Author: CNN Newsource

By Austen Erblat

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    Colorado (KCNC) — Human remains discovered in Lochbuie in September have been identified as those of a Colorado woman who’d been missing since 2018, according to Lochbuie police and the Weld County Coroner’s Office.

Terri Ackerman was reported missing by her husband in August 2018 after he returned to their Lochbuie home and her belongings were there, but she wasn’t. She was 56 at the time she was reported missing. Lochbuie Police Chief Tracey McCoy said the remains were discovered on Sept. 10 at her and her husband’s home at 130 Poplar Street.

“Following her disappearance in 2018, extensive searches were conducted in and around the Lochbuie area with the assistance of multiple agencies, RAMPART Search and Rescue, cadaver dogs, and drone operations,” McCoy said in a statement on Monday. “Despite numerous interviews and investigative leads, limited information was developed at the time.”

According to a missing person report, Ackerman’s husband, Delbert Ackerman, Terri was still in bed when he left the house on that morning in 2018.

He told police that when he returned home around 2 p.m., she wasn’t there, but her purse, cigarettes, cell phone, car, and keys, were still inside their home.

A search at the time included members of multiple law enforcement agencies, Rampart Search and Rescue, dogs, and drones.

Her family members reported that she was upset the night before her disappearance and had expressed concerns about babysitting her grandchildren. Terri suffered from bipolar disorder and depression, according to the report, and she was prescribed medication for those.

Lochbuie is about 30 miles northeast of Denver in Adams and Weld counties. Terri’s remains were found just north of the county line, in a neighborhood northwest of Interstate 76 and East 168th Avenue.

McCoy said the case remains under investigation and no other information would be released on Monday.

“The Lochbuie Police Department continues to actively investigate this case and is urging anyone with information regarding the disappearance and death of Terri Ackerman to come forward,” he said. “Our department remains committed to seeking justice for Terri and her family.”

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By Celeste Springer

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    EL PASO COUNTY, Colorado (KRDO) — On Monday, a judge rejected a plea agreement for disgraced funeral home director Carie Hallford in the case of 191 counts of abuse of a corpse.

Carie Hallford, along with her husband Jon, were accused of leaving close to 200 bodies to stack up and decay at their Penrose, Colorado funeral home. The two allegedly gave families fake cremains of their loved ones.

Back in November, the two pleaded guilty to 191 counts of Abuse of a Corpse, a Class 6 Felony, for leaving bodies to decay in the funeral home without cremating them.

During court on Monday, the victims made objections to the plea deal of 15 to 20 years for Carie, noting that they believe the sentence is too short for justice.

Last year, a judge rejected Jon Hallford’s plea agreement for the case. On Monday, the judge said for the same reasons, he is rejecting Carie’s.

Carie’s case will now head to trial, with a date tentatively set for Oct. 6, 2026.

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By Wakisha Bailey

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — On this week’s Spreading the Love, we step aboard the Kidology Mobile Therapy Bus, a first-of-its-kind space designed to make accessible care a reality for children and their families.

Speech pathologist Luba Patlakh Kaplun and occupational therapist Molly spend their days helping children grow through play. But when Kaplun realized some families couldn’t make it to her Kidology clinics in Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia, she decided to bring the clinic to them.

She bought an old school bus, wrapped it in the Kidology logo, and completely rebuilt the inside to mirror her in-office therapy rooms — complete with a mini sensory gym, colorful mats, and activity stations.

“I recreated the inside to look like one of our one-on-one rooms in the clinic,” Kaplun said. “We grow through play — they’re growing and learning.”

For many parents, simply getting to therapy can be the biggest challenge. The mobile bus parks right outside their homes or community centers, allowing kids to receive speech, occupational, and physical therapy sessions without the travel stress.

Mallory, a mom of two boys, Kieran and Eagan, knows how much this helps.

“With two kids, it’s hard to manage all those schedules — especially for parents who don’t have a car but their kids still need services,” she shared.

Most families use insurance to cover the cost of care — but for those who can’t easily access transportation, this bus makes all the difference.

When the session wraps up, little Kieran waves goodbye from the doorway, already asking when Kaplun and Molly will be back.

“Life is hard enough,” Kaplun said as she drove off in the bright yellow bus. “We just want to make this part a little easier. We hope to help as many families as we can.”

