Author: CNN Newsource

By Scott McDonnell

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    KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (WMTW) — Dave Jourdan’s office has become mission headquarters for an ambitious effort to solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

Solving the mystery has been part of Jourdan’s life for decades. He has been building an archive over the years. “The archive I’ve been working on over the years now amounts to 27,000 pages,” Jourdan said.

The search began in 1997, when Jourdan, who founded Nauticos, a company specializing in deep-ocean exploration, began his effort to find Earhart.

“I had recently told my team that we had been so successful at finding everything we saw on the first try that we needed to try something harder,” Jourdan said.

Since then, Nauticos has launched three expeditions across the globe, searching for Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra. “And I do regret those words,” Jourdan said. “Because this has been a really tough one.”

So far, the team has scanned an area roughly the size of Connecticut using custom-built equipment designed specifically for deep-sea exploration.

Now, Jourdan believes the next expedition could change history.

Advances in technology have transformed the search, particularly with the rise of autonomous underwater vehicles. “The autonomous vehicle has come into being for three reasons,” Jourdan said. “Battery power has improved, navigation has improved, and we now have the ability to process and store massive amounts of data.”

But technology is not the only breakthrough — at least not recent technology.

A key piece of the puzzle came from an unexpected place: an old radio, identical to the one aboard Earhart’s plane. “Was this found at basically a tag sale — a garage sale?” Jourdan was asked.

“Yep,” he replied.

That radio became the final missing component.

Using it, the team located a similar aircraft, flew it out to sea and brought in a boat to replicate the position of the Coast Guard cutter Itasca, which was stationed near Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, on the day of her disappearance in 1937.

Precise measurements followed — nearly everything the team needed.

Almost.

“Except her actual voice,” Jourdan said. “Because that was never recorded.”

Instead, researchers relied on transcripts and interviews with eight men who heard Earhart’s final radio transmissions, allowing them to recreate her last known calls. “KHQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you but cannot see you. Gas is running low.”

Jourdan believes those transmissions now point to a specific location and helped his team determine where they believe Earhart was during her final transmissions at 8 a.m. “Right,” Jourdan said. “So, that helps a lot.”

The focus is near Howland Island — a tiny speck of land about 1,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. “It’s a whole lot of blue,” Jourdan said.

Howland Island is smaller than the National Mall in Washington, D.C., surrounded by vast, open ocean.

But this time, Jourdan says the search is guided by math — not myths — and he believes the ocean may finally be ready to give up its answer.

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 Tim Nazzaro

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    CHATHAM, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Firefighters sprung into action Tuesday afternoon when a golden retriever named Goose fell through the ice at a pond in Chatham, Massachusetts.

According to the Chatham Fire Department, crews were dispatched to Goose Pond around 3:20 p.m. after a report of a dog that fell into the icy water about 200 feet out.

Goose’s owner was on the scene and told firefighters he had let the dog out 15 minutes prior to the fall.

Firefighters donned survival suits and were on the ice by 3:30 p.m., according to officials.

Utilizing specialized ice rescue equipment, the dog was safely pulled ashore minutes later.

Chatham fire officials said Goose was cold and tired but showed no signs of severe distress.

“While this incident had a successful outcome, this serves as an important reminder that ice on ponds can be extremely dangerous,” Chatham Fire Chief Justin Tavano said in a press release. “In this case, the ice was several inches thick immediately adjacent to where Goose fell through. Goose’s owner did the exact right thing in this situation by calling 911 and resisting the urge to go on the ice himself.”

Chatham police also assisted firefighters at the scene.

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By Marcie Cipriani

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    WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A 62-year-old man is facing charges after police said he hid a camera under a young relative’s bed in Washington County, and recorded himself as he set it up.

Police said the camera was hidden in a cardboard box, then wrapped in black tape to camouflage it and positioned to face the area where the young girl typically undresses.

Investigators identified the suspect as Michael Crispin of South Franklin Township.

