Monterey County teacher on leave for alleged profanity, slurs in class

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Felix Cortez

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    SAN ARDO, Calif. (KSBW) — A teacher at San Ardo School in South Monterey County is under investigation for allegedly using profanity and inappropriate gestures in the classroom, including using the N word, the B word, and regularly dropping F-bombs during classroom instruction.

“The teacher was doing bad things and saying bad things to the students,” said parent Beatriz Godinez.

The teacher in question is Gaige Bailey, a second-year teacher at San Ardo Elementary School. Parents say Ms. Bailey teaches 7th and 8th grades.

The investigation was initiated after a photo of Bailey allegedly giving the finger to students went viral on social media.

The school principal and superintendent, Catherine Reimer, confirmed the investigation, stating, “We are currently investigating the allegations involving the teacher in question. The employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”

“I mean, it’s a little disheartening because a lot of the community members actually care about our students, and it’s hard when our kids are kind of susceptible to adults that have this kind of behavior,” said parent and school trustee Alexis Martinez.

The principal confirmed that the photo obtained by Action News 8 is part of the investigation and said she initiated the investigation when the picture went viral on social media. But parents say they brought up concerns about Ms. Bailey weeks before and felt they weren’t being heard.

“It’s a good start, but honestly, that’s the only thing she did because it took her so many times for us to come. I even went to the education over there in Salinas (the Monterey County Office of Education) to make them come over here and do something about the school,” said Godinez.

“It is important that our students feel heard, that our parents and community members feel seen because when things are swept under the rug, only bad things happen from there,” added Martinez.

But Ms. Bailey’s problems extend beyond the classroom; she’s also under investigation for allegedly bringing drugs into the prison at her former job at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.

Bailey has been charged with several felonies, including possessing a controlled substance for sale, transportation, bringing a controlled substance into prison and conspiracy.

Trustee Martinez remarked, “I don’t think that there’s any place near a school with people that have those kind of allegations against them.”

The timeline for the investigation’s conclusion is currently unknown, and Bailey remains on paid administrative leave.

Attempts to reach Bailey through her criminal defense attorney have been unsuccessful.

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USPS workers accused of stealing Menards rebates from mail

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Kendall Keys

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    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — Two United States Postal Service employees are accused of stealing hundreds of dollars in Menards rebates from the mail.

A federal grand jury indicted two postal employees this week, charging them with multiple counts of theft of mail matter by officer or employee.

Menards mails out its coveted rebates of 11% back on customers’ purchases in the form of in-store credit to their mailboxes.

“I buy at Menards almost like every day, and so I get these rebates a lot,” Goran Jovovic, shopping at Menards Wednesday, said. “That’s like you’re putting the cash in the mailbox, so a lot of people know about it. I mean, everybody knows about it, so they can easily steal it if they wanted to.”

The two USPS workers are accused of doing just that. Two federal indictments accuse Michael Bagley and Darius Holmes of stealing the rebate checks while on the job.

According to the separate indictments, the grand jury accuses Holmes of stealing 10 rebate checks, totaling $982.24. Bagley is accused of taking four rebates, totaling $331.78.

“I don’t think it’s right,” Jovovic said.

WISN 12 News tried to reach both of the accused postal workers. They did not answer their doors.

Holmes later called WISN 12 News and said he wasn’t aware of the federal indictment. He hung up when asked if he was still employed by USPS.

WISN 12 News tried to reach the investigating agency, the USPS Office of Inspector General, but the agency said that due to a lapse in federal funding, employees have been furloughed, so there wasn’t anyone to answer our questions. A request to USPS, inquiring whether the workers were still employed, also went unanswered.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Menards said in part, “We strongly feel that we and all of our fellow citizens should be able to put our trust in the good folks at the U.S. Postal Service. We are glad to hear they are getting their house in order.”

Holmes and Bagley are due in federal court next month for their arraignments.

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Oklahoma City pedicab owner seeks return of stolen bike

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Jason Burger

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    OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — Kent Kelso, owner of a pedicab business in Oklahoma City, is on a mission to recover his stolen pedicab, which was taken Tuesday night while he was working downtown during a Thunder game.

“I dropped the tailgate on the trailer, and looked at the back of the trailer, and my mouth dropped open, and the bike is gone,” Kelso said.

Kelso, who operates a small business with just two modified bicycles, said the stolen bike is valued at $15,000 and is used by his son to bring in extra income.

“It wasn’t easy to get. It was locked to the trailer. It wasn’t easy to cut,” he said.

