‘Relentless pursuit’: Kansas sheriff offers reward after 2 horses fatally shot

By KAKE Staff

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    ESKRIDGE, Kan. (KAKE) — An eastern Kansas sheriff is offering a reward for information leading to the capture of the person or people who fatally shot two therapy horses last week.

Wabaunsee County Sheriff Eric Kirsch said the horses were killed in the overnight hours of Friday, January 30, to Saturday, January 31. He said the horses were shot from the road near Bradford and Mission Valley roads, northeast of Eskridge.

The horses were used for therapy for veterans and first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the sheriff said.

“We are devoting the full might of our investigative resources towards the relentless pursuit & capture of the perpetrator or perpetrators responsible for this reprehensible atrocity against these beautiful, innocent & defenseless animals.”

The animals were taken to Kansas State for forensic examination. Sheriff Kirsch said his department is treating the incident like a homicide.

“To the COWARD/s responsible, you WILL be hunted, captured & then brought before the righteous light of justice. There is iron in my words for all to see & may God help you, we are coming.”

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Lane Bryant murders of 5 women remains unsolved 18 years later

By WLS Staff

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    TINLEY PARK, Ill. (WLS) — Monday marked 18 years since five women were murdered inside the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park. The case remains unsolved.

It was on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 when a man came into the store on 191st street.

Police said the killer posed as a delivery man; he tied up four customers and two employees in the back of the store.

Then, he shot the women. Five were killed, one survived.

The victims were Carrie Chiuso of Frankfort, Rhoda McFarland of Joliet, Connie R. Woolfolk of Flossmoor, Sarah T. Szafranski of Oak Forest, and Jennifer L. Bishop of South Bend, Ind.

“This investigation has never stopped,” Tinley Park Police Chief Tom Tilton said. “Our detectives and partners continue to evaluate leads, review evidence, and apply available investigative and forensic tools as they evolve. This work occurs every day.”

Rhoda McFarland was the store manager at Lane Bryant. McFarland, made the 911 call that alerted police to what was going on. The first officer arrived within two minutes, but it was already too late.

“We’re more determined than ever to solving this case,” Mayor Michael Glotz said. “Our diligence has never wavered, nor has our passion for seeking justice for the women we lost that day.”

Investigators do believe someone is out there that knows something — someone who maybe didn’t feel comfortable talking back then, but who will someday come forward.

A $100,000 reward is still being offered for any information that leads to an arrest.

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As Park City rolls credits on Sundance Film Festival, Colorado gets ready for its premier

By Sarah Horbacewicz

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    BOULDER, Colorado (KCNC) — This week marks the end of the Sundance Film Festival’s historic stay in Utah, and fans are soaking in their final films. Meanwhile, Boulder officials, filmmakers and educators are seeking opportunities for next year’s festival when it makes its premiere in Colorado.

Visitors at the festival told CBS Colorado how much joy it has brought them through the years.

“It’s meant so much, and it’s always fun to see all the people who come from all over the world,” shared one visitor.

Another shared their love of movies and said they’ve been attending the festival for over 20 years.

“We live in Salt Lake, so this has been such a fun yearly tradition,” another visitor shared.

After more than 40 years in Park City, Sundance is moving to Boulder, Colo. Early in this year’s festival, Sundance Senior Programmer and Director of Strategy John Nein said they’re already getting ready for the move.

“When we approached what the festival would look like in Boulder, there are things that are important to us,” said Nein. “And one of those things, and this is something that is so much a part of this festival, is that people walk up and down the street. There’s, it’s a play, it’s a feeling of community.”

The Colorado community is also getting ready for next year. University of Colorado Boulder journalism professor Ross Taylor came to get a first look. Taylor says the experience has been eye-opening.

“It’s one thing to see it from afar or to think about it in a distance, but when you’re here on the ground, and you see it in person, you just think, ‘Gosh, there’s so many possibilities for all of us,'” Taylor shared.

He’s already planning to bring those possibilities to campus.

“The idea of having the opportunity for students to volunteer at Sundance, to bring filmmakers, directors, cinematographers, into the classroom. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for our students,” said Taylor.

