Author: CNN Newsource

By Brad Hamilton

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Hard work done in the dark is about to bring the famed Bay Lights back to the Bay Bridge.

Bart Ney, who has spent the majority of his 30-year career at CalTrans, has focused on one of the busiest and biggest overpasses in the world.

“I was on the team that built the new eastern span. I’ve worked on the Bay Bridge for 20 years,” Ney told CBS News Bay Area.

On one particular night, he’s happy to work the late shift to see firsthand the finishing touches on the revitalization of the Bay Bridge lights.

First introduced in 2013, the original collection of over 40,000 bulbs that lit up the structure sparked attention like never before.

“The original Bay Lights were such a hit globally. We had media from all over the world doing stories on the Bay Lights, kind of putting the Bay Bridge kind of back in everybody’s view,” he explained.

However, in 2023, the lights were shut off after years of environmental wear. That decision was made by the artist behind the project, Leo Villareal.

“There was kind of an uproar in San Francisco. People said, ‘We want this back, this has become part of my therapy,’ it has become part of the city,'” Villareal told CBS News Bay Area.

The project, privately funded, cost $11 million to replace the original installation and embark on a new chapter.

“The exciting thing for me is that the way it provokes a sense of wonder and awe,” Villareal added. “It just dazzles people and people can’t help but talk to one another.”

Ney adds that the positive feedback they’ve received since announcing the return is just another sign that this project was worth the time and effort it took to make it happen.

“There is 48,000 individual LED lights in this installation. The western spans of the Bay Bridge are two miles long. They are over 500 feet above the water at the highest points, so it’s a lot,” Ney said.

On March 20th, an official ceremony will celebrate the relighting of the Bay Bridge.

But on this night, the crews who made it happen are having a little celebration of their own.

They’ve spent countless long hours in the dark, bringing the shine back to the Bay Bridge.

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 Chase Houle

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    MORROW, Georgia (WXIA) — Sabrina Wideman-Reese said she was eating at Las Trojas on Mt. Zion Road in Morrow on Sunday when she bit into something sharp.

“Why would somebody do this? It could have turned out worse.”

She said a 1.5-inch razor blade was mixed in with her lettuce, cheese and meat. According to Wideman-Reese, she felt something cut her lips and tongue before realizing what it was.

After spitting out her food, she said she saw the blade.

The incident comes at an already difficult time for Wideman-Reese. She says she buried her husband, the father of her two daughters, less than two weeks ago.

“He, he fought hard to stay here with us, but he God said otherwise.”

She said finding the blade only added to a very traumatic time in her life.

“I was thinking that my kids would have been orphans if I would have swallowed it,” she said.

The Morrow Police Department said there is an active criminal investigation into the incident, including whether the blade ended up in the food accidentally or intentionally.

Out of curiosity, 11Alive’s Chase Houle looked up when their last health inspection occurred.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health Las Trojas was last inspected on Feb. 5, receiving a score of 81. The report noted about a handful of violations, including containers of food stored on the ground. The report also noted that many of the violations had be cleared up at the time of the inspection.

When Houle asked for a comment, the restaurant’s manager declined.

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 Paula Wethington

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    UPPER PENINSULA, Michigan (WWJ) — A horse that was wandering outside amid blizzard conditions in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula found shelter with the help of Michigan State Police.

The horse had escaped from its farm on Monday and ran about a mile north along M-129 during the winter storm, state police said.

Michigan State Police helped direct a horse to safe shelter during a winter storm on March 16, 2026, in the Upper Peninsula.

Troopers from the MSP Sault Ste. Marie post and a U.S. Border Patrol agent coaxed the horse to walk into a neighbor’s barn and stay there until the owner could arrive and retrieve the animal.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula were hit by a late-season winter storm over the weekend that resulted in ice and blizzard conditions.

