Author: CNN Newsource

By Ben Winslow

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    FARMINGTON BAY, Utah (KSTU) — A recent scientific find by University of Utah researchers could help combat the problem of toxic dust blowing off the exposed Great Salt Lake bed.

They have found a freshwater reservoir underneath the lake’s salty playa, in an area between Antelope Island and Farmington Bay. It started when scientists observed “islands” of the invasive plant phragmites in the exposed lake bed.

“They require a lot of fresh water and the question was that Great Salt Lake has salty water, so how [does] this phragmites grow on the salt water because they require a lot of fresh water?” University of Utah geology and geophysics professor Michael Zhdanov told FOX 13 News.

Using helicopters and specialized equipment to send electromagnetic pulses into the ground, they were able to confirm the existence of a freshwater reservoir. The research, recently published in Scientific Reports, offers promise for a threat to surrounding communities. As the Great Salt Lake declines due to water diversions, drought and impacts from a changing climate, strong winds pick up dust and blow it into nearby communities.

The lake bed has naturally-occurring toxins, like arsenic, that are typically covered by water. The University of Utah is conducting other research on the impacts of the dust on the environment and human health. But Professor Zhdanov said this could help provide a new water source to help reduce the impact of the dust.

“This, we believe, is one of the most important and firsthand applications of this, but this requires more work because we need to cover the entire Great Salt Lake. We need to find exactly how much, where it’s located, and then make some educated decision where to drill and how to use it,” he said.

It remains unknown the extent of the reservoir. But more broadly, the techniques used to find the freshwater reservoir could be used in other parts of the world to help discover new sources of water.

The Utah Department of Natural Resources funded some of the research as part of its efforts to reverse the Great Salt Lake’s declines. The U. will seek additional funding to expand the research to other parts of the lake.

For Dave Foerber, a Kaysville-area birder who came out on Monday to look at the migratory birds on the Great Salt Lake, it was interesting research. But he believed there was a broader work that must be done.

“It’d be better if we could get some more water in the lake,” he told FOX 13 News. “That’d be the best thing.”

This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.

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 Michael Martin

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    HOLLADAY, Utah (KSTU) — A group of alleged burglars from Las Vegas was arrested in Utah after officials said they returned to apologize to their victims and give some of the items back.

Holman Yecid Londono-Poveda, 20, and Karla Yuliana Diaz-Basilio, 30, were arrested on Monday and face 3 charges of burglary of a dwelling. Share Castellano-Suarez, 18, was also arrested on two charges of burglary of a dwelling and one theft charge.

According to court documents, on March 8, the Unified Police Department was made aware of a burglary that happened on March 6. The victims told police that they had just returned from an out-of-town trip to find a large number of items missing from their home.

Those missing items included jewelry, designer bags and purses, watches, suitcases, and coats.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video and say they saw a Kia Rio entering the driveway of the victim’s home. Two suspects are seen exiting the vehicle and gaining access to the home.

The Kia was also seen leaving but returning a short time later when the other suspects loaded the car full of items and left again. Two hours later, police say two suspects from earlier returned and were witnessed taking additional items.

Police say another burglary was also committed slightly before the other reported burglary, and they believe the same group was responsible.

Detectives determined that the Kia Rio seen at the victim’s home had come from Las Vegas and returned the same day. Officials say the three suspects can be seen on surveillance video at several Utah locations.

On March 26, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department served a search warrant at the home of two suspects. During the search, police say they found multiple items of clothing that the suspects were seen wearing.

Four days later, the suspects allegedly returned to Utah to return a majority of what was taken to the victims. Investigators say the suspects also wrote an apology letter to the victims and offered an apology in person.

Later that day, Unified police stopped the Kia Rio on the southbound I-15 and arrested the three suspects.

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 Nagy

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    LOS ANGELES, California (KABC) — A violent case of road rage was caught on video in the heart of Hollywood over the weekend, and now, the two reality TV stars who were targeted are sharing their story.

Patrik Simpson and Pol’ Atteu are fashion experts who co-host the show “Gown and Out Beverly Hills” and the “Undressed” podcast.

Now, they’re speaking about what happened to them on Sunday in hopes that their attacker will be caught.

