Woman accused of abusing elderly stepmother; victim beaten, confined, deputies say

By Tony Atkins

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    ORANGE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A 55-year-old woman is accused of abusing her elderly stepmother in Orange County, according to deputies.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Cheryl Pyle was arrested after deputies responded to her home on Abberton Road for a well-being check. Investigators said the victim, who lived at the home, was found with contusions on her eye, chin and cheek.

According to arrest records, the call began after someone overheard Pyle’s boyfriend threatening another person’s life. Deputies said as the victim was taken to the hospital, she eventually disclosed that she had been beaten by both Pyle and her boyfriend, who both moved into the victim’s home shortly after the victim’s husband died.

Records allege that Pyle kicked the woman in the ribs. Investigators also said the couple at times took the victim’s phone to keep her from making calls and, at one point, tied a rope from her bathroom door to the garage door to prevent her from leaving her room.

Court records show that deputies have been called to the home at least four times since late July for domestic-related incidents and threats.

One of those incidents appeared in a social media video showing a man confronting a door-to-door salesman. That man has not been charged with a crime related to the video or the alleged abuse.

Neighbors told WESH they had noticed increased law enforcement presence at the home in recent months but were unaware of Pyle’s arrest.

As of Tuesday, Pyle’s boyfriend has not been charged in connection with the case; should that change, WESH 2 will provide updates.

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Woman accused of stealing motorized Publix shopping cart to drive herself to appointment

By Carson Zorn, Samantha Romero

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    PORT CHARLOTTE, Florida (WBBH) — A woman was arrested Monday after being accused of stealing a motorized Publix shopping cart and driving it down Airport Road in Punta Gorda.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a Publix store located on Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda around 10:12 a.m.

Deputies say they talked to the store manager, who told them that a woman had come to the store, stolen a motorized shopping cart and was seen driving it south on Tamiami Trail from Airport Road.

Deputies tracked the woman, identified as Robin Zick, 42, of Punta Gorda, to a Circle K gas station on South Tamiami Trail, almost a mile from the Publix.

Deputies met with Zick, who was still sitting on the cart, and confirmed that the cart, valued at $2,500, was stolen from the Publix.

Emergency medical services then arrived on the scene due to a phone call that Zick had made prior to deputies speaking with her, the CCSO said.

Deputies questioned Zick, who told them that she had taken the motorized shopping cart to go to a medical appointment she had. She told deputies she planned on driving the cart to her appointment and then bringing it back to the Publix.

Zick was then transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

After being released from the hospital, deputies arrested Zick.

Zick faces charges of grand theft.

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This high school baseball coach is raising awareness about male breast cancer

By Stephanie Stahl

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a disease that strikes mainly women, but doctors say people need to understand it can also happen to men.

Juan Namnun, the baseball coach at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, is also a breast cancer patient.

“Shock, it’s hard to put in words when you hear, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, there’s no easy way, you have cancer,'” he said. “I knew very little about it; it never crossed my mind.”

The 47-year-old Delran, New Jersey, father of three ended up having a double mastectomy.

“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do emotionally and physically,” he said.

Namnun said months of physical therapy were torture as simple activities were painful.

“Open refrigerator doors, I couldn’t because they took so much muscle mass out, steering wheel, holding umbrella, things of that nature, so life has been a huge challenge, but I’m on my way back,” Namnun said.

Namnun is in a rare group of about 2,800 men who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, just 1% of all cases.

“I think most men are relatively unaware that they can get breast cancer,” Dr. Lori Timmerman, of Virtua Health, said.

Timmerman, a breast cancer surgeon, said men like Namnun need to check themselves because there are no screening guidelines.

“So, usually it’s a change to your breast tissue, either thickening of the nipple, a nodule in your breast tissue or in your chest area, and it’s something that’s there and then doesn’t go away,” Timmerman said.

Namnun is now taking chemotherapy drugs and is relieved to be back at the ballpark.

Namnun is also working on raising awareness about male breast cancer with a special baseball event to help crush cancer.

Namnun and his wife, Lena, are the founders of the Philadelphia Public League Coaches vs. Cancer Baseball Fest.

It’s a one-day event to help “crush” cancer.

The event attracts about 200 people annually and has raised $25,000 for the American Cancer Society. This year, Juan Namnun invited Timmerman to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the tournament.

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Michigan judge rules to end on-street dining in downtown Northville

By Heath Kalb

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    Michigan (WWJ) — Restaurants in downtown Northville, Michigan, will need to permanently remove on-street dining setups by Saturday, following a new court ruling issued on Wednesday.

