Author: CNN

KCNC

By Jennifer McRae

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A student at Fort Lewis College in southern Colorado allegedly tried to hire someone for $500 to kill his teammate over hair in the bathroom. Investigators said that Jackson Keller, a student at the college in Durango, was arrested late last week and booked into the La Plata County Jail.

Keller, 19, faces charges of criminal solicitation for first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon on college grounds.

According to the arrest affidavit from the Fort Lewis College Police Department, the investigation began on Jan. 28 when school officials called police regarding an alleged murder-for-hire plot that involved students.

One student told police that he knew both of the students involved, including Keller and the alleged victim, who both played on the college football team. The suspect and alleged victim lived in two separate rooms on campus connected by a shared bathroom.

The two had played on the football team and had a history of talking “trash” while playing a football video game, and Keller had challenged the alleged victim to a physical fight after the game, according to an arrest report.

The alleged victim told police that Keller had come into his room about a week before the alleged murder-for-hire plot was uncovered, upset with him for leaving hair in the shower. That apparently led to a confrontation between the two about coming into each other’s rooms, which could be accessed via the shared bathroom. According to the affidavit, the alleged victim said Keller challenged him to a fight in the hallway. The document states that Keller stayed in his room, and a witness told the alleged victim that Keller was holding a pair of scissors behind his back and was planning on stabbing the alleged victim if he came into Keller’s room.

The alleged victim also told police that Keller had a firearm in his room at one point, showing the weapon to him. The document states the alleged victim told police he later heard rumors that Keller took it to Colorado Springs during winter break and sold the gun for $150.

The student who knew both Keller and the alleged victim was interviewed by police. In the affidavit, he said Keller asked if he gave him $500 on CashApp, would he “put a hat on him,” referring to the alleged victim. The student told police he thought Keller was asking him to kill the alleged victim, saying he would pay him after he “got it done.” That student told police that he told Keller “no,” and that’s when Keller received a FaceTime call with three males from Colorado Springs.

According to the affidavit, the student observed Keller asking the males over the phone the same question about “putting a hat on” the alleged victim, and told police he saw the $500 CashApp banner for the exchange of money displayed on Keller’s phone. The student told police he saw the males handling firearms on FaceTime, both rifles and handguns. They also showed Keller an estimated time of arrival seven hours later from directions on their phone, and said they were “on their way.”

The student told police that he was worried for his safety and told the alleged victim what had happened. That’s when school officials learned about the alleged murder-for-hire plot and contacted police.

Police took Keller into custody the next afternoon, Jan. 29, in his room, where Fort Lewis College Police officers were accompanied by a Durango police officer and Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents. According to the affidavit, officers did not find a weapon during a search of Keller’s room, but did notice a pair of scissors on the countertop at the entrance to the room.

Before asking for an attorney, Keller told police about the incident with the alleged victim regarding hair in the bathroom. According to the affidavit, officers observed Keller “quickly moving through apps on his phone” while talking to his father on speaker phone in an interview room at the police station. Officers said that before the phone call, Keller had given investigators permission to look at his phone.

After asking for an attorney, Keller was placed under arrest. According to the affidavit, that’s when he told officers that he wanted to add more to his story and said the alleged victim was selling marijuana on campus and he had video evidence on his phone to show investigators. Keller also stated that he believed that the alleged victim and the other student were “conspiring against him.”

Keller was released from police custody that same day on a $50,000 surety bond.

Keller appeared in court on Monday afternoon, where a judge issued conditions for bond that included no possession of drugs or alcohol, no possession of weapons, and a mandatory protection order for the alleged victim and the other student who talked to police.

Keller is scheduled to appear in court for an advisement of charges on Feb. 23.

Multiple messages were left with Keller’s attorney seeking comment for CBS News Colorado.

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.

KCBS

By Julie Sharp

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — Catalina Island conservationists are moving forward with an extensive plan to preserve the island’s native habitat after the state recently approved the lethal shooting of the invasive mule deer on the island.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the Catalina Island Conservancy’s restoration management permit in late January.