The incident happened at Melrose Avenue and Vine Street. The couple said the driver of a Toyota 4Runner blocked their vehicle at the intersection before getting out of his vehicle.

Atteau and Simpson sat stunned in sheer terror as the man approached them.

“He gave me this death glare, like, literally, I thought he was going to kill us,” Simpson, who recorded the video, said.

The reality stars say the violent interaction came without warning as they sat at the intersection around 9:20 a.m.

“Drove on the wrong side of the road, pulled in front of us diagonal, and trapped our car,” Simpson recalled. “We couldn’t turn left. We couldn’t turn right. We couldn’t go forward. We did not know what was going on.”

“Lock the door. Lock the door. Call the police!” Simpson exclaims in the video as the man is seen punching and kicking their driver’s side window and door.

“I thought, ‘If this man is going back to the car, he’s going to get something… I’m dead. I’m literally… dead.’ This is that moment where I’m faced with that fear of, ‘I’m just going to die here. This is it,'” Atteu, who was driving at the time, said.

Unable to smash through their glass window, the man returned to his 4Runner and took off.

“He punched the window… blood on the car. His hand was bleeding. That’s how hard he hit the car,” Simpson said.

The couple followed the escaping assailant for several miles, against the advice of a 911 dispatcher who told them not to follow the driver.

“I wanted the license plate because if we did not have the license plate, we would not be able to find this man, so we can make him be accountable for what he did,” Simpson said.

The couple says they still can’t figure out what triggered the man in the first place.

“It’s got to be mistaken identity, because I don’t know who this person is. I don’t know where this person came from,” Atteu said. “It just didn’t make sense, like, 9:20 in the morning, and when I’m looking in through the window, as much as I could see, there was someone in the passenger seat holding a baby.”

Now, still shaken by the violent punch and kick to their car, the design stars are desperate to hold the man accountable.

“This guy has so much rage in him. He doesn’t care who he is doing this to, why he’s doing it,” Atteu said.

So far, the couple says they have not been able to identify the driver. They passed his license plate number to investigators when they filed the police report. Los Angeles police said they did not have an update on the case.

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 Naomi Popa

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    WILLIAMSTON, South Carolina (WYFF) — An Upstate family is turning grief into a life-saving mission after a man tragically died from a skateboarding accident.

Twenty-six-year-old Troy Link experienced a traumatic brain injury and acute respiratory failure after he fell from his board on W. Main Street in Williamston on March 9.

“We were getting a lot of that. It’s just a skateboarding accident. Just a skateboarding accident. I was like, no, I don’t think you understand. Like, this is significant,” Callie Tayrien, TJ’s sister, said.

Tayrien is a mother, a nurse, a wife, and an older sister to three siblings. She was 12 years older than TJ and was just recently building an even closer relationship with her brother.

“He wanted us to all be closer. And I promised him that we would work on that. And even though it took this for that to happen, he got that wish, you know, we were all together, and I just hope he knows that.”

When TJ fell from his skateboard, he became unresponsive and was E-vaced to Greenville Memorial Hospital. It was there that TJ spent 15 days fighting for his life. According to Tayrien, doctors monitored TJ’s brain for two days before it was determined that he needed surgery. He underwent a craniectomy due to the swelling of his brain. At the time, TJ was also experiencing an impact on his lungs.

“Knowing kind of how he came in was pretty indicative of what his prognosis was. And they’ve just continued to have significant issues with his lungs. And they tried everything. They exhausted every option,” Tayrien said.

Tayrien was joined by her sister Chloe, Kirsti, her mother, and countless other family members at the hospital while TJ fought for his life before he died March 24.

“I wish I could tell him I love him again. And I told him a lot during those 15 days, but I wish I could have said it sooner and more often,” Tayrien said.

TJ loved hockey; he was a fan of the Dallas Stars and liked watching the Greenville Swamp Rabbits as well. Tayrien told WYFF 4 that TJ was an avid music listener, was full of life, funny, and determined to make people smile.

“I can’t stress that enough. Like he was just the sweetest and kindest person,” Tayrien said.

Tayrien wants people to hear her brother’s story and be reminded of the importance of wearing a helmet and taking preventative safety measures seriously.

