Author: CNN

KCNC

By Chierstin Roth

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    FORT COLLINS, Colorado (KCNC) — As the Denver Broncos punched their ticket to the AFC Championship for the first time in a decade, two Fort Collins neighbors had an experience they’ll never forget.

“He’s always doing stuff for everybody,” said Kevin Brown. “He’s always got his garage open in the neighborhood. He’s just that kind of guy that would bend over backwards and do anything for you.”

Paul Andrews has been dubbed the neighborhood “handyman” and the neighborhood “hero” for the way he shows up for his community.

“Without asking, he just came out and started helping me shovel the driveway, because my husband was at work,” said Kinsey Brown.

Andrews is also a Broncos superfan.

“Can you see it?” Andrews asked as she showed off the Broncos tattoo on his arm.

So, when Kinsey and Kevin landed tickets to Saturday’s game against the Bills, Kinsey knew there would be someone to whom it might mean more.

“I knew that I would have more joy and I’d have more fun, like seeing him get excited about it, and I would have fun at the game itself,” said Kinsey.

“Kinsey and I just thought, ‘Paul’s the man,'” Kevin added.

The ticket was Andrews’.

“I wasn’t expecting nothing,” he said. “I just heard him knocking on the door, and he asked me, and I said, Yeah, I’ll go.”

“He was like, ‘I might have to work that day, but I’m going to call him and tell him I’m not coming to work. I’m going to that game,'” Kevin added.

CBS News Colorado caught up with the group having breakfast together before the game. Hours later, the real fun began.

“Just to get out there, support the team, be a part of Bronco nation, is what it’s all about,” said Kevin. “To go there with great company, it’s just, it’s like you couldn’t ask for a better day.”

They cheered as the Broncos kept their Super Bowl hopes alive.

“I was screaming with everybody else,” said Andrews.

“Yeah, I think we’re about losing our voice here,” Kevin added.

Still, some moments are more important than wins and losses.

“It was a blessing, just a blessing,” said Andrews.

Andrews has been to a few Broncos games over the years, but he told CBS Colorado that Saturday’s win over the Bills was by far the best.

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.

WBBM

By Edie Kasten, Irika Sargent

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Helping people make the move from incarceration to inspiration. It’s all happening in a sweet way in North Lawndale.

The folks at Sweet Beginnings are busy as bees, producing skin care products made from honey.

Sweet Beginnings is a social impact business headquartered at the North Lawndale Employment Network.

Its staff has turned their lives around, spending their days at work after doing their time in prison. The goal is to help them achieve self-reliance and self-worth.

“What I want for people who come through our program is, first of all, to know they matter; that they have made a mistake, but they aren’t their mistake. It was a moment, it was a poor decision, but they have paid the price for that,” said president and CEO Brenda Palms.

Sweet Beginnings production specialist and trainer Charlotte Austin is at the top of her game. It’s a big win after a long journey.

“I’m thinking they ain’t going to help me, but they did. Look where I’m at today,” she said.

In December 1996, Charlotte was arrested on bank robbery charges.

“They dropped four, I pleaded guilty to five,” she said. “I got 30 years. I did 20.”

After she got out of prison, Charlotte’s sister, Elaine, told her about Sweet Beginnings. Charlotte got a spot in the training program called “U-turn Permitted.”

She remembers when she got the call.

“‘You start Monday, you’ve got to be here at 8 o’clock.’ I’m there. I was there at 7, because I was excited and it was something positive,” she said.

Her first assignment was at a small apiary, or beehive collection. Her coach, Jose Wilson, taught Charlotte about bees and much more.

“Jose taught me deal with my attitude. ‘Why you always mad? The world didn’t make you angry.’ He taught me how to talk to people,” she added. “He taught me how to deal with Charlotte.”

Sweet Beginnings has hired more than 1,000 people, helping them build new lives. It began in 2004, with the simple question: how do we get people back to work?

“After a whole host of really, really, really bad ideas, a friend of mine – actually, she served on the board at the time – and she said, ‘You know, I have a friend who’s a beekeeper,'” Brenda said.

So Brenda set out to get the buzz.

