Author: CNN Newsource

By Monique John

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Before every appointment in the Teal Mobile, its curator, Jeremiah “Bowtie” Woods, gives it a fresh spritz of its signature scent: the conscentual spray. With hints of the beach and fresh linens, he says it has to smell just right so survivors get the most out of the experience.

“We wanted to combine all of those things to help release dopamine and fight against cortisol. Because we don’t want people to feel stressed out,” Woods said.

Woods created the Teal Mobile, an on-the-go retreat space, through his Conyers nonprofit, The Hands Off Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to provide therapy and resources to those impacted by sexual violence. Teal is the color that represents Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Woods says he was inspired to take action after serving as a juror in a sexual assault case.

“I felt the system failed them,” Woods said of the young women in the case. “I felt like we as a jury failed them. And ultimately, I realized we didn’t know enough about sexual violence to actually be effective in supporting survivors.”

“A lot of anger, a lot of frustration, a lot of really trying to understand this very key, simple concept: if you don’t have a safe place to live, work, and grow, re-navigating and building a better life away from your trauma is almost impossible,” he said.

Inside the space, visitors meditate, drink tea, and color. Hands Off holds events and brings the Teal Mobile to public spaces to make therapy more accessible.

“That’s why I think that this is so effective and so needed,” said counselor Rabeshia Clay. “Because it’s kind of like, you close off from the world, and you can just have that 12 minutes of just being with yourself, just being focused, and it’s really great for everyone to just kind of have that moment and to really just kind of recenter with themselves and being mindful.”

Conyers resident Barbie Hines says she’s a survivor. She’s the narrator behind the mobile’s Spanish translation and says she’s proud her voice is broadening access to care.

“[N]obody can save the world,” Hines said, “but we can put our part to make sure that we help a person one at a time. Day by day. Even if it’s with baby steps.”

“At the core of all this, we’re talking about consent,” Woods said, “And so, if you don’t want the things that we provide, I’m not forcing it on them. And if you do want them, then I say: ‘Hey, listen. How can I best serve you? Here are the things we provide. Here is what you may be looking for. Let’s see where we can meet and what we can do.'”

Hands Off is holding a Bridgerton-themed tea party on Saturday to raise awareness of their efforts, as well as more community events and initiatives throughout the year. Anyone looking to learn more can visit the organization’s website.

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 Courtney Cole

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — A Boston man says he’s lucky to be alive after jumping into the Charles River to save his dog in a rescue effort that was caught on camera.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life and humbled. I actually thought I was going to drown,” Hans Nagrath told WBZ-TV.

The real estate agent was out for a run on Marathon Monday with his 2-year-old goldendoodle Benny.

“We’ve had him for two years,” Nagrath said. “He’s definitely like a son to us.”

Benny, who was off-leash at the time, suddenly took off after two geese and dove into the water to chase them.

“I kept calling, ‘Benny, come back! Benny, come back!'” Nagrath recalled. “Couldn’t even hear me, didn’t turn around.”

Panicked, Nagrath ran around looking for possible rescue solutions.

“I was just picturing Benny drowning, and I just didn’t think,” he said.

Nagrath decided he had to go in.

“And then after maybe a few minutes of swimming, the wind got knocked out of me. I couldn’t really like breathe properly it was so cold,” he said. “I was about 10 feet from Benny when I was like, ‘Oh God, I can’t move my arms and I don’t know what’s going to happen.'”

Nagrath said he didn’t have enough energy to grab Benny, but he was able to get the dog in front of him and push up Benny’s hind legs whenever he started to sink.

“And then we finally got to the pier. I was screaming for help,” Nagrath said. “Someone helped get Benny up and then helped me up.”

Onlookers at the river gave Benny a Boston Marathon blanket to help warm him up. Both dog and human were OK despite the 40-degree temperature of the river.

Nagrath was replaying the scary moments in his head even after he got to shore. He says he wishes he had asked someone to find a flotation device or call 911 before he jumped in.

“There was a point though where I was like, ‘I need help here.’ I was looking around, there was no boats or anything,” he said.

The frightening ordeal doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact on Benny, however.

