Fort Worth store manager reunites with woman he rescued from freezing cold: “He saved my life”

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By S.E. Jenkins, Bo Evans

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — The woman whose life was saved from the dangerous cold and the Fort Worth store manager who rescued her were reunited on Thursday.

Surveillance video captured the moment the manager of Evans Food Mart rushed to rescue his customer, Bobbi Burrell, out of the cold.

“I didn’t think anyone was going to help at first, or could hear me,” Burrell said.

Burrell says last Friday was her 50th birthday. She was trying to get to a warming shelter, but said it had closed.

She said she was out in the cold all night Friday into Saturday morning. Just before freezing rain and sleet started to fall, the manager at Evans Food Mart found her frozen on the street. He was the only one strong enough to lift her.

“So I couldn’t stand up, couldn’t walk,” said Burrell. “I started crawling through the ice to try to get some help, without my shoes on. I just couldn’t get them on. So I left my hands and feet, just my body frozen.”

That’s when Faris Hussain stepped in.

Fort Worth store manager helps save homeless woman found frozen outside Faris Hussain, a manager at the store, said another regular customer rushed in Thursday morning after spotting Burrell on the ground.

Hussein said Burrel is a regular, coming in every day for the past 5 years.

“When I heard her name, it was one of my good customers, so I instantly was like, ‘Hey man, no no no, there’s no way. We gotta go help her right now,'” Hussain said.

Hussain ran outside and lifted her himself.

“She felt like a rock, as stiff as a rock,” he said. “I mean, it was, when I picked her up, her entire body was just, it was like, no matter which way you picked her up, her body was going to stay the same form.”

The Fort Worth Fire Department confirmed crews responded and paramedics took Burrell to a hospital.

“Think about it,” said Hussein. “It’s like, God’s watching her. She’s been through a car accident just a few months before that; her birthday was the same, one night before it froze over. It’s kind of like God’s watching over you, like, ‘No, we’re gonna make sure you’re good.'”

Burrell said she’s thankful to everyone involved.

“Definitely with the prayers, you feel blessed that great things will happen,” said Burrell. “And live all your life, go back to work and be off the street, and a big turn of events. Hopefully, to inspire others to help, you know, if somebody is screaming for help, help them.

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.

Waukegan homeowner says contractor ghosted her and left $8,900 bathroom project unfinished

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Megan De Mar

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — A Lake County woman has a warning for other homeowners, after she said a contractor took thousands of dollars, destroyed part of her home, and then vanished, even leaving his tools behind.

Linda Lange, of Waukegan, got police and the courts involved after her contractor left her high and dry, and yet, months later, the damage remains, and the contractor’s disappearing act continues.

A construction project frozen in time has over Lange’s home in Waukegan. Instead of the new toilet and shower she was promised, she has two holes in her floor.

Lange hired contractor Bob McEvers to do the work in August. He’s done a previous project in her home that she was very happy with.

“Every time he would ask me for money, not thinking – you know, he needs this, he needs that – you know, I wrote a check,” she said.

But the project was taking forever and the excuses kept rolling in when he would fail to show up, from claiming “I tweaked my ankle pretty badly” to saying he’d fallen asleep on his couch for five hours.

Meantime, Lange noticed there was hardly any progress on the job after paying $7,000 on an $8,900 project.

“With that, I said to him, I want all the receipts of everything you have bought for this project,” Lange said.

While Lange said he told her “okay,” she said that conversation was the last time she saw him.

“I mean, he’s like he fell off the face of the Earth. I have no clue,” she said.

When McEvers stopped returning her calls, she went to his home several times, even with North Chicago Police, but they weren’t able to make contact.

She filed a police report and had a lawyer send a letter. Eventually, she filed a civil claim against him, but she said they haven’t been able to find him to serve the summons.

As CBS News Chicago Legal Expert Irv Miller explained, even if a judge rules in her favor, she won’t necessarily get her money back right away.