“The permit clears the way for restoration work the island has needed for decades, and it allows us to take action at a transformative scale,” Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy, said in a news release.

Mule deer were introduced to the island in the early 1920s as a game species for hunting by the state. Island conservationists say the deer, which fluctuate in numbers between 500 and 1,800, have no natural predators and are destroying native vegetation found only on the island. They also say deer on the island are suffering from thirst and starvation, as they are much smaller than those living on the mainland.

The conservancy’s plan to shoot the deer from the air, using helicopters, was shut down in 2024 after residents voiced concerns of bullets raining down and rotting deer carcasses that would be left behind.

Alternative plans to control the island’s mule deer population included fencing them in, relocating the deer, introducing predators and sterilization.

After weighing the pros and cons of each method, the state chose to move forward with a multi-year lethal deer removal plan, with ground-based specialists using rifles “in controlled operations under strict safety protocols.”

Harvested meat will be provided to the California Condor Recovery Program to support the endangered birds, and a final locals-only, recreational hunting season will occur in fall 2026.

The state’s permit approval supports Operation Protect Catalina Island, the conservancy’s multi-decade island restoration plan that combines conservation initiatives, habitat restoration and wildfire prevention under one coordinated effort.

“The evidence of the severity of the threat the deer pose is overwhelming, and all other alternatives have been exhausted,” said Scott Morrison, director of conservation and science for The Nature Conservancy in California.

“Catalina Island can have either a functional, biodiverse and resilient ecosystem or it can have deer. It cannot have both.”

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.

KCNC

By Austen Erblat

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A music professor at the University of Denver won a Grammy Award on Sunday for best instrumental composition.

Remy Le Boeuf earned the prestigious award for his 2025 album, “First Snow,” recorded with the Nordkraft Big Band, a Danish jazz big band, and vocalist Danielle Wertz.

He described the album as blending genres of jazz, folk, and classical music. In his acceptance speech, he highlighted the collaborative efforts between the different styles, but also between musicians of different cultures and nationalities.

“Bridges between the United States and Denmark, where the Nordkraft Big Band is based — Peter Lund Paulsen and Danielle Wertz, by the way, my collaborators — bridges between people, from myself, my listeners, and you all,” he said in the speech. “Let’s keep building bridges. Thank you so much.”

A saxophone player, professor, and director of the jazz and commercial music program at DU, Le Boeuf enjoyed four Grammy nominations before Sunday’s win. His identical twin brother, pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, won a Grammy in the same category last year for his album “Strands.”

“Pascal, we’re even now. I love you,” he joked in his speech.

Remy Le Boeuf has collaborated with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Linda Oh, HAIM, and others, including his brother, in the Le Boeuf Brothers project.

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 Heath Kalb

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    Detroit (WWJ) — It has been over a month since 75-year-old Lloyd Poole was found unconscious in the roadway in front of his Wixom, Michigan, home after a DoorDash driver allegedly got out of his car and punched him before driving away.

“They were able to put back the part of his skull, but as of right now, he’s still not fully awake,” said Poole’s stepdaughter, Lindsey Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said that Poole is a veteran who loves to sail, travel, walk his dogs, and volunteer with the American Legion.

“He is starting to respond to voices and squeeze hands. He just started to do that over the last couple of days. But other than that, there hasn’t been much change since the whole incident happened,” Gonzalez said.

The incident back on Dec. 28, 2025, began when the delivery driver, 40-year-old Ryan Turner, allegedly attacked Poole after he told him not speed in his neighborhood. Turner was arraigned on one count of aggravated assault. As of last Wednesday, he is now back in jail with his bond revoked.

“We’re very happy that he is back behind bars, I mean, when the original charge happened, being that aggravated assault in the state of Michigan is just a misdemeanor, we were kind of shocked when we read up that he could maybe only do up to a year in jail,” said Gonzalez.

Turner will now be behind bars for at least the next few weeks until the next pretrial hearing on Feb. 18.

Poole’s family says they have been receiving an overwhelming amount of support through this difficult and uncertain time as they are praying he can make a full recovery.