“On the walk home, he was still ready to chase after geese,” Nagrath said. “And I was like no, this is not happening.”

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 Liz Crawford

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — A teenager from Philadelphia is being called a hero after helping a woman last month who appeared to be having a seizure behind the wheel.

On Friday, Jaheim Warner said he was nervous. The auditorium was full of his classmates, and he was being honored by first responders and officials for what he did last month when he was a lot more than just nervous.

Four weeks ago, when he was walking home from his baseball game, Warner said he noticed a bunch of frantic adults around a white pick-up truck. The woman in the driver’s seat of the truck appeared to be having a seizure and the truck kept inching toward the intersection of Tulip and Hellerman streets. The doors were locked and somebody needed to stop that truck.

“I went to go look in the trash can for like a pipe or something, and luckily I found the pipe,” Warner said.

Warner said he jumped in the bed of the truck and used the pipe to break the back window.

“Then I squeezed through that little, tiny window in the back,” he said.

Warner put the truck in park and stayed with the woman until an ambulance arrived.

“I just told her, ‘I’m not going to leave you, I got you,'” he said.

Fast forward to one month later and his high school, Tacony Academy Charter, hosted a presentation with the police and fire departments to recognize his actions. He was given gift certificates, awards and a roaring applause from the audience.

Out of everyone in the auditorium, perhaps the woman beaming from the front row was the most proud, his mom, Jaimee Warner, who said she’s so grateful to have him as a son.

“He’s always been like that since he was little, all the time, always wanted to help people out,” she said.

Warner said the woman he helped is still recovering.

On Saturday, he begins training with the Philadelphia Fire Explorers, a program for young people interested in firefighting and emergency medical services.

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 Julie Sharp

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    LOS ANGELES, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Around 600 goats are grazing the Arroyo Seco, helping to reduce fire-prone vegetation across 100 acres in Pasadena’s natural parkland.

The goats were released last weekend and will keep chomping through the area for the next couple of months, with electrified fencing in place to keep them contained.

The environmentally friendly wildfire remediation method is funded through the City of Pasadena and the nonprofit One Arroyo Foundation. The nonprofit’s Goat-Fund-Me efforts are still underway, where donors can name a goat or sponsor a full or half acre for “a safer Pasadena.”

“The landscape acts as a natural wind tunnel where fires can move quickly, contributing to its designation as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone,” One Arroyo Foundation wrote on its website.

The goats can reach areas that machinery can’t, cutting through brush and lower tree branches – and they return the nutrients to the soil.

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 Ashley Sharp

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — This weekend, more than 100,000 people are expected to pack Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield for the Wings Over Solano Air Show, which only happens every two years.

The event features inspiring performances from groups like the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the Academy Wings of Blue. But what may end up being the most eye-catching performance is a first-time addition to the show: The Pink Jet.

The Pink Jet is an all-female flight crew on a mission as their bright pink Albatros fighter jet soars through the sky, spitting out pink smoke with pilots dressed in pink flight suits.

“It’s such an incredible aircraft, an incredible jet, and it displays so well,” said pilot and Aerial Angels The Pink Jet president, Stephanie Goetz.

It is a flight honoring the fight of millions of women who have battled and are battling breast cancer, in memory of the Aerial Angels founder and former president.

“We’re building on this legacy of Steve Oakley and his wife, Jamie, who really built this aircraft and built this vision and mission for breast cancer awareness, early detection, supporting survivors,” said Goetz.

As it races through the sky, the fighter jet is also meant to break barriers, helping young girls get inspired and interested in aviation.

“That gives them a chance to see that they too, can do it as well,” said Pink Jet pilot Olga Sannikova.

Before Stephanie Goetz took to the skies she was a news anchor, including for CBS stations.

“I got introduced to aviation when someone called me out of the blue to do a story on aviation. He was a flight instructor, 80 years old, and I went and did the story with him,” said Goetz.

From there, the sky was the limit.

Whether it is cancer or shattering glass ceilings, the message of The Pink Jet is simple.

“It is possible with a positive attitude, with working hard, with really pushing yourself past any barriers that you might have,” said Goetz.