Kaplun isn’t stopping here. She plans to expand Kidology’s services with online programming — a virtual therapy channel to help parents guide their children’s development at home. She also offers courses to help families better understand their child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process.

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By Erika Gonzalez

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — They bought homes with big dreams, and even bigger mortgage payments, hoping to refinance once rates dropped. But with interest rates still hovering near 6%, real relief hasn’t arrived.

When Eddie Capote and Beatriz Lora bought their first home together in Miami in 2023, interest rates were climbing, but so was their dream of finding a place to start a family.

“It was a full rehab project for the both of us, but now I think we’ve little by little we’ve started to make it more beautiful as the months go by,” Lora said.

But fixing up their new home was just part of the challenge. What’s been harder to rebuild is their budget.

“We’ve been waiting for rates to come down for two years,” Capote said. “Obviously, we were expecting that when we purchased they would come down sooner.”

Melinda Payne with The Truth About Lending said she’s hearing that same frustration from many of her clients stuck in refinancing limbo.

“There’s a tremendous amount of demand that is going on right now, even with the slight decreases we’ve seen over the last several months in interest rates,” Payne said.

Payne said for some homeowners who bought when rates peaked around October 2023, refinancing could finally make sense.

“We see that there are clients out there that have interest rates in the high sevens, maybe even in the low eights,” she said. “So right now, with interest rates being in the high fives to the low sixes, it’s a significant savings for them.”

Even as rates inch lower, experts say homeowners need to crunch the numbers before they refinance, factoring in the new rate, closing costs and how long they plan to stay in their home.

Payne said it’s not a one-size-fits-all decision.

“A perfect example is we have a client who owns a house right now that’s at a much higher interest rate, but he’s moving, he’s selling,” she said. “So even though he may have a 7.8% interest rate, the closing costs that he would pay just don’t make sense for him to refinance right now.”

For now, Payne said the best strategy isn’t rushing to refinance, it’s getting ready for when the right moment comes by paying down other debt, keeping your credit score high and building equity.

“What’s that magic number if it were to drop, what do we need to have? What papers do we need to have in place to to be able to refi?” Lora said.

Mortgage rates are determined by several factors, including the 10-year treasury bond yield, federal reserve policy, investment activity and other economic conditions. But this fall, many experts say the jobs market and inflation will be the top influencers on where mortgage rates head next.

As for Capote and Lora, they’re just waiting for rates to hit their goal and they hope it happens soon.

“Like a 5, 5.25%, we’re, gonna pull the trigger. I mean that’d be like $1,000 a month in savings,” Capote said. “Who wouldn’t want to do that?”

One piece of advice Payne gives her clients who are still house hunting: make sure you’re comfortable with the payment at today’s rate, not the rate you hope to get later. Because while refinancing may save you money down the line, it shouldn’t be the only plan keeping that dream home within reach.

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By Kirstyn Clark, WRAL reporter

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    North Carolina (WRAL) — A Greensboro man is facing charges after a 4-year-old boy accidentally shot himself with an unsecured gun inside a Durham home.

Officers said they were called to reports of a shooting around 10:40 a.m. on Sunday on Linwood Avenue. When they arrived, they found the child with a gunshot wound.

Patrick Daye, 52, has been charged with permitting a young child to use a dangerous firearm.

According to arrest warrants, Daye is accused of leaving a 9mm pistol “in a condition that the firearm can be discharged” and easily accessible for the child without the parents’ permission causing injury.

Police said the boy is in critical condition but is stable. No other injuries were reported.

Daye was released after posting on $1,000 bond. He appeared in court Monday morning.

Neighbors told WRAL News they were sad when they found out the child had been shot, one calling it an example of the “senseless violence that happens too often in this area.”

“This is sickening,” said Robert Adams, who lives near the scene. “It has to stop, ‘cause our kids are dying at no fault of their own. Everybody just stands and looks, and they go on with their day after this happens, like it’s OK. But it’s not OK. We got to do something.”

Others told WRAL News they are just heartbroken.

“I don’t remember seeing no child,” Bass said. “Maybe it’s a grandchild or somebody. But if that happened, it just breaks my heart. Something like that, for a child, it breaks my heart.”

She said despite witnessing shootings and break-ins in the neighborhood, she’s never seen such a large police presence for one incident.

“I was just shocked,” she continued. “We came home [and] couldn’t get down our street. Like what in the world is going on?”