So now, as Park City’s last dance comes to an end, locals hold on to the memories, as Boulder makes way for new ones.

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Dive team, firefighters work to rescue 4 horses out of icy pond

By Paula Wethington

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    NEWTON TOWNSHIP, Michigan (WWJ) — Four horses were successfully rescued after they fell into an icy pond Sunday morning in southern Michigan, local authorities said.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said the horses had escaped from their enclosure and wandered onto an ice-covered pond at Turtle Creek Golf Course, which is a public golf course in Newton Township near Burlington. The ice gave way beneath them, and the animals were trapped in the shallow water.

Fire departments and specialty teams that were called to work with deputies at the scene included the Calhoun County Area Law Enforcement Underwater Rescue Team (also known as ALURT Dive Team), Burlington Fire Department, East Leroy Township Fire Department, Newton Township Fire Department and Union City Fire Department.

The response was coordinated by the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority.

The ALURT Dive Team members got into the water and worked with the firefighters to manually pull each horse out of the pond.

“Through coordinated efforts and careful handling, all four horses were successfully rescued,” deputies said.

The horses received further attention and treatment once on shore, and no injuries were reported among the first responders.

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Family shares financial, emotional struggles after mother seeking asylum detained by ICE

By Marissa Armas

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    DALLAS (KTVT) — A Dallas family is living under a cloud of uncertainty after a mother was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now, her children are being cared for by their grandmother, a situation that’s taking a heavy toll on the family financially and emotionally.

The past few months have been especially difficult for Norma and her grandsons, Mateo and Marlon. CBS News Texas was asked not to share their last names over fear of retribution.

“I feel so much sadness for her,” Norma told CBS News Texas. “Since the moment that happened, I haven’t had any peace in my life.”

Norma’s daughter, Mayra Bonilla Garcia, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in October.

Norma said her daughter was granted a work permit after fleeing Honduras in 2023 because of domestic violence. Bonilla Garcia was seeking asylum in the U.S.

According to federal data, she’s now one of about 49,000 immigrants detained in Texas from January to October of 2025, leaving her family concerned about what the future holds.

“If she doesn’t get out, what am I going to do with the kids? It’s a big responsibility,” Norma said. “They are sad. He (Mateo) has lost a lot of weight. He really doesn’t eat anymore.”

Norma said her grandsons are still struggling to understand where their mother is.

“She told me everything is OK and that she will get out soon,” said Marlon.

Norma said that since Bonilla Garcia has been detained, she’s been forced to clean out her daughter’s apartment and notify her employer that she wouldn’t be returning to work.

“When they detain people, ICE doesn’t think about who is left behind, who is going to suffer, or how they are going to survive,” she said.

Bonilla Garcia’s attorney, Jessica Peréz-Salazar, told CBS News Texas she was detained despite having a pending asylum case, a valid work permit, and no criminal record.

However, an ICE spokesperson said Bonilla Garcia entered the U.S. illegally “under the Biden administration’s catastrophic ‘catch and release’ policies,” adding that she does not have legal status to remain in the country.

Recently, Bonilla Garcia appeared before an immigration judge to defend her case, but her asylum request was denied, and an order of removal was issued.

“If we don’t file an appeal, she’s going to be deported, normally 30 days later,” said Peréz-Salazar.

Federal data shows that in Texas immigration courts, 86% of roughly 13,500 completed asylum cases were denied between January and September of last year.

“We have been recommended to our clients that they can set a power of attorney, giving authorization to a family member to make a decision about the minor child,” Peréz-Salazar said.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Provost Luis Zayas, who specializes in social work and the psychology of immigrant communities, said the emotional and psychological toll on children in these situations can be severe. He said many children experience stress, anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues.

“If you love children and you know the importance of sound parenting and, you know, consistent, predictable environments, you know how important that is to a child’s well-being. We have to think about that. When we disrupt that, we are disrupting a child’s trajectory,” Zayas said. “How can we focus on not just the person who’s being deported, but the people around that person that depend on that person. We in this country talk so much about the importance of family and protecting the family, and strengthening the family. I think we would need to do something like that in the immigration enforcement system.”

As for Bonilla Garcia’s sons, they pray to one day be reunited with their mother.