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 Sidney Moore

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    DOWAGIAC, Michigan (WBND-LD) — Weski Wesaw is a son, brother, but most of all a fighter; after going through a traumatic event, he managed to come out on top. But before that event, Wesaw had a very ordinary childhood. Wesaw was the first baby in the family who loved to play and wrestle, but unfortunately that all changed one winter day. Wesaw says, “I was wrestling, and my coach fell on it, so, like, he bruised it, and, like, my legs started, like, hurting really badly when I started walking. So we got to check that.”

The family then found out Weski had a form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Felicia Wesaw, Weski’s grandma tells ABC57’s Sidney Moore that the whole family tried their best to stay strong for Weski after hearing this devastating news. Felicia says, “You don’t cry in front of them. That’s because they’re already fighting the biggest battle of their life, which is life and death. And how do you explain that to a child? He was just a child. He was just a just a little kid, you know.”

Unfortunately, this diagnosis felt all too familiar as Felicia’s daughter, Yvonne Rosario Ortiz, had the same form of cancer, which she was able to fight until 2009, when she passed away. Weski quickly had to make a decision that would shape his life forever, to keep his leg or to lose it. His aunt chose to not amputate anything after her diagnosis, which then led the cancer to spread throughout her body.

Felicia Wesaw, Weski’s Grandma explains, “He got his leg amputated, a little bit above his knee, but they had to go back in and shave it again. So that was twice, and he was like, he’s just a young guy.”

After losing his leg, Weski explains that he fell into depression after this big change. “I didn’t go to school at all, like, I think I missed, like, I had to have award for like, missing the greatest number of days, or something. I didn’t go to school at all, and I didn’t have no motivation. I felt like I was out of place. I felt like by having one leg and walking around with a whole bunch of kids around my age, I felt like I was alone.”

But one day that all changed when speaking with the school secretary Tonya Brooks Weski decided he wanted to wrestle again. They brought the idea to Athletic Director Brent Nate who was unsure about the outcome but was all game. “I’m not going to lie to you, in my mind, I’m like, thinking, how in the heck is this going to happen? And Coach Brandt was like, absolutely. I think I just looked at him, like, okay, you say it. I go. The coach says it’s going to happen. We’re making it happen.”

After that conversation, it was game on. Tonya Brooks the School Secretary says, “You could see the light in his eyes, and you could tell how excited he was to have it was almost like an A moment of acceptance for him after everything had went on, and it gave him the drive, or it gave him a reason to come to school.”

With only one leg, Weski had to relearn the sport, telling ABC57’s Sidney Moore it’s a completely different approach. “It’s a whole different ballpark from normal wrestling. I have to really think about it like my moves and what works the best for me.”

Now he is competing between 144-to-165-pound bracket depending on where the team needs him.

Weski now is pushing to the future hoping to continue wrestling in college along with a double major in business and engineering.

He also hopes to get a prosthetic leg come may to be able to walk across the stage at graduation so Secretary Tonya Brooks can turn his tassel.

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 Jordan Bontke

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    PHOENIX (KNXV) — A suspect has been charged with arson in connection with a north Phoenix strip center fire that left several business owners without their livelihoods, after investigators used security video, license plate readers, GPS tracking, and a specially trained ATF dog to crack the case.

The fire broke out at a north Phoenix strip center in early February. Among those affected was America Ortiz, owner of Pawdazzle, a dog grooming business that sustained fire and smoke damage in the blaze.

“I’m bummed out, I’m sad. I’m sad because I’m a single mom and I have to support my kids, and that’s all I have,” Ortiz said.

The smoke smell damaged her product inventory and grooming materials, much of which had to be thrown away. Ortiz has gone weeks without operating Pawdazzle, with still weeks to go before she can reopen.

“We’re very sad that we can’t operate right now,” Ortiz said.

While Ortiz works toward reopening, fire investigators brought in a one-of-a-kind resource to help determine how the fire started — a Labrador Retriever named Xanadu.

Xanadu is the only ATF Accelerant Detection K-9 in the entire state of Arizona, we’re told. If she smells an accelerant, she will sit or point with her nose toward the location to help investigators determine how a fire started.

“She’s a state asset that any agency can call upon, and we’ll take her out to run those fire scenes,” an investigator said.

