Author: CNN Newsource

By Emily Sanderson

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    GREENDALE, Indiana (WLWT) — A Greendale City Council member is facing charges, accused of stealing over $115,000 from a civic club that he was president of and using it for things like trips, concerts, dinners and political campaigns.

Brett “Mooch” Hamilton is facing several charges, including theft, fraud, money laundering, corrupt business influence and official misconduct. He’s a Greendale City Council member, a volunteer football coach for Lawrenceburg schools and president of the Dillsboro Civic Club.

The charges stem from his role leading the civic club and having access to the account for the town’s annual homecoming festival.

Court documents allege he used a debit card associated with the festival to make withdrawals totaling $115,774. Documents state the thefts took place over a span of seven years, from 2018 to 2025.

The money was allegedly used for things like cruises, dinners, concert tickets, home mortgage, tax services, a vehicle lease and political events.

According to court documents, other Dillsboro Civic Club board members were not aware of the withdrawals until a check Hamilton wrote was flagged by the bank.

Court documents allege that when confronted by the other board members, Hamilton pleaded with them not to report it to the police.

Documents also allege that during the investigation, Hamilton retained counsel and declined an interview.

When speaking with Hamilton’s wife, court documents state records show she and Hamilton had completely separate bank accounts. She provided officials with dates that would corroborate some of the purchases made by Hamilton, court documents state.

Hamilton appeared in court Tuesday, where a trial date was set for Jan. 20. Bond was set at $50,000 cash and $50,000 surety.

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By Zoie Henry

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    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — The ninth annual donut smackdown in Milwaukee is raising $100,000 to replace the gym floor at the Daniels Mardak Boys & Girls Club, which was damaged during historic flooding in August.

Anne Zizzo, owner of the Zizzo Marketing Group that organizes the smackdown, explained that the gym serves more than 200 students daily, but currently, it cannot host after-school activities. To raise money, dozens of teams are competing in a donut-eating contest.

“This is my first year doing this fundraiser. Although I’ve been eating donuts my whole life,” said Jeremy Hillenbrand, a competitor.

Teams will raise money all month by receiving donations online. Competitors are eager to take on the challenge.

“I’ve slammed way too many mini donuts in my mouth at one time and forgot to get any kind of liquid in there. So it gets, it gets kind of challenging,” participant Pedro Guerrero said.

“You know, I tried to dump all the donuts in the water so they’d be easier to go down, but then I ended up eating dried donuts instead. So I think it was just, I got my own head a little bit,” Hillenbrand said.

The team that eats the most donuts in two minutes will be crowned by a Wisconsin sports legend.

“Donald Driver is actually coming to crown our donuts SmackDown champions. So we’re going to have a Super Bowl champion crowning three layers of donuts. SmackDown champions, the top three fastest eating teams, the highest three fundraising teams,” Zizzo said.

If you’d like to donate or sign up for the contest, head to the official Donut Smackdown website.

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By Hannah Hilyard

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    MILWAUKEE (WISN) — As fans fill up American Family Field for postseason baseball, there’s one man inside the ballpark who’s had a front row seat to Brewers history for nearly half a century.

You may not recognize his name, but Marty Wellskopf has been a part of the Brewers for 47 years.

He started in Brewers’ media hospitality in 1978 alongside his father. Wellskopf was just 18 at the time.

“When you first start out, everybody is older than you. The players are older, and all of a sudden, it’s like you’re the same age. And now it’s like I could be their grandpa, you know,” Wellskopf said.

He’s seen all the highs up close, like the team making its first and only World Series appearance in 1982 at County Stadium.

“I could stand out there and hear all the cars out on Wisconsin Ave. It was just like the old wedding back in the day when everybody honked their horns.”

Wellskopf has also experienced the lows, such as the absence of legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker, who passed away earlier this year.

“He’ll be missed. He was a big part of the game. I knew him from way back. Yeah, it was a lot of good memories,” Wellskopf said.

It’s his devotion to the game and his dedication to the job that keep him coming back for more. Although he retired from his day job five years ago, he has no plan to leave his post with the Brewers any time soon.

“I love baseball. And I love the people that I work with. It’s just a regular thing that I look forward to come spring, you know. It’s like, OK, it’s that time of year, let’s get going,” he said.

