Author: CNN Newsource

By Mike Brookbank

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    CLEVELAND (WEWS) — While there are so many out there right now, there’s one scam that continues to rapidly spike in cases. This heads up is so important because it’s a strategy that could easily catch any of us off guard.

And I’ve talked about them a lot on Good Morning Cleveland: Imposter scams.

In 2024, they rose to the top spot in the fraud category with nearly 846,000 reports according to the Federal Trade Commission, resulting in a loss of about $3B, a 362% increase from 2020.

Two Northeast Ohio women, bonded by trauma, faced a new crisis together that left them vulnerable and taken advantage of when they needed help the most.

It started with a phone call in a moment of need.

“She said I’m just at my worst. I don’t know what to do,” said Lillian Lee.

That prompted Lee, a Seymour Avenue survivor, to rehome a green-cheeked conure, a small type of parrot, she raised by hand.

“All animals have that special, unique way that God gave them to make us feel OK. This is me gifting it to another trauma survivor,” said Lee.

That survivor was Laura Cowan.

“She offered me Precious, like a support animal,” Cowan said.

At the time, the Cleveland woman, who endured years of domestic violence, found herself struggling with a flood of emotions.

“Being a survivor of any type of trauma, you have flashbacks, you know, nightmares,” Cowan said.

Cowan said it can all take a toll on your health, and she noticed a difference after she got Precious.

“Oh, man. My blood pressure went down, a little bit calmer,” Cowan said.

The last two weeks have been anything but calm.

“I’ve been calling her name. Precious. Precious. Pretty girl,” Cowan said.

Precious escaped as Cowan was walking into her home.

“And she flew straight into our backyard, a big tree,” Cowan said.

Cowan immediately called Lee for guidance on what to do.

“I contacted every person known to man that can be able to get her out of that tree,” said Lee.

Lee and Cowan turned to social media, posting a picture of Precious and what happened.

“We were at the mercy of others. We couldn’t climb the tree,” Lee said.

A short time later, they were contacted by a pet rescue company through that social media post.

“She said, well, they do want a deposit upfront before they come, and they’ll head straight out once it’s confirmed,” Cowan said.

Cowan sent $100 via Apple Pay. A 45-minute arrival window turned into two hours.

Then the company called, claiming the truck got a flat tire and they needed $110 for a replacement.

“And I said no, we’ve been scammed,” Cowan said.

The person they were dealing with was pretending to be a legitimate business.

“Yeah. We looked at their page. The pictures were great. They had a whole team. Wow, this is awesome,” Cowan said.

The information Cowan and Lee found online was copied from a legitimate pet rescue company’s site.

“All they need to tell you is one thing, send me money first. Don’t. Don’t,” said Lee.

In my consumer reporting over the years, I’ve learned that when you are in the moment of a crisis, with emotions elevated and the clock ticking, scammers will take advantage of you.

“That’s right. And they offer, you know, everything in the world to you. And you want to hear it,” Cowan said.

The delay in dealing with the imposter company gave Precious time to move out of sight.

“They really don’t understand how bad they really hurt somebody,” said Lee.

As Cowan waits to see if she can get any of her money back, Lee is ready to help fill the void in her friend’s heart.

“I will gift her, when it’s time, another one because I know she’s a good person, and I know she loved that bird,” said Lee.

I learned that the pet search and rescue group that was impersonated is based in Florida, but it has clients across the country.

I spoke with the owner, and she informed me that someone had copied her content and then used it to create a fake business page on Facebook.

“They just came in and stole it. And then they started contacting people pretending to be my business. And then when people responded, they kept conversations on direct message on Facebook and text message, never providing personal information, never talking on the phone,” said Annalisa Burns, Pet Search and Rescue.

While spotting these bogus businesses can be tough, there are a few things to remember.

First, do not click on links or call numbers sent to you in a message you weren’t expecting. Second, contact the business or organization using a verified phone number, website or email. Finally, watch out for blurry images on a website or strange area codes on a text or call.

Remember, impostors use government agencies like the IRS, local police for missed jury duty, airline customer service and the Ohio Turnpike to scare money out of people.

These just scratch the surface when it comes to the many schemes we continue to see.

Take the few extra minutes to do your homework.

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By Juliette Goodrich, Molly McCrea

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — When the Golden State Valkyries clinched a playoff spot in their inaugural season on September 4, superfan Audacious Wilson from the East Bay was both thrilled and satisfied.

“That was magical! You know, I knew from the start. I was like, ‘No, we’re going to take it and we’re going to go all the way,’ ” she exclaimed, with a big smile.

But “going all the way” also means a change in venue.

Due to a scheduling conflict at Chase Center in San Francisco, the first home game will take place 54 miles south, at the SAP Center in San Jose.

But no worries: all Ballhalla will be there, including the team’s state-of-the-art hardwood court.