“They believe he will eventually come out of this, but it’s going to be months, maybe even like years of therapy just to get back everything,” said Gonzalez.

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.

WCCO

By Marielle Mohs

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    MINNESOTA (WCCO) — Two Woodbury, Minnesota, sisters competed for rival dance teams in college. Now, they’re reuniting on the same team as professionals.

For the better part of the last decade, the University of Minnesota and the Ohio State University have been taking home the top two spots in jazz and pom at Universal Dance Association College Nationals.

But this rivalry was personal for Woodbury sisters Ava and Ellie Wagner.

“We grew up together, we went to school together, we did everything together, so I think it was really important for us to take our own paths and what was best for both of us,” Ellie Wagner said.

Ellie Wagner competed for the Buckeyes for the last four years. Her younger sister, Ava Wagner has been a standout for the Gophers the last two years. They welcomed the intense competition each season.

“It just pushes each program to be so much better,” Ellie Wagner said.

It put their parents in a unique position of rooting for both competitors. And they had fun with it, wearing split jerseys to nationals.

“I know they were loving it last year. They were sprinting from arena to arena,” Ellie Wagner said.

Even though they’re done competing, the Wagner sisters still have their mark on the competition. Ava Wagner choreographed her former team’s jazz this year, which earned a third-place finish.

“I’ve never really got to watch all my best friends dance before because I’m always focused on myself to see if I hit all my stuff. So, just to be on that side and be able to watch it [and] just acknowledge everything they’ve worked so hard for, it was honestly just a blessing and I was really grateful to be there,” Ava Wagner said.

The two are no longer rivals but teammates. They work as professional dancers, teaching kids of all ages at a dance convention that travels across the country.

“When we were at another convention when I was little, I was like, ‘I want to do this when I’m older.’ Now that we get to do it now, it’s like a dream come true,” Ava Wagner said.

“And we get to do it together. I said this is the most I’ve seen her in like five years,” Ellie Wagner 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.

KTVT

By Erin Jones

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — After rumors started swirling that a massive building off I-45 near I-20 could become an immigration detention center, Hutchins resident Paul James started digging and documenting what he found on social media.

“Finding out who is the realty company that’s involved, who is the owner of the current property, and whether or not there is such a thing going on,” he said.

Monday night, he brought his concerns to the City Council meeting, where Mayor Mario Vasquez addressed residents directly.

“I know we’re all here and you have a lot of questions,” he said.

Vasquez said the city has not been contacted by the federal government. There have been no applications, building permits, or certificates of occupancy filed.

“So in other words, we haven’t had no communication with nobody,” he said.

Last week, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told CBS News Texas that while the agency is actively working to expand detention space nationwide, there are no new detention centers to announce at this time.

During the meeting, Vasquez directed everyone’s attention to a new billboard campaign: “A city on the rise.”

“We’re building a community here, and this doesn’t match what we’re trying to do here, so if you think that anybody up here is on board with it, you’re in the wrong building,” he said.

Several residents told him that’s exactly what they wanted to hear.

“It’s crazy what’s going on in this world,” one resident said. “I got four kids, I don’t want my kids having to go to school and deal with this in our city.”

The mayor said that when the city does receive new information, the citizens will be the first to know.

He also suggested hosting a town hall to provide updates and reminded residents that the city council will meet with the city attorney on Wednesday to further discuss the building.

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 Adam Harrington, Jessica Popowcer

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — A nurse was expected back in court on Tuesday after she was charged with giving fake Ozempic to patients in Chicago.

Prosecutors said Sharon Charitine Sackman, 52, gave the counterfeit weight loss drugs to three people in Chicago in 2023.

The drugs were labeled as Ozempic, but were not manufactured by Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, and did not even contain semaglutide, the active ingredient in the weight loss drug, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors Sackman was a registered professional nurse, but did not have a license to prescribe, administer, dispense, or sell Ozempic.

Sackman previously pleaded not guilty to one count of distributing misbranded drugs and three counts of dispensing counterfeit drugs, prosecutors said. Each count could result in a year in federal prison upon conviction.

Sackman’s status hearing is set for 11 a.m. at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.

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.