Greene Washington Regional Police Chief William DeForte expressed his dismay, saying, “It’s unfortunate for the victim. It’s unfortunate for the community that we live in.”

DeForte said the girl discovered the camera while cleaning and reported it to her mother, who then contacted the police. According to court papers, the camera was a toy device intentionally rigged to continuously record.

Police said Crispin recorded his own image, setting it up.

“He was a trusted relative, so he was allowed to enter the premises and go through the rooms, and, you know, and spend time with the, with the children,” DeForte said.

DeForte said detectives uncovered 163 recordings, none of which show the girl undressed, but court papers said she can be seen and heard on them.

Michael Crispin is charged with a felony for illegally recording a minor and possessing an instrument of crime, specifically the camera.

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 Rachael Perry

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    PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WPBF) — A local golf club says it has spent roughly $60,000 in just three years repairing the damage caused by young adults on e-bikes and dirt bikes.

Matthew Boyd, the general manager at St. Lucie Trail Golf Club, says the young adults or teens continue to cause thousands of dollars in damage, and the golf club can’t do anything about it.

The most recent incident happened on Monday afternoon.

“Right around 4 or 4:15, we got a phone call that there were five kids on bikes going through, driving between members, going over and through the greens and fairways. Once they reached the sixth hole, they darted out of the road and onto the back gate,” Boyd said.

Like clockwork, Boyd said it happens every few months.

“This happens really about once every three or four months; Young adults driving or pedaling bikes throughout the golf course, trespassing, and creating vandalism,” he said.

Not only does he say the issue has created problems for employees and club members, but the financial impact has been huge.

“Thousands upon thousands of dollars, and if you factor in labor, I don’t even want to think about that as it comes out of my pocket,” Boyd told WPBF.

He said that the number comes out to more than $50,000 over the last three years.

“Before that, I could factor in more, just because we went through a greens renovation and during that time, we had to redo three green complexes because bikers did donuts on three of the brand-new greens, which was a huge expense,” he said.

The club is private and has no trespassing signs, which haven’t stopped the bikers. Boyd said any attempt to reason with them hasn’t been successful either.

“They’re incredibly unfriendly. They’ll use some words I cannot say here, and they’ll drive as fast as they can away from anybody chasing them,” he said.

Despite reporting the damage to the police, Boyd said he’s left wondering what can be done to stop it.

“The answer I’ve always received is there’s nothing we can or the police can do, or anybody can do, unless we can physically follow them to their home address and identify them on the golf course with pictures and videos,” he said.

As if the cost of repairs isn’t enough, Boyd said they’ve even lost employees over this.

“We’ve lost staff over the years, being frustrated with it, which is understandable, but it is disheartening for them more than anything to have to re-do things or re-go out there and fix areas that they just spent hours and hours working on,” he said.

Boyd said in a perfect world, the people responsible would stop, but he’s hoping parents will step in and educate their children on what it means to damage someone’s property.

“What frustrates me most is we were all kids growing up, and we all did things that we look back now and say, hey, I probably shouldn’t have done that, but these are repeat offenders constantly just going out there, joyriding, and the amount of vandalism they’re creating is taking its toll on everybody,” he said.

He said it’s important for them to understand that what they’re doing is both trespassing and property damage.

“I would really hope that parents can get involved and realize, hey, this is what my kid is doing, and the best course of action is just to educate them on, don’t go on private property. There’s more damage being done by bikes than they know of, and more importantly, if they do get caught, the repercussions are going to be astronomical at one point,” Boyd told WPBF.

In the meantime, he said, hopefully, awareness of the issue may discourage people from doing this.

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 Greg Ng

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    MIDDLE RIVER, Maryland (WBAL) — An adult and two children were taken to a hospital as a precaution and a family pet died in a fire Tuesday morning.

Baltimore County fire officials said firefighters were called around 7:05 a.m. to a house in the 400 block of Kosoak Road in the Middle RiverBowleys Quarters area.