“Even if they find the person, if there is a judgment, he has to have money or assets to pay the judgment, and a lot of the time that doesn’t happen,” Miller said.

Lange said she doesn’t know what it will cost to fix things in her home.

“I haven’t had anyone in here to give me an estimate,” she said.

Steve Bernas, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago, said it’s a usually warning sign when a contractor says they don’t have the money to pay for things they’ve been hired to do and ask you for the money.

Bernas suggested paying a third of the bill down at the beginning when hiring a contractor, a third in the middle of the job, and the rest at the end of the project, because once the money is paid, the consumer loses leverage.

He also said homeowners should file complaints with the state, leave reviews online, or whatever else they can to leave a paper trail.

“If you don’t find anything online about that person, that could be a sign, too, because they may not be established, they may have changed their name,” Bernas said.

CBS News Chicago couldn’t find McEvers, but did find his sister, who sent an email saying she has struggled to stay in contact as well.

“This is heartbreaking. If I hear from Bob, I will talk with him about reaching out to you and finding out a way to resolve the situation,” McEvers’ sister wrote.

Lange should know more about her civil complaint at the end of the month, but in the meantime, she hopes others will learn from her nightmare.

“At my age, it won’t happen again. It truly is a learning experience, and I don’t want him to be able to do this to anyone else,” 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.

Tiny home shelter helps Sacramento’s homeless young adults get back on their feet

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By James Taylor

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    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — For the last six months, Tristin Endl’s home has been a temporary shelter. The 23-year-old had been homeless and living on Sacramento streets.

“It was terrifying because I didn’t know where I was going to sleep next,” he said.

Now, he’s one of 50 young adults between 18 and 24 staying in tiny homes at the First Step Communities shelter in north Sacramento.

“For a large number of the young people that come here, this is the first time they’ve ever had a room to themselves,” said Joseph Pacheco, executive director of the shelter.

Pacheco says many of the clients grew up in unstable living conditions.

“I’d say the majority of the young people who come to our site here are prior foster youth,” he said.

The facility gets the majority of its budget from the City of Sacramento. But now, First Step is asking community members to “adopt” individual cabins to help raise more money.

“We are seeking a donation level of $2,000 per cabin,” Pacheco said. “A lot of that money goes towards paying for us to have on-site therapists here at the shelter, eliminating any barrier for our clients getting that behavioral and mental health support that they need.”

Each cabin has a bed, with an air conditioner and electricity. Some tenants keep a small garden and lawn furniture out front. Residents share bathrooms, a game room, and a laundry room.

The program’s goal is to prepare people like Endl to get jobs and live on their own.

“They’re young, they haven’t been experiencing homelessness for a very long time, and they’re able to recover much faster,” Pacheco said. “We permanently housed 109 young adults from this site alone.”

Endl will be ending his stay in cabin 48 soon to join the U.S. Navy, and there’s a long wait list of other young people desperate to get off the streets and move in.

“Unfortunately, we’re always full,” Pacheco said.

The facility has been open for five years and was the first tiny home shelter in Sacramento.

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2 brothers killed after accidentally triggering explosion in Bell Gardens

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Matthew Rodriguez, Zach Boetto

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department described Tuesday’s deadly explosion at a Bell Gardens apartment complex as a “tragic accident” caused by homemade explosives, possibly fireworks.

Investigators believe one of the half-brothers — Carlos Hernandez, 13 and Christopher Benitez, 23 — mixed energetic powders and may have pressurized the mixture, sparking the blast. Lt. Michael Modica said an example of energetic powders is gunpowder.

“We believe they were responsible for the explosion,” Modica said. “At this point, we believe it was a tragic accident.”

Detectives found pieces of plastic pipes at the scene along with energetic powders, which have been sent to their lab for testing.

