Author: CNN Newsource

By Stephanie Stahl, Casey Kuhn

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    ROBBINSVILLE, New Jersey (KYW) — A new type of radiation therapy is showing promise in treating cancer in pets.

The new kind of treatment places radiation directly into cancerous tumors, so there’s limited damage to nearby tissue.

Anu is the Donnelly family’s beloved bulldog, who has the most common form of canine skin cancer. After surgery and medications, she recently had a new kind of radiation therapy.

“It’s like very concentrated and doesn’t go all over the place,” Terrie Donnelly, Anu’s owner, said. “It just sounded good.”

They went to NorthStar VETS in Robbinsville, New Jersey, for the isoPet treatment that uses something called radio-gel.

Veterinary oncologist Diana Sanchez said the gel contains a radioactive isotope that’s placed directly inside the treatment area to destroy cancerous tumors.

“The type of radiation, it’s a high-energy type of radiation, but it travels a very short distance,” Sanchez said. “It’s delivering the radiation in a way that you can make it safe for the surrounding tissue.”

Sanchez said it’s safer and less invasive than traditional external-beam radiation.

For the treatment, Anu first got some light sedation, and then the radioactive gel was injected directly into the cancer tumors.

Sanchez said it’s usually a one-time shot with the pet up and out, with limited side effects.

“To have the ability to have a medication that can be safe, and that can be easy, and that can be affordable and accessible for the owners, it’s amazing,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said while it’s still a new treatment, early indications are promising.

Donnelly is hoping this will be Anu’s last, best treatment.

“We just love her,” she said. “She’s part of the family. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

The maker of radio-gel is working to get FDA approval to begin human trials, which they hope will eventually become a new targeted radiation option.

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By Jennifer McLogan

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    RIVERHEAD, Long Island (WCBS) — Birders are going cuckoo for a rare sight on Long Island. The common cuckoo bird has been spotted only four times in U.S. history in the lower 48 states, experts say. Now, it’s in Riverhead.

Hundreds of people have traveled from dozens of states, hoping for a glimpse of the bird that is native to Europe and was blown off course.

“We started a crazy viral birder insanity,” said Roy William Gardner, the eagle-eyed golfer who first saw the cuckoo.

Gardner said he was in a golfcart moving between holes when he spotted “an unusual bird going post to post.” He texted photos of the bird to his nephew, an ornithologist from Cornell and now a bird biologist at UCLA.

“It’s pretty amazing that my uncle, who’s a non-birder, can send a text message across the country,” said nephew Christopher Sayers.

Within minutes, the bird species was identified by UCLA and Cornell.

“He said, ‘what you have there is called a lifer.’ He goes, ‘people go their whole lifetime and not see this,'” Gardner said.

Soon, bird lovers started arriving by ferry, plane and car.

“This is an amazing find,” one person said.

“He lives in Europe and he winters in Africa, so for him to be this far off course,” another marveled.

Was the cuckoo bird possibly blown into New York on the wings of the recent nor’easter?

Farms and golf courses have been allowing the visitors onto their properties to spot the cuckoo. The local Riverhead Times reported 225 sightings in two days.

“It does have a classic cuckoo song, but this is going to be a migrating individual,” Sayers explained.

It’s too young to be vocalizing, but it’s showing off its plumage, gray and white body and long tail.

“If you want to go see it, you’ve gotta go find it!” said Gardner.

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By Tania Francois

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — He makes his living as a lawyer, but what he lives for is the opportunity to give back. For 15 years, Miami attorney Larry Handfield has picked up the tab at Joe’s Stone Crab for more than a hundred kids, many from his old neighborhood. Police officers are invited too.

The goal is to build trust before anyone meets in a courtroom.

“I don’t want these individuals to be my clients,” Handfield said. “I take money out of my pocket because the cases I deal with are big cases. If I can avoid seeing them in court, I’m much happier.”

Handfield is the lawyer high-profile clients call when the stakes are at their highest. Over a 40-year career, he has tried more than 600 cases in state and federal courts.