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By Gino Recchia

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    FRANKLIN, Wisconsin (WISN) — Milwaukee County Parks crews are moving fast to stop the spread of a deadly fungus discovered for the first time in the area. Roughly 30 oak trees at Whitnall Park are being cut down after the detection of oak wilt, a disease that can kill trees within weeks.

“It’s not unknown to the United States. It’s been around since the 1940s, starting in Texas, working its way up. But we haven’t had any in Milwaukee County Park property until now,” said Operations Manager Peter Bratt.

The fungus blocks a tree’s ability to move water from its roots to its canopy, causing the leaves to brown and wilt from the top down. It spreads both underground through connected roots and above ground through insects carrying fungal spores.

“The key is to really address it aggressively before it spreads to other adjacent oaks,” Bratt said.

Dark streaks or cracks in bark are other signs of oak wilt, and forestry officials urge residents to watch for symptoms in their neighborhoods.

“The good news is we have a lot of trained professionals who work on this. And other good news is we have a lot of partners for funding reforestation efforts.” Bratt said.

While it is tough to see so many trees come down, forestry crews say taking action now will save hundreds more in the long run. If parkgoers are concerned about trees in their area, they can contact Milwaukee County Parks at 414-257-7275.

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By Jesse Zanger, Alice Gainer

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    WHITE PLAINS, New York (WCBS) — A parking garage partially collapsed in White Plains Wednesday morning

It happened around 9:08 a.m. on Hale Avenue and South Broadway. City officials say several roads are closed around the area.

Officials said the fifth floor partially collapsed into the fourth floor.

Video shows multiple emergency vehicles near the large parking garage. A photo shows a metal beam apparently came down, along with slabs of concrete, crushing at least three cars within the garage. There are up to 15 cars in the collapse zone, officials said.

The garage, located at 50 Hale Avenue, is connected to Westchester One office tower, next to the Westchester Mall and Senesta Hotel.

“This morning, we received word of a partial collapse in this garage. The most important thing I can say at the beginning – no injuries, no fatalities,” Mayor Tom Roach said.

“We’re blessed that it wasn’t something more tragic. If it was at 8:30 in the morning, who knows what would’ve happened when people were coming into work. So we’re blessed that there really wasn’t anybody inside the garage,” White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong said.

It’s not yet clear what caused Wednesday’s collapse.

Fire departments from Yonkers, New Rochelle, Scarsdale and more all responded to assist.

“We’ve had a great, supportive response from mutual aid, so we have all types of equipment here,” Roach said. “But the bottom line is that what we’re working on now is shoring up the garage to make it safe to remove the vehicles that are in there. The fire department, along with multiple fire departments that are assisting us, is actually constructing columns. They put in columns initially, but they’re constructing more substantial columns to ensure the safety of anyone who goes into the building.”

Once engineers sign off on that, vehicles will be removed from the garage under police supervision. Officials expressed optimism that process may start by the end of the day Wednesday, though it may take longer.

In 2023, a parking garage collapse in Lower Manhattan killed one person and injured several others. That collapse prompted New York City officials to implement a new inspection program, requiring owners of some 4,000 parking garages in the city to submit reports on their garage’s safety. As part of that report, an engineer is required to walk through each garage and make note of conditions.

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By Mauricio Maldonado, Sergio Candido

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    JACKSONVILLE, Florida (WFOR) — A Florida mother is accusing a Jacksonville police officer of using excessive force after she was arrested outside her daughter’s school, an encounter that was caught on video and has now gone viral.

The incident happened the afternoon of Oct. 7 outside an IDEA charter school in Jacksonville’s Riverview neighborhood.

Erika McGriff, 39, had parked her car in an intersection and left it running while picking up her 9-year-old daughter in the rain, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

“I asked the principal what was the proper procedure when picking up the walkers whenever it was raining,” McGriff later said in a press conference on Tuesday. “He explained to me the procedures. I then went to pick up my daughter.”

JSO officers said McGriff’s driver’s license had been revoked in the past. An officer working at the school, Randy Holton, approached her and she attempted to walk away, authorities said. A verbal confrontation between McGriff and Holton turned physical as the officer attempted to arrest the woman, JSO said.