“This is sickening,” said Robert Adams, who lives near the scene. “It has to stop, ‘cause our kids are dying at no fault of their own. Everybody just stands and looks, and they go on with their day after this happens, like it’s OK. But it’s not OK. We got to do something.”

Others told WRAL News they are just heartbroken.

“I don’t remember seeing no child,” Bass said. “Maybe it’s a grandchild or somebody. But if that happened, it just breaks my heart. Something like that, for a child, it breaks my heart.”

She said despite witnessing shootings and break-ins in the neighborhood, she’s never seen such a large police presence for one incident.

“I was just shocked,” she continued. “We came home [and] couldn’t get down our street. Like what in the world is going on?”

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By Adam Schumes

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    INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — An Indianapolis woman is facing multiple charges after court documents say she used social media to advertise and operate illegal parties that served alcohol to minors at her east side apartment complex.

Court records claim police were called to the woman’s apartment near 12th and North Arlington Avenue more than 30 times since January, including reports of shots fired and a person armed.

WRTV spoke with two residents who asked not to be shown on camera or share their identities for safety reasons.

“I didn’t sign up to pay a lot of money to sleep next to a nightclub and not be able to really be comfortable,” said the first neighbor.

“I’ve seen them out here where they were tapping, patting people down at the doorway, and then 20 minutes later you’ll hear a gunshot or two,” the second neighbor said.

The first neighbor described the toll the parties have taken on their daily life.

“For the past probably six months, I’ve probably slept two hours a day. Like, it’s just, you don’t leave after a certain time at night. There’s a lot of anxiety and stress,” they said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, authorities believe the woman advertised the parties on social media, sometimes requiring payment at the door.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officials say they’re seeing people using social media to advertise illegal parties. The department emphasized the importance of community involvement in addressing these situations.

“We don’t know unless the community reaches out and continues to tell us, and you can’t. I understand it’s hard. Maybe we come one time, we get that party shut down,, or they quiet down. But then it continues on, you see another party and another party. We need to track that,” IMPD Officer Tommy Thompson said.

Neighbors who spoke about the situation agreed that community involvement is crucial.

“This is the part where everybody needs to get involved for me because I live here and the other neighbors, some of them can’t fend for themselves,” one neighbor said.

Another resident stressed the importance of protecting young people in the community.

“When you see a crowd of people or a group of young people that looks as if it’s illegal, like protecting our youth, like them are our futures. There’s enough bad things going on, and it takes for everybody to get involved,” the neighbor said.

IMPD urges community members to call and report suspicious party activity to help prevent further incidents. — This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

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By Olivia Hickey

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    OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza was dedicated in downtown Oklahoma City, commemorating the historic sit-in led by teacher Clara Luper and 13 NAACP Youth Council members at Katz Drug Store almost 70 years ago.

The plaza sits on the original site of Katz Drug Store and features life-sized bronze statues depicting Luper and the sit-in participants, aiming to ensure their efforts are remembered.

“Let this plaza be a symbol to all, especially small children, when they see these life-sized bronze statues, some that are their own size, may they understand even the smallest can do great and mighty things,” Pastor Derrick Scobey of Ebenezer Baptist Church said.

Thousands gathered for the dedication of the plaza, which serves as a monument to a significant milestone in the civil rights movement.

“This story for too long has not been told and has largely gone unnoticed, but today, we proclaim Oklahoma City as the birthplace of the national sit-in movement,” Rev. Lee Cooper of the Clara Luper Legacy Committee said.

On Aug. 15, 1958, Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council held a sit-in at Katz Drug Store’s lunch counter. Within three days, they were served, leading to the desegregation of the store and sparking a wave of sit-ins across the country during the civil rights movement.

Marilyn Luper-Hildreth, Clara Luper’s daughter and one of the original council members, expressed her pride in their actions, saying, “I’m so glad we sat down in Oklahoma City because if we had not sat down in Oklahoma City, young people throughout this nation would’ve never stood up.”

Returning to West Main Street and North Robinson Avenue for the dedication, Luper-Hildreth reflected on their resilience and the ongoing struggle for equality.

“Hold on, continue to fight, continue to vote, and we shall overcome,” Luper-Hildreth said.

A key note in the statue’s design is an open stool, allowing visitors to sit at the counter for a personal connection to the historic moment.

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