Kelso suspects that multiple people were involved in the theft.

“From the tire tracks I saw, they rode it off,” Kelso said. “One person didn’t get it. It had to be two or three.”

Since the theft, Kelso has been actively searching for the pedicab, sacrificing sleep to drive through alleys and approach local businesses with surveillance cameras.

“I think I got home at 6 this morning, just driving the alleys, got a few hours’ sleep, and then approached local businesses, that I know have cameras,” he said.

The theft is particularly personal for Kelso, as the bike is used by his son, who is currently in college and has worked with him for several years.

“My son, who rides that bike, will be back from college, and we’re going to head out to homeless encampments with some flyers and offering a reward for the bike,” Kelso said.

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‘Never ending hope’: Local family to host fundraiser for grief counseling

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Maddie Augustine

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    OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) — The Schopen family is hosting the Rylan J. Schopen Memorial Monster Bash this weekend to honor their daughter and raise funds for grief counseling services, marking ten years since her passing.

Rylan Schopen would have been 16 this year. Rylan has five siblings, but her family said she always found a way to make her presence known.

“She’s always in the center and she was always smiling, cheerful,” Cael Schopen, one of Rylan’s older brothers, said.

Rylan was born with special needs, and Gary Schopen, Rylan’s father, said she needed constant physical and medical support. The family said they ensured she was always involved and lived life to the fullest.

“We would go to the zoo, we’d go there quite often. And she loved, you know, so many animals,” Gary said. “She really grasped the aquarium. So we would sit in there and we would be in there for hours just watching the fish and everything.”

Turtles quickly became a favorite, Michelle Schopen, Rylan’s step-mother, said she even had a light-up one that displayed the stars and moon at night.

The family said she also loved to spend time with her siblings, even just lying on the couch with her brother Cael or her dad.

On the morning of Sept. 26, 2015, Rylan was rushed to the hospital. Doctors believe Rylan suffered a massive seizure and declared her brain dead three days later.

“That’s when Gary and her mother, Rachel, had to make the decision to, to, donate her organs,” Michelle said.

“October 1st is the last time when we got to see her before she went in the elevator doors or an elevator, and then they closed,” Gary said.

It was just two days before Rylan’s sixth birthday.

“My initial thought was, you know, get the kids into grief counseling. And because this is huge, I mean, there’s she was five. That’s so it’s unnatural for someone to die at such a young age,” Michelle said.

Michelle said she reached out to Collective for Hope – then called Teddy Bear Hollow – but she said the programming was booked out for months.

Now ten years later, knowing the need for grief counseling in the Omaha metro and wanting to honor their daughter, the family is hosting the Rylan J. Schopen Memorial Monster Bash.

The name is inspired by Gary’s nickname for his daughter.

“I always called her daddy’s little monster,” Gary Schopen said.

The theme of the event also represents Rylan’s love for Halloween and trick-or-treating.

“She would come home with this big, pillowcase full of candy and stuff, and I always got ‘told no, no, daddy not yours,'” Gary said.

Remembering how important grief counseling was for their family, Michelle said the event is an effort to raise funds for Collective for Hope. It’s an organization that provides free grief counseling for children and people as young as 3 years old. Now, Michelle said, this is a chance for other kids to help one another.

“It’s a way for them to have fun and give back to their community and give to not just the community as a whole, but specifically to other kids because the Collective for Hope has such a wide range of ages that they serve,” Michelle said.

It’s a service the organization said is constantly needed.

“Grief is a very universal but also a unique thing to everybody. And if there’s, you know, the collective for Hope, we specialize in creating that brave, safe space where you can come together in community,” Cliff McEvoy, executive director at Collective for Hope, said. “We are touching the lives of over 5000 members of our community on an annual basis. and that’s grown by about 2000, in the past two years.”

Gary said it’s humbling to know an effort done in his daughter’s name can help other children and carry on Rylan’s legacy.

“Never-ending hope that no matter life’s complications that you have, you can enjoy life and be love and show compassion,” Gary said.

The event is Saturday from 2-5 p.m. in Bellevue at 1406 Fort Crook Rd S.

The Monster Bash will have Live Music by Cover Me Badd, Face Painting, Balloon Animals, Trunk-or-Treating, and a Photo Booth to capture all the wonderful costumes, plus other activities and a grilled cheese food truck in Bellevue.

