Author: CNN Newsource

By Erin Lowrey, Shay O’Connor

Click here for updates on this story

    ABITA SPRINGS, La. (WDSU) — The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 21-year-old man accused of killing his 4-year-old sister.

According to the sheriff, Davahn Alec Profit of Abita Springs was arrested Wednesday night at his home on Gardenia Street.

Deputies responded to a call of an unresponsive child.

The 4-year-old had multiple life-threatening injuries that deputies say were caused by Profit, her brother.

Profit was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center on charges of attempted murder and resisting arrest. On Thursday, a warrant was issued for murder after the hospital notified deputies that the girl had died.

“There are no words strong enough to describe the heartbreak our community feels over this tragedy,” said Sheriff Randy Smith in an issued statement. “A 4-year-old little girl, innocent and full of life, should have been safe in her own home and surrounded by love. Instead, her life was taken in a moment of unimaginable violence. My heart aches for her family and for the deputies and detectives who responded.”

Please note: 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 Maddie Augustine

Click here for updates on this story

    COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KETV) — The Wings of Hope Cancer Support Center held its annual Women Helping Women celebration in Council Bluffs, where dozens of women gathered to celebrate cancer survivorship and share their experiences.

The night consisted of a homemade dinner, a special guest speaker, performances by American Midwest Ballet and time spent supporting one another.

“It just is for a group of women that you might want to talk about something you’re going through. And there’s many people here that have been through it as well,” volunteer and cancer survivor, Deb Kennebeck said.

Wings of Hope program specialist, Carolyn Ettinger, is a 31-year breast cancer survivor.

Kennebeck is a 15-year cancer survivor.

Other women in attendance are still fighting, but every one of their stories is unique.

“I had a lump. And so I went to the doctor, and they didn’t. Didn’t show up on the mammogram, didn’t show up on the ultrasound, and yet we could feel it. And so they went ahead and did a biopsy, and it was cancer,” Ettinger said.

“Twenty-eight years ago, I found a lump with a mammogram. And then now, just this spring, I found another lump. And so it’s very dear to my heart,” Jo Kerber said.

The event provided a platform for women to connect and support each other.

“It’s very touching to know that all these women are just like me, and it’s very comforting,” Kerber said.

Ettinger said that support is crucial in the midst of a cancer battle and even years later.

“There were a lot of supportive people, and that’s kind of what helps you get through it,” Ettinger said.

The celebration featured a sea of pink, along with notes of blue, green, and orange, representing all types of cancer.

“It is so neat to see everybody just joined together and to celebrate each other as well as what they’re celebrating personally,” Ettinger said. “It’s really meaningful to have other women who understand what you’re going through or what you’ve been through.”

Whether it’s annual mammograms or taking action when something feels just a bit off, the women’s advice to others is to not waste time.

“You can’t deal with what you don’t know. Find out. There are so many support groups out there,” Kennebeck said.

Please note: 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 Aaron Thomas, Matthew Dietz

Click here for updates on this story

    PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WLWT) — A 4-year-old child remains in the hospital after being found unresponsive in a pool in Clermont County Thursday.

According to Clermont County Dispatch, the call came in around 4:07 p.m. Thursday in the 3200 block of State Route 132.

Police said the 4-year-old child was found unresponsive by a family member and a neighbor nearby helped administer CPR until officers arrived.

The child was taken to Children’s Hospital where he remains on a ventilator.

Police said the incident happened in an above-ground pool near the house. Police said the boy has autism and wandered from the house.

It’s a tragedy that is becoming all too common in the area.

Last November, 6-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef drowned in a pond near his home in West Chester. His mother, Jonisa Cook, spoke to lawmakers last week, advocating for a statewide alert system named in her son’s memory.

“This alert will allow law enforcement to rapidly notify the public when a child with autism or other developmental disabilities goes missing, triggering a coordinated search effort tailored to the child’s unique needs,” Cook said.

As a family in Pierce Township prays for recovery, advocates say constant prevention, alarms and locks on doors, as well as swimming lessons, can play a role in prevention.