Officials said firefighters found flames coming from the front of the house as well as smoke from the second floor. Firefighters managed to contain the fire within 20 minutes.

Neighbors helped to get residents out from a second-story window before firefighters arrived.

“This incident is a powerful reminder of the strength of our communities,” Baltimore County Fire Chief Joseph Dixon said in a news release. “Before our fire and EMS crews arrived, neighbors acted without hesitation to help a mother and her children escape a dangerous situation. I want to thank these residents for their courage and selflessness and commend our crews for their swift response in extinguishing the fire and providing medical support.”

An adult and two children were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital for possible smoke inhalation and an evaluation.

Steven Angelini was one of the people who helped catch the two children who were dropped out of the second-floor window.

“My immediate reaction is to get out and get help,” Angelini said.

Despite a recent arm injury, Angelini tried to get a ladder. He was unable to do so, though. Angelini shifted his focus on saving the children as the smoke thickened and the fire grew.

“My second reaction was just to get these kids down and save their lives. I told the mother, ‘Just drop them, I’ll catch them,'” Angelini said.

After the children were safely caught, neighbors managed to get the ladder off the truck, allowing the mother to climb down with assistance.

“All three of them, when they came out, ad black soot all over them, and it was horrific — devastating. I’m just glad they’re alive at the end of the day, but nothing else matters. Life matters,” Angelini said.

The Red Cross was contacted to assist the displaced residents.

“It’s adrenaline,” Angelini said. “When you had your adrenaline going and it comes to life or death, you don’t think about anything else, you don’t think about injury, you don’t think about consequences in breaking a leg, breaking an arm. You’re saving their life in that moment.”

The cause of fire remains under investigation.

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By Marissa Sulek

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — A woman in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood said she is missing important pieces of mail.

She did her own investigation and believes someone at the post office might be stealing it.

Each day, when Mone’t Austin goes to her mailbox, she finds the pieces of mail no one wants, not the vital information she needs.

Austin has informed delivery with the United States Postal Service.

“If no one knows what it is, it’s actually us being able to view and scan our mail via email, so we know what’s ahead, whether it’s packages coming, whether it’s mail coming, stuff like that,” she said.

Which is why she knew something was up when she didn’t get a government check for $1,000.

Austin said her mail goes through the Jackson Park post office off 61st Street. However, those important pieces of mail, like debit cards, health insurance, and government check never made it to her mailbox.

CBS News Chicago reached out to the USPS on Tuesday night, asking about Austin’s case, but has yet to hear back. Austin said the postal police started an investigation after she received a text about a fraudulent charge.

“A few days go by, and I get the text message from the bank stating a fraudulent charge was charged,” she said.

Someone made a $114 transaction at a gas station. Someone was using her new debit card.

Her informed delivery shows Beverly Bank and Trust sent it, but Austin never received it. Same with her new health insurance cards.

“What the person doesn’t know is that I can see what’s pre-scanned and that I can see what’s being out for delivery,” she said.

Austin said she believes someone with the post office could be collecting all of these pieces of mail.

“They have access to all of our personal information,” she said.

She is now working to get identity theft protection.

“I am just going to personally just pick up my mail at the postal service,” she said.

Someone made a $114 transaction at a gas station. Someone was using her new debit card.

Her informed delivery shows Beverly Bank and Trust sent it, but Austin never received it. Same with her new health insurance cards.

“What the person doesn’t know is that I can see what’s pre-scanned and that I can see what’s being out for delivery,” she said.

Austin said she believes someone with the post office could be collecting all of these pieces of mail.

“They have access to all of our personal information,” she said.

She is now working to get identity theft protection.

“I am just going to personally just pick up my mail at the postal service,” she said.

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 Megan Abundis

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    VANDALIA, Missouri (KSHB) — A baby boom at the Missouri Department of Corrections’ women’s prison in Vandalia, Missouri, has brought new hope to incarcerated mothers, with 16 babies born in 2025 to women who are now bonding with their children through the state’s new prison nursery program.

