Kansas City Kings wheelchair basketball team heading to national tournament

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Alan Shope

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    KANSAS CITY (KMBC) — The Kansas City Kings wheelchair basketball team is preparing to compete for a national championship after a dominant season on the court.

The team practiced this week at Hy-Vee Arena ahead of a trip to Louisiana, where they will compete in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s National Tournament.

The Kings roster includes 15 players, six of whom are high school seniors. The team is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation and recently captured the Northern Conference championship.

Players say the friendships they’ve built along the way are just as meaningful as the competition.

“It’s probably the friends I’ve made,” said John Pittman, 17. “It’s difficult at first, but once you get used to it, it becomes easier.”

For many players, wheelchair basketball provides the chance to compete at a high level while connecting with teammates who share similar experiences.

“It’s just like an able-bodied kid being able to compete with other athletes,” said Karson Henderson, 15.

The team says strong chemistry has been a key factor in its success.

“Not only are we friends and have great chemistry, but we also have a lot of different play styles that work really well together,” said Isaac Murdock, 15.

Senior Isiah Barr, 18, said the sport has helped players build lasting connections.

“It helps us create friendships that last, people we can talk to and relate to about the things we go through in everyday life,” Barr said.

The Kings have lost only two games this season and are expected to be one of the top seeds when tournament selections are announced.

Head coach Matt Bollig said the program gives athletes an important opportunity to showcase their abilities.

“These kids don’t always have as many avenues as other kids growing up,” Bollig said. “This is their chance to excel and show their athleticism.”

For players like Anderson Strom, 17, the opportunity to compete is what matters most.

“It’s just the opportunity to be active in the community and compete,” Strom said.

Only 16 teams qualify for the national tournament, giving the Kansas City Kings a chance to compete for the program’s biggest title.

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State leaders call on Washington as restaurants feel impacts of crawfish shortage

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Shantel Davis

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    MADISONVILLE, Louisiana (WDSU) — State leaders are sounding the alarm, claiming a crawfish shortage could send a negative ripple effect across Louisiana.

During a committee hearing this week, Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain alerted state leaders that the federal government reached their quota for temporary work visas.

The visas allow business owners to hire migrants for seasonal non-agricultural jobs, which is exactly how crawfish farmers get their workers to harvest for the season.

“Plants that get 100–135 workers get 0,” Strain said, “I’m frustrated by the issues from Washington.”

With no workers to harvest, restaurant owner Steve Beene, who owns Bayou Boil N Geaux, tells WDSU he is seeing far less crawfish than he has in years past.

“I’m getting about 40 to 50 percent less,” Beene said.

He tells WDSU because of this, it’s impacting his bottom line.

“We don’t have the volume, and we have the same costs,” Beene said, “Labor and everything else, we can’t just get rid of people and say you can’t work this week because we don’t have crawfish.”

Thursday, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser acknowledged the pains businesses across the state could feel.

“It’s a big part of our tourism industry, people come here to eat crawfish for fair and festival season,” Nungesser said. “The local restaurants make money off of it, so it’s going to have a ripple effect across our industry.”

Nungesser said he sent letters to Washington to try to get them to release more visas.

“They said there were 44k request they only approved 12k in that batch. It doesn’t make any sense,” Nungesser said.

The lieutenant governor tells WDSU he doesn’t have high hopes that Washington will respond, but he does believe this will be a big topic at the start of next week’s regular session.

He said he believes it’s going to take all state lawmakers to reach out to Congress to hopefully get some of the visas released.

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High School senior wins international jazz trombone competition

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Olivia Tyler

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    WAUKEE, Iowa (KCCI) — Brody Haugh, a senior at Waukee Northwest High School, has been playing music since fifth grade. He said, “I really like how it matches the range of my voice. And so, it feels like I’m singing through my instrument.”

In February, Haugh won the 18U 2026 International Jazz Trombone Competition in Denton, Texas.

Haugh is part of the Iowa All-State Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra, and he is the lead trombonist for the Des Moines Youth Jazz Orchestra.

He plans to study jazz in college. He said he loves music because it allows him to collaborate with others. “Being able to like work and build on something is really big for me because I don’t feel like I get that necessarily in other places,” Haugh said.

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Audit finds widespread inconsistency and delays in oversight of Vermont’s child care facilities

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Sophia Venturo

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    MONTPELIER, Vermont (WPTZ) — A state audit published Thursday has identified sprawling problems with how Vermont oversees child care programs, including unreliable record keeping, background check delays for caretakers, and inconsistent handling of rules violations.

