Category: CNN Regional

By Allen Devlin

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    ITHACA, New York (WCBS) — Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff said Saturday his school’s administration “must do better” amid the criticism and fallout of its investigation into allegations made by a former student that she was gang-raped at a fraternity in 2024.

“I believe we as an administration and we as a community must do better,” Kotlikoff said in a video message posted online Saturday. “We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe and everyone before her and anyone after her from ever happening again.”

The former student, identified only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month against the university and seven men, alleging she was drugged and raped in October 2024 at the university’s Chi Phi fraternity chapter when she was 20 years old.

“This has been one of the most difficult weeks in our history, and I know many of you are angry, saddened and struggling,” Kotlikoff said.

Back in 2024, the Tompkins County district attorney found that “there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges.” No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

However, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said this week that he was never given the full transcript of Jane Doe’s two-day interview with campus police that occurred in November 2024, about three weeks after the incident, but was only presented a six-page sworn statement based on that interview.

Cornell University initially said its police department provided the results of the school’s Title IX investigation to the DA. However, in an FAQ published on its website regarding the allegations, the university said in an Oct. 1 update that it “shared the victim’s sworn statement and the Snapchat screenshot with the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office, which is the established protocol if the department believes it is possible a crime has occurred.”

The Snapchat screenshot refers to a Snapchat group chat that involved members of the Chi Phi fraternity on the night of the alleged rape.

Van Houten said this week he is reopening the investigation, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been publicly critical of Van Houten’s approach to the case, said she had appointed State Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to lead the investigation.

Kotlikoff revealed that the school would be hiring an outside law firm to conduct an “independent review” of “all aspects of Cornell’s handling of the 2024 matter.” The school has said that it supports the state’s criminal probe, which Kotlikoff reiterated Saturday.

The school president admitted the situation “raises questions around the investigations conducted after the allegations were reported.”

Kotlikoff earlier this week disclosed that the school’s Title IX investigation resulted in two of the accused being expelled and two being suspended for at least two semesters. One had already graduated before any punishment could be handed down, Kotlikoff said, and two were found not to be responsible for sexual misconduct.

“I also hear the frustration that Cornell has not communicated enough about what the university did after the assault was reported, which has led to distrust,” Kotlikoff said in his video. “There are real legal and privacy limits on what we can say, but we will make greater effort to explain what we can, to provide context about the actions Cornell has taken, and to be more transparent.”

He noted that in 2025, in the wake of the initial investigation into Jane Doe’s allegations, the university established the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault and endorsed the task force’s recommendations.

Kotlikoff said in the coming weeks, the university will create opportunities for community members, including parents of current students, to question and talk to school leadership.

“This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history,” Kotlikoff said. “We must lead the way. We owe it to Jane Doe and to survivors of assault to get this right. And we must keep each other safe.”

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.

By CBS Baltimore Staff

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Attorney General’s office released body cam footage of a deadly police-involved shooting involving a 21-year-old woman in Middle River last month.

The shooting took place at the 1000 block of Carroll Island Road on Sept. 3 after police were called to locate an armed woman.

When officers arrived, they approached a woman, later identified as 21-year-old Sadie Holman of Odenton, inside a vehicle at the end of the road.

Body camera footage showed one of the officers speaking with Holman, who was crying at the time.

The officer says to the woman, “If you come out and talk to us and we make sure you don’t have any weapons, we’ll get you everything you need.”

The woman appears in distress as she speaks with the officer.

Moments later, the woman reaches for a firearm before another officer yells to others that she has a gun. The officer who had been speaking to the woman fires a single shot at the woman.

Witness officer bodycam footage showed a clearer angle of the woman reaching for and cocking the weapon.

Following the shooting, emergency medical services (EMS) transported Holman to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead after initially being in critical condition.

No responding officers were injured during the incident. Officers recovered a firearm inside the vehicle near Holman after the shooting.

The Independent Investigations Division is continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting. They ask anyone with information to contact the IID at (410) 576-7070 or by email at IID@oag.maryland.gov.

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.