The nursery opened in February 2025, marking the completion of a program mandated by Missouri legislators in 2022.

“Now they have a chance to fight for their families. We’re teaching them how to rely on each other and help one another,” said Kim Perkins, nursery program manager at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center.

The program teaches essential life skills to incarcerated mothers.

“We teach life skills: how to cook, how to clean, how to manage money, basic parenting things,” Perkins said.

For Perkins, working in the nursery provides daily fulfillment.

“I get to go to a job every day where I get to look at and hug babies and still do something meaningful,” she said. “It changes lives. A lot of these ladies would not have been able to keep their babies.”

Kathy Briggs, an inmate mother, was among those who may have lost her children without the program.

“I genuinely was ready to put my girls up for adoption,” Briggs said.

The program changed everything for Briggs, who has twin daughters.

“I have two babies that are girls; their names are Lyric and Melody. They are almost 9 months old,” she said. “I was 8 weeks pregnant when I turned myself in. I thought I was going to get a slap on the wrist and come out. The judge said, ‘I’m going to send you to prison, and you’re going to have your babies in prison.'”

Despite the challenging circumstances, Briggs said the outcome exceeded her expectations.

“There’s not any way this could have gone more perfect,” she said.

Briggs noted the program’s impact extends beyond the mothers and babies.

“They changed the course of my life,” she said. “The officers that come in and see it every day, it’s changing their lives. It’s changing their outlook on us as inmates vs. us as offenders.”

Perkins emphasized the transformative nature of the program for women who arrive with significant trauma.

“I’m just so excited to be a part of this program,” Perkins said. “It’s amazing because you watch women come in with so much trauma and history.”

Before the nursery program, separation between mothers and babies was immediate after birth. This represents a significant shift in Missouri’s approach to incarcerated mothers.

“If moms could have had this opportunity to be with their children while incarcerated, they would have had that connection to their children,” said Trish Mathes, executive director of Mission Gate Ministry.

The support continues after prison through Mathes’ organization, which runs a nine-month program for mothers and their babies.

“That’s what we do at Mission Gate, we try to help people be independent,” Mathes said.

The post-prison program operates through an application and interview process, funded by private dollars and grants. Mothers work and contribute $130 per week.

Mission Gate Ministry has been operating since 1985.

“More parenting classes and hands-on interaction with raising their babies,” Mathes said of the continued support. “The next step is continuing to help them, growing in a greater way. We provide stability.”

Mathes emphasized the importance of early nurturing in preventing future problems.

“I counsel a lot of people, I have over the past 40 years,” she said. “What I see is if they don’t have nurturing when they are young, they turn the opposite way and go to drugs or alcohol.”

For Briggs, who will enter the Mission Gate program this month, the transformation has been profound.

“The person I was when I walked through these doors almost a year ago was an angry, hateful and hopeless person,” she said. “And today, I can sit here and say I am filled with hope for the future, and I believe in better days.”

To participate in the Missouri DOC nursery program, inmate mothers and caregivers cannot be convicted of dangerous felonies, sex crimes or crimes against children. Mothers must also be scheduled for release within 18 months postpartum.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Scripps editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Asal Rezaei, Adam Harrington

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — The newly released annual report from the Office of Inspector General for the Chicago Board of Education revealed more than two dozen sexual misconduct allegations in the Chicago Public Schools system, as well as falsified grant applications.

The report specifically found many instances of sexual misconduct happening on one CPS campus, which was not identified by name. The OIG found during Fiscal Year 2025, seven staff members across two high schools on the same campus committed sexual misconduct toward then-current or former students — mostly in the 2010s. An eighth staff member had been found previously to have committed sexual misconduct toward a student in the same timeframe.

The students who attend high school on the shared campus play on athletic teams together and share some facilities, the OIG said.

In one instance at the campus, a dean sexually abused a student and was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the report said. Other employees on the same campus also engaged in sexual misconduct, but those employees have either already resigned or left before the OIG could start investigating, the report said.