The Child Development Division of the Vermont Department for Children and Families is responsible for the licensing and oversight of more than 1,000 child care programs across the state. They must also enforce compliance with federal child care regulations.

The 39-page audit looked at how CDD responded to “serious violations” documented during site visits between 2022 and 2024. CDD completed more than 5,200 visits, a third of which yielded reports of rules violations.

More than 100 of those violations were categorized as “serious” — which could be a breach of child-to-staff ratio or any practice that poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or well-being of a child in the program.

According to State Auditor Doug Hoffer, that is an underestimation.

The electronic record-keeping system used by CDD, Bright Futures Information System, reportedly suffers from glitches that can delete text from records or attach unrelated data to case files, undermining the accuracy of the information lodged there.

The audit says serious violations are documented by including the phrase “This is a serious violation” in a report. Sixteen of the 131 serious violations did not include that language, according to the audit.

In addition to problems documenting the infractions, the audit said CDD licensors often did not follow up with the child care programs, which they cited. For instance, a program marked for a serious violation is required to send a letter home to families, but CDD staff did not always inform providers or confirm if the message was ever sent.

In another key finding, the audit found several alarming points of noncompliance with federal statutes where prospective staff are allowed to work with children prior to completing background checks.

The federal funding source that helps families pay for these child care programs requires comprehensive criminal background checks for caregivers, but allows some prospective hires to begin working with children before they’re fully vetted, although they are required to be constantly supervised by another employee who has completed a background check.

The audit said CDD allowed staff to begin working with children before fingerprint-based criminal background checks are finished.

Federal rules also require those checks to be completed within 45 days, but many are taking much longer. In one group reviewed by auditors, more than half were still unfinished nearly three months later.

Noncompliance with these statutes could cost CDD up to $505,000 in forfeiture of federal funds, or 5% of its annual funding from the federal government.

Auditors said CDD should standardize procedures for assessing and documenting violations, consistently following up on site violations, and reducing background check processing times.

“Everyone knows how badly the State needs more high-quality child care slots for infants and toddlers, but with children’s well-being at stake, we have to be as safety-focused as possible,” Hoffer said. “The federal rules are in place for a reason, so state government needs to find a way to comply. Given the money at stake, we literally cannot afford not to.”

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Owner of interpreter services company cited in fraud investigation pleads guilty to filing false tax returns

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Adam Bartow

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    PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — An Auburn woman who owned a language interpretation business called Reliable Language Resources pleaded guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to filing a false tax return and interfering with the administration of federal tax laws.

According to court records, Rakiya Mohamed, 30, filed false federal income tax returns for 2018 and 2019 and provided false records to the IRS when those tax returns were audited.

Court documents say Mohamed reported the income and expenses for the business on her individual income tax returns and reported false and fraudulent expenses for contract labor and office expenses for Reliable Language Resources on those tax returns.

The IRS audited Mohamed’s 2018 and 2019 tax returns, and Mohamed provided the auditors with falsified business records to substantiate the false and fraudulent expenses.

8 Investigates has previously reported that, according to federal prosecutors, Bright Future Healthier You, a company that bills MaineCare for health and social services, hired Reliable Language Resources LLC and Momo Interpreters to provide interpreting services for its clients.

Prosecutors allege the three companies worked together to falsify tax filings by claiming interpreters were paid for services that never occurred. Authorities say the scheme allowed Bright Future Healthier You to overbill MaineCare, while Reliable Language Resources and Momo Interpreters filed false tax documents to support the claims. The alleged misconduct spans from 2018 to 2022.

A federal grand jury indicted three people in February 2025, including Mohamed, who is the daughter of Asmo Dol, who worked at Bright Future Healthier You. Prosecutors dropped charges against Dol following their recent death.

Abdifitah Abdi, who runs Momo Interpreters, was also indicted.

When sentenced, Mohamed faces up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

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Worker falls down old coal chute outside hotel in Boston

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Jennifer Eagan

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — A worker was injured early Friday when he fell down an old coal chute outside the Omni Parker Hotel in Boston.

Police responded just before 7 a.m. to a report of a person trapped at the hotel on School Street.

A man who was making a delivery at the hotel fell about 20 feet into the chute when a plate covering the sidewalk outside the hotel gave way.

Members of the Boston Fire Department were able to safely extract the victim, who was conscious and alert.