“Beekeeping is passed on through coaching. There’s a mentorship relationship there,” she said. “You can learn on the job, right? So I thought, ‘Hmm, that might work.'”

The first bees were bought with a seed grant from the Illinois Department of Corrections, and everything blossomed from there.

“We entered into Whole Foods in 2006. We’re also in Mariano’s,” Brenda said. “Our largest apiary’s actually at O’Hare Airport, which is one of the first in the country.”

Another North Lawndale Employment Network program is the beelove café, which sells locally sourced coffees, teas, pastries, and quick lunch bites.

Many of the people who work at the café live in North Lawndale, a community eager to fight misconceptions.

“People see that we have a high unemployment rate there and make the automatic assumption that, ‘Oh, those people don’t want to work,'” Brenda said. “I can assure you that is not what I have learned, that is not what I have witnessed.”

She said there are many reasons someone might not work, from medical problems to mental health issues, in addition to the stigma of a criminal record.

For Charlotte, that stigma has slowly eased, as she now helps trainees learn the art, craft, and business of bees.

“When the participants come, and I tell them, ‘Good job, you did that,’ they smile. Because they probably never hear ‘good job’ or ‘thank you,'” she said. “They need help and love. I can give it to 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.

KYW

By Frederick Sutton Sinclair, Eva Andersen, Joe Brandt

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    HARRISON TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (KYW) — Police have identified the two people killed when their car crashed into a Harrison Township, New Jersey, home on Saturday night, sparking a fire.

Driver Thomas Hengel, 72, and his passenger, 61-year-old Lisa Hengel, both of Mullica Hill, were killed in the crash on Banff Drive in Mullica Hill, the Harrison Township Police Department said in a news release.

Thomas Hengel was a track and cross-country coach within the Clearview Regional School District, according to teachers in the district. Coach Hengel was inducted into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, according to a social media post by the organization. He was known as a “legendary Clearview Regional boys and girls cross country and track coach” who also coached several other sports in the district for 94 combined seasons.

Around 6:17 p.m., police were dispatched to Banff Drive after Hengel’s 2020 Hyundai Palisade SUV quickly accelerated for an unknown reason, hit a curb and drove across two front yards and through the exterior wall of a home.

The crash put the Hyundai in the living room of the home that was struck, and sparked a fire that engulfed the SUV and the home, police said.

No one inside the house was injured.

The crash remains under investigation by Harrison Township police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.

Members of the community say Thomas Hengel coached for decades and shaped generations of student-athletes.

Cassandra Kulik, a former state champion, credits every athletic achievement to her coach.”He was like a father figure to me,” Kulik said.

Though the Hengels never had children of their own, former athletes say Coach Tom filled that role for many.

Molly Mahoney, another Clearview runner, said the coach was “a second dad” for her, and his influence helped steer her life in a new direction.

“I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be a track coach and a teacher because of the monumental impact that he put on my life,” Mahoney said.

Kulik remembered a chance her class had to thank both of the Hengels.

“My senior year, we decided to use all of our money … for a gift card for him to take his wife out because we know she just did the same amount of time of years, and all those hours that he did,” Kulik said.

Friends say Lisa Hengel spent more than 30 years designing landscapes across South Jersey and tended to a beautiful garden at her home. Neighbors say the couple poured the same care into their community.

“They were amazing neighbors, they were really good,” said Mike Misuraco, who lives across the street. “They loved each other.”

As the Hengel family prepares to lay their loved ones to rest, community members are rallying around the family who lives in the home where the crash happened, raising money for them as they figure out where they’ll live next.

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.

WBZ

By Logan Hall

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    MEDWAY, Massachusetts (WBZ) — For most families in the Boston area, rooting for the New England Patriots is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. For the Ambrosini family, it mostly stuck — except for one very vocal exception.

Jeff and Katie Ambrosini have raised four diehard Patriots fans in their Medway home.

Their son Lennon, however, has pledged his allegiance to the Houston Texans, creating a friendly rivalry inside the household.

“I kind of feel like a failure a little bit,” Jeff Ambrosini said with a laugh. “There’s definitely a sense of, ‘Why don’t they all root for the Pats?'”