By Nakell Williams

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — One hundred and twenty years after mob violence tore through downtown Atlanta, students at Morris Brown College confronted the history of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre and drew connections to today.

The four-day wave of violence from Sept. 22 to Sept. 25, 1906, left Black Atlantans beaten, killed, and driven from their businesses after false accusations against Black men spread through local newspapers. During that time, students at the University Center could not return to school until Oct. 1, 1906.

Some of the areas heavily impacted by the massacre included Brownsville, Five Points, Summerhill, Auburn, Pittsburgh, Auburn Avenue, and Lakewood Heights.

Now, near the same historic grounds where scholar W.E.B. Du Bois once documented the tragedy, a new generation learned how misinformation helped to fuel one of the city’s darkest chapters.

Inside a Morris Brown classroom, freshman Denym Chambers said the lesson opened her eyes because she knew nothing about the massacre.

“I did not, but I loved learning about it and being able to be at an HBCU like Morris Brown, so that I’m able to expand my education within my Black history, because I did not grow up somewhere where I did learn a lot about my Black history,” Chambers said.

During the massacre, Du Bois took cover at Atlanta University. He wrote his famous poem, “A Litany of Atlanta,” reflecting on the violence that historians say killed at least 20 people.

Adjunct professor Sunny Brown told students the history lesson is meant to connect past and present.

“When we talk about the race massacre of 1906, it really goes into not only historically what has happened, but we connect it to what we see today,” Brown said. “How does it show up in real time today?”

At the Auburn Avenue Research Library, artifacts from the massacre, including historic newspapers and soil samples from recovery sites, help memorialize victims.

“These are things that are important to the history of our city. These are things that can happen again. So, the more we learn about mob mentalities, about violence, about genocide, the more we learn about history, the less likely we are to repeat certain things,” said John Austin, a collections librarian at the Auburn Avenue Library.

Students said one of the most striking parallels is the role of misinformation. In 1906, false newspaper reports helped ignite the violence. They said nowadays misleading information can spread rapidly online.

“A lot of stuff that does come from social media, we definitely do believe. I know that social media definitely can not say the full truth about certain things. That does happen,” Chambers said.

Brown said her goal to examine the massacre helps students think critically about the information they consume, and that they’ll recognize how quickly false narratives can have real-world consequences.

Kyler Winston-Kendricks, the lead resident historian at the Apex Museum, walked CBS News Atlanta’s crew through an exhibit called Before and Beyond 1906.

“A lot of people called it a riot, but now we call it a massacre. The reason is because the numbers can reach up to 40 to 100 people that were injured or killed in this incident,” Winston-Kendricks said.

She said there are 25 known victims, but many others were never identified.

“People were snatched off the streets and snatched out of the trolley cars as well. They were snatched from their businesses. People were laid out in front of the Henry Grady statue as well, ” she explained.

Winston-Kendricks said J. Max Barber, the editor of the journal The Voice of a Negro, left Atlanta and went to Chicago, where he published what happened.

“J. Max Barber got this story out, and that is why a lot of newspapers all over the nation and also including the world were talking about the reason as to why this actually happened. You had newspapers that were in Liverpool, England. You had some that were in Scotland. You had some that were in France and also Italy as well, talking about why this was happening,” she said.

The Apex Museum’s exhibit includes audio recordings of survivors of the massacre, including June Dobbs Butts, John Wesley Dobbs’s daughter.

“She’s talking about it from the perspective of her father,” Winston-Kendricks said.

There are also audio recordings describing how guns were smuggled into the city for this massacre so people could fight back and protect their communities as well as recollections from a white survivor, who tells stories of her mother protecting one of her Black neighbors.

The exhibit will remain available at the Apex Museum through October.

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.

By Joe Holden

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Investigators believe Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, who owned and lived in the so-called house of horrors in the Olney section of Philadelphia, may have been a serial killer, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia.

At least seven missing women have been linked to his house at 417 West Chew Ave., and at least five women are feared dead.

Horsch died in 2025.

“It was very alarming to hear that this was going on, and going on for years and right under everyone’s noses without knowing,” said Devon Rodriguez-Cayro, who works in the area and said she sometimes waited for the bus near the house.