Videos showed the confrontation escalating as the officer tried to handcuff McGriff.

Police bodycam footage from the officer involved showed McGriff getting up and taking a swing at the officer.

Cellphone video from another angle showed the mother and the officer fighting and throwing punches at each other. That video also showed the officer throwing McGriff to the ground while attempting to arrest her. At one point, he put her in a headlock and she can be heard screaming that she can’t breathe.

“All I was trying to do was get my daughter out of the school, from out of school, without getting wet, drenched in the rain. That’s all and none of this. Everything that happened that was just like uncalled for and it’s not fair,” McGriff said.

McGriff, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, alleged that the officer used unnecessary force during the arrest.

She claims the officer used chokeholds, grabbed her hair, punched her with closed fists and put a knee on her neck.

“The type of force used on Erika McGriff, the chokeholds, the hair grabbing, being punched with closed fists in the face, having a knee put on her neck, should be reserved for armed and dangerous criminals who are a threat to the public and our safety,” Crump said as reported by CBS affiliate WJAX. “But not for mothers who are doing their part to go pick up their daughter from school so she won’t get rained on.”

For their part, JSO said McGriff violently resisted arrest, punched the officer, and bit him. She’s been charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and operating a vehicle with a revoked license.

Crump has vowed to fight the charges in court.

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By AARON PARSEGHIAN

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    WORCESTER, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Worcester store known as a community hub for all things Japanese manga culture was hit by a costly theft over the weekend.

John Le, owner of Otaku Sekai – which roughly translates from Japanese to “Nerd World” – said surveillance cameras caught a man stealing hundreds of Pokémon cards Saturday from his Park Avenue shop.

“It was a busy day,” Le said. “I had rows of people just trying to look at product cards and everything else. It was a very good opportunity for anyone that wanted to kind of, like, steal something.”

Video showed the suspect flipping through binders of Pokémon cards, stuffing several into his sweatshirt, then walking out with another full binder. Le estimated the man took around 500 cards worth more than $3,500.

“Three thousand dollars is two weeks of my staff’s pay,” Le said. “It’s a lot of money to us.”

The cards ranged in price from $5 to $15 each, far less than the rare, high-value collectibles that can sell for thousands. Le said the taking of that specific inventory makes the loss sting even more.

“My whole inventory in that price range is something that parents and kids can actually afford day to day,” he said. “So, it’s kind of sad that my whole inventory in that price range is gone.”

Le opened Otaku Sekai four years ago after leaving his corporate job, turning a small mall kiosk into a popular local gathering place for manga and trading card enthusiasts.

He says his goal was to create “a space for people to come and just hang out, be social, meet each other,” bonding through a common and growing interest.

Now, photos of the suspect are posted outside the shop as Worcester police investigate. Despite the setback, Le said he remains focused on the sense of community that first inspired his business.

“The family bonding – you know, the friends, the emotion, the feels that’s all into these cardboard that’s worth so much more than their monetary value,” he said.

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By Abner Sosa

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    FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — The University of Arkansas is installing Ten Commandments posters in classrooms across campus, following the implementation of a new state law that requires public schools and universities to display them.

The initiative stems from Act 573, legislation passed earlier this year mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom and building in the state’s public education system.

A Christian nonprofit, Counteract USA, donated 500 posters to the university to comply with the law. The group was founded by former University of Arkansas student Abigail DeJarnatt. She declined an on-camera interview but told 40/29 News the goal is to “remind students of moral values” and ensure compliance with state law.

“This is Arkansas law. And so, any opportunity that we have to remind students at the University of Arkansas that right and wrong, meaning and purpose are real, that there is a God who sees them and knows them and loves them, we’re going to take that opportunity,” DeJarnatt said.

The move has sparked renewed debate about the separation of church and state. Chris Sweeney, who leads the Ozarks chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said his organization believes the law is unconstitutional.

“We continue to believe that Act 573 is plainly unconstitutional,” Sweeney said. “For atheist, Jewish, or nonreligious students, it is coercive. And we understand that we’re going to fight back.”

Sweeney added that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is working with the American Civil Liberties Union to prepare legal challenges.

“We’re going to continue with legal challenges,” Sweeney said. “We have decades of precedent behind us that favor the separation of church and state, and we’re leaning into that.”