“I miss the food she makes,” Mateo said.

Norma said she’ll continue caring for her grandsons for as long as it takes, holding onto hope for a brighter future for her family.

“I can’t desert them,” she said. “I have to fight and keep going with them.”

Peréz-Salazar said while an immigrant can have legal authorization to work in the country, a work permit does not grant someone legal status. She said they are planning on filing an appeal to avoid deportation. The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help support the boys financially and to help with legal fees.

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Workers discover woman’s remains inside bag in basement of Brooklyn building

By Lucy Yang

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    WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) — A victim has been identified after a woman’s remains were found in Brooklyn on Sunday morning.

A janitor made the discovery just after 9:30 a.m. in the basement of the building at The Borinquen Public Houses at 330 Bushwick Avenue in Williamsburg.

NYCHA workers in the lower level found a bag suspiciously heavy, so they opened it and looked inside — that is when they found a body in pieces.

On Monday, officials identified the victim as 39-year-old Michelle Montgomery.

Detectives were going around floor-by-floor looking for information.

There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

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Bronzeville YMCA was built during the Great Migration thanks to over 10,000 Black residents and businesses

By Ernest Crim III

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Black History Month is being celebrated for is 100th year, and it originated right here in Chicago. In fact, it started at what used to be the Bronzeville YMCA at 37th and Wabash.

But how did that happen, and how did that building even get there?

Starting around 1910, millions of Black folks fled the Jim Crow South to escape racist violence, economic oppression and natural disasters, a historic event called the Great Migration. Many landed in Chicago, only to face exclusion from resources, hotels and boarding homes.

As a result, they settled on the South Side and particularly in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood, which then grew into a Black metropolis. In fact, from 1910 to 1920, he Black population in Chicago grew about 148%.

Because many of these newcomers had no family or money to rely on, a YMCA needed to be built to meet their needs.

Through a grassroots effort, more than 10,000 Black residents and local businesses raised over $90,000 in a year. One of the most powerful donations came from a Black janitor named James Tillman, who donated his entire life savings of $1,000.

Construction on the YMCA was completed in 1913. The Wabash YMCA provided housing, food and job training. It also became a hum for Black organizing at the time.

In 1915, Dr. Carter G. Woodson would go on to establish the Association for the Study of African American Life in History at that YMCA and 11 years later the organization Negro History Week.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially turned Negro History Week into Black History Month.

There would be no Black History Month without the Wabash YMCA, the people of Bronzeville and their co-conspirators.

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Three more homes fall in Buxton, marking 4 total in two-day span following coastal storm

By WTKR Staff

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    BUXTON, N.C. (WTKR) — Two more houses collapsed into the ocean overnight, with another falling Monday morning, according to the National Park Service.

That marks a total of four houses that have collapsed in the past two days as the winter storm battered the Outer Banks.

During the overnight hours, two unoccupied, privately-owned houses collapsed in Buxton. We are in the process of confirming addresses. An official with the National Park Service later confirmed to News 3 that they were notified around 9 a.m. about the third house collapse on Monday.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore advises everyone to stay away from the collapse sites and the surrounding beach area, due to potentially hazardous debris.

The beach is closed in front of the entire village of Buxton.

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‘It’s the silent killer’: Father raising awareness after son’s carbon monoxide death

By Naja Woods

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    HOWARD COUNTY, Indiana (WRTV) — A Howard County father is turning personal tragedy into a warning for others after his teenage son died from carbon monoxide poisoning last year.

Steve Ford lost his 16-year-old son, Joe, in January while Joe was ice fishing in Russiaville. Now, Ford is sharing his story in hopes it will save someone else’s life.

“There’s a lot to miss there. He was a great kid,” Ford said.

Ford said Joe always had a way of uplifting people.

“If there was a bad day, you could count on Joe to make you laugh,” he said.

Ford clings to photos and videos of his son, especially those showing Joe doing what he loved most.

“Joe was a huge outdoorsman, loved to fish and hunt,” Ford said. “All kinds of pictures of him holding salmon, holding bass and duck hunting,” Ford said.

That love for the outdoors is what led Joe to ice fishing last winter, and to the moment Ford says changed his life forever.