Jeff’s son Lennon began rooting for the Texans not in Houston, but thanks to college football. He followed quarterback C.J. Stroud during his collegiate career and stayed loyal when Stroud entered the NFL with the Texans.

“I’ve got Texans pajamas, a Texans jersey, a Texans football,” Lennon said.

And now with the Patriots and Texans facing off in the playoffs, it is a house divided.

“We usually fight a lot,” Lennon’s brother Brittan said. “If the Texans score a touchdown or if the Patriots score a touchdown.”

The sibling rivalry can get intense enough that their parents have stepped in to lay down the law, instituting a strict no-fighting policy on game day. Even that may not be enough, according to the Ambrosini’s oldest son, Jackson.

“I think if the game is close, I don’t think they should be allowed in the same room,” Jackson said. “One should watch on the phone, one should watch on the TV. I don’t think they should be near each other.”

Despite being outnumbered, Lennon has no plans to tone things down. He’s already imagining the satisfaction of celebrating a Texans win at the expense of his Patriots-loving siblings.

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.

KPIX

By Loureen Ayyoub

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    BERKELEY, California (KPIX) — Once incarcerated and now standing beneath the lights of an iconic Bay Area stage, Anthony Michael Puthuff is telling his story on his own terms.

Puthuff is one of the featured performers in the Formerly Incarcerated Peoples Performance Project (FIPPP), a storytelling festival now onstage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The project centers the lived experiences of people who are formerly incarcerated, inviting them to perform personal narratives that challenge stereotypes and offer a more complex view of the justice system and the people affected by it.

“It’s surreal to be here doing an interview,” Puthuff said. “The last time I was on the news, it was in a different context and it wasn’t so flattering, so it’s really an honor to be here right now and be able to share with the world who I really am.”

The FIPPP festival aims to disrupt dominant narratives around incarceration by placing formerly incarcerated people at the center of the story — not as statistics, but as artists and community members. Performers develop and present original work that explores their histories, accountability, and transformation.

Before his legal troubles, Puthuff traces the roots of his past, describing a childhood marked by instability and the absence of positive role models.

“I grew up in a single-mother, single-parent household,” he said. “My father was an alcoholic. My parents divorced when I was very young. My mom did her best, but she struggled with her own mental health and addiction issues. There was really no structure or discipline as a young man growing up. I really didn’t have a positive male role model, and so I acted out.”

The festival is produced and co-directed by Mark Kenward, who says the project helps bring society together in a time when divides seem to increasingly separate communities. He believes it is the misunderstood stories that deserve the limelight even more.

“They’ve seen a lot of things, done a lot of things,” Kenward said. “And now they’re here sharing their stories, and it’s really life-affirming, I find.”

A prior FIPPP storyteller, Freddy Lee Johnson, says the process of preparing and performing the work is deeply personal.

“It was very therapeutic, because I try not to be seen,” Johnson said.

Kenward says visibility is a crucial part of healing, both for performers and audiences.

For Puthuff, stepping onto the Berkeley Rep stage represents more than artistic expression. It is full-circle empowerment.

“It’s more validation that individuals like myself, like no matter the circumstances we go through, that we are redeemable and that transformation is possible,” he said.

The FIPPP festival continues its run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre through Sunday evening.

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.

KOVR

By Conor McGill

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    STOCKTON, California (KOVR) — Thirty-seven years after the tragic shooting at Cleveland Elementary School, the Stockton community gathered Saturday to remember the five children who lost their lives and the dozens more who were injured.

On Jan. 17, 1989, a lone gunman opened fire on students during recess at Cleveland Elementary School, forever changing Stockton.

Just over half a mile from the school, dozens of community members gathered at Oak Park to honor the victims and reflect on their lasting legacy.

One by one, the names of the five children were read aloud, each followed by the ringing of a bell. Photos of the students stood as a powerful visual reminder of lives cut short.

“I don’t ever want our community to forget those five beautiful children,” aquote from former Cleveland Elementary principal Pat Busher was also read aloud.

“Thirty-seven years ago, a lone gunman fired shots into the playground where almost 400 students were playing at recess,” said survivor Judy Weldon.