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Fairfield students report driver next to them exposing himself during bus ride

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Karin Johnson

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    FAIRFIELD, Ohio (WLWT) — A Tuesday morning bus ride to Fairfield Freshman School turned unsettling when students saw a driver exposing himself in the lane next to them, leading to the arrest of a 43-year-old man.

Police said at least two teenagers on the bus spotted the driver engaging in inappropriate behavior as their bus traveled down Bypass 4. The students reported the incident to a school resource officer, which led to swift action by the authorities.

The students’ prompt reporting resulted in the arrest of Brandon Kuhlenberg of Middletown, who is charged with public indecency.

“They did the right thing. They saw something, they said something and the school acted very promptly in notifying us,” said Fairfield Township Police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey.

By Wednesday afternoon, police had used Flock cameras and bus cameras to identify the car and driver. They tracked down Kuhlenberg at his job and took him into custody.

McCroskey noted the role of technology in the investigation, saying, “Technology, who can argue, it’s a huge help. You’re not going to get away with something like this nowadays.”

McCroskey said Kuhlenberg admitted to the act.

“I can tell you that he knew the school bus was there, that the window on the passenger side was down. Whether that was his intention, I guess, is a question for court,” McCroskey said.

Police emphasized the importance of speaking up when something seems wrong and noted that this is the first time Kuhlenberg has been arrested.

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Altoona couple accused of stealing $60K in Amazon packages

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Marcus McIntosh

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    ANKENY, Iowa (KCCI) — Two Altoona residents are accused of stealing nearly $60,000 in Amazon packages while working as Amazon Flex drivers, Ankeny police said.

Brandon and Madison Kelderman turned themselves in Wednesday morning and are each charged with first-degree theft, a class C felony.

Police said the Keldermans, as Flex drivers, used their personal vehicles to pick up packages from an Ankeny distribution center and then failed to deliver them.

The alleged thefts occurred between Aug. 22 and Sept. 7 after Amazon reported a spike in undelivered parcels.

“We were alerted to this through loss prevention at Amazon. They contacted us and filed a theft report. Essentially, they noticed that several packages had gone missing,” said Sgt. Trevor McGraw, Ankeny Police. “They provided the suspect information.”

Investigators executed a search warrant at the couple’s Altoona home and said they found at least two pallets of undelivered packages from various states.

According to the Polk County Jail website, the Keldermans were released from jail Tuesday afternoon.

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Johnston siblings donate 1,500 first aid kits to low-income families across Iowa

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Abigail Kurten

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    JOHNSTON, Iowa (KCCI) — When siblings Millie and Krish Sethi were just 16 and 10 years old, they knew two things: they both wanted to go into medicine when they were older, and they wanted to give back to Iowa’s neediest communities.

That drive led them to create the PureKindness Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit aimed at making basic medical care more accessible.

“People provide food, water, even shelter to them, but they don’t provide something as simple as medical care,” Krish said.

In the basement of their Johnston home, they compile medical supplies, like gauze, tweezers and ice packs, to make first aid kits capable of treating basic injuries, such as cuts, scrapes and swelling.

It’s not easy work. Creating the kits involves regularly driving to Minnesota to pick up the supplies from another health nonprofit, Matter.ngo.

But the pair just hit a milestone in their service: 1,500 kits donated.

“When we found out, we were overjoyed that we could help that much,” Millie said. “When you put it into perspective, that’s just so many families.”

Even though Millie will graduate from high school next year, neither sibling plans on stopping. Both have dreams of expanding PureKindness into other states.

“We want to donate more,” Millie said. “Maybe hit that 2,000 mark if we can in the next year.”

But until that day comes, they’ll keep packing help, hope and health one kit at a time.

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Teens locked in Hueytown restaurant after police say manager assumed fake money was used to buy food

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Ayron Lewallen

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    HUEYTOWN, Ala. (WVTM) — It was a scary moment for Helena mother when she said she got a call from her son, who said he was locked inside a restaurant. Now, the manager of a Hueytown fast food restaurant is facing charges.

The manager is accused of locking 12 teenagers inside the restaurant and not letting them out until police got there. The teenager at the center of the incident said it all happened because the manager on duty last Thursday assumed the $50 bill he used to pay for his food was fake.

Derrick Leonard told WVTM 13 he and 11 of his friends were eating inside the restaurant like they usually do. He said he paid for his food, but the cashier told him he had to check the cash to make sure it was real. Leonard said the cashier gave him his change, but five minutes later, the cashier came back and asked who paid with a $50 bill. He said that’s when the manager on duty came out with what he said was a different $50 bill than the one he paid with.