The report detailed the alleged conduct of several specific employees, including one identified only as “Employee 3” who worked at three CPS high schools, including one of the schools on the shared campus. Employee 3 was a popular teacher who was known for his strong influence over his female students, and also an attorney who founded a legal clinic that started at the shared campus school and later expanded, the OIG said.

“Employee 3’s curricula were largely focused on sex-related topics and social issues that affect girls and women (even, in at least one case, when he was supposed to be teaching a different curriculum),” the report said. “While these are legitimate academic topics, Employee 3 talked about sex with students in a manner that exceeded his teaching responsibilities, such as by repeatedly endorsing open relationships.”

The report said Employee 3 was accused of targeting more than a dozen female students for sexual communications or actual sex after they graduated, and “engaged in flirtatious interactions” with at least one then-current student.

The OIG said out of 26 people investigated for sexual misconduct by the OIG Sexual Allegations Unit — including CPS employees, vendors, and volunteers — six have been charged criminally, and four have been convicted.

The report also went into graphic detail about numerous alleged incidents at other schools — including a vendor employee accused of sexually abusing two high school and whose contract was terminated as a result, a security guard accused of giving a 15-year-old student alcohol and sexually assaulting her in two of his vehicles, and a vendor aide who sexually abused a fourth-grade student on a school bus, among others.

Other allegations in the report included a federal indictment against a former network chief and vendor who investigators said worked together on a multi-year phony billing scheme.

They defrauded CPS out of at least $88,500, the report said.

The payments to the vendor purported to be for professional development, grant writing training, and student financial aid and counseling services — but no such services were provided, the report said. Instead, the vendor split payments with the network chief, the report said.

The vendor and network chief were both indicted in federal court and ended up entering into plea agreements, the report said.

In addition, the report said a program manager repeatedly falsified federal grant applications, leading to CPS receiving about $1.2 million in federal funding. The OIG said it had warned about this issue in an earlier investigation, but it continued to happen.

The report said CPS now has to pay the funds back by October.

CBS News Chicago has reached out to CPS and the Board of Education to see if they have a response to the report. CPS issued the following statement:

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of its students, families, and staff. The District recognizes its responsibility to serve the CPS community with integrity. It is committed to preventing, identifying, and responding to any form of abuse, misconduct, or exploitation within the community.

“CPS takes the findings and recommendations of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) seriously and is committed to continuous improvement and transparency. The District strictly enforces all applicable policies, rules, and laws, including those related to preventing abuse, harassment, and misconduct. When violations occur and are reported, CPS takes prompt and appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination and referral to law enforcement, as required by law, while upholding the highest ethical standards.

“With a workforce of more than 40,000 employees serving over 315,000 students, CPS is committed to providing comprehensive, ongoing training for employees and vendors to recognize, prevent, and report abuse, and to ensure compliance with established policies and procedures. CPS will also continue to strengthen its policies, reporting mechanisms, and oversight practices to foster a culture of accountability, ethical conduct, and support ensuring that all staff act in the best interests of students, the District, and the City of Chicago.”

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By Mike Darnay

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — The Pittsburgh Walk of Fame is now accepting nominations for its next class of inductees.

The walk of fame was unveiled in October at the Strip District Terminal with the goal of celebrating people with ties to southwestern Pennsylvania who have made a mark on America.

The inaugural class of ten inductees included musician George Benson, journalist Nelly Bly, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, environmentalist Rachel Carson, baseball legend Roberto Clemente, actor Michael Keaton, medical researcher Jonas Salk, television icon Fred Rogers, artist Andy Warhol, and playwright August Wilson.

Shortly after the Pittsburgh Walk of Fame was unveiled, it was discovered that Michael Keaton’s plaque had a spelling error, which was fixed a short time later.

Nominations for this year’s class of inductees can be living or dead, but they must have been born in or lived in the Pittsburgh region and must have had a national impact on the country’s cultural heritage.

Nominations can be submitted online until the end of January.

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