While Xanadu worked on the scene, police reviewed security video from the night of the fire, including footage of a white Prius pulling up to the strip center. Court paperwork shows the car was a rental from a business on Van Buren Street near downtown Phoenix.

A license plate reader — used throughout the Valley — discovered where the Prius was registered: a car rental business for rideshare drivers. The owner told police the car is GPS tracked, and that information led police to find the Prius and the driver, who was charged with arson.

Ortiz said she was relieved to see some justice — and she had a special offer for Xanadu.

“Once we reopen, I just want to say Xanadu will always have free grooming, free nail trims, everything. We are just so proud of him,” Ortiz said.

The arson suspect has pleaded not guilty. A trial is currently set for July.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. ­­­KNXV verifies 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 Michelle Reyes

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    EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — More than 250 inmates across seven wards at the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs took part in the Cultivating Change: Agriculture and Mental Health Initiative, a collaboration between the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Jail-Based Behavioral Services program and the local Country Style 4-H Club.

The program, launched in recognition of National Agriculture Month, connected incarcerated individuals with 4-H youth through agricultural education, mental health awareness and creative expression.

Workshops were facilitated by a licensed therapist and an agricultural business owner. The workshops incorporated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy concepts to help participants build coping strategies and foster self-reflection.

Seven youth members from the Country Style 4-H Club developed presentations on agriculture’s role in daily life and career pathways across Colorado. The materials also included messages of encouragement delivered to inmates through structured workshops.

“We showed off what we know in agriculture,” said Moriah Hudson, a 17-year-old who has been part of 4-H for five years.

Ten-year-old Carson, another participant, said he and his brothers presented on market goats, one of several topics covered in the program. Other subjects included the following:

horse health sheep cow horses livestock genetic rodeo horsemanship For some inmates, the experience offered a rare connection to life outside.

“It meant a lot because… I grew up in the country,” said one inmate.

The workshops also gave inmates an outlet for mental health challenges.

“I have bipolar depression, it actually took me out of my negative thoughts and took me out of this place, even for a moment it’s a bliss,” said one inmate.

The initiative culminated in murals painted on jail walls, inspired by the agricultural themes introduced by the 4-H students.

“Probably one of the best days I’ve ever had in jail,” one inmate said of the experience.

For those who worked on the murals, the process itself carried meaning.

“Working on this mural, it’s something we had to ask for every day. They don’t just open the door and say get to work,” said one inmate.

Eric Carnell, Detention Support Commander at the El Paso County Jail, said the program was designed to give inmates a constructive way to express themselves.

“If they have something to say, why not give them the correct platform where they can express themselves,” said Carnell.

Carnell also reflected on the broader impact of bringing youth and inmates together.

“Maybe instead of giving a plethora of medication and other things, maybe our children are that inspiration,” said Carnell.

One inmate summed up the lessons left behind on the walls.

“Don’t be afraid to be different. Yeah, you know, it’s okay to be odd like the little sheep right here. Gotta take it one day at a time, just like agriculture,” said the inmate.

The public can now vote for their favorite mural online. Voting opens March 18 at 11 a.m and runs through early next week.

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 KABC Staff

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    COVINA, Calif. (KABC) — A violent multi-vehicle crash near an intersection in Covina early Wednesday morning stemmed from a domestic violence incident, police confirmed.

The crash involving five vehicles was reported just before 5:50am at Hollenbeck Avenue and Cypress Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Covina police later confirmed to Eyewitness News that it happened as a husband was chasing his wife at a high rate of speed. He eventually crashed into the other cars.

A view from AIR7 showed the widespread wreckage across the street as firefighters rushed to treat and transport several people. Most of the cars sustained significant damage. One of those cars was overturned.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department said four people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. At least one person who was trapped in one of the cars had to be extricated. Several ambulances were seen at the scene.

It’s unclear if the wife was one of the people injured in the crash. Her husband, however, fled the scene was later found hiding at a nearby home before he was taken into custody.

Additional details were not available.

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.