“I am a true trial lawyer,” he said. “I’m at my best in the courtroom, relating to jurors and making sure my client gets the best representation possible.”

His path started far from the bench. Growing up on Wilmington Street in Opa-locka, Handfield dreamed of being a medical doctor when a TV icon nudged him toward a juris doctorate instead.

“Perry Mason was this white lawyer who never lost a case,” he said. “Watching that, I told myself, if he can do that, I can do that.”

A proud graduate of Miami Carol City Senior High and Bethune-Cookman University, Handfield learned service early. His philanthropy now includes two buildings named after him at Bethune-Cookman, a symbol of years of giving. Asked to estimate his contributions, he said, “Millions. Millions.”

Beyond the courtroom, Handfield has chaired several boards, including the Miami-Dade Public Health Trust, which oversees Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kionne McGhee calls him a mentor and a door-opener. McGhee once waited six hours to meet Handfield. He left with a job offer.

“From that couch, I became a trial lawyer, a state representative, and now vice chair of the county commission,” McGhee said.

For Handfield, the win column is measured in people, not verdicts.

“I love this community,” he said. “We are not perfect, but with all it has blessed me with, the least I can do is make it a better place for others and keep making this one of the best cities in the country.”

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By Logan Hall

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    EASTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A “paperwork error” is disqualifying teams from eight vocational high schools from a post season tournament in Massachusetts. Some parents are furious that this is how their students’ sports experience will end.

Becky DeOliveira’s son Vinny is a senior on the Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School boys’ soccer team. They had a great season with a 13-1-1 record, but they won’t get to play in the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association (MVADA) tournament because of a scheduling oversight.

“They live for this, my son’s been on the team for four years,” DeOliveira said. “The kids themselves have put in a lot of dedication, a lot of teamwork, a lot of effort.”

Teams in the league were required to leave a placeholder game on their schedule, listing it as TBD (to be determined) to reserve a spot in the tournament. Southeastern and seven other schools didn’t do that. They were all ruled ineligible for the postseason.

DeOliveira said the ruling is especially painful for the team’s 10 seniors, many of whom won’t play competitively after high school.

“After this, this is it. Some of them might not go to college because it’s a voc-tech school. They are going out in the real world, like let them be kids,” DeOliveira said.

While many players have taken the news with grace, DeOliveira said it’s been harder for parents to accept.

“I went to my son and was like, ‘Hey, how you feeling?’ and he goes ‘it is what it is.’ I think most of the team’s like that. They are so good, they are so humble. I think the coach has really tried to instill in them that we have tried everything we can. But me, as a parent, I’m looking at it as like, I feel like there’s another choice.”

The MVADA did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

“We believe it is deeply unfair to remove student-athletes from postseason play because of a paperwork error, especially one that many schools struggled to interpret,” Southeastern Regional School District Superintendent Holly McClanan said in a statement.

DeOliveira is holding out hope that a solution can be found and her son will get to take the field with his team one last time.

“I’m always looking on the positive side,” she said. “And I feel like for a clerical error, for this to just happen the way it’s happening I feel like there has to be a better outcome.”

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By Cameron Polom

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    TEMPE, Arizona (KNXV) — In a place defined by bars and boundaries, one Tempe writer is helping inmates break free through art.

Jeff Kronenfeld, a former inmate turned published author and screenwriter, is returning behind prison walls, this time with purpose.

He’s leading comic-making workshops inside California’s Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, helping incarcerated artists turn their own stories into illustrated journeys of redemption.

Partnering with Project Paint, Jeff hopes the power of storytelling can inspire transformation and prove that sometimes the boldest lines drawn are the ones that define a new path forward.

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By Nicole Grigg

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    TEMPE, Arizona (KNXV) — An Arizona man was on his way to get food at a Tempe restaurant last year when police pulled him over in his expensive Ferrari.

According to police, Eli Landry, was “trying to test the physical endurance of the vehicle” — a silver 812 — that he said often attracts attention to people on the roads.

The 24-year-old was driving near Rural Road and Apache Boulevard. He had a friend driving behind him in a Dodge Charger.