Investigation ramping up The investigation at the house is set to ramp up next week, and road closures are planned in the neighborhood.

Investigators are also set to use heavy machinery to excavate the property the following week, Philadelphia police said.

Police and the FBI are expected to remove any areas or furniture in the house that could have blood, tissue, hair or other fibers.

Sources say police are looking at everything in the home, including the flooring, drywall and plaster. Investigators are expected to remove pieces of the home’s interior, guided by what they have seen since reviewing more than 1 million videos and images recovered from inside.

Police said they have identified at least 58 people seen in those files and have interviewed some of them. Police also said they saw two identified women in the videos who appeared to be either dead or unconscious.

That’s in addition to three other women who police believe are dead based on their investigation into the house so far — Gabrielle Amarando, Maribel Fresses and Nicole Fusaro.

Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers has described the evidence found in the house as “graphic and dark.”

No human remains have been found at the house, but detectives have looked for evidence of wet cremation, which is when a mix of chemicals is used to break down human remains, law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the case told CBS News Philadelphia. Chemicals and pipes have been removed from the property during the investigation.

Moreover, video reviewed by police showed R.C. Horsch strangling a woman with a zip tie, which sources say would implicate him in murder.

Who is Raymond Horsch? Horsch created dark pornographic films and self-published several books and referred to himself as an empathetic serial killer.

CBS News Philadelphia reviewed hundreds of pages of books Horsch wrote and published, which have since been yanked from Amazon. Much of the material is graphic, disturbing, sexually explicit and violent.

In one book, Horsch claims he murdered a woman and disposed of her body through a chemical process.

In a 2013 podcast interview, Horsch talked about his life of sex and adult films and shared some disturbing confessions.

“I, of course, was kind of a natural as a perverted serial killer, wasn’t much of a stretch at all,” he said in the recording.

Traffic stop sparks investigation The investigation into Horsch and the house began with a traffic stop this summer.

Horsch’s son, Eugene Horsch – who also lived in the Chew Avenue house, was stopped by a park ranger at 6th and Market streets in June.

Investigators said Eugene Horsch and an unidentified woman were pulled over near a fire hydrant. The park ranger said he heard the woman tell Horsch, “You’re going to hurt me.”

Horsch and his nameless passenger were suspected of doing drugs. A search of his BMW revealed crack cocaine and guns — a .40 caliber and .38 Special, according to court documents.

Horsch was also allegedly carrying fake Drug Enforcement Administration credentials in his car. The woman had Blair Tonzelli’s identification on her, which sources and investigators have since said set off alarms because Tonzelli was reported missing in 2023.

An attorney for Eugene Horsch — who remains jailed on weapons and narcotics offenses — has declined comment on the case. In a brief interview Friday, the attorney said he’s upset the Olney home will be, in his words, destroyed by the police activity.

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.

By Carlos E. Castañeda

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — The National Football League has suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games and fined him $500,000 following his arrest in August in an Ohio prostitution sting.

A statement from the league said York’s punishment was for violating the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy, and that York has already stayed away from the team during the first three regular-season games, which would count toward his suspension.

The league said York can return to the team on October 20 when the 49ers will be on the road facing the Atlanta Falcons.

In a statement on Friday, York said he accepts the NFL’s decision.

“To my family, to the players, coaches, and employees of the San Francisco 49ers, to our fans and partners, I am deeply sorry,” York said in the statement. “This was an inexcusable mistake and I take full responsibility. What I did does not reflect my values or the man I strive to be for my family.

“While I fell short of the model I want to set for my sons, I now hope to show them the importance of owning up to one’s failures, and that even our worst moments teach us to be better.

“Leading the 49ers is a privilege, and one I don’t take lightly. Your trust will have to be earned back over time, and I look forward to that work ahead.”

York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges following his August 23 arrest in the town of East Palestine, about 20 miles south of Youngstown. York, the nephew of former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, was born and raised in Youngstown.

According to a court affidavit, York responded to a prostitution website’s ad and arranged to have sex with a woman for $140. When he arrived at the location, York possessed the phone used to arrange the meeting, the document said.

