Man pleads guilty to illegally selling whale, bird parts online

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Russ Reed

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    PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — Federal prosecutors say a Maine man has admitted to illegally selling the body parts of animals in violation of the oldest wildlife trafficking law in the United States.

Sergey Bachkovsky, of Greene, pleaded guilty Tuesday to trafficking whale and bird parts in U.S. District Court in Portland, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Court records and statements made during Tuesday’s hearing indicate that between June 2023 and March 2024, Bachkovsky imported wildlife items from Eastern Europe and sold them online to buyers across the United States. Prosecutors said these items included sperm whale and marine mammal teeth, both raw items and scrimshaw art pieces; blue whale and Antarctic minke whale ear bones; and a broad-winged hawk carcass.

Prosecutors said the charging document also includes a notice of forfeiture for animal parts that Bachkovsky intended to sell, including marine mammal teeth, bear teeth, whale vertebrae and feathers and wings from eagles, hawks, owls and vultures.

It is a violation of the Lacey Act to trade in wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold contrary to another federal or state law.

The sperm whale and blue whale have been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1973. Prosecutors said the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibit the sale and transportation of whale and migratory bird items without a permit, such as for public display, scientific study or enhancement of species survival.

Bachkovsky faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from his illegal activity. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutors said Bachkovsky was investigated and charged as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Operation Raw Deal, which targeted the unlawful import and resale of whale teeth and bones.

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Vigilant neighbors helped notify Moore police of alleged child abuse, leading to parents’ arrests

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Meghan Mosley

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    MOORE, Okla. (KOCO) — What appeared to be a child lost on the streets of Moore ended up being something much more sinister and led to police arresting the 6-year-old’s parents.

On Sept. 21, Moore police responded to a house in a neighborhood after a resident called police about an unusual and upsetting discovery.

“He was kind of wandering in and out of the traffic and roadway,” Clint Byley with the Moore Police Department said. “The child told the resident and us he had ran away from home due to abuse, alleged abuse, that had been occurring in the home.”

Police noticed an open wound on the child’s foot that was infected and unhealed.

“Officers witnessed visible scars, injuries, on his feet,” Byley said.

The parents then showed up at the scene because they had noticed their child was missing.

“A few minutes later, the parents arrived at the scene to talk about their missing child, and we informed them he had been found. Then we escorted them back to the Moore Police Department where they had been interviewed,” Byley said.

During that interview, the child was taken to a hospital for his injuries.

The parents admitted to the abuse, saying they used lighters to burn the bottom of the child’s foot, according to police records. The child was also found malnourished.

“Unfortunately, my initial reaction was, ‘Here we go again,'” Joe Dorman, CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy said.

He said this type of abuse is alarming, but he said it’s because of vigilant neighbors that the alleged abusers were arrested.

“The number one thing that you should watch for is isolation. Oftentimes, families that abuse children try to keep those kids isolated,” Dorman said.

He also said people can watch for parents acting suspiciously.

“If the parents are acting suspicious, it certainly doesn’t hurt to check, and if you don’t feel comfortable checking yourself, contact the authorities,” Dorman said.

Both of the parents in the case are now in the Cleveland County Detention Center on child abuse charges. The child is safe in state custody.

KOCO 5 is not identifying the parents to protect the child’s identity.

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At this farm, men find recovery from drug and alcohol abuse

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Mike Beaudet

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    GARDNER, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Men struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues are finding their road to recovery through a farm in Gardner, Massachusetts.

“The spirituality aspect of working with the animals, the physicality, you know, of getting out here every day, you know, and learning responsibility and whatnot, and the camaraderie between the guys is pretty nice, you know,” said Travis McCourt, a resident at Evergreen Grove.

The long-term residential treatment program includes traditional clinical care for substance abuse and mental health, while also wrapping in livestock rescue work with horses, goats, cows and more.

McCourt, 34, said he struggled with drugs and alcohol since he was a teenager. He’s been living in a treatment house on the farm for three months.

He said the program has been a lifesaver, “What I found here is peace of mind, I found peace. I found eternal peace.”

Human services agency, GAAMHA, runs Evergreen Grove. Residents start the day with morning chores on the farm before transitioning into clinical recovery groups. Come afternoon, they’re back out on the farm.

“To be able to learn to care for something outside of ourselves is a big, you know, hurdle for a lot of people in recovery, and what better place to do it with a bunch of you know goats and ponies and horses,” said Josh Thibodeau, a human animal interaction specialist at Evergreen Grove.

Thibodeau is also a graduate of the program, where he stayed for nine months after nearly 20 years battling addiction.