Please note: 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 Caitlyn Scott

Click here for updates on this story

    CLAIRTON, Pa. (WTAE) — A section of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Plant is back online after the deadly explosion in August.

The company restarted coke battery 14 on Thursday. The battery had been on hot idle to allow necessary repairs since the Aug. 11 explosion.

With that work complete, U.S. Steel said they are planning to safely resume operations.

“All procedures will be carried out with a strong focus on safety and environmental compliance,” U.S. Steel said in a release. “We’ve notified the Allegheny County Health Department and will remain in close contact throughout the process. Emissions controls will be active and closely monitored as operations resume.”

The update comes months after the explosion at the plant, which killed two people and injured at least 10 others.

U.S. Steel said preliminary information “indicated that the explosion occurred during maintenance activities involving a gas isolation valve in the basement of the Battery 13/14 transfer area at the facility.”

Timothy Quinn, 39, and Steven Menefee, 52, were killed in the explosion.

“As we move forward, our thoughts remain with the employees who were injured or lost during the August 11th incident,” the company said in the release on Wednesday. “Their families, colleagues, and loved ones are in our hearts, and their memory continues to guide our commitment to safety.”

Please note: 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 Terri Parker

Click here for updates on this story

    PALM SPRINGS, Fla. (WPBF) — It is a common scam in South Florida with thousands of victims: so-called moving companies that lure customers with low quotes, then hold their belongings until they pay much more.

WPBF 25 Investigates has started looking into one company with scores of complaints across Florida. For now, we are not naming the company because the owner’s identity and the true legal entity remain unclear.

Rose Marie Ditolla says she hired a Fort Lauderdale mover she found on Facebook to take everything from her small Palm Springs apartment to another building less than a mile away. The written price, she says, was $427.

“This company — please, people, please, I’m begging you. They’re scammers. They’ll take all your money,” Ditolla told WPBF 25 News investigative reporter Terri Parker.

On moving day, Ditolla says the crew refused to unload unless she paid thousands more.

“‘Ma’am, you owe us $4,400.’ I was devastated. I’m still crying about it,” said Ditolla.

Ditolla says the truck held everything she owned, including vital medications for serious illnesses. When she called the company office, she says the person on the phone threatened to drive her furniture back to Fort Lauderdale and charge daily fees if she did not pay.

“I’m like, there’s no way. ‘Well, if you don’t pay, it says we’re taking the furniture back to Fort Lauderdale and charge you $250 a day until it’s all totally paid up.’ I’m like, there’s no way,” said Ditolla.

She says the caller then offered a “deal.”

“OK, to be nice, we’ll take $2,200,” DiTolla recalls being told. She says they wanted cash.

With no other option, she sent her son to the bank.

“It was $1,800, my life’s savings,” she said, adding that she also paid additional cash to reach the amount the movers demanded.

The crew eventually unloaded, but Ditolla says they dumped her belongings in giant piles, broke furniture, and left the mess behind.

When she began searching online, Ditolla found dozens of similar complaints about the company and multiple addresses that did not add up.

“Unfortunately, we see a lot of moving scams, especially in this area. And it’s a lot of what we call holding hostage and bait and switch,” said Cinthya Lavin, of the Better Business Bureau.

Lavin says these operators are hard to stop.

“They disappear. They really have been working the circuit of the scam and the reputable moving company for a long time. So they do this all of the time, and they know how to avoid accountability and how to take your money,” said Lavin.

Parker found disconnected phone numbers, four different “offices,” and several different names tied to the outfit Ditolla hired. It is a puzzle even seasoned investigators are working to piece together.

“They’re taking people and families — all their money. It’s not right. It’s not right. They need to be stopped,” Ditolla said.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Get the mover’s legal business name, physical warehouse address, and Florida registration number before you book. • For moves inside Florida, ask for the company’s Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services registration. • For state-to-state moves, ask for the USDOT and MC numbers and verify them on federal databases. • Be wary of very low quotes, big cash demands on delivery, and threats of daily storage fees. • Pay with a method that leaves a trail, not cash.

Parker has begun tracing the company’s corporate filings and the people behind the LLC. Once those identities can be verified and the company is given a chance to respond, we will publish a follow-up investigation.

Please note: 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.