The shooter, 24-year-old Patrick Purdy, killed five children, wounded more than 30 others, and then took his own life.

“This is one of those dates that many Stocktonians have etched in their collective memory,” said Niki Smith with Cleveland School Remembers. “There are many dates in history like that, but here in Stockton, it’s January 17th.”

While the pain of that day remains, organizers say remembrance is also about moving forward. During Saturday’s ceremony, five maple trees were planted at Oak Park, each dedicated to one of the children who lost their lives. The trees are meant to stand for generations as living memorials.

“When we plant a tree, we plant a legacy,” Weldon said. “The lives of the children lost have shaped the future in ways we didn’t imagine.”

The group Cleveland School Remembers says it remains committed to ensuring the tragedy and the lives lost are never forgotten.

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.

WWJ

By Julia Avant

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    DETROIT (WWJ) — It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, a phone call that something terrible happened to their child.

For one Metro Detroit family, that was a reality when they told CBS News Detroit their daughter was hit by a car.

“I remember the whole thing, even flying in the air, I saw my shoes come off,” said De’asia Pesti, an 18-year-old who survived after being hit by a car in Metro Detroit on Tuesday.

It’s a day De’asia Pesti will never forget. She was trying to get to the bus stop on 8 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue when she was struck by the car, a near-death experience she says she remembers every second of.

“Its like going on a rollercoaster, watching everyone go a million miles under you,” said De’asia Pesti.

She has gone from the operating table to the recovery room after facing multiple broken bones and open-heart surgery.

“Everything felt like the world was flying past us, and we were standing still and we couldn’t reach her in time,” said her father, Darryl Pesti.

The family says police have yet to find the driver who hit her.

Despite the long road ahead, De’asia Pesti forgives the driver.

“I just want to be real about it,” said De’asia Pesti. “I feel like it might have been a kid. I mean, I am not going to lie, we all do dumb stuff when we are young … just turn yourself in.”

The family says police have yet to speak to the teenager with her being in the intensive care unit.

CBS News Detroit has reached out to the Eastpointe Police Department, but has yet to hear back.

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.

KDKA

By Chris Hoffman

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    SOUTH HILLS, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — We all have days where it’s a struggle, and life can be hard.

However, Chris Guy is going across the region to give a sign for everyone to keep their head up. He says, “Everyone deserves to have a good day at some point.”

On the day KDKA caught up with him, he was in Mt. Lebanon with a simple message, but one that is so powerful: “The world is a better place with you in it.”

“This is something that everyone should hear from their friends and family. If you don’t have that in your life, it’s an honor to be that person for someone,” Guy said.

For the last six years or so, Guy has been waving, smiling, and telling people they matter across the region, usually in the South Hills. He gives love to total strangers.

“That’s really what it’s all about,” Guy said.

To each person, he says, the message may have a different meaning.

“That’s the best part about it,” Guy said.

Guy has seen depression in his life, with loved ones and friends battling it. The idea is not to spread any ideology or political message. He doesn’t take any money either. He appreciates the smiles, waves, and honks, but he hopes people go home and think about the nine words on his sign.

“Even if one person sees my sign, goes home and thinks about it and decides they were having a better day than they had previously, all the more worth it,” Guy said.

While living in Meadville, he had someone thank him for his work as he battled some struggles.

“You’ve got to be the change you want to see in the world, and I think it’s a good first step for anybody, myself included,” Guy said.

On this day, another stranger thanked him as they battled some personal problems. He hugged Guy and thanked him for his positive message. While it’s some black lettering on a white poster board, it can change a life.

“It truly is a blessing that I get to do this,” Guy said.

According to him, anyone can help someone. He encourages others be a bright spot in a world that too often can feel dark.

“The world is a better place with you in it,” Guy 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.

KYW

By Eva Andersen

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Philadelphia marked the third week of its “52 Weeks of Firsts” series Saturday with an event highlighting the origins of America’s first volunteer fire company — coinciding with Benjamin Franklin’s 320th birthday.

Franklin founded the nation’s first volunteer fire company, the Union Fire Company, in 1736.

Families and visitors toured Fireman’s Hall Museum in Old City, which is housed in a renovated firehouse from 1898, according to its website.