“I keep saying that people just don’t understand how dangerous this stuff can be,” Bell Gardens Police Chief Paul Camacho said. “I think as a result of what we see behind us that is the consequence of not following the laws and not doing what you’re supposed to do.”

The explosion also hospitalized a young boy, who was in stable condition on Tuesday, according to the LA County Fire Department. The family said the boy was a relative of the half-brothers.

It caused significant damage to the apartment complex, destroying part of the second floor and the roof.

Camacho said about four to five families were displaced after inspectors red-tagged the building and marked it for demolition.

“I just don’t really know what’s going to happen to us,” neighbor Wendy Gutierrez said. “Where are we going to end up?”

The family said Hernandez was an altar server at his local church. Benitez served in the National Guard.

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Aurora Public Schools, others in Colorado cancel, delay classes Friday due to staff shortages

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Jennifer McRae

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — Aurora Public Schools is among several schools in Colorado that canceled classes on Friday due to staff shortages. Several other schools announced a delayed start on Friday.

The staff shortages are happening on the same day as a nationwide protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where millions across the U.S. are expected to stay home from school and businesses are expected to remain closed.

In addition to Aurora Public Schools closure, Adams 14 School District and Pickens Technical College will remain closed on Friday.

Aurora Public Schools said there will be “grab-and-go” meals available at all schools in the district from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

With students not attending classes on Friday, they will have class next Friday, Feb. 6, which was originally supposed to be a day off for a professional release day.

Boulder Valley School District said nearly 500 teachers out of 2,000 called out sick for Friday but the district said classes will continue.

Denver Public Schools said it will have class, although some schools are operating on a delayed schedule.

All MI and AN Center Programs and Early Childhood Programs will be closed in DPS.

The following schools in DPS are on a two-hour delay:

George Washington High School North High School South High School East High School Joe Shoemaker Elementary McMeen Elementary Parents and students can view the School Closure list online.

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Dog lost for 6 days during snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures rescued in Beaver County

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Barry Pintar

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    BEAVER COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A dog missing for six days during a snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures was reunited with her owners after first responders rescued her from under a train trestle in Beaver County.

First responders said they were flagged on Tuesday night by a homeless man who spotted a dog below a train trestle in Bridgewater. They knew about a dog named Willow who had been missing for days, and it turned out she was down there, still alive.

“She did not want to come to us initially,” said David Shipman, a firefighter with the New Brighton Volunteer Fire Department. “You could tell she was cold. Scared of us, a bunch of strangers. She’s been down there for six days. She was covered in ice, like on the backend.”

Video taken by another first responder showed Willow being hoisted up. They think she had been down there for days, digging a trench and hunkering down to stay warm. The rest is anyone’s guess. But what matters is she’s safe.

“The sheer fact of a successful rescue and being able to reunite Willow with the family, it was great, right?” said Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chuck Bates. “Where the dog was, I’m surprised that she survived, and I’m very glad that she did, as is the family.” Willow is now happy to be back home with her family. How did she survive all that time? Her family says the answer may be in her DNA. She’s half Pomeranian and half husky.

“She has a lot of husky in her,” Willow’s owner Sydney Anderson said. “I think her cold survival instincts took place. I think she was able to find shelter and drink water, whatever she could find.”

The Beaver County lost and found pets Facebook page is collecting money to buy items to help out the “hero” who found Willow.

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Nonprofit helps people with mental health, intellectual challenges find job opportunities

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Stephanie Stahl

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — A Philadelphia nonprofit is helping people with mental health and intellectual challenges find job opportunities.

Joan Vargas is restocking the shelves at a North Philadelphia ShopRite. She has an intellectual disability and at 36 years old, this is her first job.

“I am a changed person here,” Vargas said.

Vargas obtained the job through COMHAR Inc., a nonprofit that supports people with mental health and intellectual challenges.

“This is about empowerment. It’s about having people make choices about what they want to do,” COMHAR CEO Trapeta Mayson said. “Being able to earn a living, being able to have agency in your life.”