“There’s just something special about this place, you know, broken men like myself come in here and we need to learn how to live again,” Thibodeau said.

Men who have been diagnosed with substance use disorder, who also have a mental or behavioral health condition, are eligible to apply to the program. They must be in stable condition, as the farm does not provide acute care services.

Overdose deaths in Massachusetts have declined, but demand for treatment services remains high. Organizations like GAAMHA have received opioid settlement funds to pay for recovery support.

GAAMHA president and CEO Shawn Hayden said, “The availability of Narcan and awareness around overdose has increased, and that’s, you know, every life saved is a miracle. I’m not sure overdoses are down. I don’t think substance use is down.”

Since its opening in 2021, Evergreen Grove has admitted 194 people, with almost half completing the program.

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‘Calm under pressure’: Offutt airman takes heroic action during shooting

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Bill Schammert

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    GLENWOOD, Iowa (KETV) — When the Friar Family sat down for dinner on Aug. 6, the last thing they expected to hear was gunshots.

“A lot of people in the neighborhood light fireworks,” said Harrison Friar. “At first, we weren’t concerned.”

But it wasn’t fireworks. And the sound didn’t stop.

“It was so close that I felt there was something wrong, like really wrong,” said his wife, Brielle Friar.

Their neighborhood off Grover Street in Glenwood, Iowa, was under siege. Their neighbor, Dennis Burnell, had already killed two people and was returning to his house.

“My first instinct was to keep my family safe, keep my neighbors safe, and keep my neighborhood safe,” Harrison Friar said.

They didn’t know he’d already taken two lives: 38-year-old Brandon Oman and his wife, 35-year-old Stevie Oman.

After getting their four kids to safety in a back room, the Friars went outside to confront Burnell, who lived directly across the street.

The Friar family moved to Glenwood about a year ago from Michigan. Harrison Friar is stationed at Offutt Air Force Base as a senior airman specializing in linguistics.

His military training and protective instincts kicked in.

“When seeing someone actively shooting at buildings and people in the neighborhood, I retrieved my firearm as a deterrent,” he said. “I never intended to use it.”

Security cameras from the Friar’s home capture the incident. Burnell is heard firing at least eight times toward them and their house.

“He raised his firearm at me, and I tried to de-escalate the situation by yelling, ‘Don’t!'” he said. “But that didn’t do anything. So he’s intending to kill me, my wife, whoever he can, so I fired back two times.”

Harrison Friar believes he hit Burnell in the leg and wrist with one of his shots.

“He had hundreds of rounds in his house,” he said. “I think he intended to take as many people with him as he could before I confronted him. When I hit him in the leg, I think it immobilized him slightly.”

About a minute later, law enforcement arrived from every angle. Burnell eventually set his home on fire and died.

Friar credits his military training with teaching him how to take action in the midst of chaos.

“I feel like it taught me to be a little more calm under pressure,” Friar said. “As I was fired upon, I felt like I almost got tunnel vision -in a good way. It gave me some clarity.”

Now, they’ve patched more than half a dozen bullet holes in their home. One of their vehicles was totaled by the nearby flames. Another vehicle had its windshield replaced because of a bullet hole.

Brielle Friar said it’s hard to describe the pride she has in her husband.

“It’s hard to explain it,” she said. “It’s something you hope someone would do, and I’m so glad he did.”

And Harrison Friar has a message for parents and spouses everywhere.

“It’s good to have everything at your disposal, to be prepared,” he said. “Give some thought to things happening — anything from a fire and having an extinguisher to something like this.”

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Neighbor’s quick action saves Crosby Township family from deck fire

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Rachel Whelan

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    CROSBY TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WLWT) — A Crosby Township family of four says they’re alive today because of their neighbor’s fast action when flames broke out on their back deck.

Homeowner Mandy Hampton says the fire started around 5:30 Thursday morning while she, her husband, and their two young boys were still asleep inside. Security video shows the flames smoldering for nearly half an hour before her next-door neighbors happened to get up to feed their baby.

“They saw a weird orange glow in their window and said, ‘Oh my gosh, their house is on fire!’” Hampton recalled.

That’s when neighbor Ben Braun grabbed a sprinkler, jumped the fence, and started dousing the flames. His wife called Mandy to get her family out while he and Hampton’s husband worked to knock down the fire—just minutes before firefighters arrived.

“Well, I didn’t put pants on, so that’s everyone’s favorite part,” Braun joked.

Investigators believe the fire started with a pool pump vacuum and spread to other devices with lithium batteries. It destroyed a couch and melted part of the home’s siding, but Hampton says it could have been far worse if not for Braun.