“A helmet with padding could have, you know, like I said, I don’t think it would have necessarily prevented a head injury, but maybe not one not as severe. And he would still be here with us,” Tayrien said.

When TJ’s diagnosis was getting worse, his family was approached by staff at the hospital about his decision to be a donor. His mother knew firsthand how important that was to him, and according to Tayrien, was even encouraging his mother to become a donor.

TJ donated three vital organs, his kidneys and heart. Among those three are countless others that TJ was willing to donate after his passing. Tayrien said it’s been comforting knowing that someone has a piece of TJ, specifically, his heart.

“My mom’s like, I hope I can bring a stethoscope and just listen. I just want to hear it again,” she said.

Tayrien’s two children were never able to meet their uncle, but Callie promises to remind them how selfless and kind he was. She said she will continue to advocate for helmets and safety prevention with her own children in hopes that it could save a life one day.

“I think he would give you the shirt off his back. So, the fact that he literally was able to give somebody his heart is, you know, more than he could have ever asked. And to us, his family,” she said.

Before TJ moved to Anderson County, he lived in Tennessee, where he advocated for a multi-use sports pad/skate park in November 2025. While the idea wasn’t passed by the city of LaFollette then, his mother plans on advocating for the park in the future, with hopes it can be named after him and ensure that helmets are mandatory.

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 Zach Rainey

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    GREER, South Carolina (WYFF) — The Secret Service is investigating after a South Carolina woman allegedly threatened to harm President Donald Trump and his supporters in a post on social media.

On Wednesday, March 25, the York County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of multiple social media posts made by a woman from her home in Greer.

According to the sheriff’s office, in the aforementioned social media posts, the woman appeared to threaten Trump and members of MAGA.

York County detectives immediately launched an investigation and worked to verify the credibility of the information.

On Monday, March 30, investigators determined that there is no credible threat. The individual, who deputies say previously lived in Fort Mill, SC, recorded the video in Greer.

We are told that out of an abundance of caution, Secret Service members have been notified and are actively investigating the posts.

In the original post on TikTok, which has since been deleted, the woman allegedly told Trump supporters to “count their days.” She continued by threatening to harm the president himself if she was given the opportunity.

She later deleted the original post and addressed it in a post on Facebook, stating that the “threats were made in a rage-baiting gesture.” She also claimed that she had taken down most of her accounts on social media after receiving phone calls and emails of death threats.

No charges have currently been filed. No other details have been released at this time.

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 Jonathan Ayestas

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    OAKLEY, California (KCRA) — A five-year-old boy underwent surgery after being accidentally shot in the chest by an AR-15-style rifle while his father was cleaning his guns, Bay Area officials said Monday.

Officers with the Oakley Police Department in Contra Costa County went to the 1700 block of Hemlock Court near Empire Avenue around 9:25 p.m. Sunday after a report of a man who accidentally shot himself. While on the way, police said the call was updated to reflect that it was a child who was shot in the torso.

Oakley police said officers arrived at the home at 9:28 p.m., and fire department and medical personnel arrived shortly afterward. The father was holding his child and applying pressure to the wound.

The child was airlifted to a hospital, and police said he is expected to recover.

Investigators learned that while cleaning his guns, the father retrieved his rifle from a gun case and accidentally pulled the trigger, police said. The father told investigators that he thought the rifle was empty.

“This was a very tragic event that occurred,” a statement from Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard read. “As we have learned more about what happened, we now know the gunshot wound suffered by the five-year-old boy was a grazing wound and not a penetrating wound. Even a graze however, from a rifle-fired bullet can cause devastating injuries. We are very thankful the injuries sustained by the boy are not worse than they are; an inch of difference of where the bullet struck the boy would have been a different, and more tragic, outcome. Even though we believe this to be an awful accident, some crucial errors of negligence were made. Firearms should always be treated as if they are loaded and one should never put a finger on the trigger of a firearm unless there is an intent to shoot it.”

Following the shooting, police said officers seized all weapons and other pieces of evidence from the home.

Once investigators complete their investigation, the police department said it will turn over its findings to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether it will file criminal charges.

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.