The Valkyries’ court is portable. It’s made with interlocking panels that can be taken apart and reassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

In a secure loading dock at Chase, 36 pallets containing 400 panels were carefully loaded onto 3 trucks for the journey south.

Each panel weighs about 400 pounds. Once the playoff schedules at SAP are known, a team of 8 to 12 people at SAP will reassemble the court. It takes an estimated 4 and a half hours to put it back together.

“We specialize in situations like this,” Zach Riberdy said.

Riberdy is the spokesperson for Connor Sports.

The company’s manufacturing facility is in Amasa, Michigan. The employees there build about 800 courts a year.

“Every year, we do about 1.2 to 1.3 million square feet of hardwood installed across the country,” Riberdy said.

The Valkyries play on hardwood, built by Connor Sports using a custom chevron pattern.

“As soon as we saw it, we knew it was going to be different. We knew the court was going to be special,” Riberdy said.

But what makes the Connor court even more special is how the company approaches timber harvesting.

“We realized that the number one resource we needed for us to be successful is a living, breathing product that comes from earth,” Riberdy said.

The company makes its playing floors from maple wood. Maple is very durable, very dense, and very hard wood.

“As the company was growing, as the company was becoming more popular, we realized that we couldn’t just go where we wanted to go and cut down trees from wherever we wanted to cut down trees,” recounted the spokesperson.

The company developed ways to use maple more sustainably. They work with several different timber companies and rotate crops and different forests so that there is no overharvesting. In addition, the company says it uses every single piece of wood responsibly.

Connor Sports is certified by the Rainforest Alliance and recognized by several organizations for its zero-waste protocols.

“Nothing goes to waste, and we’re very mindful of that, and we’re also very proud,” Riberdy said.

Those sentiments landed well with Wilson.

“We’re the Bay Area,” Wilson said. “You know we’re about sustainability and creating ways to improve the environment,”

Connor Sports also built the courts for the NCAA Men’s and Women’s final four and March Madness tournaments, as well as the court for the Golden State Warriors.

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By Joi Fultz

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    HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia (WTVR) — A 64-year-old substitute teacher in Henrico is embarking on an extraordinary journey to inspire his students: biking 1,400 miles from Virginia to New Orleans.

David Lannes, known to students as “the sub that comes to school on his bike,” will travel through eight states and 20 cities over two weeks, averaging 65 to 90 miles per day. His unique twist? Every stop will feature a Five Guys restaurant.

“All the cities I’m stopping at all have Five Guys,” Lannes said. “It was just a fun hook for the kids, they all think, like, how can somebody eat hamburgers and french fries 20 days in a row?”

But this journey isn’t about the food — it’s about inspiring students to push beyond their comfort zones.

“I just want them to realize they can take on a challenge,” Lannes said. “I’m trying to get them to stretch themselves a little bit, dream big and, you know, do something that’s out of their comfort zone, that’s all.”

The lifelong learner has created an interactive website where students can follow his progress and learn about the history and geography of each city he visits. Having previously biked across the country when he was younger, Lannes knows the physical demands ahead but remains determined to complete the journey with his students in mind.

“I just want to be an inspiration to the kids and I can’t just sit around and do nothing,” Lannes said.

As a special touch, Lannes will carry the Nuckols Farm Elementary School mascot — a little fox — attached to the front of his bike throughout the entire trip.

“The mascot here at Nuckols farm is the little fox, so we’re going to latch this to my bike, to the front of my bike and this is going to be my mascot for the trip,” Lannes said.

Students at Nuckols Farm Elementary School will gather Monday morning to cheer Lannes on as he begins his inspiring journey from the Short Pump area to his home city of New Orleans. People can follow his progress at journeydavid.com.

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By Spencer Wilson

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    JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — Many residents who live near Evergreen High School helped out students on Wednesday after dozens of them fled following a school shooting there. The shooter wound up dead from self-inflicted injuries and two students remained in critical condition on Thursday.

After shots were fired, some teenagers ran away from the school and through the woods to nearby homes in attempts to find safe places. One video from a doorbell camera showed students running by and some desperately hammering on the door.

Janet Nelson and Sue Kochta were among those who sheltered students inside their homes until it was determined there was no longer any danger.

The two people said on Thursday that at first they didn’t know what had happened. When they saw a big group of kids outside, they asked what was going on.

“She said ‘Do you want to come in the house?’ They said ‘Yes!’ And a whole bunch of them ran to the front door. So we let them in and they were pretty frantic. And, emotional, which made us pretty emotional,” said one of the women.

Some of the students had heard the shots, and some couldn’t find their friends.

“The one girl that stood out to me was this girl said her friend has a broken foot and she can’t run. And I thought how do you deal with that?” one of the women said.

“And she couldn’t get get a hold of her, either,” the other woman said.

The adults were pondering what they could do for the kids, who they didn’t know.

“(I) just gave her a hug. I didn’t know what else to do. You can’t say it’s going to be okay. You just don’t know.”