Leonard said the manager locked the door with him, his friends, and other customers inside for nearly an hour.

Leonard described the situation as scary. So much so, his mother said he didn’t even call her until after everything happened. He feels he was already seen as guilty even before anyone even investigated.

“She was like, ‘y’all are not leaving till I get my money,’” Leonard said, “and then one of my friends tried to leave. She had pushed him, and then she had called police on him. Then, after the police got done talking to me, she called her boyfriend. Her boyfriend had a gun, and she was like, ‘Say it, slap me now,’ and all that stuff.”

As a parent, Davis says it was also scary for her to get the call, too, and she thought she was being pranked. Davis said her son and his friends are good kids—student athletes who even have offers to play college ball like her son. She’s just glad the situation wasn’t worse.

“I ended up in the E.R. that night due to chest pains and high blood pressure,” Davis said. “I even walked over to the Shell to get a Bayer aspirin because I thought that’s what you do if you think you’re having a heart attack.”

The manager is charged with locking the teenagers inside the restaurant. At this time, it’s unclear if they’ve been arrested. Hueytown police posted on Facebook that the bill Leonard paid with was, in fact, real.

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Former Millsaps professor sues college over firing after post-election email

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Megan West

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    JACKSON, Miss. (WAPT) — A longtime Millsaps College professor is suing the school, claiming he was fired for sending an email to his students following the 2024 presidential election. He says the message was meant to show care for them.

Professor James Bowley taught religious studies at Millsaps for 23 years. The day after the election, he canceled his class and emailed his students, writing that they needed time to “mourn a racist and fascist country.”

“I sent an email and said class canceled, and I said the reason is that we need time to mourn a racist and fascist country, and that’s exactly what I think,” Bowley said.

Bowley said hours later, the interim dean called him. He was banned from campus and locked out of his email.

“She said it was for that email,” Bowley said. “I had no idea what it was for, and that was it, I was out.”

The college placed Bowley on leave. He appealed the decision and won, but he says Millsaps ignored that outcome and terminated his employment anyway. A petition circulated on campus calling for his reinstatement.

“As an expert on the rise of fascism and Nazism, which includes racism, I felt I was completely in line to use those two words for what is happening in our country,” Bowley said. “Academic freedom is the basis of all true education. If professors are not allowed to share their ideas, then we don’t have real education.”

Matt Steffey, a law professor, said the university could have responded differently.

“It seems to me that if the university was really concerned about that text, there’s a lot more measured responses they could’ve come up with,” Steffey said. “You’d expect a place that’s proud of its academic reputation to have room for conversations that are a lot tougher than what’s at issue here.”

Millsaps College released a statement acknowledging the lawsuit: “We are aware of the lawsuit. We welcome the opportunity to tell the whole story and believe the facts of this matter will speak clearly during the court process ahead.”

Bowley’s federal lawsuit alleges violations of his First Amendment rights and breach of contract.

“I hope it ends with justice for me,” Bowley said, “whether that’s reinstatement and academic freedom becoming an important principle at Millsaps again.”

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Police in Kentucky’s capital investigating after KKK propaganda spread overnight

CNN Newsource on October 23, 2025

By Alex Suckow, Jamie Mayes

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    FRANKFORT, Ky. (WLKY) — Police in Kentucky’s capital are investigating after KKK propaganda was spread around the community.

Frankfort police posted about it Wednesday, saying it happened overnight in multiple areas, calling it “an appalling act of littering.”

Deneen Petty, Director at The Kings Center, which offers free after-school services, says this is the exact opposite of the messaging she teaches students at her program.

“I was a little upset about it and a little disturbed. I would think with it being 2025, we would find other ways to come together and unite ourselves under different umbrellas other than hate,” said Petty.

Officials did not elaborate on the type of material, only referring to it as propaganda.

“The Frankfort Police Department does not tolerate hate in any form. This behavior goes against the values of our community, and the Frankfort Police Department is taking this matter very seriously,” a Facebook post from the department says.

“You’re always kind of shocked honestly but at the same time things like this are to be expected in the world that we’re living in,” said Katima Smith-Willis, Franklin Democratic Executive Committee & City Commissioner of City of Frankfort, ” It’s people’s right to have free speech, but it’s very shocking especially when it’s in your community.”

The department is asking anyone who has found the materials, or captured anything on camera, to contact the non-emergency line so they can try to track down whoever is responsible.

“The Frankfort Police Department remains committed to the safety of the Frankfort community and continues to support a thriving and diverse community,” the post reads.

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