For those attending the air show this year, there are some security changes to keep in mind. Attendees who do not have a real ID will be required to provide a second form of identification like a passport or a social security card to get onto the base. Visitors under 18 do not have to provide any ID.

The show is entirely free and open to the public on Saturday and Sunday.

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 Rina Nakano

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    LOS ANGELES, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A group of musicians is shattering stereotypes and proving that neurological differences don’t stand in the way of rocking their stage.

Roberto is on the keys, Justin on Congas, Hunter on the sax, Robert on bass, Jesus on timbales, and Joanna on mic, and together they make the Magnet Ensemble, and every member is neurodiverse.

They’re diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, and for 20-year-old Roberto Reyes and his older brother Jesus, it’s autism. Their mother was desperate to find support when they were young.

“She came across an article saying how music can have a big impact,” Roberto said.

For Roberto, it has. He was 1 year old when he first came to the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center, or OCCTAC, for music therapy. The Santa Ana non-profit provides art and therapy programs to low-income and special needs families.

“Growing up, I was bullied for the way I acted,” Roberto said. He said making friends at school was difficult when he was younger, and he struggled with his physical coordination.

But when Roberto began taking piano lessons at OCCTAC at 7, things changed.

“Four words. You can do it.” Musical Coordinator Phoebe Stanciell said, noting that Roberto’s musical and emotional growth has been life-changing.

“Many times there is a stigma when they have a disability, but I feel like if you give them a platform and you actually hear the voice, not necessarily the voice, but the voice of their instrument or whatever skill that they have, it’s a power,” Stanciell said.

Five years ago, she gathered a group of neurodivergent students and launched the Magnet Ensemble. Since then, they’ve performed all over Orange County. Some members wear earplugs to limit noise. Others avoid eye contact. But Reyes says their performances speak for themselves.

Roberto said that what started as a simple therapeutic tool has turned into his passion.”It’s been amazing, to be honest. If I were never diagnosed, I would’ve never started my journey.”

It’s a journey he says he’ll continue for the rest of his life.

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 Alyssa Andrews

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Artificial intelligence works when computers learn from data that is readily available. But there is no data to teach robots to do simple human tasks. It needs to be created.

That’s what MIT graduates Josh Gruenstein and Alon Kosowsky-Sachs are working to build. The pair co-founded Tutor Intelligence out of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

“Most people live their lives and never see a robot. That’s going to change really quickly,” said Gruenstein, co-Founder and CEO of Tutor.

Kindergarten for robots

They now host the largest robot data factory in the United States, located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Gruenstein describes it like a kindergarten for robots.

“These robots are doing really basic tasks. They’re picking up individual items, putting them into boxes, trying to fold laundry,” Gruenstein said.

The robots are in their early stages of development. So they mess up quite a bit. They certainly aren’t doing these tasks perfectly-at least not yet. That’s because the data for AI to learn a variety of physical human tasks doesn’t exist.

“The way that models like ChatGPT work is you read all of the books that have ever been written and all of Wikipedia and all of social media, and then you can engage in conversation like a human,” Gruenstein said. “For robotics, we don’t have that source of data. We have to go get it.”

But we know there are some robots doing pretty advanced stuff. So why are these ones in kindergarten class?

“It’s very easy to build a robot that does one job over and over again very well, right?” Gruenstein said. “If you think about a car factory … it’s robots that are doing the exact same motion every single day, because that car isn’t going to change day-to-day. But most physical work doesn’t look like that.”

Can robots learn new tricks? At the heart of this challenge is raising robots that can learn any behavior in any situation. Adapting – like a human would.

“For robots to do all of the jobs and kind of engage with our world in the same way that humans do, they have to be able to learn new skills on the fly, and kind of be general to any environment that they might learn in,” says Gruenstein.

Until then, they are literally creating the data that they will be trained on, alongside 100 of their closest robot friends.

And they won’t be clumsy kindergarteners forever.

“At the rate at which this technology’s advancing that’s going to charge really quickly,” Gruenstein said. “I think within the next five years, you won’t be able to go through your normal day-to-day life without seeing a robot. And I think that’s gonna be a really fascinating and exciting technological and social shift.”

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.