Author: CNN Newsource

By Ajay Patel

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    CLAY COUNTY, Kentucky (WLEX) — A Clay County couple’s tiny home was stolen from their property, while their locked shed, containing generators and tools, was also broken into. All that remains where their tiny home once sat are tire tracks.

Tiny home owner Lester Hurst said the theft appeared to be carefully planned.

“As it being a calculated event, 100%. It took some work. It took some skill. The driveway coming out is very narrow. You’ve got to be a good driver,” he said. “And you’ve got to have a place to go with it, because it’s very noticeable and you can’t park by the road or in your driveway or something. You have to have a predetermined place to hide it.”

The couple built the home from scratch in 2018 and had been living on the property for just a year. Hurt’s wife, Helena Peters, said they were still settling in.

“We were in the middle of setting everything up. Yes, we still had the wheels on it,” Peters said.

For the couple, the loss goes far beyond the cost of replacing the structure.

“My dad when he passed, all of us children, we got some sentimental stuff from his. So, it’s all in there and it’s like I have nothing,” Peters said.

Peters questioned why someone would want these items.

“It’s not worth to them anything. It’s not theirs, then for them, they can’t sell it to make money out of my little things,” she said.

Hurst described the scene left behind.

“It looks like a hurricane just ransacked,” Hurst said.

When LEX News asked what the couple misses most, they pointed to something beyond the physical structure.

“Security, you feel uprooted,” Hurst said.

“There is not one thing that I don’t miss about it,” said Peters.

Despite the loss, the couple said the experience reminded them of other’s kindness.

“It’s like everybody’s against you. Do you have to watch over your shoulder all the time? That’s actually not true, and it’s just really been reminded me of how good that people could be,” Hurst said.

Peters said the home and everything in it meant the world to them.

“It’s our dream. It means everything to us,” Peters said.

Residents with additional information about the stolen tiny home is asked to contact the Clay County Sheriff’s Office at (606) 598-3471.

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 Amanda Merrell

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    WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio (WEWS) — One woman’s mission has united an entire community behind a common cause. It’s all about to come together just in time for our nation’s big 250th birthday celebration.

A couple of weeks ago, News 5 was honored to welcome Steve and Robbie McKee to our station to meet News 5 anchor Rob Powers and share some of the letters they received from their son, Kyle, before he was killed in a helicopter crash in Egypt. During their time here, Steve shared some of the ways the couple honors Kyle’s memory.

“Another group I’m involved with, they’re restoring a cemetery in Willoughby Hills,” Steve McKee told us. “That is a Revolutionary War and Civil War cemetery.”

We had to see for ourselves. Not only did we find a rich history tucked away in Lake County, but also a determined woman who spent years ensuring the dead buried in that cemetery were treated with the dignity they deserved.

Linda J. O’Brien is the founder of Liberty Camp USA, where kids can learn about the Revolutionary War and the founding of our country.

“I love America,” she said, choking up. It was someone she knew through camp who told her about Chardon Road Cemetery in Willoughby Hills.

Tucked between a commercial building and two homes, the cemetery was in bad shape. It was overgrown with weeds. Headstones, thick with the grime of centuries passing, were toppled and out of place.

At first, O’Brien tried to clean them up herself.

“The second one that I was going to clean, it was Edward’s,” O’Brien said. She was referring to Edward Halston, a soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War. The very war she teaches kids about at her camp. It took hours to clean the fronts of two stones that day. She knew this job was bigger than her and called Stonehugger Cemetery Restoration. It was going to cost $50,000.

“That’s where the Men of Honor came into play,” O’Brien said, referring to the group McKee is a part of.

Edward Jones is the chairman of the Men of Honor Foundation, describing the group as “a men’s social club.”

O’Brien had heard of them before. Men of Honor did some work at another cemetery in Lake County. She was telling a friend all about it at dinner.

“My friend says, ‘Right there is one of the men of honor,’” O’Brien said.

