineering Marco Rolandi.

In the Rolandi lab at the Baskin School of Engineering, engineers developed an innovative “bone-repair” putty made out of shrimp shells. The putty is a nontoxic material used to fill in the cracks.

“This helps us restore Ms. Blues’ bones in a more sustainable and in an eco-friendlier way,” student Ashwin Maricetty explained.

Student Rishima Agnihotri told CBS News Bay Area how their creation and efforts by all show how the Santa Cruz community is serious about protecting the environment.

“We show it rather than just say it,” she said.

The project aims to teach the community and world about the power of climate-safe innovation

“Ms. Blue means to me what our future can look like,” Guerrero remarked.

It’s a future that ensures Ms. Blue remains a landmark for decades to come.

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 Christopher Harris

Click here for updates on this story

    ATLANTA (WUPA) — A man accused of selling fentanyl-laced pills from a farmers market produce stand in metro Atlanta appeared in federal court Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

Federal prosecutors say Luis Sanchez-Acevedo, 41, an undocumented Mexican national living in the U.S., is charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl after investigators linked him to thousands of deadly counterfeit pills sold in Forest Park, Georgia.

According to court documents, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration learned Sanchez-Acevedo was allegedly selling fake “M-30” pills that contained fentanyl and xylazine, a powerful animal tranquilizer also known on the street as “tranq.”

Authorities say Sanchez-Acevedo sold about 3,000 pills in September and October 2025 from or near his produce stand at a Forest Park farmers market. Laboratory testing later confirmed the pills contained both fentanyl and xylazine, a combination that significantly increases the risk of fatal overdoses.

“Sanchez-Acevedo allegedly distributed deadly ‘tranq’ pills containing fentanyl and xylazine at a farmers market where he sold fruits and vegetables,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. “Our community is a safer place now that this illegal alien and his lethal pills are off the streets.”

DEA agents arrested Sanchez-Acevedo on Jan. 13 at his produce stand. During a search, agents recovered about 1,000 additional counterfeit pills, prosecutors said.

“This defendant is accused of distributing fentanyl, a drug responsible for countless overdose poisonings across our country,” said Jae W. Chung, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Atlanta Division. He said the arrest supports the agency’s national effort to remove fentanyl from communities.

Federal authorities say Sanchez-Acevedo is from Tehuacán, Mexico, and does not have legal status in the United States.

He appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge on a criminal complaint charging him with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. The case is being investigated by the DEA with assistance from the Clayton County Police Department.

Officials said the investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice effort aimed at dismantling drug trafficking organizations, combating illegal immigration, and reducing violent crime.

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 Olivia Young

Click here for updates on this story

    DENVER (KCNC) — There’s a new group on the streets of Denver working to help the homeless community.

City Council approved a $3 million contract with San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy for community ambassador services and a $30 million contract to operate the Aspen shelter. Urban Alchemy says its community ambassador team model is already in operation in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Birmingham.

These responders are specially equipped to help the homeless community because they’ve been in their shoes. They help the community find help and resources available to them.

“I was homeless on the streets here in downtown Denver and made a few mistakes and ended up going to Colorado Correctional Facility in 2019,” said Mike Johnson, Compassionate Ambassadors Doing Respectful Engagements (CARE) team director and Urban Alchemy practitioner.

After three years incarcerated, Johnson was determined to turn his life around.

“My biggest fear is that I was just going to be known as an ex-con, and nobody would give me a second chance,” Johnson said.

When Denver contracted with Urban Alchemy for community ambassador services, Johnson was drawn to the San Francisco-based nonprofit, which employs returning citizens to transform urban communities.

“I knew I had to be a part of that organization,” Johnson said.

Johnson now runs Urban Alchemy’s CARE program, which launched in Denver on Jan. 1. The team has 10 full-time employees, all Denver locals with lived experience.

“Whether it’s previously incarcerated or being out on the streets ourselves, it’s just a unique group of individuals with great talents and a heart to serve our community,” Johnson said.

The CARE team responds to 311 calls for people in crisis and connects them with services.

“We have a lot of different referrals that we can do to All-In Mile High sites for transitional living. And we have sober living, detoxes, mental health services from different areas in the city that we can connect somebody to, whatever service we’re looking for,” Johnson said. “So we can come out, respond to that, to free our police and fire up for bigger and better calls.”

In just the first two weeks in Denver, the CARE team has placed nine people in transitional housing, three in detox, and a single mom and her two kids in a family shelter.

The team is on duty seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. When they’re not responding to calls for service, the team cleans up priority areas in town.

“You’re going to see us cleaning and picking up and cleaning up needles,” Johnson said. “So anywhere we go, we want to make it prettier and beautify it, and make it better than it was when we got there.”

They also proactively make relationships with the homeless community.

“The connection that we already have when we approach our friends experiencing homelessness, with the lived experience and the connection that they have, almost gives us an immediate in,” Johnson said.

It’s a second chance for those on both sides of the interaction.

“To see them light up, to see them come in and apply for positions and go through interviews and go through trainings and just get that sense of belonging, it’s priceless to see,” Johnson 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.