The city says it is disappointed by the ruling but that it will comply and have all of the dining platforms along Main and Center streets taken down by the deadline. The ruling states that restaurants in the downtown area cannot use cement barricades to block off parallel parking spaces for street dining anymore.

This comes after a years-long fight by the nonprofit group Let’s Open Northville to close down on-street dining. The group first filed a lawsuit in October 2023.

“This ruling today established what all attorneys know to be the case, which is that we have to follow judge’s opinions and orders,” said Kyle Konwinski, an attorney for the nonprofit.

The seasonal closure from May until November occurred seven days a week and was part of the city’s outdoor dining and social district season, which had been in place since the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, residents understood why the idea was initially proposed, but some locals believe it is now an inconvenience.

Konwinski says Judge Charlene Elder’s ruling owes to the history of Northville.

“The two main streets in the city of Northville were created by a plat. This plat was created, the people who gave their property to the city intended those roads to be used for traffic and on-street parking,” said Konwinski.

The city and many residents have expressed frustration over the ruling,

“I like it outside, I am disappointed,” said Michael Strong.

The city of Northville released a statement saying in part-

The City of Northville and Downtown Development Authority (DDA) are disappointed with today’s court ruling in favor of the emergency motion filed by Let’s Open Northville, which requires the removal of permitted on-street dining in Downtown Northville.

While the City believed it had fully complied with the court’s earlier order to reopen Main and Center Streets to vehicular traffic, this latest decision impacts long standing outdoor dining that has been permitted, inspected, and approved for more than a decade. On-street dining has supported small businesses, helped activate public space, and contributed to a vibrant, walkable downtown that residents and visitors deeply value.

This mid-season removal disrupts operations for our downtown restaurants, many of which have invested in staffing, supplies, and infrastructure based on established policies and permits.

While we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision, the City will comply fully with the ruling and will remove on-street dining by October 4, 2025. The City will have to temporality shut down the streets to remove the concrete barriers that are in place as safety precautions for on street dining. The City and DDA will work closely with impacted businesses to help navigate this transition in a timely manner.

We remain committed to advocating for our business community and will continue to explore every avenue to maintain a thriving downtown district that reflects the values and needs of the Northville community.

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Bronx partial building collapse has some residents scared to return. Here’s the latest on the investigation.

By Christina Fan

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A dramatic partial building collapse that sent bricks crumbling nearly 20 stories Wednesday in the Bronx remains under investigation.

Remarkably, no one was hurt. Still, many residents say other ongoing safety issues in the NYCHA high-rise need to be addressed.

A safety fence now surrounds the collapse zone in a courtyard at the Mitchel Houses on Alexander Avenue in the Mott Haven section.

City agencies continue their cleanup and inspection efforts, as they try to pinpoint the cause of the explosion that led an entire corner of the high-rise to collapse Wednesday morning. Officials said the force came from the boiler room and sent shockwaves up the chimney.

The city says 38 apartments were issued vacate orders, and more than 140 residents were relocated out of an abundance of caution. Gas has also been shut off for the entire complex.

“October 1st is when the city turns on the heat. So there was an individual downstairs who was turning on the system,” Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry said Wednesday night. “This is an investigative theory that the pilot, before it was lit, caused this incident to happen.”

Other residents who have been cleared to stay in their homes say they aren’t sure they want to. Many said the building has a laundry list of other safety issues.

“I’m very scared. I want to know what’s going to happen with the rest of these buildings, because I hope it’s not, you know, the same condition,” one resident said.

“It’s sad that we, as New Yorkers, we have to go through this,” said resident Tania Cruz. “We never expect for something to happen like this. Going through it is just like, what’s next?”

According to city records, the building at 205 Alexander Avenue has two active violations from the Department of Buildings dating back to 2020 for unsafe facades. The most recent is from February 2024.

A group of residents plans to hold a rally Thursday morning, calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to provide NYCHA with the funding to maintain and upgrade their buildings to prevent events like this from happening.

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Statue of slain 10-year-old Barway Collins missing from Twin Cities park

By WCCO Staff

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    CRYSTAL, Minnesota (WCCO) — The memorial statue for 10-year-old Barway Collins, which has stood in Becker Park in Crystal, Minnesota, for only about a year, is now missing.

Collins was murdered in 2015 by his father, Pierre Collins, who is now serving a 40-year prison sentence.

WCCO spoke last year with Barway Collins’ mother, Karluah Owens, who said her son loved to play at Becker Park. She said the statue gives her and Barway Collins’ siblings a place to feel his presence.

“I feel happy to see my son’s memory will stay alive,” Owens said.