Just like that, she was in. The group began fundraising for her cause, hosting raffles and connecting with community donors. This mission became personal for everyone who got involved.

“The first time I came out here was really sobering,” said Jones. The teamwork didn’t stop there. The cemetery needed a new fence. That’s when Bob Sparent got the call.

“They knew right away, as soon as they needed a fence, he wanted to bring me involved with the project,” Sparent said.

Sparent is the owner of Shannon Fence and a childhood friend of one of the Men of Honor members. He’s providing the cemetery’s fencing free of charge.

“It’s going to be meant to simulate a true wrought-iron fence which would have been done 200 years ago,” Sparent said.

Sparent also arranged for a new sign for the space from a fabricator in Middlefield.

All of this, because one woman was inspired to do better for those who came before us.

“These people, they sacrificed their lives, their families, they had tremendous struggles,” O’Brien said, standing amid the final resting places of some 70 people. “They made this country. They made what we now call Willoughby Hills.”

O’Brien stumbled upon that soldier’s grave when she showed up with a cleaning solution, a scrub brush, and a healthy dose of determination.

She connected with Stonehugger when someone was already planning a trip to northeast Ohio to look for an ancestor’s grave site in Willoughby.

And, she found a Man of Honor at dinner, right when she needed one.

“Yeah, what a coincidence, huh?” O’Brien said with a smile. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

No, this was no coincidence. O’Brien says it was something much bigger that brought all these people together to serve a common purpose.

“It has to be God,” O’Brien said with a laugh.

No matter how or why the stars aligned behind this cause, the project O’Brien started three years ago is about to wrap up just as Americans celebrate this country’s 250th birthday. The fully restored Chardon Road Cemetery will be unveiled in a ceremony on June 15, complete with a new headstone provided by the V.A. for that soldier.

They haven’t quite reached their fundraising goal for this project yet.

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 Tod Palmer

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    KANSAS CITY (KSHB) — Two weeks before his seventh birthday, Matteo Rodriguez was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an extremely unlucky circumstance.

But the 10-year-old boy from Olathe, who credits soccer for helping him fight through treatments, may have been the luckiest kid in Kansas City on Wednesday — shaking hands with Lionel Messi and meeting Argentina’s soccer team before practice at Compass Minerals National Performance Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

After he was diagnosed in 2022, Sporting Kansas City honored Matteo and his family at a game in 2023, and it was the team’s work with the Victory Project that made meeting La Albiceleste and Messi possible.

After an X-ray revealed a tumor that covered most of Matteo’s chest, he endured more than 100 hours-long hospital visits, lumbar punctures and blood transfusions on the road to recovery.

“When I was hospitalized, I would sit in bed, and I wouldn’t be able to get up and go see my friends at all,” Matteo said. “That was really hard for me.”

Soccer helped Matteo cope with his treatments, offering a welcome distraction via video games or watching Messi play.

“I love how he is a good soccer player,” Matteo said. “He’s kind to others, and he just makes my heart blossom.”

Meeting Messi, who helped Inter Miami CF win the MLS Cup last year after more than a decade starring in Europe, and the rest of Argentina’s team was a dream come true.

“It’s beautiful,” Matteo said. “It’s awesome to think that this is the world’s best player and the champions of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, so it’s just huge to meet Messi and Argentina.”

Emiliano Martinez — Argentina’s starting goalkeeper, who also stars for Aston Villa in the English Premier League — was also among the players who posed for a picture with Matteo and his brother.

“He was kind and offered to take a picture with us,” Matteo said. “We shook hands, and I love how he has my brother’s name, Emiliano. It was lovely just meeting his star.”

Matteo is entering fifth grade and plays right wing on his youth soccer team. When asked if he was approaching Messi’s skill level, he gave an honest assessment.

“I’m starting to get up to the skill level, but so far, no,” Matteo said.

He is, however, already an inspiration. Perhaps one day he will be a kind star soccer player making a young boy’s dream come true.