Vargas works with a coach, Jeremiah Cousins.

“She’s bubbly, she knows how to — she’s focused, she’s very serious about what she does,” Cousins said.

Cousins says COMHAR provides job training and placement to support people who often face barriers because of the stigma that people with with these types of disabilities can’t work or are unreliable.

“They can do jobs, in fact many do a better job than current employees,” Cousins said.

A job giving her purpose, dignity and joy.

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.

NYPD accused of “stop-and-frisk on wheels” in new lawsuit

CNN Newsource on January 30, 2026

By Jessica Moore

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — The New York City Police Department has been slapped with a lawsuit claiming officers are engaging in “stop-and-frisk on wheels.”

The department is accused of using traffic stops to target and humiliate tens of thousands of Black and Brown New Yorkers without cause, but the NYPD says their enforcement is data-driven.

NYPD accused of racially discriminatory car searches The NAACP of New York and two Black New Yorkers are suing the NYPD over what they call “widespread, unconstitutional use of racially discriminatory vehicle searches.”

“The searches are not driven by the evidence. They’re driven by racial bias,” New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said.

The NYCLU sued to obtain NYPD data showing more than 84% of vehicles searched from 2022 through September 2025 were driven by Black or Latino drivers, while White drivers made up less than 4% of vehicle searches.

That same data shows most of the searches occurred in Black and Latino neighborhoods. The three precincts with the highest search count were the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn, 113th Precinct in Queens, and the 44th precinct in the Bronx, all of which are comprised of at least 83% Black or Latino residents.

When asked to respond to the lawsuit, the NYPD referred CBS News New York to testimony from an April 2025 City Council hearing, in which the department said it sends more officers to high crime areas.

“And this stuff is objective. It’s, like, from 911 calls, OK? It’s not us, right? It’s the public telling us this,” said Joshua Levin, former NYPD director of legislative affairs. “And so as a result, any time that you have more police officers in a certain area, as a result, you are going to see more enforcement.”

The lawsuit seeks systemic changes within the NYPD that ensure Black and Brown New Yorkers are not unconstitutionally searched.

Justin Cohen is one of the two New Yorkers included in the lawsuit.

Video posted by the NYCLU shows his 2023 traffic stop in the Bronx, recorded by NYPD body cameras.

An officer appears to frisk Cohen as he gets out of the driver’s seat of the car, and at one point, the officer grabs both of Cohen’s hands and raises them from his sides to his shoulders.

“Wait, why are you searching me?” Cohen asks.

“Because when you moved around like that, that makes me think you might–” the officer says.

“Alright, I don’t, I don’t have anything,” Cohen says.

The NYPD found nothing illegal, but seized the car and arrested Cohen, issuing him a speeding ticket which was later dismissed.

“An independent investigation by the [Civilian Complaint Review Board] confirmed what I already knew — that I was being racially profiled by the police,” Cohen said Thursday. “So more than two years later I still ask myself, why me? Why did this happen?”

Cohen said he’s still afraid of police two years later.

“They’re supposed to be people who protect us, but apparently they can do what they want,” he said.

The NYPD would not comment on Cohen’s case specifically but said there are mechanisms like the CCRB by which citizens can and should report any traffic stop believed to be improper or illegal.

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.

Tooele couple recounts hearing loud explosion, escaping flames

CNN Newsource on January 29, 2026

By Shelby Lofton

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    TOOELE (KSL) — A fire destroyed a Tooele couple’s home and took the life of one of their pets Friday night.

It happened about 6 p.m.

“We were actually just getting ready to eat a roast,” homeowner Brittany Johnson said. “Our fire alarms started to go off, which sometimes they randomly do that anyway, which is a little inconvenient, but, if we shower, hot water is running too long, they just kind of go off and do their own thing.”

She said they didn’t rush to get up because their smoke alarms have a history of being sensitive.