“I can’t overstate how important it is to have good relationships with the people around you, and how great it is to feel loved by your neighbors enough that they’re willing to risk their life to help,” Hampton said.

Braun downplayed the label of hero: “I don’t see it as that. I was just trying to help.”

But Hampton insists his courage is the reason her family is safe. “In a world today where you hear so many bad things… There are still good people,” she said. “I’m so grateful. So grateful for him.”

Fire officials said if the Hamptons had a traditional wooden deck instead of a composite one, the fire could have spread even faster.

In a twist of fate, Braun once considered becoming a firefighter—he even took a semester of fire science in college—though he eventually chose another path.

This time, his instincts kicked in at exactly the right moment.

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Man arrested of using AI to create child pornography, deputies say

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Allison Petro, Hayley Crombleholme

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    MARION COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A man was arrested after he was accused of creating child pornography using artificial intelligence, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies identified the suspect as 39-year-old Lucius Martin.

MCSO received a report claiming that Martin had images of child sexual abuse material involving two juvenile victims stored on his cell phone.

The reportee stated that she discovered several original photos obtained from a social media application, alongside the altered versions that Martin modified using AI.

Deputies said Martin created the images on June 3.

Martin was located during a traffic stop. He refused to comply with demands to exit his vehicle and barricaded himself.

Deputies said Martin reset his cell phone to destroy the evidence.

He was eventually apprehended and taken to the MCSO Criminal Investigations Division for an interview. However, he chose not to speak with officials.

Martin was placed under arrest and is currently in custody at the Marion County Jail, where he is being held without bond.

He was charged with:

Four counts of creating child pornography Four counts of possession of child pornography One count of destroying evidence in a felony investigation

His arrest came just days before a new law takes effect Oct. 1. The law explicitly states that it’s illegal to generate “an altered sexual depiction of an identifiable person, without consent.”

“We’re very, very glad that that new law is in place,” Lt. Paul Bloom with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. “Because we don’t want there to be any loopholes when it comes to protecting children,”.

Horacio Maysonet, president and CEO of cybersecurity solutions, says most reputable AI programs have guardrails that prevent people from creating these types of images. But,

“Sadly, there are a couple of models; there are models out there in the wild, as we say, specifically on the dark web, that have zero guardrails and no matter what you ask them to do or what the request is, the AI will execute and generate,” Maysonet said.

He encourages checking the privacy settings on your social media and locking it down. The Sheriff’s Office does, too.

“That’s your best defense,” Lt. Bloom said. “Is it impenetrable? Of course not.

As of Tuesday night, Martin was being held in the Marion County jail. His arrest report says he is currently the subject of a sexual molestation investigation in another county.

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First of its kind AI-powered assisted living facility opens

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Alexa Velez

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    NAPLES, Florida (WBBH) — Tech is meeting health care at GardenView at Moorings Park, the nation’s first assisted living facility designed around artificial intelligence. The community held its ribbon cutting Tuesday in Naples.

The new facility uses smart technology to keep residents safe while still giving them independence. Each resident wears a secure device that unlocks their apartment door automatically, logging their safe entry. Smartwatches alert caregivers if a memory care resident reaches the elevator, and indoor smart lights detect movement, falls and sleep patterns, notifying the care team when something changes.

Moorings Park strategic advisor Sarah Thomas said the connected systems allow caregivers to be proactive.

“We have these systems talking together so that we can act in a proactive way, and we can start to capture a unique subset of lifestyle and hospitality and care support data points that allows us to really be unique in the market,” Thomas said.

Outside, residents can spend time in a secure garden, designed so they can walk alone while still being safe. Couples can also live together, even if only one partner requires care.

Moorings Park CEO and President Dan Lavender said privacy was central to the design.

“We’ve taken very good care to make sure that we’re using it positively and not invasive at all,” Lavender said. “That’s why we’ve chosen not video, but sensor movement and other things like that. We’re very interested in making sure that there’s privacy.”

GardenView has 23 units, with nurses on-site around the clock. Prices start in the five-figure range. The first residents are expected to move in this November.

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High-speed chase ends in now-fatal crash, Coffeyville teen dies; Charges upgraded to murder

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Mariah Monsour, Shannon Becker

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    COFFEEVILLE, Kansas (KOAM) — A 15-year-old girl has died following a high-speed police chase Friday, September 26, 2025 that began in Owasso, Oklahoma, and ended in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Serafina L. O’Connell, a passenger in an SUV involved in the crash, was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where she was pronounced dead on September 29, 2025. Family members were present at the hospital and have been notified.