“I look forward to that day, and I hope it comes,” Matteo said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KSHB 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 Megan Abundis

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    KANSAS CITY (KSHB) — Davis Roethler doesn’t just clean windows — he tells the stories behind them.

Roethler, the owner of Window Wolf, has been approaching small businesses in the Kansas City area, offering to clean their windows for free and then interviewing the owners on camera.

The videos shared on social media have helped businesses reach thousands of viewers, and in some cases, sell out of inventory entirely.

“It’s a window into their store, their story, their life,” Roethler said.

The idea grew from a simple connection. Roethler stumbled upon two restaurants in Grandview and asked to clean their windows — what followed surprised even the business owners.

For Gerald Dunn, pitmaster at Dunn Deal BBQ, the offer was easy to accept.

“For free? Free is good,” Dunn said. “Little did I know I was in for a treat.”

The results were immediate. After Roethler posted his video featuring Dunn, the response was significant.

“Wow, this social media thing is where it’s at,” Dunn said. “This has really impacted me in a big way — it helped me understand that anything is possible if you work together.”

Mary Kay Bader, owner of Simply Grand, described a similar experience after Roethler visited her business for breakfast and cleaned the windows.

“Within 30 minutes of the video being posted, I had a few people that had come in and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I just saw you on Instagram,'” Bader said. “On Friday when I opened, there was a line at the door at 11:30 a.m.”

Bader said she prepared extra inventory in anticipation of the response.

“I had triple prepped,” Bader said.

It was not enough.

“Within two hours, I was sold out, completely sold out,” Bader said.

For Bader, the videos did more than drive foot traffic — they gave her customers a deeper look at who she is.

“I don’t talk very much about myself, so getting it out, even some of my regulars were like, ‘I had no idea any of that about you,'” Bader said. “It becomes everything for a small business owner who is struggling.”

Roethler said the personal element is exactly the point.

“Every video I do, I want someone to walk away and learn something from it — something about the owner, something about what they sell. To me, that’s way more interesting than watching me clean a window,” Roethler said.

“I feel like I’m giving them that opportunity to really shine,” Roethler continued. “I pride myself in it being as good as possible because maybe that’s their only shot at reaching a customer. If we want to be a local business, we need to have a connection with the people of Kansas City.”

Dunn said the experience changed his perspective on collaboration.

“Working together and finding each other’s strengths,” Dunn said. “Definitely say yes to a window wash for sure.”

Roethler also starts GoFundMe campaigns for businesses, raising thousands of dollars. While he does not charge small businesses for his services, he does charge commercial buildings to keep his work funded.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KSHB 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 Patsy Montesinos

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    NASHVILLE (WTVF) — The Nashville Zoo is pushing back against a proposal to build a nearly 70,000-square-foot data center on the edge of its property in South Nashville, warning the project could harm thousands of animals — including some of the rarest in the world.

DC Blox, the company behind the proposal, wants to build the facility in the Grassmere Business Park, directly adjacent to zoo property. An online petition against the project has gathered more than 180,000 signatures.

Zoo CEO Rick Schwartz said the facility’s potential light and noise pollution pose a serious threat to the zoo’s 3,000 animals.

“We have some of the most delicate and rarest animals in the world, specifically our clouded leopard, which is our signature species. We’ve bred more than anyone else in the world. We just had our 50th baby born, and they’re very sensitive to mechanical noises and light infiltration,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said DC Blox has not engaged with the zoo about its concerns. He is calling on the public to get involved before the city makes a final decision.

“We want the community to do exactly that, to stand with us to help fight against this data center. There’s got to be a better place that it can go instead of around the number one attraction that’s focused on animals and children,” Schwartz said.

The zoo drew 1.4 million visitors in 2025 and is preparing for what Schwartz calls the largest project in its history.

“It’ll be a $65 million exhibit featured around Indonesia. [It] has orangutans, clouded leopards, tree kangaroos, underwater viewing of otters, giant hornbills, bird of paradise. It’s going to be an amazing project,” Schwartz said.