York was originally charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors changed that charge to disorderly conduct. The money seized from him was donated to a local human trafficking task force as part of his plea deal.

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.

By Candy Fontana Verde

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    GAINSVILLE, Florida (WUFT) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a formal complaint against Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary this month, alleging the Gainesville nonprofit repeatedly violated federal animal welfare regulations.

Founder Kari Bagnall established the sanctuary nearly 30 years ago. It houses more than 160 primates, including monkeys retired from laboratory research, former pets and animals from other captive environments.

Bagnall said the complaint lacks context and doesn’t reflect current conditions. She said the sanctuary has corrected past problems and is drafting a response to the USDA.

Inspectors noted 19 violations of the Animal Welfare Act during more than a dozen visits between September 2021 and June 2026, the complaint alleged.

It said sanctuary staff failed to provide adequate veterinary care, gave incorrect or expired medication, let feces and food waste accumulate, stored food unsafely, failed to control pests and allowed enclosures to break and rust.

Some of the most serious allegations concern the care of two animals who died while under the sanctuary’s care.

The complaint alleged a lack of adequate veterinary care and monitoring contributed to the death of a cotton-top tamarin named Lola in June 2023.

Bagnall said staff initially found Lola unresponsive, gave her fluids and contacted veterinarians. They weren’t able to reach one for about seven hours.

Lola briefly began eating and drinking again before becoming unresponsive the following morning and dying, she said.

The complaint alleged similar oversight in the case of Golden Child, a brown capuchin injured during a fight with his cagemate in June 2024.

Bagnall said a veterinarian provided instructions for treating his wounds. An employee wrote down the instructions and placed them in the designated location, but the person responsible for following up either did not see them or did not know to look there.

Golden Child later died.

“ I don’t know what happened. It was a shock to me and to everyone that something like this could happen here,” she said. “But now we have animal care and everything, any little scratch, wound, everything goes out to everybody.”

Bagnall said Jungle Friends now uses a digital animal-care system that immediately sends information about injuries or behavioral changes to staff members, veterinary assistants and veterinarians.

“We’ve done a lot of improvements and to make sure that nothing like what happened to Golden Child happens again,” she said.

The complaint also alleged that a capuchin received twice the prescribed dose of an expired medication in November 2023.

Bagnall said the employee responsible is no longer allowed to administer medicine. The sanctuary also added additional checks to its medication system, she said.

To address other problems cited in the complaint, Bagnall said the sanctuary has repaired affected areas, improved its rodent-control system, raised its perimeter fence and hired an on-site maintenance team. The sanctuary is in the process of hiring a certified veterinary technician. Four of the sanctuary’s 17 staff members are authorized to perform basic veterinary procedures independently, she said, and others are being trained.

Bagnall said the complaint shocked her because Jungle Friends addressed the problems identified during earlier inspections and improved its results in recent inspections.

Of the four inspections conducted in 2026, three found no violations while one cited rust.

“We’ve done so much and spent so much money and education, training people to what has to happen,” she said. “We’re in a really good place right now.”

Delcianna Winders, a professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School and director of its Animal Law and Policy Institute, said correcting a problem later does not erase the original violation or prevent the USDA from including it in an enforcement case.

“It’s unusual for the USDA to even take this action at any time,” Winders said. “They only do [a complaint] in the most serious of cases.”

Winders said the reports do not indicate that the violations included in the complaint were corrected while inspectors were still at the sanctuary.

“These violations were not corrected at the time, and in fact, there are numerous repeat citations,” she said. “Nineteen of the citations that are included in the complaint were referenced as repeat violations in the inspection reports.”

The complaint called the alleged violations “willful.” Bagnall disagreed, saying she and her employees never intended to put the animals at risk.

Winders said that under the Animal Welfare Act, “willful” does not necessarily mean someone intended to harm an animal. It can mean a license holder knew the rules but failed to follow them, especially after being cited for the same problem before.

“They attest every time their license is renewed that they are familiar with the regulations,” Winders said. “If they violate, and especially if they have previously been cited for the exact same thing, it’s willful.”