“Obviously, our cars are loud,” said Landry. “Can’t control that.”

Body camera footage shows officers handcuffing Landry for exhibition of speed and reckless driving after he was parked in a parking garage.

“What was I doing?” Landry asked the arresting officer in body camera video. “I wasn’t showing off.”

The Tempe Police Department has been cracking down on street racing, as ABC15 has covered in the past. The department has received more than half a million dollars in grant funding to target street racing and other unsafe driving behaviors since 2023.

In a statement, a Tempe spokesperson said that reckless and dangerous driving is one of the community’s top concerns.

The ABC15 Investigators reviewed nearly 400 exhibition of speed citations from Tempe police. Our review found that citations increased by more than 700% from 2020 to 2024.

In 2024, 228 people were cited, the most issued in a single year since 2020.

“Most of my clients for this are by themselves on the roadway,” said attorney Zachary Ansell, who represents Landry.

Landry was arrested by police on charges of reckless driving and exhibition of speed. He was later acquitted. He decided to share his story, knowing that not everyone can take a case to trial.

He wants to warn other drivers to be cautious in Tempe.

“Be careful. Be very careful,” Landry said.

According to the police report, Tempe Officer Gavin Young wrote that Landry’s car appeared to be “testing the physical endurance of the vehicle.” The officer estimated Landry was driving 60 mph in a 35 mph zone, though he admitted this was only a visual guess without radar confirmation.

“There’s no video of what they say happened,” Landry added. “They don’t have dash cameras. No radar, no dash cameras. Nothing other than the cop’s word versus my word.”

The body camera video shows that Landry’s loud car was part of why he was stopped.

“Dude, the obnoxious noise and just the grinding of the tires,” Young said on the video.

Landry responded that the grinding of the tires is from the tires rubbing from a body kit that is on there.

“That is the tire doing that, I can’t control that,” he told the officer.

Young responded that “it’s reckless.”

Landry said he thinks the loud Ferrari played a role in his stop and arrest.

A spokesperson for the Tempe Police Department said in an email that with increased resources and targeted operations in recent years, they have been able to identify and stop more dangerous drivers. They added, “that enforcement is not based on the type of car or driver.”

The officer wrote in the report that when Landry turned eastbound on Apache Boulevard, the rear tires fishtailed slightly, “the Ferrari then stopped and did a burnout with its rear tires.”

Landry said in an interview with ABC15 that there was no evidence to show any of Officer Young’s account, as there was no smoke and there were no tire remains.

“He didn’t have smoke. And obviously there’s no tire remains,” Landry considered it “lies in the police report.”

Tempe police responded by email that Officer Young testified under oath related to his observations and actions in this case, “Allegations that an officer falsified information are taken seriously and would be thoroughly investigated if supported by credible evidence; however, no such evidence existed in the case.”

Landry hired an attorney and took his case to a jury trial in August inside a Tempe municipal courtroom.

Ansell, his attorney, said, “It’s rare to take any case to a jury trial. It’s a roll of the dice,” he said.

Ansell said this is a unique case because of Landry’s car with custom upgrades and believes the officer didn’t understand this Ferrari.

Arizona’s street racing law prohibits drivers from participating in races, speed competitions, drag races, testing physical endurance or “exhibition of speed.”

Ansell considers the law vague.

“The statute basically just says exhibition of speed,” Ansell said. “But at the end of the day, it’s showing off your vehicle’s quality to be fast. And what does that mean? That could be anything.”

The city prosecutor alleged in the trial that Landry showed off the “power and capabilities of this powerful sports car.”

However, Landry denies that.

Landry told ABC15 that his car could go 0 to 60 in around 3 seconds.

”If I really wanted to, yeah, I could show off the car pretty easily and just put my foot down and pedal to the metal,” he said, “But again, I wasn’t.”

Officer Young was called to the stand during cross-examination and compared Landry’s driving to a “performance.”

“Extremely loud as they were traveling in tandem. Kind of like Cirque Du Soleil style. Like they were performing an act somewhat,” said Young.