Johnson said she tried to fan the smoke alarm, but it didn’t work. That’s when they rounded up their cats and five dogs.

“We felt an insane explosion,” Johnson said. “I lost my hearing for probably about two minutes. Everything was very muffled. I remember my husband screaming my name.”

Smoke was coming from their swamp cooler.

They ran outside to safety with their pets.

Johnson said several fire trucks came to her house, and she remembers they spent 12 hours looking over every corner of her home.

“There was for sure a very large explosion,” she said. “Personally, my guess is faulty wiring, but investigators from insurance should be coming out sometime this week.”

Firefighters haven’t shared the official cause.

They did find one of the Johnsons’ pets inside, border collie-Aussie mix, Kenzie. Johnson said she died from smoke inhalation.

“I’m pretty sure she did come out when we were out, when we were trying to gather all of the animals out,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, she was kind of skittish, and she actually had, ironically, in that room that we saw the flames firsthand, she actually had a little closet area that she would go and hide.”

The Johnsons said Brittany’s clothing, furniture and so much more is destroyed. It could be nine to 12 months before they’re back home.

“Just to see everything that you’ve built, the first quarter of our lives is just, it’s gone,” Johnson said.

They’re intent on staying in Tooele, where they run Coffee Barn and where they have a community.

“There has been multiple businesses, even some of our competitors have come out and donated a proceeds of their sales to us,” Johnson said. “We’ve never felt alone in this, not once.”

The Johnsons’ family members set up a GoFundMe* to help them with expenses.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KSL 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.

Palisades Fire victims told they had to pay for new fire hydrant in order to rebuild

CNN Newsource on January 29, 2026

By Josh Haskell

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    PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — As if losing your home of 34 years wasn’t bad enough, the rebuilding process for Pacific Palisades residents Chris and Jeff Spitz has been anything but smooth.

“Fire department came back and said, ‘Well, before we approve this permit, we need a new hydrant to be put in because you guys are more than twice the legal limit from the closest fire hydrant. And please contact LADWP to get a cost estimate for what you’ll have to pay to build and install this new hydrant,'” Jeff Spitz recalled.

“It was so shocking that I was nauseated by it because our insurance certainly wouldn’t have covered that,” said Chris Spitz.

The Spitzs felt they were being punished for wanting to rebuild. Adding to the confusion, this hydrant issue didn’t come up for their neighbors who built new homes within the last ten years before the fire.

“We didn’t just tear this down willy-nilly and say we want to build a brand-new house. This is just trying to come back,” said Chris.

The closest fire hydrant to the Spitz’s home is roughly 1,000 feet away. All of the homes in the neighborhood, especially the homes closer to the fire hydrant, burned in the Palisades Fire.

There are currently two fire hydrants near the Spitz’s home. One at Lombard Avenue and Via de Las Olas and one at Lombard Avenue and Friends Street.

“My level of outrage is through the roof. I really can’t imagine something much more insulting to someone who has lost their home… that they need to pay to put in a new fire hydrant,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park.

Park represents Pacific Palisades and arranged a meeting with the Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power last month to resolve this issue.

After being stalled in the rebuilding process for 11 weeks, the Spitzs were told by their councilwoman the issue had been resolved.

The LADWP tells Eyewitness News they will cover the cost of installing a new fire hydrant at the price tag of $35,000. During the Palisades Fire, LADWP says demand for water in the Palisades reached four times normal use, resulting in water pressure issues that prevented water from coming out of some hydrants.

“They’re aware fires happen here all the time. In all that time, nobody did anything about the fire hydrants,” said Chris Spitz.

The LADWP told Eyewitness News “placement of hydrants is determined by the LAFD” and that a future water mainline upgrade in the Spitz’s neighborhood “will increase the hydrant’s flow-rate.” Based on discussions with the LAFD, DWP doesn’t “anticipate that additional fire hydrants will be needed” in the Palisades, but if they are, who pays for “it will be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

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.