He was taken to a local hospital to be treated. The extent of the victim’s injuries was not disclosed.

Boston Inspectional Services also responded to the scene. Officials said coal used to be dropped down the chute and then shoveled into the basement to feed furnaces for the hotel.

The inspector said the sidewalk is owned and maintained by the Omni Parker House.

The Omni Parker House is the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States and has been a landmark in Boston since 1855.

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Boy shoots, kills mother’s boyfriend during altercation between the couple, police say

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Beccah Hendrickson and Katherine Scott

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Philadelphia police say an 11-year-old boy fatally shot his mother’s boyfriend during an altercation between the couple.

The 911 call came in around 11:40 p.m. on Thursday, when police were called to the 1100 block of Peach Street in Southwest Philadelphia.

Arriving officers and medics say they found the 30-year-old boyfriend lying on the bedroom floor with a gunshot wound to the head.

He was pronounced dead a short time later. Police have identified him as Jaimeer Jones-Walker of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.

Investigators say Jones-Walker showed up at the house where his girlfriend lives with her children and began assaulting her in the bedroom.

According to police, that’s when her young son grabbed his mother’s gun and shot him.

Sources tell Action News this started as an argument over the couple’s newborn baby, who is still in the hospital.

Police say the girlfriend, who lives on this block with her children, and her boyfriend were fighting over visitation and the confrontation turned violent.

The firearm was recovered by police at the scene.

Police say both the boy and his mother are cooperating with detectives and being interviewed by the homicide unit.

Officials are looking into whether there has been a history of domestic incidents where police have been called to the residence.

The incident remains under investigation. It’s not yet known if anyone will be charged.

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Police: Child allegedly suffocated by 2 others during indoor recess

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By Caitlyn Scott

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    PITTSBURGH (WTAE) — Pittsburgh police are investigating following reports of an 8-year-old who was suffocated to the point of unconsciousness during indoor recess by two other children at a charter school on Thursday.

Officials told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the incident occurred at the Urban Academy Charter School in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood.

We’re told the 8-year-old boy was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.

Action News 4 reached out to the school, which said the student became unresponsive after “horseplay” escalated between the three students.

They also said an educator who was there at the time of the incident is no longer employed by the school.

Public safety said the school advised police that they would conduct their own investigation and issue disciplinary action as needed.

The incident is now pending review.

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Kissimmee police officer arrested for allegedly sharing internal footage, police say

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By LeeAnn Huntoon

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    KISSIMMEE, Florida (WESH) — t. Lacey Santone of the Kissimmee Police Department was arrested Thursday on computer-related charges after allegedly accessing and sharing internal camera footage for personal reasons.

The investigation began after an officer came forward in December 2025 with information related to a closed internal affairs investigation.

The criminal investigation found that Santone accessed the department’s internal camera system multiple times, both on and off duty, for personal reasons.

While viewing the security footage, she used her personal cell phone to record the video and then shared it with two other officers who did not have access to the secured system.

An arrest warrant was issued after the department worked with the State Attorney’s Office and determined probable cause existed. Santone voluntarily surrendered and was booked into the Osceola County Jail.

“The actions of the officer who came forward and those who cooperated in the investigation demonstrated our department’s core values and underscore the integrity and professionalism we expect, including holding each other accountable to maintain public trust,” said Chief Charles Broadway.

Santone was charged with two computer-related crimes, according to the police department.

Santone has been relieved of her duties and placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case and an administrative investigation.

Statement from Kissimmee Police Department Chief Charles Broadway:

“The actions of the officer who came forward and those who cooperated in the investigation demonstrated our department’s core values and underscore the integrity and professionalism we expect, including holding each other accountable to maintain public trust.”

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Windshield barnacle ban ordinance introduced by Philadelphia councilmember

CNN Newsource on March 6, 2026

By WPVI News Staff

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Philadelphia City Council could soon settle an ongoing and frustrating “parking wars” dispute.

Councilmember Mark Squilla on Thursday introduced an ordinance that would ban windshield barnacles from being placed on cars parked in private lots.

The exception would be for vehicles with parking violations issued by police or another law enforcement agency.

The legislation was introduced following an Action News investigation in 2023 that exposed the issue of barnacles and brought the illegal use of the device to the attention of City Council.

In December, Action News reported several complaints from drivers who found barnacles placed on their windshields in Northern Liberties and other parts of the city.

The bill now moves to committee for further consideration.

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