Ansell asked Young in cross-examination if he ever saw the two vehicles racing.

Young replied, “I did not,” but referenced how Landry and his friend were riding extremely close in tandem.

At trial, Ansell played body camera footage that showed two officers had muted their cameras, unaware a third officer was still recording nearby.

An officer can be heard asking Young, “Do we have anything criminal here?” and the video shows Young shaking his head no.

Ansell asked Officer Young about this exchange in the trial.

“What I just heard there is, ‘Do we have anything criminal and you shaking your head and stating no,’” Ansell said.

Young responded that the officer who asked him was talking about Landry’s friend in the Dodge Charger, not Landry.

“If those questions are being asked, we probably shouldn’t have been in a jury trial in the first place,” Ansell told ABC15.

After deliberation, the jury found Landry not guilty on all charges.

“Oh, it was so relieving,” Landry said. “My parents cried. I think they were more relieved than anyone, knowing that these cops didn’t get away with lies.”

Landry, an entrepreneur, has a love for supercars. He said he has found success in his businesses as well as investing.

TEMPE’S FULL STATEMENT:

“The Tempe Police Department is committed to public safety and responding to one of our community’s top concerns —reckless and dangerous driving. Exhibition of speed and other laws exist to deter those behaviors and help keep everyone on the road safe.

“Officers gather facts and enforce laws when those facts meet the elements of crimes; enforcement is not based on the type of car or driver. Safety is our top priority, and all drivers are held to the same standards under the law.

“With increased resources and targeted operations in recent years, we’ve been able to identify and stop more dangerous drivers. In 2024 alone, three operations focused on speed and street racing, which led to fewer collisions. During one operation, there were zero fatalities and a 50% drop in crashes. These results show that enforcement plays a significant role in traffic safety, and our officers are doing their jobs to protect the community.

“We respect the independent role the courts play within the justice system. Officer Gavin Young testified under oath related to his observations and actions in this case, providing clarification related to this incident and his investigation. Allegations that an officer falsified information are taken seriously and would be thoroughly investigated if supported by credible evidence; however, no such evidence existed in the case.

“Our officers will continue to enforce valid Arizona laws with professionalism and integrity, trusting the process to deliver fair and impartial decisions. Our focus remains on preventing crashes, protecting the public, and deterring reckless driving in Tempe.”

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By Riley Shoemaker

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    BOISE (KIVI) — In Boise’s North End – just off Harrison Boulevard, where Halloween is a neighborhood spectacle – one front yard has become a full-blown shipwreck.

A life-sized Titanic has risen from the lawn, complete with skeleton passengers, a band that “plays on,” and nods to many of the film’s most famous scenes.

Tyler Bush and Michael Mann spent weeks transforming their home into the haunted ocean liner – turning foam, paint, and 3D design plans into a Halloween display that’s stopping trick-or-treaters in their tracks.

“We actually built it in a 3D environment… all the portholes equally and cutting them, but all the portholes are actually to scale in the location. So you’ll notice that the way they’re spread out, that’s how they actually are on the ship,” Bush said.

Each detail is deliberate – from the couple floating on the door to a skeleton artist recreating the “draw me like one of your French girls” scene.

“You can hear people walk up and they start laughing. And then we always know that they’re looking at Jack drawing the girl – the French, ‘draw me like one of your French girls.’ Yeah. And it’s just a stick figure that we did. And so people think that that’s really funny,” Bush said.

This year, their creativity didn’t stop at their own front yard. Bush and Mann run a prop-building company called PropyProps, and they’re also behind the Beetlejuice display just down the street.

“We made a sign that says ‘Titanic boarding now’… so people see that and then they look down the street and then they’re intrigued by it,” Bush said.

That Beetlejuice house belongs to Val, who says the whole neighborhood joins in on the Halloween fun.

“It’s so much fun on Harrison. It’s like the community – come on down, party with us! It’s really fun,” Val said.

What started as one couple’s Halloween hobby has become a North End landmark – a labor of love that’s keeping Boise’s spooky spirit afloat.

