Author: CNN Newsource

By Spencer Burt

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    PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (KSTU) — What do you do if you have an old, broken-down car and a pumpkin that weighs more than it? The answer is simple: you get a crane and see what happens when you drop the latter onto the former.

In the video above, some of you may recognize the car from a FOX 13 News story earlier this year. Millville resident Alan Gebert has been driving his 1991 Geo Metro for nearly 35 years, and his wife’s video about his loyalty to the compact coupe went viral.

Gebert, who grows giant pumpkins, had had an idea: if the Metro stopped running, he’d drop one of them onto the car — and that’s exactly what he did.

“It’s just something that we’ve talked, me and my wife have talked about for a long time, that this would be the best way for it to go, and it happened, so it’s been kind of fun,” Gebert said.

Before dropping the pumpkin nearly 14 stories onto his car at Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove, Gebert entered it into the Utah Giant Pumpkin Festival weigh-off, where it came in first place at 1,917 pounds. Safe to say, the Geo Metro was no match.

And believe it or not, that wasn’t the only instance of giant pumpkin vs. car on Saturday in northern Utah.

The North Logan Pumpkin Toss, organized by Utah State University’s engineering program, added a competitive element and drew an impressive crowd. Competitors launched pumpkins with trebuchets they built themselves. There was a distance competition and a contest to see who could hit the targets (old pianos, trampolines, and more broken-down cars).

Then at the end, they dropped a 750-pound pumpkin onto a minivan. The gigantic gourd clipped the edge of the roof, caving it in a few inches — although the ratio of car-to-pumpkin mass may have had something to do with the difference in damage.

Just before that, to hype up the crowd, USU mascot “Big Blue” did some pre-damage by jumping onto the windshield.

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By Marc Blaine

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    EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (KSTU) — There are perks to being the Headless Horseman of Eagle Mountain.

With no head, you work anonymously. You get to ride a horse, and then there’s the young fan base.

“He says, ‘Mom, do you think we’ll see the Headless Horseman trick or treating?’” said Lisa Miller.

And oh yes, the special connections made along the way during Halloween time. Lisa Miller was referring to her 9-year-old son Daniel, who first met the Headless Horseman at the age of three when Daniel wasn’t speaking due to a genetic disorder. A few years later, thanks to therapy, he began putting full sentences together and at Halloween, made that request to see the Headless Horseman again.

“And I was like, ‘Whoa, you remember that?’ He was nonverbal then, but he remembered it, so it was a really neat experience, and I was so grateful,” said Miller.

As for half a dozen years passing prior to this year’s reunion, Daniel was low-key about his excitement but indicated we shouldn’t be alarmed about the horseman’s well-being when asked about the fact that the person on the horse had no head.

“They’ll be probably fine,” said Daniel.

It turns out that the horseman is a woman. Tiffany Ulmer, who also teams up with other Headless Horsemen, agreed to break out of character for us for a few minutes to talk about becoming a part of the Miller family’s story.

“It’s really great to hear. I get stories sent from parents. It was exciting to see the kid that’s grown up looking for the Headless Horseman,” said Ulmer.

Whether it’s touching a family’s life, or just heading down a trail, Ulmer’s goal as the Headless Horseman of Eagle Mountain is to scare a smile onto your face.

“It’s just to bring some fun, cheer, it brightens people’s days when you have someone waving at you,” she said.

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By Sam Hoyle

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    BAKERSFIELD, California (KERO) — A Boron Junior-High School teacher and his wife face multiple felony charges after allegedly subjecting their adopted children to severe abuse, including withholding food, denying bathroom access and physical violence, according to Kern County Sheriff’s investigators.

Matthew and Brittany James were arrested earlier this month in North Edwards on charges including torture, conspiracy, child abuse, assault, and false imprisonment.

The investigation began Oct. 14 when staff at Boron Elementary contacted law enforcement about possible child abuse involving one of the couple’s adopted children. When deputies responded, they observed multiple injuries on a 9-year-old child, according to the offense report. Two older siblings attend Boron Junior-Senior High School.

The 9-year-old told deputies Matthew James tied him up with duct tape, denied him food and water, and beat him. The child said James made him lie face down and dropped a 50-pound bag of concrete on his back. Another child told deputies the 9-year-old was forced to urinate on himself.

A forensic report documented numerous skin abnormalities on one child, including bruising and abrasions to the neck, face, arms, legs, bac,k and buttocks. The child told investigators that Brittany James hit him in his private parts. Another child described being strangled until he “could not breathe.”

When deputies interviewed Matthew James at the high school, he denied some allegations made by the children and told deputies, “I’m guilty until proven innocent” and “I don’t have a leg to stand on,” according to the report.

Brittany James denied the allegations during her interview with deputies, called the child a liar, and said they joked about needing to tie up the child’s hands so they wouldn’t steal, but never actually did, according to the report.

Kyle Humphrey, attorney for Matthew James, spoke with media following their arraignment on Tuesday, disputed the allegations, and said the couple did not abuse the children.

Matthew and Brittany James are being held without bail. They are scheduled to return to court for a bail review hearing Oct. 30.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KERO’s editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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By Victoria Rodriguez

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    CANYON COUNTY, Idaho (KIVI) — A Wilder woman says she was unable to care for her 3-year-old son as she was zip-tied during Sunday’s federal raid in Wilder.