The complaint alarmed Lawrence Coyne, a former volunteer and donor who interacted with Jungle Friends from 2001 to 2015 and now lives outside the state.

“I know many of these animals and it’s all personal to me,” he said.

Coyne said he believes Jungle Friends expanded too quickly and has struggled to retain enough experienced employees to care for the animals and maintain the property.

“I know a lot of those animals, and it’s painful to think that they’re suffering because of the lack of staff [and] the lack of ability to watch the monkeys,” he said.

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By Michael Cusanelli

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    GEORGIA, Vermont (WPTZ) — he Franklin County, Vermont, man who was accused of trying to burn down a camper with a person still inside was in court on Friday to answer to charges including attempted murder and arson.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said Lance Therrien, 51, was arrested on Thursday night after police said he poured gasoline on a camper on Cline Road and then lit the grass outside the home on fire.

Police said Therrien threatened the person and had two guns on his person at the time of his arrest. He is prohibited from having guns due to his prior criminal record.

He was arrested at a nearby house and charged with attempted murder, aggravated domestic assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and arson, among other charges.

Therrien appeared for a virtual hearing and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors said Therrien had allegedly threatened the victim on other occasions. He was previously convicted of arson in 1993.

At the time of his arrest, a breathalyzer test showed that Therrien’s blood alcohol content was .136.

The judge ordered that Therrien be held without bail on the new charges. He is due back in court at a later date.

If convicted, Therrien faces a life sentence behind bars.

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.

By Ryan Lovell, Riley Conlon, Lynne Keenum

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    SPRINGVILLE, Alabama (WVTM) — Officials released new information Friday about a Norfolk Southern train that derailed Thursday afternoon in Springville, causing evacuations in the area. The northbound train collided with a commercial tractor-trailer at a private crossing, derailing 34 rail cars and two locomotives, city officials said.

The crash happened about 2:16 p.m. Thursday on Industrial Drive near Walker Drive.

One of the two people in the commercial vehicle was taken to a hospital with minor injuries; the other was evaluated and declined transport. No crew members were injured.

Twenty-one rail cars overturned and 13 remained upright. No hazardous materials leaked, and city officials said the cars carrying hazardous materials were either undamaged or unloaded, with only residual material inside.

More than 125 crew members worked overnight to clear the cars from the track and begin replacing damaged rail. All cars were off the track by 3:30 a.m. Friday. Rail service was expected to resume Friday afternoon, while cleanup at the site could take several weeks.

Evacuation zones have been lifted. Industrial Drive remains closed between Walker Drive and Marietta Road.

During the cleanup, heavy equipment moved in as Norfolk Southern crews began working through the derailed railcars one by one.

“We do see a lot of movement,” Norfolk Southern representative Ryan Clark said. “That is what we’re doing to mitigate everything and get this cleaned up as quickly and safely as possible.”

An evacuation zone was set up as a precaution because of spillage from some of the cars. “That was set up out of an abundance of caution until we could confirm exactly what the cargo was and what all was involved,” Springville Fire Chief Richard Harvey said.

The derailment caused significant traffic tie-ups. At 3:21 p.m., officials said Interstate 59 and Highway 11 were reopening, though Walker Drive and Industrial Drive remained closed.

By 4:11 p.m., authorities announced that Mountain View Road would stay closed throughout the night.

Local students were also impacted by the crash. St. Clair County Schools noted that some bus routes fell inside the evacuation area. Students living within the zone were not dropped off at home and instead returned to their schools for pickup, while other students experienced delays in their normal drop-off times.

Residents and the general public were asked to leave the area and stay away until authorities determine it is safe to return. Police and school officials are urging everyone, including parents, to avoid traveling near the scene so first responders have plenty of room to work.

Springville Mayor Austin Phillips praised the emergency response and said crews quickly secured the area while they assessed the situation.

“You don’t know what you’re dealing with until you know what you’re dealing with,” Phillips said. “They did a great job of responding [and] cordoned off the area until we could find out exactly what the situation entailed.”

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