Bush and Mann say when the Titanic goes down, they’ll set sail into Christmas, turning their home into a Nightmare Before Christmas scene that’s just as grand.

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By Vanessa Gongora

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    TUCSON, Arizona (KGUN) — A Tucson woman is making sure every child can experience the magic of Halloween, regardless of their family’s financial situation.

What started as an idea has now come to fruition.

Abby Splittstoesser started her grassroots mutual aid organization Para Todos meaning “for all,” after seeing social media posts from parents struggling to afford Halloween costumes for their children last year.

She took action and started to collect and thrift costumes throughout the year, building an inventory of about 40 different options ranging from size 3T to youth XXL. Now, she’s giving away those costumes for free to families in need.

“The idea behind it is to connect families really anywhere in Southern Arizona, but I’m focusing, honing in on South of Tucson because we’re lacking in a lot of services and family programs down here,” Splittstoesser said.

Her collection includes everything from fairy wings, princesses, to Top Gun pilot uniforms, Ninja Turtle outfits, Sonic the Hedgehog, and so much more.

“Parents can focus on their bills that they gotta pay and then hopefully we can fill in the gaps as a community,” Splittstoesser said. “You know, not just me as like starting an organization, but just being able to connect people and we provide for each other that way.”

According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending hit a record $13.1 billion this year, with $1.4 billion spent specifically on children’s costumes.

Splittstoesser says she can deliver costumes directly to families living on Tucson’s Southside. One mother, Rea Rollins, was even willing to ride the bus to pick up a gorilla costume for her 9-year-old daughter, but Splittstoesser brought it to her instead.

“Just shows the sacrifice that parents are willing to go,” Splittstoesser said.

Rollins said via text, “It really blessed my heart because being a single mom I often have to juggle between rent and food, or smaller bills and presents/clothes. I’m thankful for local organizations that help our community.”

Seven families have already selected costumes from her collection, and some have even donated their kid’s outgrown costumes back to the organization.

Para Todos is not a 501(c)(3) organization. She says her plan is to make it an LLC.

“A few things that I’m looking at doing in the near future are going to be monthly birthday parties,” Splittstoesser said. “And again this is another need that I’ve seen on social media — parents not being able to get kids to come to their kids birthday parties.”

She said any kid who has a birthday in that month is invited to be celebrated.

“And then having a wide circle of people so that there’s always other kids there and they don’t have to feel like, oh nobody showed out for me today.” Splittstoesser continued. “They always say it takes a village but a lot of people don’t have a village nowadays. So I’m trying to encourage people, get to know your neighbors.”

With a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old at home, Splittstoesser hopes to pass along the value of generosity from an early age.

“That if we have more than we need, we give it to other people,” Splittstoesser said.

If you would like to see what costumes are still available, you can visit Para Todos Facebook page and contact Splittstoesser.

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By Luke Jones

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    HOUSTON (KTRK) — Three men have been arrested after attacking a man and his disabled son outside of a northwest Houston seafood restaurant, police say.

Early Sunday morning, police say one of the victims was having car trouble and started banging on the door of Mariscos Yucatan to get help.

Instead of helping him, police say three men came out and were seen in surveillance video kicking and punching him in the face.

At least two of the men are employees of the restaurant, according to court records.

When the man’s adult son, who has cerebral palsy, intervened, police say one of the men punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground.

Gustavo Rojas and Jaime Dominguez were charged with injury to a disabled person.

Isidro Velasquez is facing a more serious aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge because police say he retrieved a gun from his car before continuing to beat the victims.

“According to the affidavit, my client was holding a firearm. However, there’s no direct statement that he pointed it at the complaining witness,” Velasquez’s public defender told a hearing officer in a bid to have his client’s bond set at $250.

The hearing officer ultimately set it at $40,000, although records show ICE has placed a hold on Velasquez.

Both victims sustained lacerations and bruises to their faces and arms, according to a charging document.

When asked whether the suspects were still employed on Monday, a restaurant manager told Eyewitness News, “No comment.”

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