During the law enforcement operation, agents took her father into ICE custody. He was just one of 105 people detained by ICE.

Juana Rodriguez attended the event at La Catedral Arena with her father and young son, unaware that alleged gambling was taking place at the venue.

“A lot of people would have been smart and would’ve known that, you know— not to go or not to be there, but it was a family event,” Rodriguez said.

Before agents restrained her with zip-ties, Rodriguez told her father to stay close to her and her son. Once her hands were bound, she says she couldn’t tend to her child’s basic needs.

“I told my dad I was like, please stay with me, don’t go anywhere— just stay with me and, and the baby,” Rodriguez said.

She noticed other parents with young children who weren’t restrained and asked agents for help.

“I did see a couple of people that had younger kids like mine that were, uh, not zip-tied, so I asked one of the agents, and I was like, ‘Can you just please untie me? My son needs me right now,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez watched helplessly as her son cried for food and water while she remained restrained.

“He kept asking me, ‘Mom, I’m hungry, Mom, I’m hungry, Mom, I’m thirsty,’ and I wasn’t able to do anything,” Rodriguez said.

After processing, her father was taken into ICE custody. Rodriguez says the most difficult part was that her son witnessed everything.

“My dad was doing his process, and unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it out, so they ended up taking him. It’s just— it’s so hard. The thing that breaks me more is that my son [had] to be there and he had to witness everything,” Rodriguez explained.

Rodriguez says her son and father share a close bond. Now, she struggles to explain her father’s absence to the 3-year-old.

“Now he will see a cop car or any type of person with the suit, and if he knows he has weapons or anything, he will be like ‘the police, the police, [where’s] grandpa,'” Rodriguez added.

The raid fractured multiple families other than hers, affecting employment and daily routines, Rodriguez said.

“You’re affecting a lot of jobs; there are people that, you know, couldn’t return back to work, and my dad was one of them,” Rodriguez said.

The experience has left lasting emotional scars on both Rodriguez and her son.

“I might say it’s just a 3-year-old, but I know it’s hitting him because every day he’ll ask me and he’ll be like, ‘Where’s my grandpa?'” Rodriguez said. “He saw how we were separated from my father, his grandpa, and it’s just something that is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives.”

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KIVI’s editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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By Steve Dent

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    BOISE, Idaho (KIVI) — Brady Murray drew a moose tag for unit 73 in southeast Idaho, and what followed captivated the hunting community, with his son Cooper attempting to harvest a moose.

Brady grew up in Idaho and now lives in Utah. In 2007, the Murray family welcomed their first son. Nash was born with Down syndrome, and after advocating to adopt orphans with disabilities, the Murray family adopted Cooper out of China.

“People with Down syndrome are super capable, you just got to give them a shot,” said Brady. “We loved Nash so much we felt in our hearts we should adopt another child that has Down syndrome, and that’s adopted Coop.”

This past summer, Brady and Cooper spent hours practicing shooting at the range. When August rolled around, they started scouting for moose in unit 73. This father-son duo spent essentially every weekend hunting through September.

“Yeah, that was one thing I was so impressed with Coop, he never complained once,” said Brady. “We were on long four-wheeler rides, big hikes, and we were up there when it was cold.”

In October, they brought along Nash and Cooper’s other brother, Mason. On this trip, they found a moose, and after about an hour of stalking it, Coop took his shot and harvested a giant moose after all that work.

“It was magic,” said Coop. “Were you nervous?” asked Brady. Coop let out an emphatic no. “He never gets nervous for whatever reason,” said Brady.”

Throughout the saga, Brady was posting updates in an Idaho Facebook forum, and the community started following their journey. Throughout the process, people offered advice. They supported the duo, and they cheered when they saw Coop with the moose. It also led to a big surprise.

“I was just so amazed when Chad Draper of Blue Ridge Taxidermy out of Blackfoot reached out and said, ‘I’ve been following the story and I want to donate a shoulder mount of Coop’s moose as a gift to him, ‘” said Brady.

“I just think that is a great representation of what our Idaho hunting community really is.”

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By Jimmy Alexander

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    WASHINGTON, DC (WTOP) — On Saturday, the National Park Service returned the statue of Brig. Gen. Albert Pike to its home after being in storage for over five years.

The only statue of a Confederate general in the nation’s capital was pulled down by ropes and chains and then lit on fire on Juneteenth 2020 by demonstrators who were protesting the murder of George Floyd.

The bronze statue of Pike, which was dedicated in 1901, was authorized by Congress and honors the leader’s more than 30 years as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Scottish Freemasonry.

Over the years, members of the D.C. government tried to have the statute removed, including in 1992, when the D.C. Council petitioned the federal government.

The statue’s return to the Judiciary Square neighborhood in the District is thanks to President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

In August, the National Park Service put out a statement about the Pike statue that said, “The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and re-instate pre-existing statues.”

The statue of Pike sits on the corner of 3rd and D Street NW in a park by the headquarters of D.C.

As of Sunday, the statue, along with two John Deere cherry pickers, was surrounded by a chain link fence.

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