This is the fourth reported theft of a public statue this year in Minnesota. In August, someone stole a bronze bust of Olympic gymnast Suni Lee from St. Paul’s Phalen Regional Park. The granite plaque was later found in a nearby lake, but the bust is still missing.

This is the fourth reported theft of a public statue this year in Minnesota. In August, someone stole a bronze bust of Olympic gymnast Suni Lee from St. Paul’s Phalen Regional Park. The granite plaque was later found in a nearby lake, but the bust is still missing.

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Dallas family pushes for a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

By Trevor Sochocki

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    DALLAS (KTVT) — By most accounts, Shepherd Riddle is the typical 11-year-old boy — his grandma loves him and he likes exactly what you would expect. But it’s what he doesn’t like that you might not expect.

“I don’t like the attention at all,” said Shep, as his family and friends call him, who gets a lot of it at school. “It just annoys me, that every day I’m asked, ‘Hey, why do you need a wheelchair?’ ‘Hey, why can you stand if you have a wheelchair?'”

Once he’s in his wheelchair, his diagnosis becomes more obvious — he has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that weakens the muscles over time.

“They get stiff,” he explained. “And tired.”

It’s not just the arm and leg muscles either, making actions like walking or going up stairs difficult — the heart and lungs weaken over time, too.

“It was annihilating, because there’s no cure,” said Kate Miner Moebel, Shep’s grandma, of the day the family found out about the diagnosis. “It’s fatal.”

The median life expectancy is only into the late twenties.

So, when that gut-punch of a life-altering event came into Shep’s family, Moebel had to decide what her role would be.

“What I decided was, I will carry the hope,” she said. For her, this means finding the beauty in every day.

“The beautiful is who Shep is,” Moebel said. “Without a disease. Irregardless.”

“Having this event is just an expression of me carrying the hope for Shep,” said Moebel. “And for 300,000 other little boys and young men.”

And that’s not the only reason to smile — life expectancy has increased in the last decade.

“There are beautiful things happening around us in medicine,” Moebel explained.

One of those things is the CureDuchenne clinic in Denton. It provides care to underserved and uninsured people with Duchenne.

“I think it’s good that we’re trying to find the cure,” Shep said.

CureDuchenne’s second annual Champions in Dallas fundraiser is on Oct. 2 with all proceeds from the event going back to the clinic.

On Thursday night, the nonprofit CureDuchenne will be hosting its second annual Champions in Dallas fundraiser.

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Church leaders say they were never contacted before ICE agents arrested 4 people outside Bronzeville shelter

By Jermont Terry

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — South Side community leaders are sharing their fears and frustrations after a new round of ICE arrests on Wednesday outside a Bronzeville shelter

The people detained become part of the more than 800 arrested in “Operation Midway Blitz.”

As Homeland Security touts the hundreds of arrests since the operation started, those running the shelter are insisting that the way ICE agents moved in was over the top and unnecessary.

Security surveillance caught the moments federal ICE agents in SUVs pulled up outside a homeless shelter in Bronzeville. Agents were seen jumping out, and people started running as agents followed.

“But there were, probably again, 20 that they chased,” said Bright Star Community Development Corporation executive director Caryl R. West.

Bright Star Church runs the former migrant shelter, which is now converted into a 260-bed homeless shelter. Despite having the names of everyone who stays in there, church leaders say Homeland Security never contacted them to see if who they were looking for was registered.

“They would’ve given us an opportunity to help identify those individuals. We could have, in fact, let them know if they were here or if they were maybe at work,” said executive director Lakreshia Kindred.

The agents never entered the shelter, but church leaders, once they discovered what was going on, came out.

Bright Star’s pastor, Chris Harris, took to social media to sound the alarm.

Church leaders understand that federal agents are carrying out the mission, but argue that the way ICE is going about detaining people is cruel and unnecessary

“What they’ve portrayed is not really how things are being executed, and if what they’re saying is true, there’s a way to do it with peace and dignity.”

“They didn’t show us the respect to come to our facility to come and communicate with us,” said West.

Church leaders said ICE arrested four people, but say the way this was done has left all of those here uneasy.

“We brought them here to provide shelter, and now they feel as if though they don’t have any shelter,” West said.

There is no word of anyone getting injured during the arrests. Operation Midway Blitz started back on September 8.

CBS News Chicago reached out to ICE about the incident, but has yet to hear back.

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Woman accused of burning church, threatening to kill pastor and his wife, arrest warrant says

By Christopher Harris

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    AUSTELL, Georgia (WUPA) — A woman is facing multiple felony charges after a fire destroyed Eagle’s Chapel Church in Austell Monday night, authorities said.