Guests learned how early firefighting in Philly relied on hand pumps, bucket brigades and later, leather hoses — some of the technology predating American independence.

“We’re celebrating how we started as a volunteer organization and we gravitated from that to a paid department,” Brian Anderson, a Philadelphia firefighter and the museum’s historian and curator, said.

Exhibits traced the evolution of tools and equipment used from the volunteer era to the paid era. One of the oldest hand engines on display dates to 1752.

“You’re actually pumping by hand to build the pressure to squirt water to extinguish fire,” Anderson said.

For many families, the event doubled as a hands-on history lesson.

“I think it’s crazy,” Dina Gigliotti, who attended with her 12-year-old son, said . “I was just looking at the wooden water main, how it was like wooden. I’m just trying to figure that out. Like, the water went through wood!”

Others reacted to early fire hoses.

“I didn’t know the old hoses were made out of leather,” Michele Jordan said.

A Boy Scout troop from Hatboro tried racing to put on fire uniforms the fastest.

“They seem to be enjoying it,” Troop leader Keith Grimes said.

Inside the museum, the event also underscored the risks modern firefighters continue to face. A memorial wall features the names of more than 300 Philadelphia fire fighters killed in the line of duty.

“I’m the person who puts those names on when members die in the line of duty,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s volunteer or paid: the mission is still the same. First responders have an obligation to keep the citizens safe and protect their property, and that mission is still carried on today.”

The “52 Weeks of Firsts” series is part of Philadelphia’s lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary, featuring a new historic “first” each week through the end of the year.

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.

KYW

By Liz Crawford

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — A South Jersey mom surprised her son with Eagles tickets Sunday, and it turned into a nightmare. When they left the game, her car was gone. She thought it was stolen, but police told her it was courtesy towed. As of Thursday evening, her car is still missing, and Jacquie Martin doesn’t know if it was courtesy towed, stolen, or both.

Martin was thrilled to snag tickets to the Eagles’ playoff game Sunday against the 49ers and couldn’t wait to surprise her 16-year-old son.

“He was like, what!?! He was very excited,” she said.

Martin said parking was impossible when she got to the sports complex, so she decided to park her car on 7th Street, not far from Pattison Avenue. She admitted she parked it illegally, along with a long row of other illegally parked cars on 7th Street.

After the game, she returned to the spot and said it was gone. Martin said at first, she thought it might have been stolen or towed to the impound lot because she parked in a No Stopping zone, but the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) has no record of it being ticketed or towed. On Monday, she says a police officer told her he had good news.

“Your car was courtesy towed. And I said what do you mean courtesy towed?” Martin said.

A courtesy tow is when a parked car gets legally moved to make way for utility work or a special event, among other things. Police, the PPA or a private tower could be behind the tow.

Martin said police told her, “An officer used an outside vendor to tow my car, somewhere, not in an impound lot, but on a street somewhere and I have to go find it,” she said.

On Monday, Martin said she and her 80-year-old mom drove all around the area and never found it. The next day, she went to the police department’s 3rd District.

According to the city, if a car is courtesy towed, the district should have a record of it, but they didn’t. Instead, Martin said an officer offered to drive her around and look for the car. They never found it, and she ultimately filed a stolen vehicle report. By Thursday, she said her insurance agent found a clue and sent her an email.

It showed her car had been spotted by a police license plate reader at 2 a.m. on Monday, less than a mile from where she says she parked it before the game. CBS News Philadelphia checked that location Thursday afternoon, and it wasn’t there.

“It’s a nightmare. It’s crazy. Because nothing makes sense, right?” Martin said.

She’s still hoping her car turns up, especially because she only has two payments left on the loan.

CBS Philadelphia also reached out to the Streets Department to see if they know anything. We haven’t heard back yet.

Meantime, she’s not the only one exasperated by the city’s towing policies. A CBS News Philadelphia investigation last spring found courtesy tows in Philadelphia can leave people searching for their cars and paying fines. In October 2023, Philadelphia City Council adopted a resolution to hold hearings to investigate courtesy towing. They have yet to hold a single hearing.

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.