Several other Evergreen residents have stories like Nelson’s and Kochta’s, and it’s a reminder that in emergencies situations, there are plenty of Coloradans who are ready and willing to help instead of hurt.

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By Kimber Collins

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    KAILUA, Hawaii (KITV) — On Sept. 11, 2001, Brian Burik rushed to the World Trade Center after the towers collapsed.

At the time, he was on shift at a Harlem firehouse with the New York City Fire Department. He spent weeks at Ground Zero, surrounded by devastation he says will never leave him.

“I do remember the audio specifically, the plane, the sound and then the silence on the radio,” Burik recalled. “It was just a different level of devastation, it was almost surreal.”

Burik served more than two decades with the FDNY before retiring as a lieutenant. Now, he’s building a new life in Hawaii with Tradition Coffee Roasters, a Kailua business he founded to keep alive a firehouse ritual that meant so much to him and his crew.

“It was like bees to honey,” Burik said about the daily coffee table routine. “It would bring us to that kitchen table and we would start talking. You’d have some good days, some bad days, and some really bad days.”

Inside his Honolulu shop, reminders of his past line the walls. His retired helmet hangs with the number 343 painted across it, honoring the 343 firefighters who never made it home on 9/11, along with those who have died since. Nearby, a cross forged from World Trade Center steel is another solemn reminder of sacrifice.

Even the company’s logo ties together his past and present. “We call it our fire flower,” Burik explained. “It’s fire from my past, it’s a flower for Hawaii and it’s a coffee bean etched in the middle.”

Burik said roasting beans and teaching customers about coffee has become his new passion. But for him, the shop is also about honoring memory. Each cup is another chance to live with gratitude and to keep his fallen brothers and sisters close.

“If you are thinking about someone, call them,” Burik said. “If you have a relative or a friend, pick up the phone. Don’t miss the opportunity to tell someone you care about them, tell somebody you love them.”

For Burik, Sept. 11 is a reminder not only of loss, but of the importance of connection. And while life moves forward, he believes the promise to never forget must remain.

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By Marvin Hurst

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    PELICAN BAY, Texas (KTVT) — Video and documents released to CBS News Texas by the Pelican Bay Police Department describe a cute furry Mexican spider monkey as a wild, dangerous animal that must go before a judge on Thursday in Pelican Bay.

Abu, the spider monkey, won’t understand the legal fight, but those going to court know what’s at stake: where he lives and whether he will continue to live.

CBS News Texas contacted Abu’s owner, Carmen, as listed in Pelican Bay police documents, and her last known attorney for comment. So far, neither has responded.

North Texas “monkey lady” and Abu involved in police encounter, bite incident “I’m just a little emotional,” Carmen said as she spoke with authorities coming to get Abu from her home on September 3. Their visit was cordial, and Carmen was cooperative after Abu bit Pelican Bay Police Sgt. Justin Spurgeon.

In a video of Spurgeon released to CBS News Texas, the officer pulls up near Carmen and two others. Police documents identify the others as her husband and daughter.

“Carmen Carmen, right? Let me take a picture of that monkey. My daughter wants to see it,” Spurgeon said.

The police sergeant stated that public safety officials had come into contact with the animal during a previous call. Carmen said that for two and a half years, she had walked around the city with Abu—even taking pictures with public safety personnel. Everyone, she said before hiring an attorney who stopped her from speaking, knows her as the “monkey lady.”

Nine seconds after Spurgeon gets out of the vehicles, someone said, “No. No.” What happened is not in view of his vehicle’s camera. Spurgeon comes back to his vehicle and drives away. He and Carmen said Abu bit the father of two.

“It just leaned forward, grabbed my arm fairly quickly, and then bit me on the elbow,” Spurgeon said.

Pictures he took show two puncture wounds and some bleeding. Spurgeon said he went to urgent care. Five days later, Carmen agreed to voluntarily quarantine Abu for ten days. Officers asked the owner several questions.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife believes spider monkey Abu was smuggled into the country.

Police documents reveal an agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes the spider monkey was likely smuggled into the country, but does not indicate Carmen had anything to do with it. The agency would not comment on the case.

Investigators said they found out the last time Abu got a tetanus and rabies shot was in May 2023. A state health official told police to find out if Abu has rabies, despite contrary opinions, would require euthanizing the animal.

Pelican Bay opted to expand its quarantine. Carmen agreed to pick up the costs associated with the animal’s upkeep and surrender Abu because owning such an animal in Pelican Bay is against the law.

She wanted Abu to leave the Johnson County facility, where he’s being kept. Her choice is the Funky Monkey Ranch in Burleson.

A seizure warrant was issued, according to the document, to place Abu in the custody of the Humane Society of North Texas.

Police Chief Brad Anderson said he wanted a judge to decide where the spider monkey goes.

The hearing is on Thursday, September 18, in Pelican Bay.

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