The incident began around 4 p.m. on September 26, 2025, when the Owasso Police Department received a call about a theft at a local retailer. When an Owasso officer attempted to arrest one of the suspects, the suspect fled in a vehicle with another suspect, hitting and dragging the officer. The officer sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized.

A pursuit ensued, with several Owasso officers joining in. The suspects headed south on U169 before performing a U-turn through the median and fleeing north. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, joined the chase as it crossed through Collinsville, Oologah, Talala, Nowata, and south Coffeyville, Oklahoma, before entering Coffeyville, Kansas.

Owasso police said the suspects reached speeds exceeding 100 mph in unpopulated areas. The pursuit ended in Coffeyville when the suspects’ vehicle struck an SUV at the intersection of Patterson Boulevard and 8th Street. The suspects failed to yield at a stoplight, hitting the SUV on its passenger side. Both vehicles left the road and overturned.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash report, all involved suffered injuries. The two suspects were hospitalized and, once released, were arrested and taken to Montgomery County Jail.

Authorities are pursuing charges in both Kansas and Oklahoma.

Kansas (Montgomery County):

Tenisha Mayberry: first-degree murder in the commission of a felony; aggravated battery, knowingly causing great bodily harm or disfigurement; fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement by engaging in reckless driving.

Cortez Wasson Jr.: possession of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; failure to wear a seatbelt (18+).

The Kansas Highway Patrol continue their investigation of the crash.

Oklahoma:

Tenisha Mayberry: assault and battery on a police officer; endangering others while eluding police; larceny of merchandise from a retailer; obstructing an officer.

Cortez Wasson Jr.: larceny of merchandise from a retailer; obstructing an officer.

The Owasso Police Department continues to investigate the case.

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‘Busted in a good way’: Johnston police reward kids for following bike safety habits

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Kaitlyn Lagrange

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    JOHNSTON, Iowa (KCCI) — The Johnston Police Department recently awarded Joey Bertroche a brand-new bicycle, courtesy of Scheels in Des Moines, for his safe biking practices on Johnston trails.

Joey was “Busted in a Good Way” this summer, earning a ticket for demonstrating safe bicycle habits. He redeemed it for a free ice cream cone at Van Dee’s Ice Cream Shoppe.

His ticket also entered him into a drawing for a new bike. Approximately 130 tickets were distributed this summer, and those who submitted them on time were entered into a bicycle drawing.

“This program is in its 10th year,” said Sergeant Johnston. “It provides a great opportunity for uniformed officers to interact positively with children in our community and help them understand the importance of bicycle safety. Safely crossing the road, wearing a helmet, and using proper hand signals alert motorists and ensure everyone’s safety.”

The officers look forward to handing out more tickets in 2026. The Johnston Police Department appreciates the continued partnership of Van Dee’s Ice Cream Shoppe for this program.

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Responding EMT finds her 4-year-old daughter among victims of house fire

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Baylee Martin

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    LEBANON, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — A house fire on Sunday morning in Lebanon County resulted in the deaths of five people, including the 4-year-old daughter of an EMT who was among the first responders.

Gregg Smith, executive director of First Aid & Safety Patrol, described the incident as “horrible” and “our worst nightmare.” The First Aid & Safety Patrol were the first ambulance units called to the scene.

One of the EMTs, Azelyn Arenas, arrived to find her daughter, 4-year-old Veyda Pereyra, among the victims. Smith said, “I’ve never seen such a tragedy,” and added, “When you take an employee, a first responder, that has to respond to their own child, words can’t describe the nightmare scenario this truly is.” Veyda was being watched by another victim, 73-year-old Josefina Estevez, who was also killed in the fire.

Smith, a paramedic for 30 years, explained the emotional toll on first responders, saying, “You jump in the action and then it sinks in later. Right? We do our duty, and we do our job. And you kind of learn to detach from that. I got to be honest with you, as a parent, there is no detachment at any time, anywhere. That’s just too much to ask of anyone.”

First Aid & Safety Patrol shared a post on their Facebook page to raise awareness and included a link to a GoFundMe campaign, which has far exceeded its $10,000 goal. Smith expressed his hope for significant community support, saying, “They’re fiercely private and humble, and they don’t want charity. I want to see that blow up. I want to see hundreds of thousands of dollars for these families.”

A county-wide Crisis Intervention Stress Management team has been established to provide individual counseling and long-term tailored response for first responders. Smith emphasized, “These people are not robots. They’re parents. They’re relatives, people. And they hurt deeply from this.”

He urged the community to remember the ongoing impact on first responders, saying, “Remember that when the music stops two weeks from now and this is no longer in the news, people are still hurting. And don’t forget your first responders.”

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