“Just finding out that your child’s gone…it makes you sick to your stomach. You think about all these things that could happen, you know, he was 16, did he get in a car accident?…the last thing on my mind was carbon monoxide,” Ford said.

Howard County officials determined Joe died from carbon monoxide poisoning while using a propane heater inside a tent.

“It didn’t have any type of sensor or anything on it for the CO and, at some point, the levels just rose too high…,” Ford told WRTV.

Fire officials say monoxide deaths tend to increase during colder months due to the increased use of heating sources such as propane heaters, improper use of gas stoves, blocked vents, or warming vehicles in garages, even when garage doors are open.

“It’s produced when we have incomplete burning of any type of fuel,” said Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief of Public Safety Brian McPherson. “CDC data, which we know is correct, from 2023, you had over 100,000 people visit the emergency department for CO. There were over 430 deaths,” officials said.

Battalion Chief Brian McPherson said carbon monoxide is especially dangerous because it is impossible to detect without an alarm.

The gas is tasteless, odorless, and colorless and does not always come with immediate warning signs.

“You’ll have that headache, you’ll have that nausea, you’ll have that feeling of tiredness,” McPherson said.

“They call it the silent killer,” Ford added.

Now, Ford is working to spread awareness on the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors, not just in homes and businesses, but also during outdoor activities like hunting and fishing.

“We’re just hoping that that can help one person,” Ford said.

Ford’s mission has grown into a community effort to honor his son’s legacy.

He is raising money to purchase and distribute at least 1,000 free portable carbon monoxide detectors throughout the Kokomo area.

“If one person is saved or changes their mindset about when they’re hunting or when they’re fishing or when they’re working in their shop, about their heat source and how the ventilation is able to save one person, it’d be worth it all,” Ford said.

Ford has already received several donations, including from Erik’s Chevrolet.

The Joe Ford Legacy Fund is still in need of donations to help meet its goal.

Ford plans to distribute the free carbon monoxide detectors in Kokomo on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

The detectors will include flyers sharing Joe’s story and information about carbon monoxide safety.

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Pickleball tournament raises funds to help shelter animals

By Casey Zanowic

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    NOBLESVILLE, Indiana (WRTV) — Pickleballing for a good cause. That was the theme at The Picklr in Noblesville this weekend as hundreds of players from across central Indiana came to play their favorite game and support shelter animals in need.

“When you can bring pickleball and a great cause together, it just makes it all worthwhile!” Lisa Martin, a participant in the tournament, exclaimed.

Whether they were playing, watching or making the rules, the Picklr was filled to the brim with pickleball fanatics on Sunday, and all weekend long.

All to celebrate the fifth annual Furry Fracas.

“It’s a really big event,” Kevin Huff, President of the Victory Pickleball Series, said. “It runs four days, and 672 people signed up to play in this tournament.”

It started as a way to save the lives of some of our furry friends.

“Five years ago, I started the idea of us having a pickleball tournament to raise funds for the Hamilton County Humane Society,” Steve Cage, who helped create the tournament, explained. “[To help with] everyday expenses, everyday help for the volunteers.”

Now, they have raised over $150,000 for the cause.

“When you give them [the humane society] the check, you see the tears,” Huff said. “They’re just so grateful, and it’s hard to pass up that joy.”

“To see the amount of people that come out and play pickleball and support their friends, their families… and just knowing it’s for a great cause – for the Hamilton County Humane Society – just makes it all the more worthwhile,” Martin said.

This year’s event had more participants than ever, but tournament leaders said they hope to grow it even more.

“We want to always expand what we’re doing here, so next year we’ll hopefully have 1,000 people versus 675,” Cage said with a laugh.

“It’s our biggest tournament ever, and, not only that, it’s the state’s largest tournament ever, so we’re pretty stoked about where we’re at,” Huff exclaimed. “And now targeting even a thousand-person tournament coming up in October.”

As well as continuing to support causes in need.

“I think it engages the community more, and we want that. We want as many people as engaged as possible,” Huff said with a smile.

During this year’s tournament, Huff said they raised over $30,000 for the Humane Society for Hamilton County. All of that will go towards helping the shelter and saving animals in need.

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