Austell is located about 17 miles west of Downtown Atlanta, in Cobb County.

Investigators said Aries Maliah Jordan not only set the blaze but also sent text messages threatening to burn the church and kill the pastor and his wife, according to an arrest warrant.

Austell Fire Chief Brandon Merritt confirmed to CBS News Atlanta that Jordan was arrested late Tuesday. He said more details about the case are expected to be released soon.

The church’s lead pastor, Raphael Grant, described the moment he found out.

“I received a call from one of my leaders asking me, ‘What happened? Is everyone okay?’ She told me the church is on fire, it’s on the news,” Grant said. “I was lying in bed. I just jumped out of bed and drove to the church premises and lo and behold, the church was on fire.”

Grant said firefighters and police were already on the scene, but the damage was beyond repair.

“As a matter of fact, the entire building, 20,000 square feet, is completely in rubble. There is nothing,” he said.

The fire is a painful blow to the congregation. Three years ago, the church was heavily damaged by flooding and had only recently reopened.

“We just finished rebuilding because of the flood. Everything in the building was brand new, and now everything is gone,” Grant said. “For now, this coming Sunday, we will be having the service in front of the church, outside at 10 a.m. We also have a GoFundMe account, and we really need financial help at this moment.”

Justice Asante, head of media for Eagle’s Chapel, called the church a cornerstone of the community.

“This is the house of God. I’ve been here for 10 years now,” Asante said. “We had early devastation of water damage, but we were able to get back. As soon as we came back, this is the second year, but unfortunately the fire destroyed the building.”

Despite the loss, Asante said the congregation’s faith and unity remain strong.

“The atmosphere here is electrifying. It’s an amazing place to have worship. We welcome everybody that comes from all parts of the world,” he said. “The building is one aspect of it, but the church is the people. You can’t destroy the church of God. So we are gathering ourselves together to continue on.”

Court documents from the Magistrate Court of Cobb County accuse Jordan of starting the fire at the church on Joe Jerkins Boulevard between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sept. 29. The building was completely destroyed in the flames.

The warrant lists several felony charges against Jordan, including first-degree arson, burglary, vandalism of a place of worship, criminal damage to property, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, and making terroristic threats.

Investigators also said a plastic container of ignitable liquid was found at the scene. The church’s pastor told authorities the container did not belong to the church.

Jordan is also accused of entering the building without permission and intentionally setting the fire, which authorities say could have endangered lives.

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Caribbean cruise passengers upset itinerary was changed to Boston and Maine due to hurricanes

By Mike Sullivan

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — Passengers aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship are in port in Boston attempting to take in the sights, despite being originally bound for the Caribbean. The Norwegian Escape changed course due to Hurricane Humberto and Hurricane Imelda. Passengers say they weren’t given much notice.

“They didn’t give us an itinerary change or anything 24 hours in advance, and it’s very chaotic because people don’t want to be here,” said Adrian Miller, a Nassau native who didn’t pack for this type of trip. “Then you tell us we have to call this 800-number? Hold on, we didn’t sign up for this. We didn’t pay for this. I understand there is a storm, but you should give people a preference to change to another trip at future date on a further notice.”

Passengers told WBZ some of them didn’t know until they arrived at the ship in New York City and were handed a piece of paper with the itinerary change. They say they were not updated about the change on their app either. They will now head from Boston to Portland and Eastport, Maine.

“They didn’t really announce it. Some people didn’t really know, which kind of sucked,” said youngster Juliann Montague. “It’s sad, but not that sad, because we would have been in hurricanes and we might have been in a lot of danger.”

“I packed for the Caribbean. That’s why I had to go buy this,” said Jocelyne Nemorin pointing to her “Boston” sweatshirt. “Do you know how many layers I have? I have three or four layers?”

In a statement, a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson had this to say:

“The safety and security of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are always a top priority. Due to the projected paths of Tropical Storm Imelda and Hurricane Humberto in the Atlantic, the itineraries for Norwegian Aqua and Norwegian Escape have been modified. Norwegian Aqua’s current voyage, which departed New York City on Sept. 27, 2025 will no longer call to Bermuda, but instead will visit Portland, Maine; Boston; and St. John, New Brunswick. Norwegian Escape’s Sept. 29, 2025 sailing, will no longer cruise to the Caribbean. Instead, she will call to Boston; Portland and Eastport, Maine; and is scheduled to call to Bermuda next week. We will continue to monitor the storms to ensure there are no impacts to the modified itineraries. Additional updates will be provided as appropriate.”

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