Zoo leaders had also hoped the site could potentially be used for a children’s education and conservation center.

In a statement to NewsChannel 5, DC Blox said it is committed to minimizing its impact on the surrounding area:

“DC BLOX is proposing the development of a data center to be located in the Grassmere Business Park in Nashville with the goal of bringing much-needed digital infrastructure to area.

The project would replace two buildings that previously occupied the site. A data center was previously permitted to operate on this same site. The facility will not be an AI factory placing a burden on local resources.

From our past projects, as well as the proposed Nashville facility, we commit to using closed-loop or waterless cooling designs to minimize ongoing water use. We commit to the local utility to pay for all power used as well as any new energy infrastructure required to support our project. And we commit to maintaining and testing noise levels to measurable and acceptable levels and adhering to all local environmental requirements.

DC BLOX understands and appreciates the concerns that have been raised about our newly proposed data center in Nashville near the zoo. We look forward to working with local officials, community members, and the Nashville Zoo to minimize local impacts and to assure that there will be no health risks to residents and animals.”

Data centers are large facilities filled with computer servers that keep the internet running. They require massive amounts of electricity and water to operate. Tennessee is already home to 60 data centers, and the Tennessee Valley Authority expects data center growth to double by 2030.

A new state law passed this year requires data center developers to pay for their own infrastructure costs, aiming to prevent utility companies from raising power bills to cover the increased energy demand.

Zoo leaders are asking the community to stay involved in the public process before the city makes a final decision.

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 Wakisha Bailey

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — At just 20 years old, Jonathan Suarez is already a certified pilot and flight instructor.

For Suarez, operating an airplane takes skill, discipline and confidence — but it’s also the dream he once hoped would take flight.

“It’s the freedom,” Suarez said. “You’re in the airplane and you’re just free.”

CBS News Philadelphia first met Suarez four years ago when he was a 16-year-old student at Frankford High School. At the time, he was taking his first steps into aviation through Tailwinds Academy of Aviation.

“I’m getting one step closer to becoming what I want to be,” Suarez said in 2020.

Tailwinds Academy of Aviation was founded by Howard Cooper in 2019. The nonprofit introduces young people to careers in aviation and helps them see opportunities they may have never imagined.

“We saw this opportunity to use aviation to open doors for young people,” Cooper said.

With support from the School District of Philadelphia, Suarez became one of the program’s first students to begin flight training. Now, he is helping other students follow the same path.

“As a first-generation American, it stuck with me how aviation connected people worldwide,” Suarez said.

Cooper said the program is about more than flying planes. Students must be accepted into the program and maintain their grades, learning discipline, responsibility and confidence along the way.

“The knowledge that they have succeeded at something very few people have,” Cooper said. “Self-confidence that I can do this.”

For Suarez, that confidence helped change the course of his life.

“I went from being that kid in Philadelphia to being a professional pilot,” Suarez said.

Recently, Eagles cornerback and new Philadelphian Jonathan Jones, who is also a pilot and plane owner, stopped by Tailwinds Academy to encourage students to chase their dreams and remind them their future has no limits.

For Suarez and the students following behind him, Tailwinds Academy is proof that with the right opportunity, big dreams can take off.

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 Paul Burton

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    FOXBORO, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Massachusetts boy is about to take center stage as the FIFA World Cup comes to Foxboro.

Graham Phillips, who is a cancer survivor, will get a front row look at some of the best soccer players in the world as he will be one of the flag bearers before kickoff at Gillette Stadium, which has been rebranded Boston Stadium during the tournament.

The Watertown 13-year-old is a seventh grader at Learner Prep School in Newton. He will be representing Boston Children’s Hospital as a former patient and cancer survivor during pre-match festivities on June 13 when Haiti and Scotland play.

“I think I am going to be in the middle of the field,” he said.

It was just three years ago when Graham, who was 10 at the time, was diagnosed with cancer.