DeJarnatt emphasized that Counteract USA did not draft Act 573 but is helping schools follow the law as written.

“We didn’t write the law,” DeJarnatt said. “We’re just taking advantage of a law that exists, and a separation of church and state is not a principle or a phrase found anywhere in our founding documents.”

On campus, students expressed mixed reactions.

“Personally, I’m a Christian. I do believe in God. I believe in Jesus and what he did 2,000 years ago. And I think it’s a great thing,” said senior Jace Windom.

First-year Camryn LeBlanc took a different view, “I’m not religious personally, so it’s not like I care so deeply about it. I just feel like they shouldn’t be putting money into kind of pushing religion.”

DeJarnatt said students who want other faiths represented should contact their legislators. Under Act 573, all Arkansas public classrooms must display the Ten Commandments, either through donations or voluntary contributions.

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By David Wade

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    Massachusetts (WBZ) — A woman who was run over and impaled by an e-bike is on a mission to get them better regulated in Massachusetts as their popularity grows.

It’s rare to see Lynne Forester and her husband Gary sitting still. Their iPad is proof, filled with photos from their international hiking trips.

“We’ve hiked 200 miles at one time, and 112 miles another time. We’ve done ten walks like that,” Lynne said.

At home, Lynne walks five miles on the Cape Cod Rail Trail every morning. But one morning last month, disaster struck. An e-bike slammed into Lynne. Somehow, the handlebars impaled her left eye. Her eye is still completely shut and the prognosis is unclear.

“I remember being hit. I remember my hands being under my face and blood was pouring out of my eye and then I went unconscious,” she recalled.

At the scene, first responders used the Jaws of Life to cut the handlebars from Lynne’s face. She spent 24 days in the hospital.

“I’m better than I thought I would be, accepting the damage to my eye,” she said.

Lynne knows she’s lucky to be alive. Last summer, Minh Dang, a father of three in Braintree, was hit and killed by an e-bike in Boston’s Back Bay. His family said he loved gardening, coffee, and being a dad.

So how could that happen from a bicycle?

E-bikes make going faster easier, thanks to a built-in battery that gives riders a boost while pedaling up to 20 miles per hour.

Mark Vautour at Landry’s Bicycles can hardly keep them in stock.

“They’re tremendously popular and growing,” Vautour said.

There are basically two types of e-bikes:

Class 1, which uses pedal assist only. Class 2, which has both pedals and a throttle.

They’re convenient and fun – when you ride under control. Whether you pedal or hit the throttle, once you reach 20 miles per hour, the battery shuts off.

The law in Massachusetts says if you go faster than 20 miles per hour using a motor, you need a license, registration, and a helmet. But police say a lot of people are modifying their bikes.

A quick search on YouTube shows dozens of videos explaining how to change the settings. Within minutes, riders can manipulate the settings to get their bikes up to 40 miles per hour.

Police across Massachusetts have been sharing videos of crashes and near-crashes, many involving teenagers.

In Mansfield, Police Chief Ronald Sellon told the town’s Select Board that they need to have a discussion about tighter rules on local bike paths. He says modified e-bikes are especially dangerous – powerful enough to reach speeds more like mopeds or motorcycles.

“I don’t think that folks realize that by law, that takes it from something that your 14- or 15-year-old can ride with a bicycle helmet – to you know you need a license, it needs to be registered,” Sellon said.

Many towns are already changing rules and posting warnings. At the State House, lawmakers are debating what else can be done.

The answer is still unclear. State Senator Barry Finegold, a Democrat from Andover, is pushing hard.

“Make it be common sense. If these things are like motorcycles, then get them licensed like motorcycles,” he said.

Meanwhile, get well cards and doctor’s appointments are piling up for Lynne Forester. Her left eye remains closed, and she still doesn’t know if she’ll ever see again.

“From what I know, the muscles that open your eye are not working,” she said.

She wants everyone to hear what happened to her and she wants e-bikes off all trails.

“I said it the first day I woke up, I said, ‘That’s going to be my mission,'” she said.

State law currently bans e-bikes on unpaved bike paths and kids under 17 have to wear helmets. Some towns want to ban them on all paths and make adults wear helmets as well.

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