“It was terrifying. It was non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. A very aggressive malignancy and we caught it early,” his dad, Jonathan Phillips said.

But through his cancer treatment, Graham remained positive and shining light to those around him.

“It felt the best because they have all these nurses that were very nice and cared for me a lot,” he said.

Just recently the family was informed by Boston Children’s Hospital that Graham had been selected as a flag bearer through the Children’s Miracle Network.

“Thank you for letting me do this and it’s going to be fun,” Graham said, when asked for the people who made it happen.

Graham is now cancer-free and excited to be part of the World Cup. He has an important message for other kids facing a similar battle.

“That it can be defeated, and the doctors and nurses try super hard to let that happen,” he said.

“He taught me that you can be positive through some of the worst things that are happening and to focus on what is positive,” Jonathan Phillips added.

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 Edie Kasten, Marie Saavedra

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    TINLEY PARK, Illinois (WBBM) — What do you do when the most beautiful, blessed event ends in tragedy? A woman from southwest suburban Tinley Park turned that tragedy into compassion.

Colleen Connelly and her husband, Pete, have lived through the best of times and the worst. When Colleen was 24 weeks pregnant, they learned they would never be bringing their baby home.

As they awaited their first child, everything was going well for Colleen and Pete, until suddenly, it wasn’t.

“That morning, I had just gone to the doctor myself. I figured it was just another ultrasound, and then I went in, and the tech said, ‘I’ll be right back,’ and it was a very awkward kind of interaction,” Colleen said. “I was just kind of hoping everything would be okay, but then the doctor comes in and says, ‘I’m sorry, your baby doesn’t have a heartbeat anymore.'”

Catherine Frances Connelly had died in the womb.

“Our OB called us and said, ‘Unfortunately, you still have to deliver, because you’re so far along,” Colleen said.

Colleen said the team at Advocate Christ Medical Center was remarkable.

“When she was born, you know, the doctors do everything, and they put her in an outfit that we kind of already had brought for her,” Colleen said. “They actually encourage pictures, which, at the time, you’re like, ‘How could anyone take a picture of these moments?’ But it’s true, you’re never going to get these moments back.”

It all happened so fast, there was no time to grieve.

“We went to the hospital, I believe it was a Tuesday. She came Wednesday morning, and we stayed until about noon or so with her on Wednesday, and then we had to plan a funeral, too. So, yeah, it was a lot,” Colleen said.

Colleen keeps a curio cabinet full of mementos of a baby loved in her all too short life and beyond.

“We’ve always wanted to keep Catherine’s legacy alive someway, somehow,” she said.

Colleen and Pete do that by talking about Catherine to her little sister and brother, Ellie and Christopher.

And Colleen has founded Catherine’s Cause, a nonprofit that provides compassion and care packages to families who have lost an infant.

“I want to do something, because I’m always like a doer,” she said.

They keepsakes like blankets, key chains, pins, and more to donate to families who have lost an infant. The keepsakes are gathered together in cupcake boxes.

“We just keep donating them back to the hospital so nobody has to leave with empty arms,” Colleen said.

Catherine’s Cause held its first big crafting event in February. An army of volunteers packed boxes and heard each other’s stories.

“People were talking about their babies they had lost recently or years ago,” Colleen said. “We have volunteers who say all the time, like, ‘I’m willing to talk if they need me.'”

Colleen said that need never really goes away.

“I will never get over it. I always say you never learn to get over the grief. All you learn to do is kind of build a life around it, because time doesn’t heal. Everything doesn’t happen for a reason all the time. Those filler statements are very hard,” she said.

But Colleen believes there is hope, and she wants Catherine’s Cause to be a light in the darkness.

“I just hope that everybody knows that there’s a community, and it’s a safe space where you can openly and freely say your baby’s name and talk about your baby and know that they’re not alone,” she said.

Because of privacy concerns, Colleen doesn’t know who gets the care packages, but she calls them gifts between friends who just haven’t met yet.

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.